Sentinels: Jaguar Night

by Doranna Durgin

  Captured. Tortured. Killed. Resurrected into slavery. Used as a power conduit…and nearly lost in a flood of it as she broke her bonds.

  Yeah, busy day.

  Ruger had brought her out here, carried her effortlessly while Dolan staggered along behind, and leaned her up against the retaining wall, even as he declined to ease Dolan’s wounds. “You wasted the last healing,” he’d said, actions belying his hard words as he helped Dolan sit on the narrow strip of grass bordering the short wall, where the low sun turned the shadows long. “Now you can do it like anyone else.” But he’d hesitated long enough to narrow his eyes and give Dolan a careful eye. “Though we’ll want a better look at you. Later. Right now, you just be here when she wakes up.”

  He’d cleaned up, at least—made use of washcloth and bathroom while Ruger worked on Meghan, so when she did open her eyes she wouldn’t find the same bloodstreaked horror that had confronted him in the mirror. And now, while Carter and his team cleaned up the house, removing all signs of the activity that had gone on there, Dolan sat out here on the grass with his knees propped up and Meghan tucked under his arm, floating in his own achy exhaustion.

  Sceleratus vis. Just say no.

  Meghan shifted slightly. Her hands, resting limply on legs folded to the side, moved—finding him. First his chest, then his thigh; she took a deep, slow breath and rested one hand there, detouring only to tuck her hair behind her ear in a futile gesture. “I would have been lost,” she murmured. “I was lost. If you hadn’t come for me—”

  He said nothing. He briefly tightened his hold on her shoulders, and he kissed the top of her head.

  After a long silence, she pushed herself up—still tucked in beside him, but more upright, leaning against the wall on her own. “I must have passed out. I guess I’m lucky I didn’t pass on, when I broke Gausto’s hold on me. We don’t have any idea what he did to…to bring me back.”

  He looked away from her, not quite able to face that possibility so soon. But he admitted, “You’re right. But if it was going to happen…”

  “It would have,” she said, trying to convince herself. “Dolan, your voice—!”

  Gravelly, strained…the voice he’d been left after Gausto’s handiwork. “It’ll get better,” he said, but then had to admit, “I think.” And he kissed her forehead for good measure.

  “Did it hold? What I did with Gausto’s wards?”

  Dolan grinned, and made no attempt to make it a nice one. “Steady as she goes.”

  She twisted around to look at the house, barely visible beyond the curve of the wall. “Where is he?”

  “Gone.”

  “Gone?” She pulled away from him to look at him more completely, to take in their circumstances and their lack of company.

  Dolan shrugged. “He’s untouchable. We can’t get in; he can’t get out. He can’t do anymore harm with the sceleratus vis… and Carter never meant to keep him in the first place. As the region’s drozhar, he’s pretty much got diplomatic immunity. He even took his men. One of Carter’s team is escorting them out of the area.”

  “After all that—”

  Dolan shook his head. “It’s okay, Meghan. We got what we came for—we got more than what we came for. Gausto is neutralized, and he still has to face his sept’s prince. And we have all of his materials on the sceleratus vis. Notes, history, formulas.” In the background, footsteps approached. Silent to anyone else…loud enough to Dolan’s ears. “Carter,” he said out loud. “Maines.”

  Meghan stiffened slightly in surprise, and relaxed as the two came into view. Carter had a burnished aluminum briefcase; he set it on the driveway gravel and regarded them, more bemused than anything else. “I should probably say something official here,” he said. “Admonishment, scolding…whatever. Truth is, Dolan’s right. We have more than we came for. I can’t work up any interest in picking apart the how of it. Except—” and he fixed his gaze on Dolan, light green and penetrating “—I want the location of the book. And I want it now.”

  “Oh,” Meghan said, waving the matter away as if it was of no consequence. “Doesn’t everyone know that by now? It’s at the outhouse. My mother put an illusionary ward on it. You’ll find it masquerading as oldfashioned toilet paper.”

