“We have a master chef.”
“And I am one. It was a hobby I got started in right after my mother died. Our housekeeper was wonderful, but she could not cook at all. Emily’s mother taught me simple things, and it grew from that. I took lessons in high school from a master chef.”
He’d have her the best set of cooking pans and utensils sent to the suite as soon as he could. Anything she wanted, he’d get. “Do you have any supplies you wish to take back with you?”
“I’ll get them next time. Right now, I’m not even sure where I’d put things. Your suite doesn’t have much of a kitchen. And I need to study the dietary differences of Dardaptoans. When I’m not at the lab, of course.”
She actually sounded enthusiastic about it. Aodhan smiled and wrapped his arms around her. “I can always have the kitchen remodeled to suit you, kitten.”
She smiled at him, her eyes finally lacking that weary sadness that he’d seen in her for so long. “I would like that. Would like that a lot.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Mallory drove her car along the stretch of Colorado highway with Aodhan in the van fifteen feet behind her at all times. Her cousin’s one-eyed cat Maury sat in the passenger seat beside her, mewing at her occasionally.
Her father and sister hadn’t been at the main house when she’d taken Aodhan there to meet them. Claudette the housekeeper, after nearly squeezing the life out of Mallory, had told her that her cousin Marshall had fetched her father the day after Mallory had disappeared, and Claudette hadn’t seen him since. She’d sounded a bit put out by that, but Mallory understood it. Claudette had long favored Mallory’s father over the rest of his brothers, and not having him where she could fuss would definitely bother her.
Claudette thought Rebecca was with them but had had nothing confirming. Mallory had hugged Claudette again and given her the contact information for the resort in case Claudette, or anyone else on the family’s main property, needed her. Then she’d collected Maury, who’d apparently taken off when Emily had been kidnapped, as he was shy of everyone except Em, Mal, and Emily’s little sister Cassandra and her car.
Aodhan had asked her if she wanted to follow him back, but Mallory had refused. She didn’t want him leading her back to her new life; she wanted to be the one controlling how fast she got there. Silly, trivial; who arrived at the resort portico first didn’t matter in the grander scheme of things, but it did to her.
It was her choice to drive back. Her choice to accept him and his world. And his place in hers.
She almost missed the two women limping alongside the road. The sun was setting and their dark clothing blended in well with the landscape around them.
Only the one’s waving her arms and jumping in the center of the road had her slowing the car in time to stop thirty feet from the women. Mal threw the car onto the shoulder and into park, unhooked her seatbelt, jumped from her seat and slammed the door in Maury’s face. Aodhan’s breaks squealed, then he was seconds behind her.
“What is it?”
But Mallory ignored his questions, her attention on the filthy and limping women in front of her. “Becca! What happened to you?”
Her youngest sister nearly fell to the ground in front of her, but since Becca was supporting the other young woman she managed to stop herself just in time. “Mal! Thank God! I thought you were dead! I thought they had you and Mick, too!”
“Becca, who?” Mallory wrapped her arms around Becca when Aodhan took the other woman and lifted her against his chest.
“The Lupoiux. You have to take her! I have to go back. To help Matt.” Becca’s words were frantic despite the fact that she could barely stand. “He’s in trouble, and he’s hurt!”
“Matt?” Aodhan demanded of Becca. “Do you mean Matthuin Lycurgus?”
Becca’s body straightened, and her eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”
Aodhan studied her a moment. “I see how it is...Little sister, I am Matthuin’s cousin, Aodhan. We played together as boys. Tell me now, where is he? And how can I help him? And who is this girl?”
Becca stared at him then back at Mallory.
“Becca! You can trust him. Would he be with me if you couldn’t?” Mallory asked, her attention turning toward the woman Aodhan still held. “Who is she?”
“I think she’s our aunt. And Jade’s sister. I’ll explain it later. Right now, I have to go help him! The Lupoiux pack found me and took me back to their camp. Matthuin saved me, and her. I had to leave him in order to help her. But he needs me!” Becca was both demanding and pleading. Mallory had never seen her little sister so frantic. “Please!”
