Suddenly, Killian was no longer standing by the door. Instead, he was in front of the orange-haired were, and he had his hand wrapped around the were’s neck. His fingers bit into the flesh of his neck, making it white with the abrupt loss of blood. “I do know the meaning of that word,” Killian snarled, “and she isn’t that. She might be obstinate, but that doesn’t make her a whore.”
“Let him go,” the bartender said. “There’s no fighting allowed here.”
“I’m not going to fight him,” Killian said in a gravelly voice. “I’m going to finish what she started. You touched her, didn’t you? Not inside, like the wolf shifter at the bar said, but maybe just outside the door? Is that right?” The growl came out of the deepest part of his chest. He took a sniff and got a little of her unique scent. The were had been close to Ula. Too close.
“The closest he got was his fingers on her ankle,” one of the weres at his table said quickly. “She clocked him with her cane, and the fucking thing has a silver tip.”
Killian’s head tilted as he considered the orange-haired were’s hand. “When you grabbed her, she stabbed you through the hand with her silver-tipped cane?” The last part came out as a choking laugh-like word. “A cane?”
The were made a choking noise that Killian took to be an affirmation.
“God, isn’t she a wonderful woman?” Killian said loudly.
Chapter 5
May the cat eat you and the devil eat the cat.
– Irish Proverb
~
Then
Dimly, Ula heard him swearing and then explosions. Her eyes fluttered open as the world began to shake and shudder. The lights that the humans had placed along the tunnel walls began to flicker out, and rocks began to fall. Her head bounced against his chest. The were was holding her in his arms, carrying her as they ran.
She gasped as she took in oxygen. It took her a moment to realize what he had done. He had choked her unconscious, and the vile thought of that outweighed what the sound of the explosions meant. “You bastard!” she said.
Distant rumbles of what sounded like an avalanche of rocks began to increase toward them. He didn’t bother answering her but picked up the pace. His hands gripped her more securely, and she had the presence of mind not to struggle.
“There’s an exit at the end of this passage!” she said as she perceived where they were located. She had been all over the tunnels in the past few hours.
“I know, blast it to hell!”
Ula thought they would make it. The were’s speed was definitely otherworldly. He leaped over rocks and shoved past the walls caving in around them. She wanted to shriek at him to hurry, to let her down so she could run as fast as he was going, to do something, but he was already doing everything he could. He simply didn’t have the time to put her down.
Furthermore, and reluctantly, she knew he had done the right thing. She had been bordering on the hysterical when he’d found her in Whitfield Dyson’s office. There would have been no convincing her to leave; she had been utterly desperate.
They could see the door at the end of the passageway when a deafening explosion rocked the tunnel and the world crumpled upon them like an aluminum can under the foot of a heavy man.
Ula felt the were heave her into the corner of the hall, bracing his body above her, locking his arms against the walls. Bits of the wall fell upon them both, forcing him into her body, but he didn’t cry out, nor did Ula when a heavy piece crashed down on her ankle. She felt the bone snap and crunch and bit her lip to keep from crying out. It wouldn’t have made a difference in the amount of sounds present. The walls were echoing with the boom of distant explosions. The earth was shedding its skin in a boisterous fashion. The tunnels couldn’t stand up to the pressures and buckled accordingly.
Looking up, Ula saw the were’s eyes were on her. The sudden blackness hadn’t taken her sight. His eyes glowed like a cat’s in the darkness. After all, he was a cat. His eyes could go partially feline just as hers could go partially wolf. He gritted his teeth.
“If we can just ride this out,” he said, and the words were nearly an impulsive plea.
Something else slammed onto her foot and ankle and Ula’s eyes fluttered shut. The foot wasn’t severed, but it wasn’t going to be working very well anytime soon. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t yank the foot back. There was no room, and their immediate world was shrinking by the second.
“I smell blood,” the were grated, but she could barely hear him.
