Gregory was suddenly there, pale fur caught between the multicolored snakes. He fell on top of me, with one of the things on top of him ripping him up. He never tried to defend himself; he clawed at the one riding me, tore it away from me, and the three of them fought on top of me. There was a moment when Gregory’s eyes and that snarling mouth were inches from mine. We were pressed as close as lovers, and I knew that the claws in me were his. He’d fallen against me, been pushed into my flesh. Then other hands were pulling us all apart. I had a glimpse of Jamil’s face, saw his lips move, but there was no sound. Then blackness swirled over my vision and ate everything but a dim, dim spot of light. Then even that vanished, and there was nothing but the dark.
8
I DREAMED I was running, being chased through the woods at night. I could hear them coming closer, closer, and I knew that what chased me wasn’t human. Then I fell to the ground and I was running on four feet. I chased the pale thing that fled before me. The soft thing that had no claws, no teeth, and smelled wonderfully of fear. It fell, and its scream was shrill, it hurt my ears, and excited me. My fangs sank into flesh and did not stop until they tore meat. Blood poured scalding hot down my throat, and the dream faded.
I was in Narcissus’s bedroom on the black bed. Jean-Claude was tied, standing between the posts at the end of the bed. His chest was bare, covered in claw marks, blood running down his skin. I crawled across the bed towards him, and I wasn’t afraid, because all I could smell was the sweet copper scent of blood. He stared at me with eyes gone solid, drowning blue. “Kiss me, ma petite.”
I rose on my knees, my mouth hovering over his lips. He moved towards me, but I stayed out of reach of those kissable lips. I moved my mouth lower, until it was just above his chest and the fresh wounds that decorated his skin. “Yes, ma petite, yes,” he sighed.
I pressed my mouth to his chest and drank. I woke, eyes staring, heart thudding. It was Richard above me. He still had the leather collar on. I tried to raise my arms, to hold him, but my left arm was taped to a board. There was an I.V. in my arm. I looked at the darkened room and knew I wasn’t in a hospital. I raised my right arm to touch his face, but it was heavy, too heavy to lift. Darkness spilled over my eyes like warm water rushing in, as my fingertips brushed his skin.
I heard his voice. “Rest, Anita, rest.” I think he kissed me, gently, then there was nothing.
I was wading in water to my waist, clear, icy water. I knew I had to get out of the water or I’d die, the cold would steal me away. I could see the shore, dead trees, and snow. I ran for those distant trees, struggling in the icy water. Then my feet went out from under me, and I fell into a deep hole. The water closed over my face, and the shock of the cold hit me like a giant fist. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. The light faded through the clear, shining water. I began to drift down, down into the cold dark water. I should have been scared, but I wasn’t. I was so tired, so tired.
Pale hands reached for me, coming from the light. The sleeve of the white shirt billowed around his arm, and I moved my hand towards him. Jean-Claude’s hand wrapped around mine, and he pulled me towards the light.
I was back in the dark room, but my skin was wet, and I was cold, so cold. Jean-Claude was cradling me in his lap. He was still wearing the vinyl outfit. Then I remembered the fight. I’d been hurt. Jean-Claude leaned over and kissed my forehead, laying his face against mine. His skin was as cold as I felt—like ice pressed against me. The shivering was worse; my body danced in small involuntary movements.
“Cold,” I said.
“I know, ma petite, we are both cold.”
I frowned at him, because I didn’t understand. He was looking at someone else in the room. “I have brought her back, but I cannot give her the warmth she needs to survive.”
I managed to turn my head enough to look around the room. Richard was standing there with Jamil and Shang-Da and Gregory. Richard came to the bed; his hand touched my face. It was hot against my skin. It was too much, and I tried to move away from his hand.
“Anita, can you hear me?”
My teeth were chattering so hard, I could hardly get it out, but finally I said, “Yes.”
“You’ve got a high fever, a very high fever. They put you in a shallow ice bath to bring it down. But your body reacted like a shapeshifter’s. The low temperature while so much damage was healing almost killed you.”
