Deceptions: A Collection

by Shiloh Walker

  Trapped. Trapped in a dark, hellish hole that saw no light and no sun… Trapped until they returned?

  “Breathe…”

  Hard hands, almost brutal in their strength, gripped my head and I found myself nose to nose with Damon as he shouted in my face. “Breathe, Kit!”

  I sucked in a desperate breath and gasped, “Why are you shouting at me?”

  “Shit.” He closed his eyes and snatched me against him. “You…shit. Gimme a minute.”

  I was shaking. My clothes were sweating, sticking to me, and his body was as hot as a furnace, but I was cold.

  “What happened?” he whispered against my ear. “What happened?”

  “A pit.” I had to force the words through chattering teeth. “They put me in one…once. When I was fifteen. I just—sorry. Bad memory. Okay in a minute.”

  The hot mantle of his fury spread around me but for once, it didn’t scare me. I so desperately needed the warmth. “Shhhh,” he murmured as I cuddled closer. If it had been possible to disappear inside of him, I might have done it. Might have tried. Twisting my hands in the fabric of his shirt, I breathed in the hot, musky scent of him, focused on everything around me—everything that didn’t smell of my own blood and waste, the weirdly flat scent of cold stone. The brackish scent of water, the hot humid day, even the disturbing scent of reptile that lingered all around. Anything was better than that awful memory.

  “I’m okay,” I whispered after a long moment. “I’m okay.”

  He continued to hold me. “I’m not.”

  A weak laugh escaped me. “But we can’t stay like this if we want to figure this out.”

  “We need to call it a day.”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  Oh, hell no.

  Because oddly enough, as the rush of fear and panic faded, I realized…that tugging had grown stronger.

  “What do you smell, Damon?” I eased back and studied his face. “There’s something here. Or close. Has to be. What do you smell?”

  “Humans.” His nostrils flared. “A lot of them. I know the place. We’ll come back.”

  Shaking my head, I said, “No. We have to find whatever they didn’t want people finding.”

  Now.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Every step made the urgency grow stronger.

  Every single step.

  And after another ten minutes, something about Damon’s demeanor changed. It was subtle at first. I barely noticed because I was so busy dealing with the mad itching that had settled in my palm. This wasn’t the place for my blade, I suspected, but she was calling me…singing to me and she wanted me.

  But he’d gone from a lazy predator on the prowl to a focused hunter. As he turned to gaze off to one side, I noticed the light reflecting off his eyes—not normal. His nostrils flared and I could all but see him pausing as he rolled those tastes around in his mouth.

  A few minutes later, he picked up the pace and I had to jog to keep up. He was still walking, but those legs of his covered a lot of ground and fast. And each pace was a tug inside me.

  Closer. Closer. Closer.

  Glancing up, I checked the sun.

  And that was when I saw it—

  Shit—

  I drew an arrow, fired.

  As Damon spun around, the arrow buried itself in the camera.

  “We’re being watched,” I said flatly.

  A short, terse nod and he was moving again.

  I was in an all-out run now, fear crowding the back of my throat as memories of that pit danced in the back of my mind.

  A huge, fallen tree blocked the path. Up ahead, Damon turned to glance back at me as I leaped on top. He’d taken it and landed with room to spare. While I didn’t have to clamber up and over, I couldn’t do it with the grace he managed. As I went to hop down, he shouted.

  I slipped—

  Clambering for a hold, I shifted my weight backward over the fallen giant. I didn’t know what it was—

  Distantly, I heard something crash.

  But that wasn’t what worried me just then. I was sprawled on my back, in an awkward-ass position. And about six feet way was one giant snake. Swallowing, I tensed. It watched me, eyes glittering as its tongue tasted my air.

  “Kit.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  Flexing my hand, I let the sword come. She was happy now, and I was pretty damned pleased, too.

  “Kit, be still. Just—”

  The python moved.

