She could see his yellow eyes in the shadows behind Kheem who was bleeding from his forehead. Obviously this had been the trick all along. They must have lured Kheem here and then lured Josie here. But what was the plan now? Faraji was the farthest from the smart one in the Hyena Clan. The others had to be somewhere in the wing, waiting to swoop in.
Thirty two stories up and she felt more trapped now than ever.
“What do you want, Faraji?” Josie asked him, tired of this nonsense.
“My brother tried to be polite,” Faraji said with a sick, sneering voice. She could see the glint of his gold tooth shining behind Kheem’s ear. “He tried to be civil with you, but you spit in his face—threatened his life.”
“Good for you, Josie,” Kheem smiled through the pain at the woman he loved. Josie wanted to tell him to just relax and not to worry about this. She was capable of handling it herself. Instead, Faraji punched Kheem in the kidneys. Kheem winced against the pain and tried to go down on his knees, but the arm wrapped around his throat kept him standing.
“Shut up,” Faraji ordered. “Now, we get to do this the hard way, Josie. That child is going to get us a lot of money and it’s going to get us a lot of friends in high places. It’ll get us a ticket back to Kenya, even. We’ll be able to leave Ronald McDonald and his house of chickens once and for all. The rest of you assholes can rot here.”
“I’m not giving you my child,” Josie told him definitively, unwilling to discuss the matter further. There was no way that she was giving up the child that she loved more than anything else in the world. That just wasn’t happening. It wouldn’t happen today and it wouldn’t happen tomorrow. They were going to have to kill her.
“Oh yes you are,” Faraji said with a sneer. She saw him reach into his pocket and pull out a switchblade. With a click, the blade shot out of the handle and she knew that he probably knew a little something about working that blade. He was, after all, a notoriously stupid man, but a criminal nonetheless. She wasn’t willing to take a chance. “You either cooperate, or I’m going to gut your lover boy here.”
“Don’t worry about this idiot,” Kheem said to Josie. “He’ll probably end up stabbing himself.”
“Shut the hell up!” Faraji shouted, bringing the butt of his knife down on Kheem’s head and she watched as the lights went out in Kheem’s eyes and his eyelids closed as Kheem’s mass crumpled to the floor, bringing Faraji down with him. That was the problem with knocking someone unconscious. This wasn’t the movies. A blow to the head was going to make him black out.
Rather than panic about the fact that Kheem was on the floor unconscious, bleeding from yet another part in his head, Josie reacted. She grabbed the golden tray on the table next to the wall and swung it at Faraji with all of her strength. The decorative pan was probably made out of brass and painted gold, but it was enough to make a loud crash when it made contact with Faraji’s head, crunching his derby hat and sending it flying across the room.
She wasn’t playing around with him. He toppled backwards and she brought the pan down on his head again. His knife flew out of his hands and he tripped over Kheem, crashing into the wall and sliding down it.
“You threatened me, Faraji,” she shouted, throwing the pan at his face and hitting him in the nose.
Faraji screamed in agony as he clutched his face. Josie could feel the rage coming out inside of her. She knew if she didn’t keep it in check, she’d transform soon and there would be no way of saving Faraji. The wolf would come out and it would want to kill him and rightly so. It would want to eat him and tear him apart with ferocity and rage. She looked at him and tried to control her breathing as she reached down for him.
Grabbing him and throwing him across the room, he hit the doors onto the balcony and screamed in pain. She was probably on a short schedule right now with Faraji as well. He could only take so much pain before he would start to transform as well. She launched over the bed and charged him, throwing open the doors again and listening as the glass shattered as the doors buckled on their hinges.
She reached down and grabbed Faraji who was still trying to assess the damage to his face. She wanted to say something witty at this point, something cool that would be impressive to everyone who heard this. She wanted it to be infamous and legendary, something other Shifters would spread like wildfire, but she came up empty. She couldn’t think of a thing to say to him.
So, instead, she hurled him over the balcony and watched as Faraji twisted and writhed in the air, spiraling and plummeting downward. There were going to be people who talked about this, who whispered behind closed doors about the time that Josie hurled a member of the Hyena clan from a balcony on the penthouse floor and how he fell twenty-three stories to the ground.
She watched as he hurled toward the pool and with a loud splash, Faraji impacted with the water, getting a belly flop that he would never forget and sinking straight to the bottom. She watched the people scatter and knew it wouldn’t be long before Wahir or the others showed up to investigate what happened.
Turning, she watched as Kheem slowly tried to push himself up and get back onto his feet. She didn’t know if there were more Hyenas waiting in the wings, hoping they would be able to ambush them if they tried to escape out into the hallway.
There was something deep down inside of Josie’s stomach that told her she should just stay put and that the smart thing to do would be just to wait for someone to come for them. If it was the security in the resort, then word would get to Wahir and they would come help clean up whatever mess had been made.
They would come and deal with the situation before there were any more questions or concerns that were leaked. She looked at Kheem and rushed to help him up. Any moment however, the door might fly open and it could be the Hyenas that were coming for her.
