by Ann Gimpel
“It would.” Meara nodded sharply. If she’d had a beak, she’d have clacked it shut.
“You returned to the nest and did more sleuthing?” Nivkh furled blond brows.
“Indeed I did.”
It didn’t explain why Stewart was part of the greeting party to take Anubis down, but maybe this was enough information for one morning. Jamal let go of Ilona and walked to the Celtic caravan leader.
He held out a hand. “Thanks for keeping him busy. How’d you know what I was about?”
Stewart winked. “I sensed the silver, lad. How’d ye come by it on such short notice?”
“Sloppy housekeeping. It was still in my clothing from our last vampire battle.”
Stewart eyed Ilona with mock severity. “Women like a neat house, but do not drum that out of him.”
She grinned. “Don’t worry.”
Tairin and Elliott joined the group milling about. Cadr and Vreis strode to Stewart, their faces stamped with grim satisfaction. Elliott slugged Jamal’s shoulder. “Excellent demonstration of vampire destruction techniques. We should build on it so long as you kicked that door open—and everyone is here.”
“All my shifters are exceptional warriors. Practical too.” Meara purred her approval.
“Maybe the others.” Elliott waved a dismissive hand. “Being a warrior doesn’t come naturally, and I was practical when I was just a garden variety Rom.”
Meara eyed him with asperity. “Give yourself time. You’ll warm to your shifter magic.”
“I already have. On a more serious note, I counted twelve in that nest we located. Did you discover more when you returned later?”
Meara nodded. “At least fifteen. So we’ll need about forty-five of us to take them out.”
“Last time we used five man groups,” Tairin protested.
“True enough,” Meara agreed, “but we’re stronger now—and wiser. We only need three. Besides, it will be hard to cover the territory between here and there without drawing undue attention.”
“We can shift.” Elliott looked pleased with himself.
“Oh my but you’re green.” Nivkh crossed his arms over his broad chest.
“I’m not sure I catch your meaning.” Elliott bristled. “The shifter part of me might be naïve, but the Romani part isn’t.”
“Think about it,” Nivkh said. “A herd or pride or pack or flock of fifty animals is damn hard to hide. Particularly bears. We’re supposed to be asleep this time of year, not running through the countryside.”
“More than a dozen or so birds would draw attention as well,” Meara agreed. “Not in the spring, but now they’d look out of place.”
“What do ye have in mind?” Stewart asked, his dark eyes gleaming with something untamed.
Meara strode to the pile of bones, all that was left of Anubis. She bent and extracted the silver stake, handing it to Jamal. He wiped it on a clump of gorse grass and dropped it back into his jacket pocket. Stinking smoke still rose from the ruin. Chanting a few words, she flicked her fingers and flames ran the length of the pile of bones. The fire smelled clean after the reek of rot.
Once her fire had taken hold, she turned to Stewart. “Make certain we have fourteen more stakes. Amulet bags would be helpful too. Pick fifteen Romani, one for each vampire. I will select thirty shifters. Once we have our people, we’ll divide into groups and practice for the remainder of today and perhaps tomorrow.
“When we’re confident we’re as good as we can get, we’ll set a path for Berlin. Rather than going right for the nest, though, I believe we should raid Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg first. It’s close enough, it should draw the vampires away from their nesting ground. It may well be easier to kill them that way.” She hesitated long enough to draw breath. “They’ll spread out coming after us, which gives us an advantage over storming their nest.”
“Ambitious.” Nivkh whistled long and low.
“May as well aim high,” Meara countered.
Jamal bent his head close to Ilona’s ear. “Would you like to volunteer? You don’t have to, but I should go. I’ve faced vampires before, and I’m not afraid of them.”
She gripped his hand. “If you’re going, I’m coming too.”
“Excellent.” Elliott walked over to them. “I heard that. Tairin and I will be part of the mission too.”
Meara focused her discerning gaze their way. “Looks as if we have three shifters and one Romani.”
“Three Romani.” Michael stood straight. “Stewart and I will be there.”
