The mouth worked again, sending more shivers down Jackie’s spine, and the eerie voice issued: “Walsh’s agents arrived first. Even now I’m being held here, in—”
The front door exploded open. Jackie spun, her hand pulling out her knife, to see a huge form framed in the doorway. A giant silhouette against the dim outdoor lights, it made a rumbling sound and stepped inside. Cracks ran from the marble where its feet touched down. The thing was heavy.
“What the hell?” said Matt.
“Don’t panic,” Jackie said. Civilians, she thought. The non-magical were useless in fights like this. She had to struggle against the wave of fear that suddenly twisted in her own belly.
Matt smacked a fist into a meaty palm. He grinned, but it was a hard grin. “I’m not panicking.”
The form in the doorway took another step, then another, and as it emerged from the shadows the lights of the lobby revealed it, and Jackie’s heart slammed into higher gear.
“A golem,” she said in dismay. She almost laughed to see the puny knife she had raised in defense.
The creature stepped forward again, cracks running out from the marble wherever it touched down. Indeed, it was huge, terrifying being, a massive, crudely-rendered man-shape made of dense fired clay but powered by sorcery. Its eyes blazed with fire, and Jackie knew that Walsh was looking through its eyes. It lumbered forward some more, its giant hands bunching and unbunching at its sides. It could tear her and Matt apart without breaking a sweat. That is, if it sweated. Which it didn't.
Well, it didn’t know whom it was dealing with.
“Watch this,” Jackie told Matt, aware she was showing off for him but not knowing why. Digging into one of the tiny pouches sewn into the inside of her black leather jacket, she pulled out a pinch of special powder and flung it at the golem’s feet. As the powder flew through the air, she said a magical word under her breath. The powder hit the golem’s feet and instantly ice sheathed them.
“Ha!” Jackie said. “Take that!”
The golem tried to lurch forward, but the ice held it fast. Its fiery eyes blazed bright in anger. Jackie turned to see Matt looking at her with new respect.
“You can do magic?” he said.
She shrugged with false modesty. “When you deal with magic users on a regular basis, you’d best learn some magic or you’re a goner.”
“I think I might just have to kiss you again.”
He started to take a step toward her, and she didn’t step away. Maybe she should let him. Then again, he was just a civilian, a non-magical person. He would be lost in her world. Slowly, she edged away, and she didn’t miss the look of hurt on his face. Sorry, buster. She was a lone wolf. Or lone something, anyway.
Creak.
Her head snapped around. The golem was breaking free! Cracks ran through the icy sheath encasing its legs, widening with every second. Damn it all, if that thing broke loose she didn’t know what to do. Her limited ability to cast spells didn’t encompass wrangling with the likes of this horror.
The golem’s right leg broke the ice and stepped forward. Then, slowly, its left. Jackie swallowed and felt her own legs shaking as it towered over her.
“Run!” said the Tannenbaum-voiced statue behind her.
But she was paralyzed. The golem reached out a hand toward her, moving slowly but inexorably. It would grab her and squeeze her to pulp. Its fiery eyes blazed brighter in anticipation.
“I don’t think so,” said Matt.
A huge bear exploded from inside him and barreled into the golem. Jackie stared in amazement. One second Matt had been a regular man, although tall, ripped and drop-dead gorgeous, and the next he was a huge gray-brown grizzly bear slamming into the golem. He knocked the terrible being back, his enormous claws raking its face and chest. One of the golem’s arms smashed against his flanks, and Jackie cried out. That had been a hell of a blow. Heedless, Matt fought on, driving the golem back and back. The two titans fought a private war, fangs flashing and heavy clay limbs slamming, and Jackie shook loose of her paralysis.
At last Matt toppled the golem backward with a mighty heave. It tottered for a moment, then fell, seemingly in slow motion. When it struck the marble floor, a great boom rang out, and the golem shattered into a thousand pieces. The fire in its eyes faded to black.