  Carter made a choking noise; Lyn Maines widened her eyes. “I knew I felt something!” she said. “I just couldn’t pin it…” She stopped, shook her head. “Your mother was a woman of astonishing skills, Meghan.”

  Meghan seemed to absorb that for a moment, and then she nodded. “She was. I guess…maybe…she left me more than I thought.”

  “Speaking of that…” Carter said, and Meghan stiffened, her hand tensing on Dolan’s thigh. He put his hand over hers, and sent silent reassurance.

  Carter saw it all. “Ease up, you two. It’s obvious that brevis made an inexcusable error in shutting Meghan out. We can’t fix that now, but she does need training—not so we can use her, if that’s not what she wants, but so she can stay safe and the people around her can stay safe.”

  “I can keep her safe,” Dolan growled. It was especially effective with his current voice; it even widened Lyn’s eyes slightly. Good.

  “Maybe,” Carter said, clearly not agreeing…but leaving it at that. “Consider yourself invited,” he told Meghan. “Whenever you’re ready. I think you’ll find it to be sooner rather than later, but it’s up to you.” He caught Dolan’s gaze. “And you,” he said. “I should retire you from fieldwork immediately. Talk about a loose cannon—” But he waved away Dolan’s glower. “Not yet. But I think you should come with her.”

  Dolan considered the words; they sounded more like a suggestion than an order, and that didn’t quite fit. “To brevis?”

  “I told you,” Lyn said. “If you understood more about what’s been happening—”

  But Carter silenced her with a look. “If he’s interested, he’ll come.”

  Dolan snorted. It hurt. “You think I’m that easy to play?”

  “It’s been a while,” Carter said. “Doesn’t seem as though you have any right to judge brevis if you don’t keep better track of us.”

  “I know what I need to,” Dolan said, as hard as ever. Brevis had a leak—the one that had renewed the Core’s interest in this area in the first place. Brevis had a history of hesitating at just the wrong moment, leaving its field agents hanging. Brevis had lost its focus, its collective goal.

  But when he eyed Carter, hunting deception, he found only honesty. And Carter had joined his attack on Gausto—joined him, not stopped him. Since his arrival, he’d backed Dolan’s intentions…even though it had sometimes looked coerced. He’d still done it, when he could have fallen back on brevis stuffiness and made things worse.

  If only he’d gotten here earlier…

  Lyn watched him, giving him a strange and piercing look. A little bit hope, a little bit disappointment…as if he’d already largely fulfilled her expectations, and not in a good way.

  There was something to be found out, there at brevis. What was behind Lyn’s expression, for one. What was behind Carter’s carefully tendered invitation.

  As if he’d let Meghan go into that literal lion’s den alone anyway.

  Carter nodded, short and decisive, and picked up the briefcase. “We’re just about done here. Plan is to take you back to the ranch, let you sort out your people…take some time to recover.” He glanced at Dolan. “You’ve got a field report to file, but you can do it from there. Ruger also wants to spend some time with you.”

  Right. To see what he could glean of the taint of the sceleratus vis.

  “Tell him to bring work boots,” Meghan said, just a little too sweet. “All of our guests are working guests.”

  Carter grinned, an unexpected expression. “I’ll do that.” And he lifted his chin at Lyn, a little let’s go gesture, leaving Dolan and Meghan alone again for the moment.

  Meghan’s chin went up. “If they think they can force me to—”

  Easy, love. He sent
it out between them, saw its impact. “I don’t trust them, either, but…”

  “There’s something,” she finished for him.

  “There might be.”

  At that they sat another moment or two, let the heat of the setting sun bake their aches and their exhaustion, taking the time to be aware of each other. Meghan turned to him, shifting over to her knees, and watching his face. Drinking it in, more like, as well as reaching out to rub a thumb over some spot on his cheek he must have missed. She said, “Will you? Come back to the ranch? Stay with me? Make sure I don’t hurt them somehow?”

