He spun on his heels and started out of the room. “You’re scheduled to work at the bar tonight.” He opened the door, hesitating a moment, “so get dressed and get over there.”
She rubbed her eyes as the door slammed behind him. The need to run and escape him went through her, but no solution came to mind. If she was to leave the chances of her family finding her would increase and she knew she couldn’t go back.
The noise of the crowd beat against her, already testing her patience when she entered the bar. A hand squeezed her ass as she passed a group of males and a snarl escaped her lips. She never could understand the human need to paw at a female. Pushing the short door open to allow her access behind the bar, she nodded to Mae who stood with a customer at the other end. Kass fell into the rhythm of the bar, working with the beat of the music, serving drinks to those who made their way to the bar and flirting with those she deemed worthy. She paused as a scent crossed her nose. Her head shot up, eyes searching the crowd as her panther tried to swim to the surface as the male’s scent surrounded them. The bottle of vodka in her hand shattered against the tiled floor as she stumbled.
“Fuck.” She hissed trying to force the beast down, but it pushed against the barrier, pain coursing through her body.
Mae hand was on Kass’ back in an instant. “Kass?”
“Fine, I’m fine.” She groaned, trying to control her cat. “Panther.”
Mae ushered her to the back door, shoving their way through the crowd. “Outside, get some fresh air.” Gain control remained unsaid, but Kass knew what Mae was getting at.
She bobbed her head, doubling over as the painful pressure built in her, as if her panther was pushing her way out. Stumbling outside, the first gasp of cold air helped her panther start to settle. Kass leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and forcing her body to breathe, with each breath the panther receded.
Jaxon fought his way through the sea of people playing pool trying to get to the bar where he knew Kass would be. The panther counter part pushed him forward, it wanted to be near her and acted as if something had happened to her, and he wasn’t one to argue with his beast. He approached just in time to see another female take Kass to the back door.
‘Does she work for Lucius as well, does she know about his wishes?’ He shook the thoughts from his head and started weaving through the crowd, determined to get to Kass. Nodding to the other bartender, he made his way out the back door and tried not to make a scene.
He looked to his left and saw his gorgeous red head doing some deep breathing routine. Kass’ breath hitched and she hunched over, grasping at her chest.
“You stupid cat,” she screamed, her eyes widened as she spotted Jax. “No, no you can’t be here, we can’t be seen together.” Her face was coated in a thin shimmer of sweat and when she tried to scoot away she doubled over in pain again.
Jax went to her. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he tried not to jerk as a shock went through him. His beast stirred, curious as to what was bothering the female. Jax took a breath and calmed, coaxed his beast into staying in. “Your beast?”
“Can’t control it.” She scrubbed at her face as she calmed. “What did you do?”
“My touch calms you because our beasts call out to each other.”
She jerked away from him but doubled over again. “Not possible.”
Jax grabbed her arm and slammed her up against the wall, crushing his lips to hers. He forced her lips to part with his tongue and coaxed her to return the kiss. With a swirl of grace, Kass quit pushing against him and wrapped a hand around his neck, holding him to her.
When he pulled back she was trying to catch her breath. “What the hell, she liked that. She never likes being pushed.”
“She wants my beast.” He laughed and nuzzled her neck. “Lucius is going to have a hell of a time keeping us apart.” He felt her tense under him and her scent changed to fear. He cocked his head at her. “You fear him, but your panther respects him. There are two different emotions going on in you.”
“Welcome to the ongoing battle.” She whispered. “Until I admit that he is my master, and I am his killer, I will be separate from the panther. Two different halves, one soul, two forms. It’s like being a new shifter all over again. I hate it.” She fisted her hands in his shirt.
He brushed a hand down her cheek, backing away so she wasn’t up against the wall. “How long?”
“Two years.” She closed her eyes. “I’m not happy about it either, but it’s better than-“ She shook her head. “I can’t tell you this. I have to go.” Kass let go of him and tried to move pass him, but he caught her with an arm around her waist.
