by Anna Lowe
She’d spent the last days wishing she could remember her past. Now, she wanted to drive the memories away. They drowned her, terrifying her all over again.
Nina, baby, we really ought to get back together, Mike had said when he popped out of the cabin, shocking the heck out of her.
She’d seen right through him. He was only interested in the money. And when she resisted, he’d attacked her and pushed her overboard with the captain’s help.
God, if only she had never stepped aboard that boat.
She cut the thought off there. If she’d never stepped aboard that boat, she never would have met Boone. His eyes gave her strength, and his touch…
Her stomach roiled, remembering how hurt he’d looked when Mike turned up. Boone had given up on her. She was on her own. The thought made her want to lean over and sob. For real, not for show.
She took a deep breath. She’d survived being thrown into the open sea. If she kept her wits about her, she could survive this, too. Right?
She studied Kramer and Tamara, wary of an “accident” they might try to stage. Once they had the fifty million and the ruby, they would want her dead. Mike, too.
“Finally,” Mike grumbled when Kramer pulled down a side road and up to a private drive. The gate opened silently then slid shut once the Hummer rolled in. The metal-on-metal thump of the gate closing behind them made Nina jolt. She was being whisked away to some private property, cut off from any hope of help.
Kramer followed a long driveway then parked in an open space in front of the charred remains of a burned-out mansion. Judging by the overgrown lawn, no one had spent much time at the place recently.
“Get out,” Mike snarled.
Nina held her backpack close and slid out, pushing the ruby deeper into her pocket. Now what?
Thick hedges encircled the place, shutting out the outside world. A square of concrete took up the center of the property, where two buildings remained — a garage and what looked like a guest cottage.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Nina tried.
Tamara smiled, but her voice was pure poison. “I bet you do.”
“Take her. And keep a good eye on her,” Kramer ordered Mike.
Nina’s hopes rose when it seemed that neither Tamara nor Kramer planned to follow. Maybe she could get away from Mike then sneak off the property.
Kramer snapped his fingers, and Nina whipped around on cue. “Leave your backpack here.”
His eyes glowed, warning her not to protest. Nina stared. It wasn’t a trick of the light — his eyes really were glowing.
“Come on, already,” Mike called, pulling her away.
She put the backpack in the vehicle, hoping that would appease Kramer, then followed Mike to the small house.
“Right there,” he said, waving her to the bathroom. He held the door open and leered. “Go ahead.”
She glared. “You’re going to watch?”
“Yep,” he chuckled. “Just in case.”
A good thing she didn’t really need the toilet.
“Mike, listen,” she tried. “You’re in over your head.”
“Ha. I got this totally under control.”
She stepped closer, shaking her head. “That Kramer is a mercenary. A killer…”
Mike chuckled. “Just what I needed.”
Nina stopped. Whatever crazy emotions had made her fall for Mike years earlier had disappeared, but to hear him speak so crassly about killing her…
“Seriously, Mike. Think this through. What’s to stop Kramer from killing you?”
Mike looked completely blank. “Why would he kill me? I’m paying him.”
She shook her head. “What does he need you for if he has me?”
“You’re not married to him.”
Nina figured Kramer had other ways to make her sign over fifty million dollars — plus a multimillion-dollar gem.
“Let’s get out of here, Mike. Let’s run away. I don’t care about the money. I’ll give you all of it. Let’s just get out of here, and then we’ll work it all out.”
Mike went quiet, mulling it over, but then his head jerked left at a sound. Nina heard it, too — the sound of an engine, whipping through the air.
“The chopper’s coming,” he murmured.
“We don’t need it. You don’t need it,” she implored. “Quick, let’s—”
“Quick, let’s what?” Tamara broke in from behind.
Nina froze.
“Nothing,” Mike said, total numbskull that he was.
Tamara sashayed over, touching Mike’s shoulder. He flinched, then leaned in when she started speaking in a singsong voice.
“Now, honey. Don’t tell me you’re considering a new plan,” Tamara cooed, running her hand down Mike’s chest.