Ula attempted to push her way through the pain. Broken bones could be healed. Despite the fact that the recuperative powers of weres was incredible, they weren’t omnipotent. “My ankle,” she said, gritting out the sounds through clenched teeth.
“Jaysus,” the were swore, and her eyes came open again. He was focusing on where her leg disappeared into the rubble. “I can’t be letting go now.”
“It’s all right,” she said but it wasn’t. She could feel the shifter genes in her trying to heal her ankle. It would knit together incorrectly, but there wasn’t any way to help that. She knew that later on some shifter medical doctor could re-break the ankle and set it correctly, but it was going to hurt.
That’s if we can get out of here.
The world began to settle, and it was a testament to the other were’s strength that they weren’t crushed. His shoulders and arms began to shake as he held firm.
“Thank you,” she said, and it sounded almost as bitter as it was.
The were let out an unsteady laugh. “Are you deaf and blind as well as without nose?”
Ula would have smiled, but the trapped ankle twitched and caused another wave of unyielding pain.
“I was…frantic,” she said, referring to the last frenzied moments in Dyson’s office. There was dust all around them, and she choked out a cough. She glanced down at her closed fist. She could still feel the flash drive. If Whitfield Dyson had hidden it, then there had to be something of worth on it. It might not have anything to do with her sister, but Ula couldn’t take that chance. “Don’t you have a brother or sister?”
“No, but I do understand.” The were shifted his body weight slightly. The rocks above groaned but held steady. “Thank the Lord and Saint Peter,” he muttered and relaxed minutely.
“Don’t move,” she said.
“If I can get that rock off your leg,” he said, “we can see about that bleeding.”
“It’s already stopped,” she murmured. That was about the only good thing about it. The rocks had cut into the side of her foot and across her ankle. It hadn’t caught any significant artery. “Besides, if you move anything, the rest could come down on us.”
“We’re going to have to move rocks if we’re to get out of here,” the were muttered. His eyes glowed greenly as he studied the small space they were trapped within.
Suddenly, all Ula could smell was him. It was all around her and summoned to her like the brightest lighthouse on the most desolate shore. “Son of a b—” she said, with abrupt realization of what that meant. It had been with her from the moment she had scented him, but she had pushed it to the side, intent on Claire and Claire alone. “Really? This has got to be the worst timing in the history of the world.”
“What?” the were asked.
“My ankle is healing wrong,” she muttered because she couldn’t think of anything better to say.
“They’ll fix it,” he said. “It’s going to hurt like a bloody bastard, but they can reset it.”
“I know,” she said quickly. “I know. I don’t like it but I know.”
The were slowly relaxed his shoulders and brought his arms down. The rocks and earth around them groaned again with intent protest but only a little dust shuttled down. “Feck, that feels like I’ve been bench-pressing a thousand pounds.”
“Probably a lot more than that,” Ula admitted with a grim smile.
The were saw it and immediately froze. “You’re, uh, you’re uh,” he said and stopped.
&nbs
p; “I’m what?” Ula asked. “Dirty, broken, pissed off?”
He said something in another language she didn’t know. It sounded like “Tá tú go hálainn.”
“You’re Irish,” she said instead of asking him what he’d said.
“Irish, yes, and now a legal citizen of the United States of America.”
“I have to say I haven’t enjoyed this trip to your country,” Ula said. Her lips curled into a minute smile. “Maybe there are better places to see. Some place not underground.”
“I know a great little sushi place in Denver,” he said with a quick grin. “The chef is a wereseal and knows her stuff.”
“There’s a wereseal in Colorado who is a sushi chef?”
“She likes the altitude.” He looked away from her and began to systematically check the rocks around them. Pebbles and earth began to drop. The earth grumbled as if it was alive.
Ula turned her head so the bits of rubble wouldn’t get into her eyes.
The were bent his arms a little and reached inside the pocket of his leather jacket. “You’ve a sister then,” he said.