Matt let out a terrible, triumphant growl and placed a paw on the largest chunk still intact. Blood gushed from his sides, and Jackie knew he must be in pain, but he was the victor and he was relishing it. Jackie felt tears burning her eyes. She approached him cautiously, and he turned to her. The anger in his brown, liquid eyes faded, and, wondering at herself, she reached out a hand to stroke his muzzle. His fur was so soft.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she heard herself ask.
The air rippled around him, and he was a man once more. Jackie felt her cheeks grow hot. Matt had shredded his clothes when he Shifted, and now he was utterly naked. A huge, broad-shouldered naked man, with those broad shoulders tapering down to a narrow waist and standing on long, muscular legs. And with an enormous shaft hanging between those legs, big balls swaying behind it. His pubic hair was the same shade as that on his head, a lovely blond-ish red. And the cold had done nothing to diminish his cock’s size. He was huge. Indeed, a hint of steam seemed to rise from him, and she realized he must emanate a great deal of heat. The cold would never shrink him.
“I didn’t have time,” he said, answering her question. “And you didn’t ask.”
It was true, she realized with embarrassment. He had asked about her—heck, he’d asked too much about her—but she hadn’t asked about him at all. Well, she wouldn’t apologize for it. She was Jackie Gage, after all.
“Well, you did good,” she told Matt. She lifted a finger to trace a stream of blood trickling down his ribs. He looked pretty beat-up, although somehow that just made him sexier. Like a warrior returning from the field of battle. “We should get you patched up. And, erm, some clothes would be good.” Or not.
He shrugged, and she realized he didn’t seem at all uncomfortable about being nude. In fact, a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes as they bored into her. She felt her flush creep down her neck.
“I’m fine,” he said. “We bear shifters heal quick. I won’t be able to bring my bear over for a bit, and some food would help, but I’ll be fine.” He prodded the scattered pieces of the golem with a toe. “I just hope there was only one of those.”
“There are more,” said the statue of the woman, and Matt and Jackie turned back to it. “Two more, at least. This one was simply the closest. I think it was guarding the grounds. You must have walked right past it outside. The other two will be on their way. You have to run. Now! While there’s time.”
Jackie ground her jaw. “No.”
“You sure, girl?” Matt said. “I mean, Jackie? I don’t think I could take two more of those things on, and I sure can’t do it till I’ve eaten something. A lot of something, hopefully.”
“We’ll find a way. Tannenbaum’s being held prisoner here. We have to find him and rescue him.”
Matt regarded her tensely. “Just what is it that you need him to do? It must be awfully important.”
“It is. And it’s the right thing to do, anyway. We can’t let Walsh hurt him. He’s hurt too many people already.” To the statue, she said, “Tannenbaum, is there any hint you can give us about where you’re being held? Some clue that might lead us to you?”
The statue was silent for a long moment, then: “I hear water.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s like … the sea. That’s all I can tell you. That’s all I know.”
Matt rubbed his square jaw. “You know, darlin’, I have an entire crew of bear shifters that could help us out here. We could all come back, storm this place and find your wizard. Nothing could stand against that.”
“I don’t know about nothing,” Jackie said. “Still, you might be right …” It did make sense to leave and come back with reinforcements, s
he thought. “Fine. We’ll go.” To the statue, she said, “We’ll be right back, Tannenbaum, don’t worry.”
“Be swift,” the statue said.
She nodded. Together she and Matt started toward the door.
As if struck by a powerful wind, it slammed closed, startling her with its noise. Matt leapt at the door and tried to yank it open, but it stubbornly refused his efforts. Jackie didn’t mind the way his muscles bunched and strained as he worked, though. Sweat gleamed on his brow, his thick arms and meaty buttocks.
Exasperated, he turned back to her. “Won’t budge,” he said.
She stifled a swear. “It must be magically sealed.”
“You know any spells that might lift whatever is holding it shut?”
She frowned, thinking about it. She started to open her mouth to reply when something banged loudly from a side room. Then something else banged from the opposite side room. The lobby had four sides, each with a different avenue of ingress: the front door, the stairs, and the two archways along the flanks, which seemed to lead into the different wings of the mansion. Matt wrapped an arm around Jackie when she flinched at the noise, and she liked the feel of his hot, strong embrace.