“We will fetch my cousin, little sister. I promise you he has survived many such situations and shall survive this one, as well. He is fierce, strong, and brave. Mallory, you are to take this girl back to Barlaam. He will care for her. I suspect she is indeed young Jade’s sister. The resemblance is too uncanny. You will send Cormac and Rydere to meet me if I don’t return in half an hour after you. Do you understand me? I need your sister to guide me, as I don’t have Tajic to track Matthuin for me.” Aodhan loaded the girl into her car next to the disgruntled cat.
“But...what if the Lupoiux hurt you?” What if something happened to him and she lost him just when she’d figured out how she felt about him?
“I cannot leave my cousin any more than you could leave one of yours. Now, go. I will keep your sister safe. And will return to you shortly.”
“I’m trusting you to do just that.”
“Go.”
Chapter Forty-Three
The girl moved fast through the woods at the base of the mountains. But then again, his youngest sister-in-law was no longer human. How long since she had been bitten? “Tell me, girl. Did they bite you or did my cousin?”
“They did.” Her worry was strong, and even in the rapidly darkening twilight Aodhan could see how much she cared for Matthuin. “I met him a week ago, after I was bitten.”
“And you were taken by the Lupoiux when?”
“Yesterday. Matthuin and I got separated, and they found me again. I spent last night in their camp. That’s where I found her. They had her tied up in a damned cave.”
“Was she bitten?”
“Yes. Sometime yesterday. I don’t know how long they’ve had her. I think she’s sick, too. Why are you with my sister?”
“I kidnapped her almost a month ago. We came here today to get her clothes.”
“You kidnapped her, but you’re getting her clothes?”
“It’s complicated. How far are we from Matthuin?”
“Less than a mile. It took me longer to get away. I had to drag her part of the way.”
Aodhan respected how she downplayed what must have been a terrifying ordeal for her. She reminded him greatly of his Rajni, and not just in looks. She wasn’t as delicate as the middle sister, but she wasn’t as strong as Mallory, either. Still, she was a good mate for his cousin. Matthuin was a rare breed of Dardaptoan. His mother was half-Dardaptoan, half-Druid, his father half-Lupoiux and Witch. The strange combination had given him a mess of gifts that made him unique among their Kinds. He blended in with all Kinds, able to appear as full-blooded in any Kind. It had served him and Aodhan well.
Aodhan had assigned Matthuin the task of infiltrating the Taniss Industries’ staff. He was supposed to appear human, not get himself taken hostage by Lupoiux. “How badly is Matthuin hurt?”
“I don’t know. He was fighting them so that we could get away.” Her breath hitched, the only hint that she was scared and holding back tears. What had Mallory said? This girl was only twenty-one or two. So young. “I didn’t think I’d ever find help.”
“Well, you have. And rest assured, I’ve gotten Matthuin out of trouble more than a time or two.”
****
They said little more as they hiked through the woods. Aodhan would have left her with her sister, but what he’d told Mallory was true he needed the girl to lead him to his cousin.
; She led him straight to the edge of a camp of ragged and filthy Lupoiux. Thirty wolves in all were visible half women and children. The men looked like complete degenerates. The same pack that surrounded the Taniss vacation home? That Jambu had said were mercenaries? They looked more like petty thieves and criminals.
Aodhan studied them carefully. Matthuin was nowhere to be seen. A small hand wrapped around his wrist and slid down his arm to his palm. His little sister-in-law finger-spelled c-a-v-e on his hand until he nodded.
He pulled her close. “I’ll get him out. You stay here and quiet. Wait five minutes then head back to the van. Do you think you can find your way?”
She nodded. He handed her the keys. “Meet me there. Have it running and in drive. When I bring him, we’ll have to move quick. We’re thirty minutes at the most from our home. If we can get there in time, I can have my team take care of this pack.”