“Kass, don’t fight this. You don’t need another battle in your life.” He whispered against her ear and rubbed his cheek against her. “Lucius isn’t your master.”
She took a deep breath to speak, but a female voice caught her off.
“Yes, he is, and he’s here for closing.” She crossed her arms over her slender stomach and raised a brow at the two. “Kassity, come on. I’m not cleaning up alone.”
Kass pulled away from Jax and started towards the door. “Thanks for the heads up, Mae.” She walked back into the bar, but Mae stayed in the doorway her eyes on Jax.
“You need something, vampire?” He growled.
She shrugged. “No, just trying to protect her. I’ve seen what Lucius does to her, now I’m trying to imagine what the punishment is for disobeying him. You’re right, Kass doesn’t need any more battles in her life. So stay away, okay kitty? I’d hate to see her dead.”
“You think Lucius would kill her?”
The vampire’s eyes flashed black for a moment and she bared her fangs at him. “I know he will, I’ve seen it first hand.” She walked back into the bar, letting the door slam shut behind her.
Kass watched as Lucius locked up for the night and turned to her and Mae. “Finish cleaning, I have matters that need to be attended to. Back on the property by dawn.” He disappeared leaving the women staring at the empty space.
“Ugh, demands, demand, demands. Do you ever get used to it?” Mae asked, grabbing the broom from against the wall.
Kass rolled her eyes. Before, Mae always operated on the outside, not part of the supernatural world, but a supernatural investigator for the government. “Eventually, after a few hundred years I suppose.” Kass wiped the bar down with easy circles of a wet rag.
“You seem to obey pretty well for being with him such a short time.” Mae swept the floor, moving chairs to the tops of tables as she went.
Kass snarled to herself. “Doesn’t mean I’m used to it. You forget, I spend most of my time in a nearly empty room or in a silver cage.” She shivered at the mere thought. “I also obeyed for Josh’s safety, but seeing as you got him killed I guess that doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It wasn’t completely my fault.”
“He went to you because you sought him out. You couldn’t leave it alone and now he’s dead.” Kass threw the rag down on the wood. “You couldn’t let anything lie, you had to come searching and screw everything up.”
Mae blinked at her. “Josh would have sought me out eventually, because of our history together.”
“No, he wouldn’t have. He was content with where he was, with what he was doing.” Kass clenched her fists, her body shaking. “He took care of me and now he is gone, leaving you in his place.”
Mae shook her head and continued to move around the floor. “You think I have it so easy? Lucius is infatuated with me, I’m his little-“
“Yeah, I know, fuck toy, we’ve all been there before.” Kass’ voice had softened a little. “Everyone except the one person that should be.”
Mae shook her head. “I hear his human has been with him plenty of times.”
“She hasn’t, she says she has because that is what is expected. I can tell when she’s lying. Though she controls it well, her heart rate changes just a bit, her breathing switches rhythms, and she plays with her dress.�
� Kass laughed. “So yeah, she’s the only person that hasn’t been. Lucky her.” Kass picked the rag back up and went back to work, thinking about Josh’s bargain that helped Kass go from toy to killer in a matter of days. She closed her eyes against the memory, wishing he was still here to protect her. Her panther stirred at that thought, and an image of Jax came to mind. Kass shook her head. No girl, he’s off limits unless you want to be surrounded by silver again. The beast protested against her, as if she didn’t care about the silver, the cages or the collars.
Kass rubbed her chest as the pain and heat started to spread.
“You alright?” Mae’s voice broke Kass’ thoughts.
Kassity nodded. “Yeah, just the normal ongoing battle.”
“Promise not to shift? I don’t think I can fit your panther in your car.” There was a light tone to Mae’s voice.
“Don’t think my panther would like the car anyways.” Kass chuckled a little as she finished up with the bar and then went to help Mae with the chairs.