  Dolan laughed. “Not a chance. Haven’t you figured me out yet? I’m a selfish son of a bitch. I’m coming back to be with you.”

  Resignation, relief…annoyance. They crossed her face in quick succession, and she made a mocking fist. “I ought to—”

  “Oh, God no,” he said, holding up his hands in an exaggerated defense. “I’m done for the day. For the week!”

  “For the year,” she allowed, relaxing her hand. “Well, come here, then, and let me kiss you back into strength. Encontrados is waiting.”

  Look for Doranna Durgin’s next thrilling

  Sentinels romance, Lion Heart.

  Available April 2010 only from

  Mills & Boon® Intrigue Nocturne™.

  Available in March 2010

  from Mills & Boon® Intrigue

  Expecting Trouble

  by Delores Fossen

  &

  Prince Charming for 1 Night

  by Nina Bruhns

  The Colonel’s Widow?

  by Mallory Kane

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  Cavanaugh Pride

  by Marie Ferrarella

  Natural-Born Protector

  by Carla Cassidy

  &

  Saved by the Monarch

  by Dana Marton

  Second Chance Cowboy

  by BJ Daniels

  Vanished

  by Maureen Child

  Sentinels: Jaguar Night

  by Doranna Durgin

  Mills & Boon® Intrigue brings you

  a sneak preview of…

  Carla Cassidy’s The Rancher Bodyguard

  Grace Covington’s stepfather has been murdered, her

  teenage sister the only suspect. Convinced of her

  sister’s innocence, Grace turns to her ex-boyfriend,

  lawyer Charlie Black, to help her find the truth.

  Although she is determined not to forgive his betrayal,

  the sexual tension instantly returns as their

  investigation leads them into danger…and back

  into each other’s arms.

  Don’t miss the thrilling final story in the

  WILD WEST BODYGUARDS

  mini-series, available next month from

  Mills & Boon® Intrigue.

  The Rancher Bodyguard

  by

  Carla Cassidy

  As he approached the barn, Charlie Black saw the sleek, scarlet convertible pulling into his driveway, and wondered when exactly, while he’d slept the night before, hell had frozen over. Because the last time he’d seen Grace Covington, that’s what she’d told him would have to happen before she’d ever talk to or even look at him again.

  He patted the neck of his stallion and reined in at the corral. As he dismounted and pulled off his dusty black hat, he tried to ignore the faint thrum of electricity that zinged through him as she got out of her car.

  Her long blond hair sparkled in the late afternoon sun, but he was still too far away to see the expression on her lovely features.

  It had been a year and a half since he’d seen her, even though for the past six months they’d resided in the same small town of Cotter Creek, Oklahoma.

  The last time he’d encountered her had been in his upscale apartment in Oklahoma City. He’d been wearing a pair of sports socks and an electric blue condom. Not one of his finer moments, but it had been the culminating incident in a year of not-so-fine moments.

  Too much money, too many successes and far too much booze had transformed his life into a nightmare of bad moments, the last resulting in him losing the only thing worth having.

  Surely she hadn’t waited all this time to come out to the family ranch—his ranch now—to finally put a bullet in what she’d described as his cold, black heart. Grace had never been the type of woman to put off till today what she could have done yesterday.

  Besides, she hadn’t needed a gun on that terrible Friday night when she’d arrived unannounced at his apartment. As he’d stared at her in a drunken haze, she’d given it to him with both barrels, calling him every vile name under the sun before she slammed out of his door and out of his life.

  So, what was she doing here now? He slapped his horse on the rump, then motioned to a nearby ranch hand to take care of the animal. He closed the gate and approached where she hadn’t moved away from the driver’s side of her car.

  Her hair had grown much longer since he’d last seen her. Although most of it was clasped at the back of her neck, several long wisps had escaped the confines. The beige suit she wore complemented her blond coloring and the icy blue of her eyes.

  She might look cool and untouchable, like the perfect lady, but he knew what those eyes looked like flared with desire. He knew how she moaned with wild abandon when making love, and he hated the fact that just the unexpected sight of her brought back all the memories he’d worked so long and hard to forget.