  I rolled away, coiling my body in one of those brutal moves my aunts had hammered into me for years. As I landed on my feet, I brought the blade down. I missed the first time and the snake came at me again.

  A thunderous roar cracked through the air.

  I struck again and this time—the blade tasted blood. She carved through thick skin, bone and muscle and I was all but sobbing as I went to my knees.

  Giant clawed hands hauled me into the air.

  I shrieked and swung out. The blade cut into furred skin. A growl echoed all around and I cut again before one of those big hands caught my sword arm. “Shhh. It’s me, baby girl. It’s me.”

  The voice was alien.

  But I recognized the words.

  Damon.

  “Shit. Oh, shit.” Shoving against the furred wall of his chest, I struggled. “Put me down.”

  He didn’t. I kicked him. He let me.

  Then I started to shake. “Damn it, this job fucking sucks. I think I hate you sometimes.”

  “I know.” When he pulled me close this time, I let him.

  One of those giant hands stroked the back of my head as he rumbled against my ear, “I kind of hate me right now, too, kitten.”

  After the snake, I needed a drink of whiskey—preferably the whole bottle—before I could keep going, but it was a luxury we didn’t have. So I gathered up my bow and cleaned my blade. This time, instead of sending her back, I just drew the spare sheath I carried out of my pack and settled her into place at my hip.

  I was happier with her there.

  She was, too.

  When I went to climb over the log, trying hard not to look at the snake’s beheaded body, Damon lifted me, cradling me like a doll. “There’s a trap—one of the old fashioned kinds, made to take a leg right off,” he said softly. “I saw it when I looked back at you.”

  I closed my eyes. “Lovely.”

  “Yeah. Humans…the people who did this have their stink all over the place. I think they had their dogs drag their clothes everywhere or something because it’s everywhere. Only way to explain why it covers so much. I even smell it up in the trees.”

  He sat me down a few feet away and took a minute to do a long, thorough study. “Something’s not right about this. They’re too prepared. Somebody gave them an idea what to expect, in case people like us came looking for them.”

  “So they have help.”

  “Yes.”

  I glanced at him, massive-bodied, covered in golden fur with dark gray spots. Absently, I lifted a hand and placed it on his torso. He stiffened and looked at me. “Walking around like this is going to attract a lot of attention,” I said, ignoring the painful crawl of blood up my face.

  He was nearly two feet taller than me in that form…and utterly naked, save for the fur. Fur didn’t count. The odd meld of leopard and man stared down at me. “We’re not walking through a city street, kitten,” he said, his voice a deep, bass rumble. Then he tipped back his head and breathed in the air. “And you’re the closest thing to human around for miles.”

  I made a face. “I’m not human.”

  “I said closest.” One of those clawed hands covered mine. “If it scares you, I’ll shift back.”

  “I just sliced and diced a Burmese python while you were busy growling at the universe, you overgrown housecat.” I absolutely wouldn’t say I was afraid of him. It was unsettling as hell, but I was almost ready to believe he wasn’t big on the idea of hurting me. “I think I can handle you.”

&n
bsp; The look on his face might have been amusement. But it was hard to read him in this form.

  “I can’t wait until you’re brave enough to try.”

  I skimmed a look over him and then started down the trail. “Not like that, pal.”

  Needling him settled my nerves. A lot.

  Now…if we could just get through this without any snakes. Gators. Anything like that. Give me crazy humans, bloodthirsty rats, even arrogant vampires—

  “You only had to ask—”

  “Shit.”

  Jude’s voice was a bare echo in the back of my mind, one that was weak, spread thin by the miles.

  I’d had a few days reprieve, one I’d enjoyed too much. Why in the hell did I have to go and think about him?

  “Perhaps you missed me…even if you will not admit it, dearest Kit.”

  Unable to focus on everything around me and still talk to him, I stopped once more.

  “Kit?”

  I looked at Damon and shook my head, holding up a hand. “I’m not your dearest anything, Jude and I’m…having problems. Go away.”