Mae swept around the tables that Kass had cleared of chairs. “It amazes me how you can be a panther and human, two completely different mindsets. It makes no sense.”
“And vampires do? You little blood sucker.” Kass chided. “Not a lot of things in the supernatural world make sense. Hell, there are different type of shifters, some like me are born into the life, others are infected and changed. There are some that even claim to be blessed by the gods.” She laughed. “You should hear the werewolves talk, they think they are so much better than other lycans. I find it strange you never set out to understand our world before you started killing our kind.”
Mae frowned and shook her head. “I didn’t always kill my targets, some of them I just found and gathered information on. I didn’t have an assignment to kill you. I was just supposed to locate the creature that was eating high class members of society.”
“And what do you think your friend would have done with that information? Put another silver bullet in me, and let me tell you how pleasant that is.” Kass snapped and put the broom away. While in the back room she grabbed her coat and bag, reminding herself that to go against Mae meant going up against Lucius. She growled as she spotted the trash by the back door.
“I’m going to take the trash out.” Without waiting for an answer she gathered the three bags and pushed through the door. The door clicked shut and a soft growl echoed through the alley as a hand curled around Kass’ wrist. She let the bags clatter to the ground as she turned her head to face her assailant.
Chapter Four
Jax jumped and raised a brow when Kass ripped her arm away from him and swiveled, one foot in front of the other, fists up for a fight. He held his hands up. “I didn’t mean to startle you, I just wanted to see you before you went back to the mansion.”
“Go away.” She glared at him and picked the trash back up to throw it out. He went to help her, but she pushed him away. She didn’t want him closer right now; not with the way her beast responded. “Don’t need your help, I need you to go so that I don’t get in trouble.”
She saw the way his face fell when he sighed. “Okay, fine.” He muttered and headed down the alley. She relaxed when he disappeared around the corner and then she walked to the opposite end where the dumpsters were. Grumbling she threw the bags in the dumpster. A gust of wind caught her hair, bringing the familiar scent of Jax for an instant, but then a stronger scent made her freeze, another male she recognized. No, no, what is he doing here. Her beast stirred in panic, both halves of her knowing that the only way she would survive an attack would be if she could shift.
A large panther came from behind the dumpster, crouched low as he stalked her. Kass shuffled backwards, keeping her eyes on the cat in front of her. She tried to coax her panther out, but she didn’t have the control to bring her beast over the edge and out. Her heart thudded against her chest as she realized she needed to shift and break the barrier placed on her.
He pounced, taking her to the ground. Claws tore into her flesh as she screamed and tried to get her knees between them. She struggled, shifting one up, then the next and she pushed, calling on the strength of her beast and forcing the male off her and into the middle of the alleyway.
She ignored the blood dripping down her shoulders, the pain helped feed her beast as she worked on drawing it out. “I don’t know what you’re doing here Garret, but you need to leave.”
Her half brother’s tail flickered as he growled. He crouched again not hindered by how she threw him away. He stalked from side to side, keeping her trapped where she was.
Panic sliced through her as he bared his teeth. Come on stupid cat, shift. Her panther gave her a wave of pain as it tried to obey her but it did nothing except cause her to stumble.
Garret rushed her and slammed her into the wall before he locked his jaw around her leg. He yanked her to the ground and tried to drag her down the alley.
The new pain and the scent of more blood caused Kass’ panther to try harder to escape. A strangled cry left her throat and she kicked at Garret’s head. With each blow, his teeth tore down her leg.
“What the hell!” Mae’s voice boomed through the alley, causing the struggling pair to freeze.
Garret roared at the vampire, letting go of Kass’ leg. She pulled herself up, using the wall to help support her. Her vision blurred and spots danced, distorting the images in front of her. I will not pass out, I will not pass out. She tried to focus her gaze on Garret. His hind legs tensed and his tail twitched.
