[Kassandra Lyall Preternatural Investigator 03] - Bloody Claws

by Winter Pennington

  She spread her arms out, smiling. "All you have to do is challenge me, Kassandra, and we'll be on even ground. Your Countess has stepped aside and will not interfere. My wolves will not interfere. One on one," she whispered, and the coaxing tone in her voice made me laugh.

  "Is that what you really want?" I asked.

  "Oh yes."

  I felt the dark smile that crept over my lips. "In that case, not only no, but hell no. This is done." I cast a glance to her bleeding shoulder. "Someone needs to look at your shoulder, Sheila. I only carry silver."

  "It's not done, Kassandra, and you know it."

  "Great, Sheila, but it's done for tonight. Remember my promise."

  "Remember mine," she said.

  "I'm really starting to regret not telling the cops about you."

  "Why didn't you?"

  "To protect you. And maybe to some extent it was about respect, having enough respect not to fuck with another Lykos's life, but if you start fucking with mine, Sheila, you'll pay for it. Trust me on that one."

  "I'll keep that in mind," she said, but not like she cared.

  "Good." I stood, ready to get the fuck away from her before I gave her exactly what she wanted-a fight. My hands were trembling with rage and the urge to strike her. "We're done here."

  One of Sheila's wolves slipped from the group began probing at the hole in her shoulder. She watched me while he drew her shirt away and inspected the still bleeding wound.

  Lenorre came to me, touching my wrist with her fingers. Rosalin breathed out a sigh of relief. I recoiled from Lenorre's touch, because in that moment, I didn't exactly feel like being touched by anyone or anything.

  Eris came forward, holding out my clothes. I slipped the slacks on under Zaphara's coat, not bothering with the rest.

  I just wanted to get the fuck away from Sheila and her wolves before I did something stupid.

  Or really, really wise.

  CHAPTER thirteen

  e made it to the edge of the parking lot when I realized Rosalin's hands were trembling violently. If I hadn't been watching her like a hawk, I wouldn't have noticed. I reached out and brushed her palm with my fingers. She jumped, turning on me as if I'd just appeared.

  "You okay?"

  She let out a long breath, as if exhaling her pain. "I don't know," she whispered, eyes downcast and searching the gravel. It was kind of obvious by that one look that she wasn't okay.

  I felt Lenorre move behind me. "Comfort your wolf, Kassandra. She needs you right now. I will drive."

  I dug the keys out of the jacket I'd been wearing earlier and handed them to her. I slipped into the backseat, holding out a hand for Rosalin. She settled in against me and curled as much of her body around mine as space would allow.

  I didn't bother trying to buckle my seat belt. Lenorre waited and before I could ask what we were waiting for, Zaphara eased into the passenger seat. She turned around, looked at Rosalin and me, got out again, then pushed the seat forward and climbed in back with us.

  "She needs more warmth and comfort than you're going to be able to give her on your own, unless you shift," she said.

  I nodded. It wasn't the first time Zaphara had helped me to comfort Rosalin. Wolves need touch, so I'd learned. When something bad has happened or we're stressed, we have a tendency to get snuggly. We're pack creatures, so it makes sense. Besides, shifting and tearing my upholstery didn't sound like the greatest plan. I imagine retractable claws come in very handy, but since I wasn't a shifter of the feline variety, I'd rather not tear up my car.

  "Pity there's not more room," Eris said, shutting the door. She met my gaze with a beautiful smile.

  Lenorre started the car.

  "I thought you rode with Maddox?" I asked Zaphara and Eris. Zaphara said, "Maddox is going over to Timothy's to check on him."

  "Oh." I stroked a hand across Rosalin's shoulder. "Are you feeling better?"

  She nodded.

  "Not talking to me is kind of an indication that you're not feeling better, Ros."

  That earned me a small laugh.

  She nuzzled her face in the bend of my neck. "I was so scared you were going to challenge her."

  "And give the bitch what she wanted?" I scoffed. "Not likely." Another shudder went through her. "Are you hungry?" I asked. I needed to eat and soon. We expend energy when we shift. Having shifted to wolf form and back to human, I needed some protein and iron to curb the fatigue that threatened to kick into high gear. My tremors weren't noticeable yet.

  "I don't know if I could eat right now," she murmured.

  "You should," Zaphara said, "as should the rest of us that eat solid food."

  "I'd beg to argue that my food is quite solid," Eris said.

  Zaphara raised her brows.