  “Are you ready for my offer of assistance? You’re so far away it will take some time to get to you.”

  “No—”

  Damon’s eyes narrowed.

  Error—error—

  Swearing mentally, I covered my face and turned the conversation inward. “No. I don’t need assistance. I’m handling this fine on my own.”

  “Ah…but you’re not. Where is the cat, Kit?”

  Something lurked under his voice and I felt a presence on my mind. A weight. Pushing. Prodding. “That doesn’t concern you. Leave me alone, Jude. I’ll let you know if I need you.”

  “Oh, you’ll need me, dearest Kit…and the cat will not be able to help you. I will. Don’t wait too long.”

  His presence didn’t fade.

  It was just gone and I groaned, dropping my hands.

  Damon was staring at me.

  I waited. He had something to say, I knew it.

  But he didn’t say a damn thing, just turned and started to walk, pausing only long enough to grab his pack. The shreds of his clothes, he ignored. I didn’t. There were too many witches around who do weird things with magic and all it would take was a shred of clothing, a single hair. I shoved the ruined clothes into my pack, aware of the fact that he was watching, waiting in silence.

  Once I was standing, he started to walk. A slower pace this time, more careful.

  The sun was getting closer and closer to the horizon. But I didn’t bother to mention it.

  He already knew.

  Moving slower meant we could see the few remaining traps easier.

  There was another pit.

  One more that would take a leg off. The one after that was the worst, though. And we caught it because there was just next to no scent there. Nothing. The scent that was there was faint, so faint we barely even caught it.

  “Nobody walks around this spot,” he said. “Right here. Easiest path over and everybody goes around. Why is that?”

  I stared at the mostly cleared path that separated us from the area ahead. That was where we needed to be, I knew it. It was practically shining like a beacon. It called to me and even I could smell something up there…something not human. And voices…was it me, or did I hear voices?

  “They want us walking there so they can blow us up?” I offered.

  He shot me a narrow look. Then he looked around. “Stay there. Don’t move. Got it?”

  I lifted my hands and gave him an agreeable smile.

  He didn’t look overly convinced, but he disappeared into the growth and I stood there, sword in one hand, bow in the other.

  They wouldn’t have …well, seriously. Would they have planted a landmine sort of thing there? Really?

  I pondered that idea for the next ten minutes, scratching absently at a mosquito bite. The medicine Kori had given me had really worked. Needed to put it back on. But before I could, I felt the warm brush against my senses that meant Damon was coming back and then he was there.

  “Move.”

  I glanced over my shoulder and then gaped.

  He was hauling the dead body of the python. “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “It’s heavy,” he said, shrugging. “If it’s rigged, it’s going to need something more than a rock and I’d rather not toss something that will turn into shrapnel on us.”

  He looked around and then nodded. “Behind the tree. Check it.”

  I groaned and then looked at the tree in question, checking it very well. A couple of small things skittered away. The biggest was another grass snake. Not a problem. It didn’t even crawl over the toe of my boot.

  “…careful…”

  I tensed.

  “Did you hear that?” I whispered.

  “Yes.” He looked at me again. “Get behind the fucking tree, Kit. If they are watching, we need to move.”

  I moved.

  I heard a thud—

  Saw the blur of his body as he came at me.

  And smoke.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Wails rose in the air, flooded it as surely as the smoke and debris.

  Tortured and pitiful, broken and sad.

  “No, no, no, no!”

  They really had used a landmine.

  What in the hell—?

  And those voices. I really did hear voices.

  As we eased closer, I gripped my sword.

  Three voices. I could pick apart three distinct voices.

  “They’re gone, no…they’re gone…”

  I saw the lip of the pit and my mind tried to fade away on me but I battled it back.

  Damon’s hand grabbed the back of my neck, squeezed. “Don’t,” he said. Even though his voice was gentle, there was a thread of command in it. “You act like you got balls of steel, now is the time to show it.”

