“Don’t be absurd. Of course, we do. Our very existence depends on success. You are charged with five days to prepare the woman. If she reaches her twenty-first birthday without proper preparation, may the gods have mercy on our souls.” The elder folded his gnarly hands over his robe covered paunch.
“Your honor.” Dorran began clenching his teeth at having to show respect to such fools. “The Sultan has been hard at work and Meagan has become involved in his human trafficking. With so much at stake, I’ve been attempting to keep her alive rather than risk further advancement in her knowledge of her true identity.”
The murmurs around the table spoke of disbelief. “Silence,” the standing elder said. “You came highly recommended, Mr. O’Hare. I find this lag in performance most disappointing. Need I remind you of the consequences if you fail?”
“No.” Dorran could feel the jab physically. The old farts still had some telepathic skills he remembered too well. He ground down hard on his molars. The pain ebbed momentarily as he straightened and narrowed his gaze on the one at the far end of the gleaming oak table. The creeps did enjoy their drama, he mentally mused. Fuck them if they heard his thoughts. He wouldn’t give up the girl simply to please the bastards. “I’ll report in five days.”
“See that you do, Mr. O’Hare. See that you do.”
The red haze cleared only when Dorran found himself outside of the chamber, sunk deep in the earthen bank of the valley below the Latimars’ place. Too many times he had wished for the truth to reveal itself to the others of Shadow Company. Mystified by the fact not even Aubrie sensed the Elders practically under foot became one of those things he filed under impossible. Keeping such secrets became more and more difficult. Meagan’s eyes came to him in the dissipating red mist. He had to complete the mission and save this woman who had captured his undead heart so completely.
The power of the wolf took over as he shifted and melded with the pines, racing into the woods like a phantom of myth.
Chapter 16
By the time Meagan reached the shelter, she knew she had to talk to Katie and make everything right. No way she could let something like what Katie called ‘a booty call’ stand in the way of their relationship together. Before going in, she pulled out her phone. Her nature was to text, but somehow the contact seemed flippant. She dialed Katie’s number. The phone rang until Katie’s voice message came on.
“Hey, it’s Katie. You know what to do.”
Irritated concern rippled up and down her back. Meagan wanted to speak to her foster mom badly. “Katie? Look, I’m sorry I blew up like I did. I know you’re just looking out for me. If it makes it better or worse, I don’t know, but I’m seeing Dorran tonight. Please give me some time, okay?” Hitting the end button on her phone, Meagan leaned her head against the seat’s headrest. “Maybe she’ll understand,” she murmured into the silence. If Katie didn’t get it, none of the others would either. Her tribe being overprotective was an understatement Meagan had come to accept. She slid out of the truck and headed inside the shelter.
The animal shelter was hopping. Seven surrendered puppies sat in their cage waiting for admission to the high kill shelter. Sue had checked them in and gave orders to have them bathed and wormed. It always amazed Meagan that people would surrender perfectly good dogs to a shelter where on any given day they would die simply due to overcrowding. People were heartless. Meagan gathered the supplies she needed and headed back to prep a bath for the Labrador mixes. As she bathed them, her mind wandered over the scene earlier at the pharmacy. Dorran had been so intense, she mused. He had a natural bad boy persona which had Meagan convinced he was different from any of the boys she had ever dated.
The snort of a laugh escaped as she considered she could count the number of relationships she had had on one hand. No one seemed mature enough for her, or so she concluded after several failed attempts. Dorran was intriguing, she decided. The biker turned bounty hunter lead a life of adventure and danger. She had experience with danger before she mused. Maybe that was why she connected with him. He didn’t scare her – he aroused her, and as icing on the cake, she felt safe with him. Her heart sped up at the thought of the kiss they’d shared. Her nipples grew hard under her t-shirt. Her eyes glazed over as she remembered how his hands had sunk deep into her hair drawing her close before he took his time tuning her engine. Before he was done, he had her motor purring like a cat on the prowl. Geez, but he was hot.