Her whisper was low. “Most of the women are not here by choice. They were kidnapped and raped, their boy children killed. Don’t hurt them, please.”
Aodhan suppressed the hiss that wanted to escape. Lupoiux females could be taken captive and bred by Lupoiux other than their mates once they’d initially been with their mates. It was common practice among some of the more vile bands of dogs to steal newly mated females and keep them as breeders. No doubt that was what they’d had in mind for Mallory’s little sister. No doubt that’s why a band of these Redd Gothan wolves had surrounded the Taniss property, as well. They’d wanted Jierra and would have stopped at nothing to get her. “They will hurt them no more. I can promise you that.”
The only question Aodhan still had was why Matthuin hadn’t killed the male wolves yet? Fifteen slovenly wolves were no real threat to the other man. Aodhan thought of his female’s sister and it became clearer. Matthuin was waiting, to give her time to get to freedom. Then the other male would annihilate the dogs who’d threatened her.
Aodhan would just have to give him a hand with that. But it would necessitate a small change in plans. “Go back to the van now. We can fit them all in it if we have to. Even with your sister’s things inside. Have it ready and warm. Matthuin and I will meet you there. Understand?”
She nodded and he felt the movement more than saw it. “I’m going. I’m trusting you to get him out safely.”
“I will. Now go.”
****
Aodhan waited until she started back up the path they’d taken, carefully avoiding the slacking sentries. The girl had maneuvered around them at least twice that Aodhan knew of, once leading an injured girl, yet the two men patrolling the edge of the camp hadn’t seen her. Was the girl just that skilled? Or were the wolves that slovenly and complacent?
He took the cautious route and just assumed Mallory’s sister had the training from her brother and Mallory to know how to defend herself in whatever situation she found herself in. He counted to two hundred slowly to give the girl several minutes’ distance between Aodhan’s position and hers.
Seconds could mean the difference for survival of any of them.
It took him two minutes to remove the threat of the sentries, permanently. For wolves, they hadn’t even heard him coming. For mercenaries, they seemed remarkably careless.
Pitiful, the lack of training the men exhibited. Aodhan ensured his own troops were ready to battle at a moment’s notice and trained them on how to recognize that a battle existed.
Why was such a pitiful, rag-tag pack after the well-protected Equa lines of the Dardaptoan people? Was someone else controlling the pack?
Aodhan slipped into the small opening just behind the camp. It wasn’t guarded. That told him someone thought Matthuin wasn’t much of a threat. So was his cousin still alive?
Was Matthuin the Adrastos soul the Beansidhe sought? Was he about to find his cousin gone, and have to tell the newly mated female that she would have to raise their pups alone? She was so young to face that.
If that was the situation Aodhan was about to find, he would ensure Matthuin’s pups, his heirs, were well cared for. They would be Aodhan’s cousins, and Mallory’s nieces or nephews. They would be cared for.
Aodhan ensured his footsteps were silent as he approached the back of the lone sentry. A simple blow had the youth of about twenty years falling to the cave floor.
The prisoner looked up. “Cousin. I thought I recognized your scent. What brings you to this area?”
“I was out for an afternoon drive with my Rajni, when we happened upon a pair of young women. Imagine my surprise when my female identified one as her little sister. I was then informed my flea-ridden cousin had found himself in a spot of trouble.” Aodhan cut through the ropes binding his cousin. Matthuin stood quickly. “Naturally, I had to come see for myself.”
“I am grateful to you, Aodhan. For my female’s sake. I take it she is safely out of harm’s way so that I may do what needs to be done here?”
“She is about ten minutes away from us, I think. I sent her back to the van. She should be waiting for us and the women who are being kept hostage here. I take it you know what needs to be done?”
“Yes. I’ve studied the group when not kept here in this den, that is. There are sixteen women and nineteen children. Of those, only four of the women are here voluntarily. Their men leave them in charge of the other women and children. Those men are currently out sniffing around Rebecca’s home. Fourteen men are out of camp now.”
