by Ann Gimpel
Ilona frowned. “That they did. It was like once they had me, they owned me. They were furious when I found a way out of there. Or maybe they felt cheated because I wasn’t Rom anymore, and it meant they had to let me leave. Back to Aron, though. A vampire was feeding off him. Will it have some kind of retroactive effect?”
“Stewart didn’t think so. In a backhanded way, that might be the only reason Aron was still alive when you got there. Most of the vampire essence has faded, though. If you asked Aron, he might tell you he misses the added boost to his magic.”
“Whew! Thank the goddess he’ll be all right. When I got swept into the dream world again, I had no idea why—until I found him.”
“If we hadn’t followed you with those spirit guides in tow tracking your blood, you probably would have been fine.”
She shook her head. “No. I couldn’t figure out how to bring Aron back with me. I didn’t have enough magic. We’d just gotten to the point of me deciding I needed to unlock the cell and shroud us with invisibility so we could get out of the prison camp when you showed up.”
He gripped her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. The small action reinforced that she was really and truly back here with him. “As they say, all’s well that ends well.”
“Ah, but we’re far from the endgame with all this.” She chewed her lower lip. “Will I still have seer ability?”
“Probably. In truth I don’t know, but Meara is a seer, and I’ve known other shifters with that particular magic. Elliott’s prophetic magic remained after he became one of us.”
“Good to know. Even if I lost that gift, Aron has psychic ability. He’s untrained, but the potential is there. I suppose he inherited it from Mother, same as me.”
They made their way to the central gathering area. Someone had kindled a fire in the pit and greetings flowed. Everyone wanted to hug Ilona or grasp her hand. He felt the suppressed emotion in her, saw it in the sheen of tears across her eyes.
Meara motioned them toward her, and Ilona said, “May I thank everyone?”
“Be quick about it,” Meara replied, her manner abrupt but not unkind in vintage Meara style.
Ilona made her way around the circle, positioning herself so everyone could see her. “I want to thank all of you. Jamal told me how you laid aside your differences and gave unstintingly of your magic to bring me back among you. My wolf and I appreciate everything you did.”
She took a breath before going on. “I was Romani for twenty-seven years. Now I’m a shifter. This will take time to sort out and get used to, but I will fight just as hard for you as you did for me. My wolf promises it will as well.”
Cheers followed her as she made her way back to Jamal’s side.
Even Meara offered an approving nod. She raised her hands, and the crowd fell silent. “These past days were excellent practice working together. Building on that teamwork, we’ll storm Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg as originally planned.”
Nivkh joined her. “We will spend what remains of today making certain our group assignments are sound. Assuming nothing untoward occurs, we will leave tonight. I connected with several bear shifters who own transport vehicles with covered flatbeds. They’ll be waiting for us later today a few miles down the mountainside where there’re decent roads.”
“Questions?” Meara glanced around the crowd. When no one spoke up, she flapped both hands. “Get moving. Find your groups.”
Jamal headed for where they’d practiced before. Ilona kept pace next to him. “Just so you’re not surprised, Aron added himself to our group,” Jamal said. “Not that we’ve had any time to prepare for staking vampires, but he found out about the raid on Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg, announced he was going, and made it most clear he’d either take your place or fight alongside you.”
Ilona rolled her expressive eyes. “That would be Aron. He’s always been strong-willed.”
“Must run in the family.” Jamal sent a pointed glance zinging her way and she laughed.
Gregor was waiting for them. He strode straight toward Ilona with purpose burning behind his eyes. Jamal inserted himself between them. “Watch yourself, man.”
“Really?” Gregor skewered him with annoyed hazel eyes and pushed around him, holding out a hand. “Welcome to the pack, sister.”
Ilona stared at his outstretched hand, but didn’t make a move to grasp it. “That’s the same thing Meara said to me.”