The back door opening quickly brought her back. Carl, the dog catcher sauntered in, hands in pockets on pants that rode low on his hips. The tattoos littering his arms blurred into each other in a dark inky smear. “Well, if it isn’t the dog lover.”
Meagan tensed visibly. Carl’s sarcastic tone rubbed her the wrong way. Apparently, he still held a beef against her for interfering with the wolfdog. She wouldn’t back down from saving a life. Carl could just go F himself. After all, she didn’t mean to free the animal, just protect him. Apparently, Carl didn’t see things the same way. He strolled up behind her getting too close.
“What do you need, Carl?” Unsure why she even spoke to the guy, Meagan cringed when his sour breath brushed the hairs on the back of her neck. Her heart sped up. He took another step forward and pressed his body into her butt and stood there giving her a weirded-out moment where he ground into her butt with his dick as he laughed under his breath. Meagan’s stomach coiled in knots before she bolted out of reach. The pervert had a hard-on!
“Nothing right now, sugar tits. It’s what I want to do to you later.”
Realization and retaliation came swiftly when she had sense enough to wheel around, throwing water on him as she put space between them. The air sparked with a thousand volts of electricity. Her breath was coming in tiny pants. All she could hear was the sound of his gurgles as the current transformed him into a marionette’s puppet. Then as quickly as the phenomenon had occurred, the energy ceased. Her hands tingled with stinging pinpricks of pain like thousands of ants biting in unison.
Carl cursed as he doubled over. The effort to rise was slow. A look of pure bemusement rimmed his face as he wiped dirty water from his eyes. A slack jawed pervert stood staring at his wet pants leg. The satisfaction he had peed his pants proved a fleeting sensation. Seconds passed as the only sound in the room was Carl’s heavy breathing.
The pup in the tub saw his chance and bolted. Darting between Carl’s legs, the puppy raced under the nearest storage shelf, cowering at the two humans.
“Leave me alone, Carl. I’ve got work to do.” Her voice hitched, but Meagan firmed her jaw. She wasn’t going to let this piece of shit see her fear. “Sue’s calling you. Better see what she needs.” Glancing anxiously at the door, she raced past him and under the shelf after the wet and slippery puppy.
Carl turned to examine her, the puppy still clutched in her arms like a protective shield. “Yeah, I’ll be seeing you, dog lover.” Slowly, he backed out the way he had come.
The breath she didn’t know she held escaped in a rush. Her hands trembled visibly as she helped the puppy back into the water. Leaning in, she gripped the sides of the galvanized tub. She shook her head to clear the idea of what Carl was inferring. “Damn him,” she whispered. Snatching up a nearby towel, she dried off the puppy before finding she couldn’t let go of the poor baby just yet. Her heart pounded in her ears. The implications of the encounter raked across her raw nerves like a wind-swept fire. The man was sick.
Dazed, she rubbed the puppy’s fur and glanced about the space. Nothing had changed. Did she dream up the incident? Maybe she misunderstood what he had meant.
“No!” The one word echoed off the high ceiling of the barn-like room. Meagan had been sexually harassed by the bastard. No one went around grinding his dick into people without it being harassment. Her stomach churned.
With the puppy cradled in her arms, she went to the medicine cabinet to get the bottle of wormer and a syringe. With the medication given, she placed the puppy in his new home, lined wi
th puppy pads and a bowl of fresh water. Her nerves felt shredded. Not knowing how to face any of the staff up front, she exited the shelter through a back-fence gate and shoved into her truck. Jamming the door lock on the ratty old heap, Meagan peeled out of the parking lot stirring up a cloud of dust as she left.
Tears welled in her eyes as she glanced in the rearview mirror. Her second home, the place she loved more than anything in the world was tainted with a sickly sense of dread. What did she do? How did she avoid Carl and his creepy advances? Her vision blurred several times as she thought about the bastard purposely bumping into her from behind. She hadn’t imagined the move. She hadn’t invited the action. She hadn’t told him to go to hell either. A sigh escaped as she considered what she could have done differently. “I have to remember,” she told the empty truck cab, “to pointedly tell him no next time he tries something like that. Frazzled, she blinked at the open road as she headed to Aubrie’s place. She needed quiet. She needed solace. She needed holding. “I’ll be ready for you, you bastard. Next time, I’ll be ready.”