I frowned at him and finally managed to say, “Don’t understand.” The involuntary jerks were getting stronger, strong enough that it hurt the wounds. I was waking up enough to feel how very hurt I was. Things hurt that I didn’t remember getting injured. My muscles ached.
“You need the high temperature to heal, just like we do.”
I didn’t understand who the “we” was. “Who . . .” and a spasm shook my body, tore a scream from my mouth. My body fell into convulsions and pain smashed through me. If I could have breathed, I’d have screamed more. My vision began to disappear in large gray patches.
“Get the doctor!” Richard’s voice.
“You know what must be done, mon ami.”
“If this works, then I’ve lost her.”
My vision cleared for a few seconds. Richard was stripping out of the tight pants. It was the last thing I saw before the gray swept up over my eyes and sucked me down.
9
I THOUGHT I dreamed, but I wasn’t sure. There were faces in the dark, some of them I knew, some of them I didn’t. Cherry with her short blond hair, her face free of makeup, making her look years younger than either of us were. Gregory touching my face. Jamil resting beside me, curled like a dark dream. I drifted in and out, from face to face, body to body, because I could feel their bodies pressed against mine. Naked skin against naked skin. It wasn’t sexual, or not overtly so. I woke, if I woke, enough to know it was Richard’s arms wrapped around me, my body fitting like a spoon against his, his thick hair spilled across my eyes. I slept, knowing I was safe.
I woke slowly, in a cocoon of body heat and that prickling rush of lycanthrope energy. I tried to roll over and found the press of flesh kept me pinned on my side. I opened my eyes. The room was dark, with a small light near the wall like a child’s night-light. My night vision was good enough to be able to see color by it. A man I didn’t know was curled against the front of my body. His face was pressed into my shoulder just above my breasts, his breath hot against my skin. Normally, it would have been my cue to panic and run for the hills, but I just didn’t feel like panicking. I felt warm and safe, and more . . . right than I’d felt in a long time, as if I were wearing a favorite pair of flannel jammies, wrapped in my favorite quilt. It was that kind of comfort, that kind of peacefulness. Even the sight of the arm around my waist from behind didn’t disturb me. Maybe Dr. Lillian had slipped me some medicine that made everything feel okay. All I know was that I didn’t want to move. It was like when you first wake in the morning and there’s nowhere you have to be, nothing you have to do, and you can float in that half-awake, half-asleep, warm-nest-of-blankets feeling.
The arm around my waist was muscled, definitely masculine, but small, not just the hand, but the whole arm. The skin was tanned and looked darker than it should have against the paleness of my skin. I relaxed against the warm bulk of the body, where it lay spooned against mine. The fact that I was okay sleeping in a three-way naked sandwich, with me in the middle, told me beyond a doubt that I was on some kind of drug. I’d woken up wearing a lot more clothes, and been a whole lot more embarrassed.
I assumed they were both werewolves. It was a big pack, and I didn’t know everyone on sight. I was bathed in their energy, as if hot invisible water flowed around the three of us. I remembered being hurt, the claws digging under my sternum. My gaze traveled down my own body and found a ragged circle of pinkish scar tissue where the snake had dug for my heart. There was a dull ache, but the scar was already pink and shiny, flat to my skin. How long had I been out?
I kept waiting for the panic to wash o
ver me, the embarrassment. When it didn’t, I looked at the first man, truly looking at him this time. He had rich brown curls cut short in the back, but long on top, so the curls tickled my skin as he made a small movement in his sleep. He was tanned so darkly that his skin almost matched his hair. The one eyebrow I could see had a tiny ring piercing it. One of his knees pinned my lower leg, one hand lay limply on my bare thigh. I think it was his leg being raised and a turn of his hips that saved me from seeing the whole show. What little modesty I had left was grateful. Whatever had kept me comfortable was beginning to wear off. Maybe I was simply waking up.