The only thing Josie could think of right now, was the fact that the Hyenas had risked war to get Ony. They had done something that was forbidden among the Shifters. The fact that they had violently tried to take Ony from Josie or to force her into giving them her child meant that they were willing to stop at nothing to get what they wanted. Josie had a horrific feeling deep down inside of her that told her they were probably willing to do more than that if they had the chance. She looked at Kheem as she sat him down on the bed, wanting to kiss his face and take all of his pain away.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” he said with a smile slicing through the pain that he was feeling. She wanted to laugh, but it was too hard to look at him and laugh at the same time. He was in agony from the fight that Faraji had put him through. “I got a note from you and I came up to meet with you, to tell you that this was too dangerous of a game to play.
When I came into the penthouse, he smashed the bottle over my head and started to beat the crap out of me, asking where you were and if Ony was my child. I refused to tell him anything and pretended like I didn’t know anything. He would have killed me if you hadn’t shown up when you did.”
“Did you tell him anything?” Josie asked. The answer didn’t matter to her as much as the truth of it.
He looked at her with serious eyes. “Would I ever give you up? Would I ever give up my child?” He shook his head. “No, I didn’t tell him anything. If he survived that, the Hyenas are going to be short one man and that’s all.”
Josie wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, forgetting he’d just been brutally and violently beat just moments before. She loved Kheem and knew that there was nothing she had to worry as long as he was out there fighting with her. He was the only ally she needed.
But the truth was a little stickier than that. The peace had been shattered and the truce was up in flames. If word of this got back to the Hunters, and it most definitely would, then there was going to be an inquiry. If the Hunters thought that the Shifters were starting to fight amongst themselves and that the tourists of Tarobi were in danger, they would act.
They would intervene and make sure that there was nothing to harm the t
ourists any longer. Josie didn’t like the thought of a war. If the Hunters stormed the island, then the Shifters would unite and defend themselves. They wouldn’t go without a fight. The war would leave dozens dead. Josie shuddered at the thought of it.
Most of the Shifters on Tarobi had fled a war in Africa and come here to be at peace once and for all. They all knew what the horrors of war were like, but some people found them hard to give up and to turn their backs on. The Hyena Clan was proving to be one such group. Josie doubted that the other Clans would be sympathetic toward them after this.
When the lock on the door beeped, Josie let go of Kheem and kissed him on the lips, holding him close to her for as long as she could. His lips welcomed her, kissing her back and his hands slid up her sides, holding her there for him as well. Together, they were locked as one when the heavy footsteps of Wahir and the others he brought with him came into the room.
“What the hell happened up here?” He demanded in a voice that wasn’t at all pleased or satisfied. “Have the two of you lost your damn minds? This is exactly what King Ronald ordered not to happen. You two are going to be the death of us all.”
Josie stood up and looked at Wahir without a shred of sadness or remorse in her eyes. “Is he dead?” She asked with a cold, distant voice.
“No,” Wahir answered directly. “But he’s barely alive, if that’s what you’re wondering now.”
“A shame,” Josie said to him with all seriousness. “Next time I’ll make sure he hits the pavement.”
Chapter Five
The auditorium was alive with the commotion of what had happened earlier. There were a thousand different rumors flying around and none of them were true. That didn’t stop Josie from letting them spread. There were those who said that Faraji had tried to take Josie’s baby and that Josie had called out for help, only to have Kheem rescue her.
Others said that Faraji was suicidal and that he had attempted to end his life in a fit of depression. There were others saying that there was a secret Panther army that had infiltrated the island and that the Hyena Clan was being hunted down by the Panthers. None of them were true, but Josie let the insanity and the chaos spread.
As she sat down at her seat on the Council, she looked over at Kibwe, who was staring at her without a drop of amusement in his eyes. That told her everything that she could possibly want to know about the situation. The Hyena Clan and the Jaguars might be allies right now or they might not, but they were both banking on Faraji getting the upper hand when he hatched their little scheme.
The question was how deep into the conspiracy did the Jaguar Clan go. Did they just want to see Josie lose her child? Or had they been the ones who hatched the ruse with the keys and the notes?
Either way, they were her sworn enemies now that the truce was broken. Technically, she was free to kill Kibwe right now under the acts of war. But, that would only end with her being put on trial for unlawful war. She didn’t need that right now.
In the auditorium, the buzz was palpable and the rest of the Council was waiting anxiously for King Ronald to show up and to put things to rest, once and for all. She knew now more than ever how toothless the Council truly was. Without King Ronald, they would be left holding their hands open and expecting hope and order to fall into them. That scared Josie. If she saw it now, then there were others who had probably seen it long before or who were witnessing it for the first time right now.
When King Ronald took the stage, a silence rippled across the auditorium and silently, their leader stalked to his seat with a frown on his face. It was a grim look that he carried and the weight of it was nestled in his shoulders. He was not happy, nor should he be. He looked at the Council without a drop of amusement. The anger that flickered in his eyes was something that looked like a wildfire getting ready to spread.
He waited a moment, gathering his thoughts before he stood up and addressed the crowd that had gathered here before him. He looked at all of them all for a moment, passing from person to person and assessing the people that he had brought under his wing and offered his peace to. Each of them had been important to him, precious even.