***
“Meagan, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be at the shelter.” Katie watched her approach the pharmacy counter with a concerned eye.
Shrugging, Meagan opened the gate dividing the counter area from the front of the pharmacy. “I wasn’t feeling well. Thought I’d call it a day.” With a weak smile, she turned for the back room and a few minutes of quiet since Katie was explaining a medication to a customer. The studio couch Katie kept for the occasional nap between customers seemed so necessary now. Meagan dropped to the worn quilt covering the antique and buried her head in her hands. Wishing for Dorran, she started to cry. Somehow, she got the fact that this was a battle she had to fight on her own. Nausea welled up as she relived the scene back at the shelter – the shelter – her sanctuary where she cared for those in need. The bastard had taken her peace of mind and more. Swiping at the tears, she sniffed, blowing into a paper napkin.
Fisting a hand around the leather of the talisman hanging around her neck, she wished she’d gotten a hold of Dorran. His damn phone went to voice mail, so she texted him. He hadn’t answered, which meant if he were out of range or too far from the interstate, the stupid cell tower wouldn’t pick up the signal. “Cell service sucks wide around here,” she muttered to herself. Meagan had almost done a U-turn in the middle of the road and gone looking for him. The feeling of dread that bubbled up when she thought of something happening to him had her fingering the token of a Medicine Man’s spirit again.
Her ever present voice of doom and gloom piped up about then. Maybe he doesn’t want to talk to you right now. How much of a bitch do you think a man will take before he rides off into the sunset?
He had apologized. Did he mean it? The idea that her little voice could be right riled her even more. “Maybe he decided he just doesn’t need the hassle of a drama queen like me,” she whispered to the vacant back room. “After all, you’re getting worked up over a guy you barely know. He probably has a list a mile long of women just dying to get into his pants. Hell, I’ll bet they’re all his age too.” Meagan scowled into the dingy mirror on the wall for emphasis.
A low, soulful moan of a freight train drew her attention. Shoving to her feet, she walked over to the window and looked out. She sighed as the train barriers fell into place over the road up the street from the pharmacy. Brilliant red flashers signaled an oncoming train. The warning lights drew her in.
Meagan watched as the Southern Central Freight train barreled through the crossing on its way to Jackson Mississippi. Colorful graffiti marked most of the cars flying by. She noted the line of trucks and cars growing with each passing minute behind the barricades. Who were they she wondered and what was the nature of their business? With time to consider she imagined where they were headed. People detained from their journeys by a moderately speedy mode of cargo transportation was a usual occurrence. Some were just getting off work like she had done only fifteen minutes before. Some were leaving school. She noted the anxious revving of motors and blasts from horns. A couple of kids had gotten out of their parked vehicles to shoot the breeze in the newly minted parking lot. Happy, silly, absorbed people with trivial things to do she mused. Each one with a life, stuff to take care of and people who loved them waiting at home. A familiar ache set up in her chest.
The train cars swayed on the rails with a rhythm of their own. Meagan watched as box cars swooshed by followed by container cars and flatbeds hauling trucking trailers. Meagan stared in a daze wondering where the cars came from and their possible destinations. All manner of freight traveled through Cheniere Station via the tracks. It didn’t matter really where they all came from or where they were going. At that moment in time, they were hers to ponder. Names spray painted in bright colors, gang affiliations and the occasional curse word all rode the rails together. Meagan supposed the tracks made a clandestine way to disappear if one needed to run. Her heart tightened in her chest. She hoped she didn’t need to ride the rails someday.
“Chere, what’s this?” Katie came through the door and turned Meagan toward her to examine. “Why are you crying?”
Caught, Meagan tried to calm. “It’s nothing. I can take care of it.” She attempted to smile. Epic failure, but points for the effort, Meagan mused.