“Yes. Her name is Claire. They took her a week ago.” She might have mentioned Claire’s name before, but Ula couldn’t remember what she’d said to him while she was so agitated.
His face formed into a frown as his fingers dug inside. “The humans were hunting our Alpha’s mate.” It was a warning to Ula. If the same had happened to her sister, her chances of still being alive were limited.
“Emma,” Ula said, ignoring the message. “Good were.” She didn’t add on, “even for a cat,” although the thought careened mindlessly through her head.
“The best, and they deserve their happiness,” he said.
There was a short rush of dirt that poured down, and he tucked his body over Ula’s face to protect her from it. She choked on the dust and said, “Unless you’ve got a tractor tucked away in a pocket, I don’t think we’re going to get out of here.”
The were smiled, blindingly white teeth shining in the darkness. He leaned down and lightly kissed her dirty lips before she could even think to push him away. He was back into the other position before she could protest and pulled out a phone. “Satellite phone,” he said, holding it up. “Even works in the tunnels. And it’s got an excellent GPS on it. Works within a few meters. It’s going to save our arses.”
“You’re going to telephone for help,” she said incredulously.
“Well, I’m fresh out of transporter beams.”
Ula looked around and sighed. “I seem to be out of ideas, and besides, I don’t think I’m going to be much help digging anywhere.”
The were’s eyes shot to where her leg was trapped. He activated the phone without responding. “Thank the Lord for satellite technology,” he said. Ula could hear the line clearly. There was one ring and then the other end picked up.
“Glad to hear the call,” a voice said rapidly.
“Micah,” the were said, “can I take it that you didn’t get a ride with the marines?” It wasn’t really a question.
“Once Wheeler’s back in the land of reality, he would kill me if he knew I left you here alone. He’s got a team with him on board to guard his back from anyone who would say boo to him. Not that he’ll need it. I think he’s already ripped up someone for getting too close to Emma.”
Micah was the were who had helped tie Ula up and carried her from the tunnels before the were with her had let her go. Ula couldn’t stifle a little growl at the memory.
“Get a lock on the coordinates of my satphone,” the were said. “We’re under the earth, and you’re going to need some shovels and such.”
“The explosions didn’t get you,” Micah said with a lilting laugh. “I won twenty bucks from Aydon. You got that cute little were with you?”
“If he touches me again, I’ll bite something off he will miss,” Ula hissed.
“Love, he’s got to dig us out, and then you can take a bite of me, if you’d like,” the were said. “I told him to get you out of the tunnels, so it’s my fault.”
“Got your location,” Micah said. “Be there in a jiff.”
“Best to hurry,” the were said into the satphone. A stream of dirt suddenly let loose above them and he ducked. “I like the company, but the atmosphere is dicey.”
The were disconnected the phone and carefully put it in a pocket. His eyes glowed greenly at Ula. “Now, about you, love. What’s a nice were like you doing in a place like this?”
Ula wasn’t sure if it was a sputtering cough or a dismayed groan that resulted from his inane question.
~
Now
The were known as Pitch was afraid. Ula could smell him a mile away, and she could smell his fear. She didn’t know exactly why he was afraid. He certainly hadn’t heard of her before, and Ula didn’t have a fearsome reputation that would strike terror into the hearts of all weres. It brought to mind the question, What does he have to be afraid of?
But Pitch was easy to follow because of it. His trail led to the metro and right onto a platform that had one line accessing it. He was going back to the Left Bank. That was all right, she’d been all over the City of Light. She could get used to it, even if it was a city and full of the oddest smells. The French weren’t nearly as snobby as she’d been led to believe. They even warmed up to the recalcitrant Ula. They loved to flirt and meet people. And since she was Canadian, not American, it was all gravy.