Reluctantly, she separated herself from him and moved back toward the statue so that she could see what had made the noises in the rooms leading off from the lobby. She was all too afraid that she knew, though.
Sure enough, one golem had just smashed through the door in the room to the right. The other had just smashed through it to the left. If only the first golem had simply smashed the front door to splinters like these creatures had!
“Shit,” Matt said, joining her.
“Run!” said the statue.
“But—” Jackie started.
Matt grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the stairs. “That statue’s right,” he said. “Run!”
Chapter 4
Holding Jackie’s hand as gently as he could, Matt brought her to the stairs, then up them. He hated to run away from an enemy, but there was nothing to be done about it. They had to get away from those damned golems and find some way out of here, then make their way to the Pine Ridge Ski Resort, where his crew would be. Round up a group of them, down some frozen pizza, come back here and kick some golem ass. Hell, he couldn’t wait.
He glanced sideways at Jackie as they reached the head of the stairs and sprinted down a hall. Pinpricks dotted her cheeks, and gleams shone in her eyes. She was scared, but she was also kind of loving this, he could tell. She was in her element. The way she’d hurled that spell at the golem … Matt was blown away. This Jackie girl rocked! His bear growled inside him, that same low, mournful growl as before, and Matt shook his head in disbelief. Just who was this girl?
“This way,” Jackie said, and hooked a right at the next corner.
“What’s this way?” Matt said, turning with her.
“No clue,” she laughed, panting just a little. “But now we’re out of their line of sight.”
Matt grinned back. She was powerful and mysterious, but also smart. He liked that. Sure enough, over the sound of his jackhammering heart he could hear a heavy clomp-clomp that could only be one or both of the golems ascending the stairs. If those stairs hadn’t been marble he doubted they could have done so without smashing through, but this place had regrettably solid construction.
Suddenly he realized something.
“Fuck!”
“What is it?” she said, then seemed to realize it, too, and swore.
Though they were running at full speed, the end of the hallway wasn’t coming any closer. It was as though they were running on a treadmill, even though the walls were scrolling by to either side. Matt felt like he was trapped in some Looney Tunes cartoon or something. Bugs Bunny could pop up around the nearest door frame and he wouldn’t bat an eye.
“What gives?” Matt panted.
“A glamour.”
They skidded to a stop, and both doubled over, grabbing their knees and taking deep breaths. Matt was the first one to unfold.
Clomp. Clomp.
One of the golems was reaching the top of the stairs.
“We’d better move,” Matt said. “Somehow.”
“Wait a sec,” Jackie said. “I think I have something …”
She frowned as if thinking, then reached inside her jacket and pulled out a small twig with purple leaves. She put it to her lips, blew on it and said a word that Matt didn’t catch. The air around them seemed to shimmer, even the walls, and Matt took an unsteady step, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands. He felt as if the floor had lurched under him.
“The glamour is broken,” Jackie said, and shoved the twig back inside her jacket, then started up the hallway again.
Matt joined her, his equilibrium returning. Sure enough, now the end point of the hallway was coming closer. They weren’t on a treadmill anymore.
“You’re a hell of a girl,” he told Jackie honestly. “Er, I mean a hot little wizard and no mistake.”
“Mage,” she corrected, but he didn’t miss the pleased look on her face. “Hot, huh?”
“You heard me.”
So swiftly he barely caught it, she glanced at him sideways, flicking her eyes up and down his tall, naked body. The pinpricks in her cheeks deepened as she faced forward again, and he thought he could smell, just faintly, her arousal.
They reached the end of the hall, which terminated in a T intersection with halls going to either side, and Jackie immediately crossed to the huge window facing the center hallway, what she and Matt had been running toward. She flicked back the crimson drapes and reached out to tug on the lower window pane—
Sparks leapt up from the glass.
“Damn!” she said, sucking on her digits. “Guess that’s out. Somehow Walsh has totally sealed us in.” She gave Matt a despairing look. “We're trapped.”