  “If you don’t quit bossing me around, I’m going to show my balls of steel…and cut yours off,” I muttered, shoving back another round of the shakes. Then I glanced down and smirked. “They’re rather exposed.”

  One of those weird expressions—was it a smile?—came and went. “That’s my girl. Come on.”

  He went first, checking every step of the way.

  Then he knelt at the lip of the pit. I moved to stand at his side, resting a hand on his shoulder and clinging to sanity by the threads.

  Three terrified faces stared up at us.

  Two girls and one boy who was painfully close to a man.

  Blond, yes. Blue-green eyes like Doyle had.

  But the face…a familiar face.

  Sanity tried to twist away again. Time shifted—reversed. That face, staring down at me while I clambered up a rope. Me kneeling on the ground, all but ready to kiss the soft grass, so grateful to be out of the pit.

  Then, cold water—cruel hands.

  Rathias—a third cousin. One of the crueler ones.

  She said to let you out tonight…you’re out, cousin. Now you can say thank you—

  A sharp wail split through the memories crowded into my mind and I shoved them back, breathing shallowly as I stared at the girl instead. Girl. This one was a witch. Red-haired, green-eyed, skinny and frail. She looked like she didn’t stand a chance against the muscle the shifters could weld.

  The shifters…

  Against my will, I felt myself looking back at the boy. The blond hair.

  The eyes.

  Through a throat gone tight, I whispered, “Is that Doyle?”

  “Yeah.”

  I stumbled away and went to my knees.

  Rathi—

  “Damn it, Kit, what the fuck is the matter?”

  I wanted to run. Everything in me screamed it.

  Behind me, I heard long, low, furious curses.

  Swallowing, I slipped out of my backpack and unzipped it. Coiled in the bottom was a rope. We hadn’t planned on needing it, but then again, we hadn’t planned on coming across snakes, steel traps or landmines.


  And I hadn’t planned on finding a kid with a face that looked like the hell of my past either.

  “Why doesn’t he look like the picture?” I asked quietly.

  “The spike. Hitting him hard.” Power ripped, rippled and I found myself staring into Damon’s face—that familiar face. “What’s wrong, kitten?”

  No. Mutely, I shook my head and I passed the rope over.

  Not now.

  Probably not ever.

  I couldn’t do this now.

  “No time, remember?”

  They were all weak.

  Malnourished.

  Doyle was the worst.

  He watched me like…well, a predator who’d sighted its prey. Even after Damon had forced three bottles of water and several of the protein shakes on him, the kid still had a half-wild look in his eyes.

  A few times, he made a move toward me and each time, Damon stepped between us.

  The girls crowded around me and I let them.

  The little witch broke down sobbing, wrapping her arms around my neck. “He’s spiking and he’s trying so hard, but…”

  I heard the unspoken words. Hell, I could see it.

  Doyle was teetering on the brink. “It’s okay,” I told her. “But we can’t stay here.”

  We started out, me herding the girls along in front, even though every instinct demanded I not leave the hungry, predatory kid at my back.

  Several times, I heard a growl. Snarls.

  Once, there was a weird, rushing sound and I looked back, saw Damon holding the boy in a bear hug. He stared at me. “Go,” he said flatly. “We’ll be along.”

  I grimaced and kept moving.

  If I thought that first day in the park was hell, no. This….this was hell.

  It was nightfall before we reached our car. There were more traps set, but we evaded them with ease, thanks in part to the little witch. Her name was Erin and she told me she’d been out on two hunts already. She said this in a broken, awful little whisper.

  I wanted to cuddle her and hold her and promise nothing else would ever happen to her.

  But I didn’t make promises I couldn’t keep.

  Park rangers were up ahead. Shit.

  My bow. My sword. I had them clutched in my hands and I stopped, shooting Damon a look and then I groaned as I saw his utter lack of clothing. He calmly dropped his pack and pulled out some clothes. He’d lost his shoes—did he have shoes?