  “Hello, Grace,” he said, as he got close enough to speak without competing with the warm April breeze. “I have to admit I’m surprised to see you. As I remember, the last time we saw each other, you indicated that hell would freeze over before you’d ever speak to me again.”

  Her blue eyes flashed with more than a touch of annoyance—a flash followed swiftly by a look of desperation.

  “Charlie, I need you.” Her low voice trembled slightly, and only then did he notice that her eyes were red-rimmed, as if she’d been weeping. In all the time they’d dated—even during the ugly scene that had ended them—he’d never seen her shed a single tear. “Have you heard the news?” she asked.

  “What news?”

  “Early this afternoon my stepfather was found stabbed to death in bed.” She paused for a moment and bit her full lower lip as her eyes grew shiny with suppressed tears. “I think Hope is in trouble, Charlie. I think she’s really in bad trouble.”

  “What?” Shock stabbed through him. Hope was Grace’s fifteen-year-old sister. He’d met her a couple of times. She’d seemed like a nice kid, not as pretty as her older sister, but a cutie nevertheless.

  “Maybe you should come on inside,” he said, and gestured toward the house. She stared at the attractive ranch house as if he’d just invited her into the chambers of hell. “There’s nobody inside, Grace. The only woman who ever comes in is Rosa Caltano. She does the cooking and cleaning for me, and she’s already left for the day.”

  Grace gave a curt nod and moved away from the car. She followed him to the house and up the wooden stairs to the wraparound porch.

  The entry hall was just as it had been when Charlie’s mother and father had been alive, with a gleaming wood floor and a dried flower wreath on the wall.

  He led her to the living room. Charlie had removed much of the old furniture that he’d grown up with and replaced it with contemporary pieces in earth tones. He motioned Grace to the sofa, where she sat on the very edge as if ready to bolt at any moment. He took the chair across from her and gazed at her expectantly.

  “Why do you think Hope is in trouble?”

  She drew in a deep breath, obviously fighting for control. “From what I’ve been told, Lana, the house-keeper, found William dead in his bed. Today is her day off, but she left a sweater there last night and went back to get it. It was late enough in the day that William should have been up, so she checked on him. She immediately called Zack West, and he and some of his deputies responded. They found Hope passed out on her
bed. Apparently she was the only one home at the time of the murder.”

  Charlie frowned, his mind reeling. Before he’d moved back here to try his hand at ranching, Charlie had been a successful, high-profile defense attorney in Oklahoma City.

  It was that terrible moment in time with Grace followed by the unexpected death of his father that had made him take a good, hard look at his life and realize how unhappy he’d been for a very long time.

  Still, it was as a defense attorney that he frowned at her thoughtfully. “What do you mean she was passed out? Was she asleep? Drunk?”

  Those icy blue eyes of hers darkened. “Apparently she was drugged. She was taken to the hospital and is still there. They pumped her stomach and are keeping her for observation.” Grace leaned forward. “Please, Charlie. Please help her. Something isn’t right. First of all, Hope would never, ever take drugs, and she certainly isn’t capable of something like this. She would never have hurt William.”

  Spoken like a true sister, Charlie thought. How many times had he heard family members and friends proclaim that a defendant couldn’t be guilty of the crime they had been charged with, only to discover that they were wrong?

  “Grace, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m a rancher now.” He wasn’t at all sure he wanted to get involved with any of this. It had disaster written all over it. “I’ve retired as a criminal defense attorney.”

  “I heard through the grapevine that besides being a rancher, you’re working part-time with West Protective Services,” she said.

  “That’s right,” he agreed. “They approached me about a month ago and asked if I could use a little side work. It sounded intriguing, so I took them up on it, but so far I haven’t done any work for them.”

  “Then let me hire you as Hope’s bodyguard, and if you do a little criminal defense work in the process I’ll pay you extra.” She leaned forward, her eyes begging for his help.