He ground his teeth together. “Shitfire.”
Clomp clomp. The sounds were louder now, and different, not the sound of clay on marble. The golem had reached the hallways on the upper floor. And Matt had little doubt that it wouldn’t be hindered by any sort of wizardly magic.
“How is Walsh even affecting this place?” he said. “I thought this was Tannenbaum’s house.”
“Walsh is more powerful than Tannenbaum, I guess. I’m just amazed he can do all this remotely. He’s really strong.” Her eyes were wide as she said this, and Matt could see the depth of her respect for—and fear of—Walsh. Whoever he was.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have stolen from the guy,” Matt said, unable to help himself.
Jackie narrowed her eyes at him, and her face went hard. “I had no choice, Matt. It’s … complicated.”
He could hear that she spoke the truth. His brows drew together. There was something here he was missing, he realized. Some secret Jackie was keeping. And until he had that missing piece, he wouldn’t be able to judge her or what she’d done. He’d just have to trust her. And trust his bear. It seemed to sense something about her … something elusive …
“Fine,” he said. “Then come on.”
Just as a huge shadow stretched across the carpet at the other end of the hall he and Jackie had just fled down, Matt grabbed Jackie’s hand and dragged her down one of the cross-halls, going in a random direction.
“Where are we going?” she said. She freed her hand but still ran beside him.
“I don’t know. But I can’t fight yet, and we can’t seem to escape. We need to find somewhere to lay low until my bear can recover. That golem did a number on it. Do you have any magic that can, you know, make us invisible or something?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her biting her lip cutely. “Maybe,” she said. “A little. If we can find a dark enough spot, I can maybe fool the golems. Walsh is looking through their eyes, but he won’t be able to use his All Sight through them. So there’s a chance.”
Matt picked a doorway that looked particularly fine and opened it. On the other side stretc
hed a large, dark, cluttered room. Perfect for hiding, he thought, annoyed by the notion. His bear was a dominant apex predator. It wasn’t used to hiding. Neither was he. Still, what choice was there?
He and Jackie entered the room and closed the door softly behind them.
He edged forward, letting his shifter senses adjust to the gloom. Soon he could see almost as well as he could during daytime. He easily avoided the expensive couches and tables. This was some sort of fancy playroom, he thought. In fact, it appeared to be a suite of rooms; several rooms opened off from this larger main room, which was dominated by an unlit fire place. Suits of armor and statues loomed here and there, and pricey-looking oil portraits hung from the walls. Most were of surreal-looking landscapes, and Matt was only a little surprised to see the grass and clouds and trees depicted in them moving. This was a wizard’s manse, after all. It almost looked as if he could step right into those paintings.
“Nice place, huh?” Jackie said, coming up beside him.
“You can see?” Neither of them had turned on the lights.
She tapped her temple, indicating her eyes. “Wizard, remember?”
“I thought it was ‘mage’.”
She grinned up at him impishly. “Potato, potahto.”
He stared down at her, suddenly aware of how close she was, and how good she smelled. She was still turned on, too. He could smell it. Maybe …
He bent his face toward hers, his lips questing—
“Is if,” she said, and danced back, but she did it with a laugh. She really was loving this. Maybe a little too much. Just the same, he was enjoying himself, too. It might be life or death, but this wasn’t his first rodeo, and he didn’t usually get the chance to hang out with a hottie on his misadventures.
Clomp, clomp.
“We need to hide,” Jackie said. “Somewhere dark …”
Clomp. Closer now.
Matt dragged her under an ornate desk along the wall. It was a big, polished antique, currently being used as a surface to hold expensive-looking knickknacks on, and there was just enough room for them to squeeze together under it. Still, it was a tight fit. He wrapped an arm around her and brought her in close, making it a little easier. And a little more fun. One of her breasts pushed up against his ribs, and he didn’t miss the fact that her nipple was hard.
Bear Fire: Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BBW) (Pine Ridge BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance Series Book 4) Page 3