“Us too.” Cadr jerked his chin at Vreis.
“Aye.” Vreis grinned, but it wasn’t a warm expression. “Wouldna miss it for the world. I hate those unnatural bastards.”
Meara clasped her hands in front of her. “Nivkh and I will be part of this as well, so he and I will locate twenty-five more shifters.”
“And we’ll come up with ten more Rom,” Stewart said. “Meet back here in an hour.”
Meara’s magic-driven fire was burning itself out as the crowd began to disperse. Trina hurried to Ilona, fanning herself. “Oh my goodness. Wait until I tell Mother. She’ll be sorry she missed all the excitement. It’s like tales she’s spun about her wild girlhood in the Middle East before she moved to Germany.” Trina was still chattering to herself as she strode back toward her wagon.
“We have a little time.” Jamal tucked his hand beneath Ilona’s elbow. “Want to get away from everyone for a little bit?”
“Away from everyone is it?” Tairin closed from one side. Her eyes shone with approval and happiness. “If you two are a couple, let me be the first to offer my congratulations.”
“I’m second.” Elliott smiled broadly.
The dark gray wolf from earlier loped to Jamal and nosed his hand. “I can’t thank you enough for saving my bondmate.”
“No thanks needed,” Jamal replied. “I’m glad I was there.”
“Me too.” The wolf nodded enthusiastically. “We’re going to hunt. Anyone want to join us?”
Elliott looked at Tairin. “What do you think?”
“My wolf thinks it’s a grand idea.”
Elliott dropped a hand on the wolf’s head. Not bothering with telepathy, he said, “We’ll meet you on the southern side of this mesa just outside the barrier. There’s a weak spot right past the corral. Make sure you don’t spook the horses.”
“See you there. I’ll be careful.” Tail pluming, the wolf took off at a lope.
“What’d you do to save his bondmate?” Tairin asked.
Jamal drew his brows into a thick line, low on his forehead. “That shifter is young. Anubis, or the vampire, sensed he was weak and tried to coopt him. When I intervened, ordered the shifter to refuse, the vampire grew angry and sent magic to kill the wolf shifter. Its human part was so terrified, it was powerless, but the wolf asked me for help.”
“Thank the goddess for our animals,” Tairin said.
“Mine glommed onto the hunting suggestion,” Elliott said. “Let’s go.”
Jamal watched them race away.
“If you want to join them, it’s all right,” Ilona said. “I understand. Or I think I do.”
“We’d rather be with you.” Jamal slipped an arm around her and started walking toward the perimeter of the encampment.
“Is that true?” Ilona asked his wolf.
“Most definitely,” the wolf replied.
Jamal smiled. “Didn’t believe me, huh?”
“You might have had a difference of opinion.”
“We sometimes do, but not over something as important as my future mate.”
“Is that what I am?” Spots of color bloomed high on her cheeks.
“I hope so.” He stopped at Michael’s wagon and let go of Ilona long enough to snap up the blankets he’d laid next to it hours before.
“On a more serious note, I had a thought.”
“Dangerous waters.” He set a path for where he hoped they wouldn’t be disturbed for a little while.
“My vis
ion, the tarnished one, happened in Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg. Maybe it validates Meara’s suggestion of us targeting the prison camp rather than the actual nest. Might be an omen that we’ll have clear sailing disrupting the prison.”
“It’s a good thought.” He spread the blankets on a dry, sandy patch of earth beneath a leafless elm tree.
“Looks perfect.” She sank onto the blankets and stretched out her legs. The red marks had totally disappeared from her shoes. Ilona pointed. “That’s just creepy and not much bothers me.”
“You mean the red being gone?” When she nodded, Jamal went on. “Stewart said the magic powering visions like the one you had was different. If the only fallout is shoes that change color—”
“Yeah,” she cut in. “I got off cheap, huh?”
“Do you really want to talk?” He laid down next to her and held out his arms.
Instead of answering, she lay next to him, folded her arms around his back, and angled her face for a kiss.