The rest of his front was pressed so close to me I couldn’t see any details. The line of his back and buttocks was smooth, flawless. No tan lines. Nude sunbathing? The body looked young—early twenties—if that. He was taller than me—who wasn’t?—but not by much. Five seven, maybe less. He stirred, the hand on my thigh flexing as if he dreamed, then suddenly I knew he was awake. A tension ran through his body that hadn’t been there seconds before. I was suddenly wide awake, my heart thudding. I had about two seconds to wonder what the hell you say to someone you’ve never met when you wake up naked in bed beside him. He opened the eye I could see and moved his face enough to blink two solid brown eyes at me.
He gave a slow lazy smile, still half asleep. “I’ve never seen you awake before.”
I said the only thing that came to mind. “I don’t remember seeing you at all before. Who are you?”
“Caleb. I’m Caleb.”
I nodded and started to sit up. I was getting out of this bed. The comforting warmth was still there, but my embarrassment was stronger. I just wasn’t cool enough to keep talking to a strange, naked man, while I was naked, too. Nope, just not sophisticated enough for this one.
The arm around my waist tightened, holding me against the second man, and the bed. Caleb’s knee on my leg got heavier, sliding farther between mine. I could suddenly feel parts of his body that I couldn’t see. I think I’d have rather seen the whole show than had it pressed against my very upper thigh. Alright, groin, just not the right part to make me start hurting him, not yet. The hand that had been lying on my thigh was suddenly gripping it. It made my pulse speed up. It was too close to being trapped.
“Everybody be calm,” I said, “but I need to get up and out of this bed now.”
The body behind me moved. Even though I wasn’t able to see it, I knew he was propped on one elbow, and the arm around my waist tightened. I was suddenly pressed very firmly against his body, and I knew several things. One, he was about my height, because he spooned perfectly against me; two, he was slender, muscular, and very happy to be pressed to my body. Eeek! I turned towards him like I was looking back at a noise in the dark at a horror movie—slowly, half-dreading. His face rose over my shoulder, long hair spilling to one side of his face in a thick mass that was so sleep-tousled I couldn’t tell if it was waves or curls, only that it was a dark rich brown, darker than the first man’s, almost brunette. His face was too triangular, almost too delicate, crossing that line into androgyny, the nose perky, a little less than perfect, his mouth wide, bottom lip thick and pouting. It was a sensual face. But it was the eyes that made the face, or ruined it. My first thought was that his eyes were yellow. But there was a thick ring of gray green around the pupil; the overall effect was a deep golden yellow-green set in a tanned face. They weren’t human eyes, and don’t ask me how I knew, but they weren’t wolf eyes either.
I scrambled out from between them. My left arm protested the use, but it didn’t hurt enough to outweigh my embarrassment. It wasn’t a graceful exit, but at least I was standing at the foot of the bed staring down at the two men instead of sandwiched between them. Screw graceful, I wanted some clothes.
“Don’t be afraid, Anita. We don’t mean you any harm,” the second man said.
I was trying to keep an eye on them and still search the dimly lit room for clothes. I didn’t see any. The only cloth in the room seemed to be the sheet, and they were lying on that. I had a horrible urge to cover myself, but two hands weren’t going to get the job done, and standing there with my hands cupped over my groin seemed somehow more embarrassing than just standing there. I suddenly didn’t know what to do with my hands. My left arm ached in a line from my shoulder nearly to my wrist, a tracery of pink, flat scars down my flesh. “Who are you?” My voice came out a little breathy.
“I’m Micah Callahan.” His voice was calm, ordinary, as he lay on his side completely naked. No one does comfortable nudity like a shapeshifter. His shoulders were narrow, everything about him slender, almost feminine. But muscles showed under his skin even at rest, lean muscle, not bulk. You knew at a glance he was strong, but if he were wearing clothes, you might not see it. There were other things you wouldn’t see if he had his clothes on. And although the rest of him was slender, small, graceful in a way that women are graceful, parts of him were definitely not small, not slender. It seemed incongruous with the rest of him. As if mother nature had tried to make up for the feminine appearance by overcompensating in other areas. Noticing just how overcompensated he was brought heat in a rush up my face, and I glanced away, tried to both keep an eye on them in case they got off the bed and not look at them at the same time. It’s hard to look and not to look, but I managed.