“Mae, run.” Kass snapped a moment before Garret pounced, but the vampire was prepared. The glimmer of silver caught Kass’ attention, the large panther roared as it pierced his flesh. Landing on his feet, blood dripping from his stomach Garret turned blazing eyes towards Kass. She slid down the wall unable to hold herself up with the injured leg, she expected Garret to attack her again but the wounded beast ran out of the alley.
Kass looked at Mae, “Took you long enough.” She groaned, a wave of nausea hitting her as she shifted her weight.
“I didn’t hear you scream until he bit you.” She walked over, pausing at all the blood. “How hurt are you?”
Kass looked over the bite, her vision disappearing for a moment. “Royally fucked, I’ll be lucky to be conscious by the time we get home.” She leaned her head against the wall and then flinched when she hit a bruise.
“Lucius is going to love this.” She mumbled.
Kass shook her head, regretting it as her world went dark.
“Kass?” Mae’s voice sounded far away. “Come back to me.”
Her eyes fluttered open. “Don’t let Lucius see me. Can’t afford his anger.” She mumbled out. “Panther, panther, not supposed to be any other ones here.”
“That’s it, keep telling me.” Mae picked Kass up and started back into the club. “Why aren’t there supposed to be other panthers here?”
Blackness ate at the corner over her vision, blurring the bar and threatening to claim her again. “Rare, my clan is the only one in the states. I don’t know where Jax came from.” She hissed as Mae laid her down. “Need to shift, need to sleep, heal.”
“I don’t think it’s safe to sleep with the way you’re acting.” Mae went silent.
Closing her eyes Kass took in the silence and cursed Mae’s gap in shifter knowledge. As a panther Kass knew she could handle much more damage. Her eyes shot open and she tried to sit up as the air shifted and Lucius power filled the room. “Damn it Mae,” she snapped.
Lucius knelt by her, putting a hand on her chest to keep her down. “I leave you and you get torn up.”
“Wouldn’t have happened if I could shift.” Kass grumbled, her panther calm and sleeping now. “Could have kicked his ass.” The darkness threaded through her vision, starting in lines and then bleeding out. Lucius voice sounded miles away in the darkness.
“He shouldn’t have been near her.”
Jax crossed her mind as she gave into the bleak abyss that called to
her. Lucius is right, he shouldn’t have been near me….
Jaxon leaned back in the ugly upholstered chair bored, by the lack of people in the hotel lobby this time of night. With no innocent humans standing by he could understand why his client wanted to meet here. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes as his mind drifted back to Kass. Her red hair glinting in the moonlight, her blue eyes holding unyielding rage, and the slender curves of her body against his when he pressed her up against the wall. His body and his panther stirred an the memory caused him to take a sharp intake of air.
Someone cleared their throat and Jax opened one eye.
“You located her,” the male in front of him stated. He towered over Jax, dark auburn hair hung in front of his green eyes, his over muscled arms bulged as he crossed them. “What you failed to mention was that she was protected by vampires.”
He shifted in the seat. Lucius had been an unforeseen obstacle in the plain, but he hadn’t told his clients about the vampire yet. “He was a surprise to me. You said she was taken by vampires, not that she was under the protection of the territory ruler.”
“Lucius owns her, beast, body and soul. She doesn’t realize it, but she can walk away from him and come back to us. We can protect her.” He smirked. “Garrett went to go talk to her tonight, after you left her at the bar.”
Jax raised a brow. “I thought I smelt another panther following me. She’s not interested in leaving Lucius, I can tell you that now.” His panther paced beneath the surface, threatened by the other male and uneasy about the idea of Kassity returning to them. “You said that even though he owns her, she can walk away?”
“Yes.”
No change in breathing, no change in his body at all, and he kept eye contact.
“And you can protect her?” Jax asked, leaning forward in his chair.
The man nodded. “We are capable of it.”
In the Light of the Moon (Dark War Chronicles) Page 3