Gregor nodded. “It’s a standard greeting for new shifters.” He dropped his arm to his side. “Look, Ilona, I’m sorry. I’d have offered my hand even if you were still Romani. I learned a lot about myself over the time you were gone. I was wrong. Many of the ways shifters—and Romani—have treated each other needs correcting. I can’t do anything about anyone else, but I do have control over what I do. How about it?” He stuck out his hand again.
Ilona grasped it. “I’m sorry too.”
“For what?” Gregor released her hand.
“I reacted, got angry. Didn’t even try to understand.”
“I’m here.” Aron ran to them, breathing hard. “I want to practice. You guys have had a chance to blend your magic, but—”
“Whoa, youngster.” Jamal ruffled his hair. “You’re a pretty important cog in this wheel. We need your Rom magic to strengthen what we have.”
Aron’s gaunt face split into a brilliant smile, and he mock bowed. “At your service, sir shifter.”
It was a great note to begin on, so Jamal mapped out their first drill.
Night had fallen hours earlier. Jamal, Ilona, Gregor, and Aron were bunched into the back of one of the transport trucks along with two other groups of three. Cadr and Vreis were there, but Jamal didn’t know the others. They had three amulets among them—only one for each group—but plenty of silver stakes. Although bumpy, the ride wasn’t too uncomfortable since the rough, wooden truck bed was cushioned with stacks of blankets.
So far, no one had stopped them, and they’d passed through several gated checkpoints. Jamal suspected the driver, who was a bear shifter, had employed magic to confuse the guards. Either that, or he’d levied suggestion, which would have had the same effect.
The truck had pulled off the road a few minutes before. Trees grew thickly, providing at least some cover. According to the driver, they were about fifty miles north of Munich, which was better than he’d hoped they’d do. Jamal grabbed a stack of blankets and jumped down from the truck’s high bed. Ilona followed him with Aron by her side.
Gregor shifted and melted into the woods, presumably to hunt. Everyone else bedded down in the truck.
Jamal had hoped for a few hours of privacy with Ilona, but he would never tell her brother to go away. He idolized his sister, and his delight at being reunited with her was apparent. Locating a tight grove of evergreens that shielded them from all sides, Jamal spread out the blankets. Aron snatched up one of them and started back the way they’d come.
“Hey!” Jamal called after him, keeping his voice soft. “Where are you going?”
Aron turned back long enough to flash a smile at Jamal. “I’m not that young. I understand plenty. If I’m too close, I’ll put a crimp in things between you and Sissy.”
“Don’t be silly,” Ilona began.
“I’m not. I won’t be far. Don’t worry, if the bogeyman comes for me, I’ll squeal like a scalded cat.” He waved jauntily before disappearing into the darkness.
“Do you think he’ll be all right?” Jamal asked, not wanting to court danger for the young Rom, whose spirit was cheerful and infectious. No one remained gloomy for long when Aron was nearby.
Ilona nodded. “Yeah. He’s resourceful. Besides, the driver said we’d be on the move in just a few hours. Four in the morning, wasn’t it?”
She laid down on a blanket and held out her arms. Moonlight played over her dark hair and striking features, casting them in bas-relief. Ilona opened her arms. “Neither of us knows what the next few days will bring.”
He lay next to her and envelope
d her in a heartfelt embrace. She wove her outstretched arms around him. The feel of her pressed the length of his body was heady, intoxicating. Her wildflower scent rose, surrounding them with its alluring fragrance.
“Ilona, liebchen.” He stroked hair back from her face and cradled her head in his hand. “I love you. You’ll live a long time now that you’re a shifter. Many human lifetimes for us to be together.”
“I hope so.” Her gray eyes softened with tenderness. “I— I love you too.” A soft smile gathered at the corners of her mouth. “That makes twice I’ve told you, and so far I haven’t choked on the words. I’ve never cared deeply for a man before.”
“I’m honored.”