Mike closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
“Don’t tell me you want to leave before we’ve had any fun,” she whispered, practically licking his ear.
Nina watched in shock as Mike fell under the woman’s spell. He leaned into her, sniffing her neck. It was only when he reached out that Tamara stepped away in disdain. Mike stood still, glassy-eyed for another moment before blinking and looking around.
“Time to go,” Tamara ordered in a whole different tone.
Mike turned on cue, and Nina couldn’t help but cry out to Tamara, “What do you do, hypnotize men?”
Tamara’s face split into a crocodile smile as Mike filed out the door. “Something like that.”
Nina looked at her with open contempt. “Something like that?”
Tamara laughed. “Sure worked on Boone.”
The comment cut Nina to the bone. Of course, Boone had slept with other women in the past. But to think he’d slept with this woman…
“And boy, did that man deliver when I pulled the right strings,” Tamara crowed, circling behind Nina like a spider spinning a web. “If he was half as good with you, I bet you enjoyed him, too.”
Nina closed her eyes, blocking out the images that hit her out of nowhere — like Boone going down over Tamara’s body and pleasuring her any way she bid.
Tamara cackled. “And maybe he didn’t find you half bad, either, honey. You’ve got that lost doe look. He’d be a sucker for that, I bet. Good old Boone, ready to save the world. But you know what?” Her voice dropped an octave, striking an ugly tone. “The world isn’t worth saving. Every woman for herself. That’s what I say. Right, honey?”
Nina ground her teeth. Wrong. The world was full of bad and good. Her mother was evidence of the latter, as was sweet old Lewis McGee. Not to mention Boone.
Boone, she cried in her mind. Boone…
“Get moving,” Tamara barked, pushing Nina toward the door.
The sound of the approaching helicopter was deafening, and Nina crouched beside Mike with her hands over her ears. The helicopter hovered a foot off the ground, its blades slicing the air. Then it landed, and the roar went out of the engine as the pilot shut it down.
Four big men climbed out, all clad in military fatigues with no insignia, and Kramer greeted each with a slap on the back. More mercenaries, Nina realized as her hopes for an escape dwindled.
She stepped toward the Hummer, and when Kramer whirled, she threw her hands up. “I need my backpack.”
He flashed that cruel, self-serving grin. “Right. You get that. Then you get that fine ass of yours in the chopper.”
She cringed. What exactly did Kramer have in store for her? The helicopter had been crowded with the four new arrivals, so obviously, not everyone was flying out. Who would he leave behind? And was he planning to leave them dead or alive?
She fingered the ruby in her pocket. It was warm — warmer than her body heat — and somehow, that gave her hope.
“Move it,” Mike grumbled.
Nina was about to protest when an earsplitting crash made her duck. Kramer’s team immediately went on high alert, spreading out, ready for action. A ripping sound followed the crash, and a Jeep hurtled into sight. A black Jeep
with a dent on the front right side. Nina’s heart leaped as she choked on a cry of relief.
“Hold it,” Boone yelled, jumping from the driver’s seat.
Her knees wobbled. Boone hadn’t given up on her. He’d come for her, and somehow, everything would be okay.
Cruz leaped out from the back, graceful as a cat, and Hunter unfolded himself from the passenger side and stretched to his full height. Kramer’s men were big, but Boone and his buddies were bigger. Her knights in shining armor. Still, there were only three of them, while Kramer had… Nina did a quick head count. Four helpers, the pilot, and Kramer made six. Tamara made it seven, and who knew what she was capable of. Mike was an eighth, but he was like a guppy in a pool of sharks.
“Ah, Boone. Back for more punishment,” Kramer called as his men fanned out to circle the Jeep.
Nina rushed to Boone’s side, not quite sure what she’d do when she got there. This wasn’t the time to hug him, no matter how much she wanted to. No time to explain about Mike, either. No time to think.
Boone solved her dilemma by grabbing her and guiding her behind his body. “Stay right there,” he whispered, squeezing her hand.
Never had a tiny gesture meant so much. Not since her mother lay helplessly, communicating love, hope, and spiritual strength with the slightest pressure of her hands.