“This is Caleb,” he said.
Caleb rolled onto his back and stretched like a big cat, making sure that, if I hadn’t noticed already, he was naked, too. I had noticed. What looked like a tiny silver dumbbell pierced his belly button. That I hadn’t seen. “We already introduced ourselves,” Caleb said, that one innocent sentence sounding anything but innocent. Something in the tone he used, an inflection, while he rolled around on his back and waved himself at me, made the words obscene. I was willing to bet I wasn’t going to like Caleb.
“Great, nice to meet you both.” I still couldn’t figure out what to do with my hands. “What are you doing here?”
“Sleeping with you,” Caleb said.
The blush that had been almost gone flamed back to life. He laughed. Micah didn’t. Point for him.
In fact, Micah sat up, bending a knee to cover himself, which earned him even more points. Caleb stayed on his back, flaunting himself. “There’s a robe in the corner there,” Micah said.
I glanced back where he was looking, and sure enough there was a robe. It was my robe, a deep, rich burgundy, with satin edgings, very masculine, like a long Victorian smoking jacket. When I lifted it up, there was a weight in one deep pocket. I had to fight the urge to turn my back to slip the robe on. They’d already seen the whole show. It wasn’t like I could express my modesty now. When I had the robe belted in place, I slipped my hands into the pockets and my right hand closed around my derringer. Or at least I assumed it was mine; it was my robe. The only person I knew who’d think to leave a gun for me was Edward, and he, as far as I knew, was out of state. But someone had thought of it, and I was very glad. I had clothes and a weapon, life was good.
“Hi, Micah Callahan, nice to meet you. But the name doesn’t tell me who you are.”
“I am Nimir-Raj for the Maneater Clan,” Micah said.
I blinked at him, trying to digest that little tidbit. I wasn’t embarrassed anymore. Surprised, working on angry, maybe. “I am Nimir-Ra of the Blooddrinkers Clan, and I don’t remember inviting you into my territory, Mr. Callahan.”
“You didn’t.”
“Then what the hell are you doing here without my permission?” The first edge of anger threaded through my voice, and I was happy to hear it. Being angry made everything else easier to handle, even talking to two naked strangers.
“Elizabeth invited me,” he said.
The anger rushed through me like a warm wind, and it touched that edge of beast that I’d thought was Richard’s. I’d learned at the club however many nights ago it was that it was a permanent resident inside me now. Richard’s beast, or mine, it flared through my body and raised above my skin like a sheen
of invisible sweat. The men reacted to the power. Caleb sat up, his gaze suddenly intent on me, no teasing now. Micah sniffed at the air, nostril’s flaring, his tongue running around the edge of his lips as if he could taste it against his skin.
Strong emotions always make the power worse, and I was so angry. I already owed Elizabeth for abandoning Nathaniel at the club. But now . . . she’d finally done something that I could not let slide.
Part of me was almost relieved, because things would be easier with Elizabeth dead. A tiny part of me was hoping not to have to kill her, but I just couldn’t see how to avoid it anymore.
It must have shown on my face, because Callahan said, “I didn’t know that her pard had a Nimir-Ra when I came here. She was their old alpha’s second. It was within her rights to audition a new alpha for her pard.”
“She just forgot to mention that the pard already had a Nimir-Ra, is that it?” I asked.
“That’s it,” he said.
“Really,” I said, making sure the sarcasm was thick.
He stood beside the bed. I managed to keep the eye contact pure, but it was harder than it should have been. “I did not know until three nights ago when Cherry knocked on Elizabeth’s door and asked her to come help heal you that you even existed.”
“Bullshit,” I said.
“I swear it,” he said.
My hand closed around the derringer, felt its comforting weight. I had a moment to wonder what ammo it was loaded with; .38 or .22. I hoped it was .38, it had more stopping power. My left arm gave a twinge like the muscle was trying to jump apart. Tension, or had I permanently injured myself? I’d worry about it later, when I wasn’t staring at two wereleopards that might, or might not, be my buddies. “You say you really didn’t know about me before you hit town. Great, but why are you still here?”
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