“There has been an incident,” he said after a moment. “Faraji of the Hyena Clan has fallen from the twenty third story of the hotel and plummeted into the swimming area. He has suffered severe injuries, but thankfully, his naturally blessed body will make a recovery form the incident. He has refused to explain what has happened, but at the scene of the incident, Clan Leader Josie Night-Hawk and Panther Clan Member Kheem Tafir were found. This incident has sparked a series of questions that the Council demands answers to before action is taken. But, before we begin the inquiry, I must address the gravity of the situation.
“The Hunters have been notified of the incident on Warco and they are not pleased with these actions. I know critics of mine will say that I spend too much time pandering and attempting to appease the Hunters, but the facts are simple. There are more Hunters than there are Shifters and they are better suited for a war than we are.
I have built a sanctuary of peace here, not a militia. We have neither the interest nor the means of fighting a war against the Hunters and so I am forced to use diplomacy as my only means of handling the situation. With that said, I have the authority to handle the situation as I see fit.”
“Death to the Hunters,” Tomas of the Hyenas shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Silence,” King Roland barked at him. His glare fell on Tomas and it stayed there as the Hyena slowly sank back into his seat. His rebellion was short lived and soon he was left staring at the floor with a dazed look in his eyes.
“By the authority given to me by all of you and this Council, I hereby declare that the peace is paramount to our survival. Anyone who threatens the peace will be forcing their clan into exile from my island. The safety of my islands ends at the waters of the ocean. The moment you step onto a boat, the Hunters will see fit to do with you as they please. So, police your own.
If you sense that there is mischief happening, I suggest you handle it among your Clan before I am forced to take action. Any offender will be publically executed and the body destroyed before their home clan is sent into exile. This is the punishment for treason and breaking the truce. Am I understood?”
The silence was all the confirmation that he needed from the group.
“I will have the peace or I will have the heads of those who disrespect all of us enough to break the peace,” King Ronald said with a pointed response.
He was tired of all of this already and Josie wondered how long this battle had been brewing. He was talking like he’d been waiting for this fight to happen for ages now and that it had just burst into flames finally. He was on full containment mode and that gave Josie some hope that he might actually control the events that were spiraling out of hand.
“Now,” he said after clearing his throat. “Are there any questions?”
The roar was deafening.
* * *
“Are you happy with this?” King Ronald asked them in the locked doors of the conference room that they had taken over once again.
Jonathan, Wahir, and Jamar were all present as other members of the Lion Clan were stationed outside while the inquiry was taking place. There was something about all of this that felt like it was highly staged for the sake of the others. Josie knew that the examination was going to be brief. There was nothing he could ask a question to that he didn’t already know the answer to.
“No,” Josie answered honestly.
“What the hell were the two of you doing together?” King Ronald demanded.
There was fire in his eyes and in his voice as he spoke, but it was a symptomatic fire, residual from something else. The situation was changing in front of his eyes and it was evolving with each passing hour. There was nothing he could do about that. Things were beyond his petty concerns and his wounds to his pride. This was serious now. There was a shadow war threatening to take over him and the rest of the Clans
if he didn’t react appropriately now. She could see the fear and the danger in his eyes as he stood up and started to pace the room.
“I was given a note to meet someone in the penthouse,” Josie answered honestly. “I thought I would be meeting with Ahmed to discuss his goals of bringing the Pythons over. I honestly did not suspect Kheem would be up there.”
“I was told that there was a mess in the penthouse that needed to be cleaned,” Kheem said with an honesty that pained Josie.
She looked over at him and felt pain that her beloved was forced to clean up filth now and that he had been one of the most talented chefs at the entire resort. His skills were being wasted with this petty jealousy on the part of King Ronald.
“When I arrived, Faraji ambushed me and threatened to kill me before Josie arrived. She saved my life,” he looked at her with an intensity that frightened her. There was a respect and honor there that she didn’t deserve and it scared her.
“So your idea of handling the situation was to throw Faraji out of the window?” King Ronald turned his furious gaze to Josie.
It was clear that he was immune to the charms of their love. He didn’t see anything other than a meddlesome frustration that needed to be removed from his presence once and for all. Josie hated his indignation, but she would endure it as long as they needed to.
“He threatened myself, my child, and the man I love,” Josie said with all the seriousness inside of her.
She tried her hardest to bite down on the rage that was inside of her. It was the rage of a mother whose child had been threatened and whose life was at stake. She wasn’t going to apologize for trying to kill a man who would very willingly kidnap her child and sell it to the highest bidder like he was some kind of diamond. The thought of it repulsed her and she would gladly do it again.
King Ronald lowered his head and planted his hands on the table, leaning against it heavily and trying to see through the mess of the situation. He looked up at her and she felt the gravity in his eyes lessen. He was in the wrong here and she wasn’t standing down anymore. She would not be ashamed of her child and the man that she loved. If that meant that she would have to die bloody and screaming against the Jaguar and the Hyena Clans, then she would do so more than willingly.
The Panther's Surrogate: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance Page 6