“Oh, honey, tell me what’s wrong.” Brushing at Meagan’s curls, she pulled her back to the ratty couch and sat down beside her, wrapping her in a hug. “Did something happen at the shelter?”
“No! Yes, but I can handle it. I don’t need help.”
Katie eased back. “Now I’m really concerned. “Tell me what happened? Don’t even try to give me that lame excuse again either. I want to know why you’re sitting here in the middle of the day crying.”
Shaking her head, Meagan teared up again. “I…”
“Easy, Meagan. Take your time and tell me what happened.” Her eyes never left Meagan’s face. Giving Meagan’s fingers a tight squeeze, she added, “Start from the beginning.”
Feeling exhausted, Meagan figured the only way she would get Katie to ease up was if she told her everything. “He’s had it in for me since I fell the other day and a dog escaped.”
Katie shifted slowly, passing Meagan another tissue. “Who is he?”
“Carl, the dog catcher.” Blowing her nose, Meagan gripped her hands in her lap.
“Go on, honey. Tell me everything.”
“I was in the back, bathing a puppy we’d just gotten. I was alone when Carl came up behind me. At first, I didn’t think anything about it. He was always following me and commenting on my work since I fell on the capture pole and broke it. That’s when the dog escaped. Anyway, I didn’t think anything about it until he walked right up behind me.”
Katie’s eyes widened. “Like in your personal space?”
“Yeah, right behind me. I could smell his breath.” She swiped another tear away. “I asked him what he wanted, and that’s when he ground himself into my backside.” She sniffed and looked away. “Katie, he had a hard-on. Then he called me ‘sugar tits’ and tried to grope my breasts.”
Now Katie cursed low under her breath. “The bastard. Let’s go. I’m going to have a word with this Carl character.”
Meagan shook her head violently. “No, please, Katie. It will just make things worse. I won’t go in to the shelter for a couple of days. It’ll all blow over, and you’ve said yourself that it was better to ignore bad behavior than cast a light on it and watch it play out.”
“Yes, but this isn’t simply bad behavior, Meagan. This guy is a sicko, and he needs to be charged with sexual harassment. Don’t you see? He’ll do this to someone else and soon.”
The truth sounded hard to swallow. Meagan wasn’t ready for such a move. “Katie, I can’t. Not yet. Please, give me some time, okay?”
Fired up, Katie stood. Pacing back and forth, she went over several steps that needed to be done. “I’ll call the police, and together we will file a report, all
right?”
“Together?” Meagan’s bottom lip wanted to tremble. She sagged into the couch. Katie was right. There was no time for tears. They needed to action. “All right.”
Katie nodded. “Good! I’m going to call the police and then Duke.”
It was Meagan’s turn to go wide-eyed. “No! Please don’t call Duke.”
Katie turned from the phone. “Why not? He’s your guardian.” She sat beside Meagan, taking her hands in hers. “Honey, he loves you like his own. We have to tell him.”
The color rose so quickly in Meagan’s cheeks, she had a hard time looking Katie in the eyes. “It’s just so embarrassing. You know?”
“I know, you’re embarrassed, but you have nothing to be ashamed of. You must tell the authorities what happened. Others could be attacked and probably already have. This guy needs a record, so he’s recognized in the system. Understand?”
“I get it. I just hate the idea of having to face him again.”
“I’m right beside you – all the way. Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”
“Katie, would you do me a favor?” Meagan knew she was venturing into uncharted waters.
“Sure Meagan, name it.”
“Would you call Dorran for me?”
It was the reaction she had expected playing out on Katie’s face. “Why do you need me to call him, Meagan?”
“You’re right. I just thought…”
Katie sighed. “You want to see him, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. I can’t explain it. I just feel safe with Dorran.” She glanced away. “I need a hug from him right about now.”
Katie nodded and swallowed hard. A silence grew between them before she met Meagan’s piteous look of despair. “All right. I’ll call him.”
Meagan eased back against the couch. “Thanks,” she said as she wrapped her arms around her chest. “I appreciate it.” Closing her eyes, she told herself she would doze for only a few minutes.
Blood Born Page 14