Savage protectiveness raced through him, and he cradled the woman pressed against him. He’d make certain nothing harmed her. Not now, not ever. He brushed his thumb over her full lower lip, delighting in her nearness.
“You can’t protect me like that.”
He smiled crookedly. “You were in my head.”
“Always. Until I run out of magic.”
“I like the sound of always. And I will protect you, Ilona. Whether you want me to or not. My wolf will too. What’s between us may be new, but you’re ours now.”
Her expressive gray eyes grew soft and dreamy. “This does seem right. It sounds hokey, but it feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life for you.”
Joy streamed from her, and he lapped it up. “It feels right because it is. Let me love you, darling. This might be the last privacy we have for days.”
She snaked a hand between their bodies and cupped his erection. “How can I refuse an invitation like this?” She tightened her grip, and he groaned as sensation shot through him. Someday, they’d have time and privacy for elegant. Right now, urgency trumped everything.
He rucked up her skirts and curved a hand around her vulva. She undid the buttons on his trousers. By the time he knelt above her, her legs were open, body spread before him, waiting.
Jamal plunged deep. Heat closed around him, and he savored the exquisite feeling of being surrounded by her warmth. He let himself down atop her, feeling the firm points of her breasts press into his chest. Just before he closed his mouth over hers and need drove him to thrust hard and fast, he said, “I love you, Ilona.”
“I love you too.” She locked her legs around his hips. “Now move, goddammit. Before I change my mind.”
“Vixen.”
“Only for you.”
Her words were sweet, and they ran through him like a mantra as he brought her to orgasm. For the briefest moment, he thought he might be able to ride out the crest of her passion so they could keep on fucking, but his balls tightened and semen juddered from him.
She snugged her muscles around him, heightening his pleasure as she ground her body against his. Mouth still locked against hers, cock still deep in her body, he held her close, treasuring their connection.
“We need you back here now.” Meara’s voice blasted into his mind.
Ilona laughed. “Even I heard that. Playtime’s over, huh?”
“Apparently so.”
“I suppose we’re lucky she didn’t hunt us down.”
Jamal disentangled arms, legs, and let himself slip from Ilona’s body. “She’d only have interrupted us in person if something dire happened.”
Ilona sat up and ran fingers through her tousled hair. “You know her pretty well?”
“Let’s just say that I’ve spent more time with her than with Anubis over the years. Ready?”
Ilona nodded. Color was high on her face, and she was so lovely it tugged at Jamal’s heart. He stood and then extended a hand to help her up. “I’ll leave the blankets here. Maybe we’ll get lucky and have another break before we leave for Berlin.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed.” She bit her lower lip. “Maybe we shouldn’t return together. Particularly since we both smell like sex.”
“Maybe so, although you made our relationship pretty clear when you threw yourself into my arms after I killed the vampire.”
The color across her cheekbones deepened. “Uh yeah. Guess I did. Okay.” She extended a hand. “If you’re game to flaunt us to the world, I am too.”
“Not just game. Proud. You’re an amazing woman, Ilona. How could I be anything but proud to have you by my side?”
“Hush. You’ll spoil me.”
“That’s the idea.”
He took her hand and walked back to where they’d find the others.
Chapter 15
Magic hammered Ilona from both sides. Her head throbbed, and she was so tired her hands ached from channeling power. She held fast, though, focused on doing her part as she, Jamal, and Gregor, another wolf shifter, grappled with Meara, who pretended to be their vampire adversary. Meara and Nivkh were taking turns circulating among the fifteen groups.
No one was worried about killing SS and camp guards. No need to practice for that, but vampires were a daunting adversary.
Ilona had no idea how the other groups were finessing the job, but she and Gregor immobilized the vampire so Jamal could stake it. They’d practiced scenarios from every imaginable angle as the first shifters challenged them. Their initial attempts had been fumbling, and the mock vampire declared victory more often than not, but this past hour they’d begun to click as a team.
They’d been at it for a while. So long, night had fallen hours ago.