Nina gulped and steeled herself for whatever happened next. She owed it to her mother to face whatever life threw at her, head-on.
She expected half a dozen rifles to cock, but none of the mercenaries showed a weapon of any kind.
“Back to teach you a lesson,” Boone muttered.
Kramer laughed. “I already know the lesson. The best man wins. Me, Boone. That’s me.”
Boone shook his head. “This isn’t about winning.”
Kramer chuckled. “You’re just saying that because you’re about to lose. Again.”
Boone made a subtle signal to his friends, and they stepped forward, giving him a second to turn to Nina.
“This is about love. I love you, Nina. I should have seen through these shitheads right away. I’m so sorry. Will you forgive me?”
“Will you forgive me?” she squeaked, holding his hands. “I love you, Boone.”
His eyes flashed, and there it was again — that yang to Kramer’s dark yin, that animal quality.
He kissed her knuckles and looked her in the eye. “Whatever happens next, you have to believe in me.”
She squeezed his hands. “Of course, I believe in you.”
Sadness flashed in his eyes, hinting that there was something she didn’t know, but a second later, sheer determination replaced it. “You have to trust in me, Hunter, and Cruz. Do you have the ruby? It might help.”
Might? How could a gem help in a fight?
“Keep it close, and stay out of the way. Stay safe, Nina. We’ll get you out of here. I swear we will.”
He spun to face Kramer, leaving Nina to gape at his back. Her sunny, laid-back lover was suddenly more solid rock than flesh. All soldier, bent on success.
“We’re leaving now,” Boone announced.
Kramer cackled. “Sure, you are.”
“You going to stop us?”
“You know I will,” Kramer retorted as his men stepped closer.
Nina’s knees wobbled.
“You know what’s going to happen next,” Kramer boomed. “You really want her to see that? To find out the truth?”
Nina touched Boone’s back. What truth?
“Do you really want her to see you howl in pain — howl, Boone — then die?”
Kramer was hinting at something Nina just couldn’t catch.
Boone squeezed her hand again and whispered over his shoulder. “You trust me?”
“You know I do.”
Boone nodded once then yelled out. “This is a fight to your death, Kramer, not mine.”
“Wanna bet?” Kramer swept a finger at his men. “No one kills him but me. And the woman, we take alive. You got it?”
Nina slipped a hand into her pocket, needing the positive energy the ruby emitted.
“Good,” Kramer announced. “I’ll enjoy this, Boone. I might just enjoy your woman later, too.”
Nina balled her hands into fists.
Kramer made a grand gesture, stuck out his chest, and yelled, “Let the fight begin.”
Chapter Seventeen
Nina didn’t know what to expect, but the low growl that rose from Boone’s throat was not it.
“Boone?” she whispered in the deathly silence.
“Trust me,” he said in a choked voice.
She did trust him. She just— whoa. Was Hunter growling, too? She swiveled her head, watching as Hunter rolled his wide shoulders. A third voice joined them — Cruz, who stretched out his snarl in a low, grumbly undertone.
Nina wondered if that was some strange soldier get-psyched thing, but Kramer growled, too, and his eyes glowed red. Blood red, making her skin crawl. She held the ruby tighter, soaking in its warmth.
You can do this, the warmth seemed to tell her. You can handle anything.
God, she hoped so.
“Ready for the big, bad wolf?” Kramer howled, stepping forward.
Nina stared as he hunched, raised his elbows, then worked his head left and right like a man squirming from a too-tight collar.
“What the hell?” Mike muttered, backing away.
Nina quaked inside, fighting the urge to run.
Kramer laughed again, but it ended in a hyena-like cackle. His tongue hung out of his mouth, and his jaw—
Nina held back a scream as Kramer’s jaw stretched into a long muzzle and flashed a startling row of fangs. Then all hell broke loose, and all Nina could do was press against the bumper of the Jeep and stare.
Boone roared and toppled forward onto all fours, and for a moment, Nina panicked that he’d been shot. His shirt split down the back and fell from his body. His back rounded — his strangely hairy back…
Kramer snarled, dragging her eyes in his direction. Except it wasn’t Kramer there any more. It was a wolf. A huge, dark wolf.