“So which of the women need to come with us when we leave and which will be a problem?”
“I will round those women up, personally. They took great enjoyment in tormenting my mate and the other girl.”
Aodhan understood. “And the children? How many need to go with us?”
“All but seven, who belong to the women I’ve mentioned.”
“Leave those women and their children, then. We can tie the women and leave them amongst their dead. It will serve as a clear message to the pack. This is the second time they have threatened someone close to me. They were after Jierra and Kindara just four days past.” Had the camp been exclusively filled with adult male wolves Aodhan would just wipe them out, eliminate the threat they presented. But with children present, that could not be done.
“Done. Shall we?”
“Take out the males, first. Then round up the women and children. We can sort them out and give them options.”
Aodhan worked silently along with his cousin. When they were finished sixteen male wolves, counting the three guards Aodhan had already dispatched, were either dead or unconscious on the ground. Aodhan bound the surviving males quickly before they awoke. He’d hate to have to kill them if it was unnecessary.
These wolves were young, either newly bitten or under thirty. All of them. Someone was creating a pack through unconventional and unethical means. Lupoiux did not just go around biting others to form a pack. It was far from the Lupoiux way and was exceedingly dangerous as the newly turned were always harder to control.
These wolflings presented no challenge for the two far older warriors. Even though they were of an age with Mallory’s twin, Rand was far more dangerous. Aodhan wondered at the difference. One thing was easily clear—Matthuin could have escaped himself if he had not been hampered by his female’s presence.
Many of the women and children were crying, frightened of the two dark shadows among them. Most Lupoiux females could not change into wolven form, but Aodhan did not assume that none of these women could. It was entirely possible that one or two would if felt threatened enough. “Matthuin, if you are going to offer protection and shelter, now is the time to do it. Your female awaits and there are still the fourteen wolves missing from this pack.”
“These women here. Bind them.” Matthuin indicated the women who were much better dressed than the rest. “They think they are superior. Leave them lying in the dirt where they belong.”
Aodhan did, then looked at the women huddled together with their children. “I am Aodhan Adrastos, Warrior from Dardanos. We would like to
offer you and your children asylum within our family walls until you can decide your futures. Whatever you choose, you have our vow of safety.”
The women and their wide-eyed pups were mostly silent, some nodding. One stepped forward and spoke. “We gladly and thankfully take you up on that offer. But how? We have small pups who cannot travel far in the dark and cold.”
“We are not far from transportation. Maybe a fifteen minute walk. Gather what things you can carry, and we shall begin. Please keep your pups as silent as possible to avoid drawing any more attention our way.”
Aodhan gave them ten minutes, then he started off into the woods. Matthuin took up the rear position, carrying a small boy of about three in his own arms.
Chapter Forty-Four
She made it ten minutes away before she had cell signal on the disposable phone her brother had insisted she always carry in her car console. His number was preprogrammed into the phone. She called him and told him what was happening and to bring help.
He’d ordered her not to turn around and return to help Rebecca and Aodhan. Had it not been for the unconscious girl in the seat beside her, Mallory would have ignored his edict. Instead, she pulled the vehicle to the side of the road to wait for him.
And to study the girl.
She had hair the same blonde as Josey’s, but it curled more like Jade’s or Cassandra’s. She certainly looked like Jade and Josey and most of the female Tanisses. She wasn’t as old as Mallory had first thought. She was probably younger than Becca though it was hard to tell under the dirt. She was built like Mickey, slender and delicate. There was dried blood under her ragged nails.
Mallory ruthlessly pushed down the nausea when the fear that the girl had been raped hit her. The clothes were intact, jeans were dirty but not torn. Mallory forced herself to raise the girl’s filthy sweatshirt slightly. No finger-shaped bruises marred the girl’s stomach. And she wore a bra. A clean one at least one not stained with dirt or blood.
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