“Got you!” Jamal howled his triumph.
Meara feinted to the side before bowing low. “Indeed you did.” The vulture shifter drew her lips back from her teeth in a show of approval.
“Can’t go into this anything other than running wide open.” Gregor, a powerfully built Hungarian with black hair and hazel eyes dropped his hands onto his knees, sucking air. He was swarthy like Michael, and thickset through the shoulders.
“Glad you figured that out,” Meara muttered. “You may well face more than one vampire, though, so take care not to run your magic dry.”
“What if we have to help one of the other groups?” Jamal asked. “It happened last time, and it’s a likely enough scenario we need to plan for it.”
“We will,” Meara said. “We’re done for tonight, though. Get supper and a decent night’s rest. If practice goes as well tomorrow, we’ll leave tomorrow evening. I figure it will take a week to reach our destination.”
Gregor straightened. “We won’t be in our animal forms. That’s fifty miles a day.”
Meara looked askance at him. “You won’t be shifted, true enough. I plan to fly. The other birds here will too. It’s by far the safest means of travel.”
“How many birds are there?” Ilona asked.
“Eight.”
“All right, so we have to transport thirty-seven of us,” Jamal said. “Horses and wagons are out of the question. We could squeeze into eight or nine cars. Fewer if some of us rode motorcycles.”
“We’ll work all that out before we leave,” Meara said. “Speaking of cars, you never asked, but yours is at the very tail end of a passable road on the north side of this hill.” Reaching into a pocket, she tossed him a set of keys. “Good night.”
Ilona watched her walk briskly into the darkness. “She’s amazing. You’re lucky to have her. Once long ago, if the old tales are true, we had powerful Romani to lead us, but our magic has waned.”
“You’re strong for a Romani.” Gregor’s comment held a grudging edge. He nodded and started to walk away.
“Would you like to have supper with us?” Ilona called after him. They were a team, after all, and it didn’t seem right not to share provisions.
Gregor turned and raked his hands through his hair. His astute hazel gaze settled
first on her, and then on Jamal. “You two are a couple, eh?”
Jamal stalked toward him. “Watch what you say. She will be my wife. My mate.”
“It’s not our way.”
Ilona hurried to where they stood. “If you’d rather be reassigned—” she began, feeling uncertain.
“No need for that. I can fight next to you, but we’re not going to break bread or become friends.” He moved his attention to Jamal. “We mate with other shifters for a reason. So our blood doesn’t grow diluted. You heard her.” He pointed at Ilona. “Rom magic is on the decline.”
“Not because we married outside the blood,” she cut in. Defensiveness for her people ran hot, and uncertainty ceded to growing anger.
Gregor transferred his extended finger to Jamal, thumping his chest. “Why do you want feeble children? What does your wolf say about all this?”
“I’m not going to dignify either of those questions with a reply. Leaving now is a good idea,” Jamal growled. Tension spiked from him until Ilona feared he’d shift and leap on the other shifter.
“It was what I was doing when the Romani asked about dinner.”
“I was being polite,” Ilona hissed. “A skill that you lack.”
“Would you rather I lied?” he countered. “Manners have nothing to do with this. I don’t believe in mixed matings. Nothing either of you can say will change that. And it’s not just me. Very few shifters here would bless such a union. Many would be unwilling to work side by side with you. Jamal may not want to admit that, but he knows. He lived among us for centuries. Long enough to understand our laws and customs.”
Heated words sat just on the inside of her throat, but Ilona held them back. They had to work with this man—or another shifter who’d likely hold the same views. She ground her teeth together while Gregor stalked into the night.
“I’m sorry.” Jamal’s voice was low, edgy.
“What are you sorry about?” She circled until she faced him.
“He was rude to you. Insolent.”
Ilona drew in a deep breath. “No. He was rude to both of us, but he was also correct. He’s not the only one who feels that way. Hell, if we polled the Romani here, they’d mostly have the same reaction. Meara may have decreed that we’re allies, but old conceptions and beliefs will take time to fade.”