Her full lips parted in clear invitation, and he settled his mouth over them. He wanted to be gentle, take things slow, but he’d almost lost her and the specter of how close a call they’d had made every moment with her precious. Made him want to devour her with kisses. Made him want to run away with her, take her where no one could ever harm her again.
For once, she wasn’t in his head. Running might preserve their lives, but it would never happen. They’d fight alongside their people.
Her lips moved against his, rich with promise, and she opened her mouth, welcoming him. Jamal stopped thinking about anything beyond the magic and wonder of the woman next to him. He trailed kisses down her face and neck, licking the hollow in her throat. He’d seen her naked body today after she shifted, and an image of her high, full breasts with their brown, puckery nipples drove him to pull her tunic up so he could take them into his mouth.
She pressed into his kisses, capturing the back of his head in both hands as he moved from breast to breast. Her nipples grew long and hard as he laved them with his tongue, and his cock shot to attention. It was uncomfortable, bent at an odd angle inside his trousers, so he reached a hand to free himself. The slight touch of his fingers sent sensation cascading through him.
Ilona wrenched away from his mouth long enough to turn in a half circle so she could push his hand away from his ridged flesh, replacing it with her own. Heat circled his glans as she took him into her mouth, kissing and sucking.
He thrust against her touch, hips moving of their own accord, and pressed a hand beneath her skirts and between her legs. Slick heat met his questing fingers and he pushed them into the dark, magical place deep inside her. She tightened around his fingers and sucked harder on his cock.
His heart leapt into triple rhythm, thudding against his chest. A familiar tightening in his balls told him it was time to up the ante. If he didn’t get inside her, he’d come in her mouth.
“Let go and turn over.” His voice held a raspy edge, thick with wanting her.
She lifted her head, but didn’t let go of him. “Turn over how?” she asked breathlessly.
“Up to you, but hurry. I have to be inside you.”
She twisted out of his grasp and smiled much as he imagined one of the Sirens might just before flipping over and getting on her knees. Her rucked up skirts displayed the perfect globes of her ass. Between them, her sex gleamed in the moonlight, surrounded by dark spiky curls.
Jamal groaned and heaved forward, unable to resist. Wrapping a hand around himself, he guided his cock into the scorching heat of her body, shuddering as she closed around him. Fully encased, he reached forward and rubbed her distended nub.
Ilona arched her back and rocked against him. He withdrew and plumbed her, walking a fine edge. Too much more stimulation, and he’d be lost. Her nub swelled under his touch, stiffening still more. Ilona muffled a cry just before her body dissolved around him in a flood of heat and quivering muscles.
He rode it out and kept touching her, determined to bring her to a second peak before he gave in to his own need. She closed a hand over the one he stroked her with, altering his rhythm and cadence. So lost in lust, the world could have ended and he wouldn’t have noticed, Jamal drove into her, and she met him stroke for stroke. Just when he didn’t see how he could stave off his climax for even ten more seconds, she convulsed around his shaft, and he let himself go.
Semen pulsed from him in a climax so intense he wanted it to last forever, sure if it did he’d be transported to another world.
Breathing as if he’d just run a race, he let himself down atop her and rolled them onto their sides. “That was amazing, incredible. We could do this all night, but we should sleep.”
She tightened her body around his cock still buried within her. “Thanks for being you.”
“You and Elliott prove something,” he said.
“What’s that?” she asked, her voice sleepy.
“It hit me front and center when you said thanks for being you.”
“Sorry, I’m dead on my feet. You need to say more.”
“It’s pretty simple, really. You’re the same person, whether you’re a shifter or a Romani. Elliott too. Who we are transcends our magic. Makes the animosity between our people seem ridiculous.”
Ilona snuggled closer. “I fell in love with a philosopher.”
“And I fell in love with the most incredible woman ever. I’ll shut up now, so we can both catch a few hours’ rest.”
“Make sure we’re up in time.”
“Promise.”
Jamal tightened his hold on her. The next days would be hard, but he’d make certain nothing happened to Ilona or her brother. No matter what the cost.