Nina stared. She was seeing things. She had to be.
But Boone was a wolf, too, she realized, looking at the tail swishing just a foot away from her. Cruz dropped onto all fours, shedding his clothes in the same violent way, and his skin took on a strange pattern.
Stripes, Nina realized. Tiger stripes to go with his long tiger tail and terrifying tiger jaws.
She didn’t move. She couldn’t move. Not with a pack of wolves surrounding her — Kramer’s men had become wolves, too — and certainly not with a wolf, a tiger, and — holy shit — a grizzly boxing her in.
Hunter was a grizzly. Cruz was a tiger. Boone was a wolf. Nina saw it with her own eyes, but she still couldn’t process it.
Do you believe in me? Boone had asked, but holy smokes. She hadn’t been expecting this. If it weren’t for the ruby shoring her up with its pulsing heat, she might have started screaming there and then.
“Holy shit,” Mike said, white as a sheet. He stumbled backward and ran for the helicopter.
She gulped as Boone and Cruz stalked forward. At the same time, Kramer’s mercenaries — all wolves — stepped in, tightening the noose around Nina’s position. With no space left to back up into, she scrambled onto the hood of the Jeep. The vehicle’s open cab offered little protection, but she threw a leg over the windshield and jumped onto a seat to gain higher ground if nothing else.
Growls broke into snarls, and the wolves jumped forward, setting off the fight. Two leaped at Hunter, but the big bear tossed them aside with one sweep of his mighty claws. A second pair attacked Cruz, who jumped to avoid them, twisted in midair, and pounced on one’s back. He sank his teeth into the wolf’s flesh, making the beast scream and roll. But the most horrifying sight was that of Boone and Kramer crashing in a whirlwind of teeth and claws. Their lips curled high, revealing rows of ivory teeth that grew red with blood. Boone’s blood? Kramer’s?
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Nina hung on to the ruby and prayed.
Tamara stood with her arms folded, observing the battle with an eerie calm. The helicopter pilot did the same, impassively batting away Mike, who’d run up to him, begging to fly to safety. The man towered over Mike, and Nina looked away, afraid of what she might see. Would the pilot turn into a lion? A panther? Another wolf?
Do something, Nina screamed at her frozen body. Do something.
She reached into the back of the Jeep, feeling blindly until she found a shaft of steel. The all-too-short handle to a jack, but she’d take what she could get. And just in time, too, because the second she pulled it out, a wolf leaped at her.
She screamed and smashed at it with the two-foot stick. The wolf howled and rolled away. It had come from Cruz’s side of the car, and the tiger screamed in fury. His yellow-green eyes glowed with anger, and his outstretched claws scraped five deep rips into the enemy wolf’s flank. Nina jerked her gaze away, scanning her surroundings. Hunter seemed to be faring well, with one wolf limping away and the other jumping in and out of reach. Boone and Kramer were locked in furious battle, making Nina wince at the sounds of anger and pain. Had she caused all this?
The air behind her whooshed, and she turned just in time to batter away the same wolf. A moment later, a huge, hulking hand reached down from behind and grabbed her by a fistful of shirt.
“Gotcha, my little pretty,” a voice growled.
Nina kicked and screamed, clawing at the hands that dragged her back. The pilot — he’d snuck over somehow.
“No!” she cried, twisting and struggling as the man clamped a hand over her mouth and pulled her out of the Jeep.
Boone roared and made a move to help her, but Kramer immediately attacked his haunches, holding Boone back. Cruz snarled, but he, too, was locked in battle with a wolf, unable to assist. Hunter roared and stepped forward, but two wolves blocked his way.
“Get her over here.” Tamara’s voice rose above the fray, calling to the pilot who held Nina so tightly she couldn’t fight back.
In the blur of action, Nina saw Tamara emptying her backpack — her backpack, damn it! — casting the teddy bear ruthlessly to the ground. “Where is it?” Tamara screamed. “Where is the stone?”