Three young Frenchmen were happy to share information about the metro with Ula. In fact, they escorted her onto the train and sat with her while chatting about the best clubs in Paris. She got three email addresses, two phone numbers, six kisses on the cheeks, and one pinch on her thigh. The pincher had missed his primary objective because she saw his hand approaching and deftly avoided it. Since they had been nice enough, she ignored the groping hand.
The three young Frenchmen got off at St. Michel-Notre Dame with expressive implorations that she join them, which she declined gracefully. After all, Ula knew that when she got tipsy, she was known to nip. And if one of them had laid another wayward hand on her body, she would have done more than nip.
The metro went three more stops before the scent trail went right out the open doors. She knew that Pitch hadn’t been on the same train, but the smell was like a line of string that had rolled away from her. She was fixated on it. It wasn’t like the other scent that had her obsessed, but it was something that was deathly important. She trailed after the crowd that left the station and found herself on a busy Parisian street. People were coming and going and seemingly, no one paid much attention to the lone were standing there with a cane.
Her ankle was aching, but that wasn’t anything new. The bone had healed as it had broken. She needed to see a specialist, a medical doctor who was also an expert on were pathology. Ula didn’t want to waste the two weeks having the surgical procedure and the healing before she went searching for Claire. Ignoring the ache, she shifted to her good leg and leaned on the cane.
A small voice came from beside her, speaking English with a lyrical French accent. “I’ve never seen one of us with a cane before.” It was a young voice, and Ula had felt the child’s presence long before she had spoken. Ula looked and saw a girl who was perhaps ten years old. Ula’s nose told her she was kin to the one at L’Antre de la Bête. Another rat.
“There was an accident,” Ula said. “My ankle was crushed. It healed too quickly.”
The were girl wrinkled her upturned nose. “Have you come to see the Catacombs?” She jerked her head to the buildings across the avenue.
Ula shook her head. The building leading to the underground ossuaries was unobtrusive and the area in front of the three Romanesque arches largely empty. It was far too late for tours, and Parisians had other places to be. “I’ve come to find a man,” Ula said. “A human who is proving to be remarkably elusive.”
“You want to find a human?” the little girl laughed. She motioned at the metro station. “Th
ey’re everywhere and stupid to boot. You should find a nice were and settle down. Have many babies. We need more of our kind in the world.” She nodded at the great lion statue not far away. A lion rising up to strike, it sat boldly in the center of the avenue, a testament to the man who the road was named for. “They make statues of our kind, and they do not even know it. Le Lion de Belfort, oui, but the man was most certainly a were. He held off the Prussians for over a hundred days during the Franco-Prussian War.”
Ula smiled, but it was a grim smile. It was time to stop pussyfooting about. “Do you keep watch?”
“What?”
“For whom are you watching?” Ula said the words slowly.
The little girl growled. Her thin little shoulders settled into a line of determination. “The Council wishes you to know that you are treading on…how did they put it?...thin ice. They think you should return to your province in Canada and your pack and leave well enough alone.”
“I see.” But Ula didn’t really see. “Do you speak for the Council?”
“In this matter, I do,” the little girl said, but Ula had the sense that the little wererat wasn’t little, or a girl at all. It was possible that she wasn’t a rat either.
“All I want is to ask the human a few questions about my sister,” Ula said. “It’s not unreasonable.”
“The Council does not make excuses to a common were,” the wererat said imperiously. “You are crossing a line of your own making.”
Ula leaned on the cane a little more. She stared at the smaller were for a long time. “Why keep the human? Why deny me? Surely the Council’s members have had time to go through the records the think tank kept. They would know what happened to my sister. Why not tell her family the truth?”
And more occurred to Ula. She had the little flash drive and the contents on it. It had been encrypted, however, Ula wasn’t any kind of hacker. But she knew who was, and when he had decrypted the flash drive, he didn’t want to have anything more to do with the situation or with her. The contents were the carrot that Ula was waiting to use on the donkey. The Council hadn’t been at the human’s enclave simply to free the weres. No, it was worse than that.
Crescent Moon Page 5