“We’ll make sure,” his wolf spoke up. “You never asked me formally, but I approve of her as your mate.”
“I already knew that.”
“How?”
“You’d never have found her a bond animal of her own if you didn’t already believe she was part of our pack.”
The wolf whuffled softly, and its contentment lulled Jamal to sleep.
Chapter 19
Three Days Later
Half a Mile from Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg
Ilona was invisible, but she still felt exposed in the late morning light. Their groups were approaching the prison camp from different angles on foot, having left the trucks a mile or so back. They’d done the best they could to conceal the five large vehicles, and Ilona hoped to hell that they’d still be there when they were done. It would be a long walk home, otherwise.
A thought struck her. She didn’t really have a home. Not anymore. The plan was to regroup behind the magical barrier with the gypsies and shifters who’d remained behind, but she had no idea if she’d ever see that place again.
My home is with Jamal now. And Aron.
They hadn’t discussed it, not in so many words, but if things blew up on them, they’d remain together and find safety as best they could. Gregor would be more than welcome to throw his lot in with them—if he were so inclined.
Early this morning, the bird shifters had flown an aerial reconnaissance, which identified three gates. The birds hadn’t seen any vampires when they overflew the facility, but that didn’t meant they weren’t there. They could have been masking their energy in one of the many buildings or regrouping in a nest somewhere nearby. Regardless, each group had at least one amulet and many silver stakes.
The rest of the journey from southern Germany had been nerve-wracking. Their luck from the first day hadn’t held, and they’d been stopped multiple times. One stop turned into a bloody skirmish, and they’d killed all five guards. The confrontation provided opportunity, though. Their driver stole a uniform from a burly dead German. Things had grown easier after that since he’d taken the man’s papers too and told the next checkpoint stops he was transporting prisoners to Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg.
A few guards had peeked into the back of the truck, but no one gave them any more grief after that. Everyone was on edge, though. Every single time the truck had rolled to a halt and they heard their driver barking answers, Ilona’s stomach clenched into a hard, painful knot. When they’d finally met up with the other trucks in the middle of last night, everyone had similar stories to tell.
Their driver wasn’t the
only one sporting a purloined German uniform.
She wrenched her attention back to the present. This was more than a quick raid. If they were successful, every German solder inside the camp wouldn’t live to see the moon rise, and the prisoners would walk free.
It was a bold plan, outlined by Meara, Nivkh, and Stewart in the wee small hours before dawn. Their logic made sense. It had been far harder to get here than anyone anticipated. So long as they were here, dealing out maximum damage was the only reasonable approach. They wouldn’t be returning.
They’d move inside, strike fast and hard, and make a run for the trucks before anyone could raise an alarm. Stewart’s first stop would be the communications building, and by now he’d probably already cut the phone and power lines.
Not that the German officers couldn’t drive to secure reinforcements, but by the time they returned, it would be too late. The damage would be done, and the shifters and Romani long gone.
She hoped.
Jamal walked on one side of her, Aron the other. Gregor was in front, his gaze darting from side to side as he assessed danger. She felt his wolf hovering close to the surface.
As if thinking about Gregor’s wolf drew her own, it said, “Shift. I’m a better fighter than you.”
“It may come to that,” she told it.
“If it does, don’t wait too long. Remember, it takes time to fully shift, and we’re vulnerable during the transition. Particularly to vampires. They can trap us between forms and kill us that way.”
“Got it.” Her mouth was dry and her hands clammy. She flexed her fingers to encourage the rest of her muscles to loosen.
“Look at that!” Gregor pointed at a small, side door that had just opened in the prison camp’s outer wall. He darted forward, and the rest of them followed.
It wasn’t one of the three main entrances Meara had sketched in the dirt for them, but it would do. Uniformed officers hustled an oblong box that looked heavy out the door and left it standing open. Who knew? Maybe there were other boxes inside, and they were returning to move them as well.