  I stroked Rosalin's hair. "Does anything sound good?"

  "Maybe some chili cheese fries?"

  Zaphara said, "Meat is a good idea."

  I agreed with her. Eris looked at us over her shoulder, scrunching her nose up slightly in distaste.

  Lenorre stopped at a red light. "I need to know where I am going."

  "Al's Diner," I said. "We'll go in and order. It'll give me a chance to scope someone out for a client."

  "Very well then."

  I looked at Rosalin again. "Anything else?"

  "Maybe a salad too."

  Zaphara and I both laughed.

  "What? What's so funny about salad?"

  "Nothing," Zaphara said, "nothing at all if you were a were-bunny."

  "Fine," she said, playfully defensive. "A chicken salad. Happy?"

  "Get whatever you want, Ros," I said.

  She nodded, falling silent. Lenorre guided the car onto the highway heading north back toward the city.

  "And maybe a small cheeseburger and a chocolate shake."

  "You know, there is a zoo not too far from here. If you prefer, I am sure we could find some way to obtain a gazelle," Eris said in a musing voice.

  "Oh!" Rosalin exclaimed, completely ignoring her. "And some fried pickles."

  "You keep adding to that order and you're going to have to write it down," I said.

  "I take it that was a no on the gazelle?" Eris asked.

  I offered a slight nod. "Yeah, pretty sure that was a no."

  Rosalin sat up straight in the seat. "Wait, gazelle? What? Someone said something about a gazelle?"

  I put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back into me. "Nothing, Ros. You're not getting a gazelle."

  "That's a shame," she said, relaxing. "I've never had gazelle salad before."

  *

  Al's Diner was one of those places that tried to pass as old-fashioned with black and white tiled floors; red, high-backed booths; and a jukebox that was purely for decorative purposes only. Zaphara and Lenorre stood next to me while I examined the menu, spouting off what I could remember of Rosalin's order to the blond teenager behind the counter. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and the uniform shirt she wore was a little too dark for her, bringing out the pink undertones in her skin. Her eyes kept flicking between the three of us. Fortunately, I'd slipped my shirt and jacket on when everyone had gotten out of the car. And though Lenorre had tried to fuss with my hair on our way in, I was betting it was still a righteous mess.

  I ordered a bacon cheeseburger, minus the herbivorous crap, and a large coffee to go. Protein and caffeine, the night was already beginning to look up. Zaphara finished her order and I handed the girl my card. Al's Diner wasn't packed, but when I turned around my eyes confirmed what my senses had been telling me. Lenorre, Zaphara, and I were attracting attention. If it bothered either of them, they didn't show it.

  I chose a booth where I could watch the servers and wait staff, in case Kamryn Sherman walked through.

  Lenorre placed her hand on my thigh and I turned to look at her. She shifted her silvery gaze toward the restroom.

  "Kamryn, you said?" she asked.

  I nodded.

  "A woman wearing that name tag j
ust walked into the ladies' room."

  The restroom was on the opposite side of the diner.

  "You could read her name tag from here?"

  Lenorre merely said, "Yes."

  She stood so that I could slip out of the booth. I touched her arm lightly. "Thank you."

  She bowed her head in acknowledgement of my thanks and I went, figuring I'd use the opportunity to my advantage and further try to tame my tangled hair. Shifting and running through the woods hadn't exactly done it justice.

  Before I reached the mirror, I spied a pair of black sneakers under the second stall. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to strategically place strands to hide the stickers stuck in it. I wouldn't be able to get them out without the aid of a brush.

  I was washing my hands when Kamryn emerged, wearing the same matching black button-up dress shirt as the girl behind the register. The pants she wore were white. She tightened the matching belt at her hips and smiled at me.

  "Hi."

  "Evening," I said, casually glancing at her name tag and moving out of the way of the sink.

  Kamryn Sherman was less androgynous than Hunter, with curly brown highlighted hair that brushed the tops of her shoulders. Her makeup was light and artfully done, the brown eye shadow bringing out the amber flecks in her dark brown eyes.

  I held the door for Kamryn. She smiled at me.

  "I like your hair."

  "Thanks," I said, not really meaning it.

  Lenorre and Zaphara were standing by the exit with bags of food in their hands. Lenorre was holding my cup of coffee and offered it to me as I approached.

  "Did you find anything?" she asked as soon as we hit the open air.

  "I know what she looks like now."

  "But you don't know if she's cheating on her girlfriend?" Zaphara asked. I'd explained to everyone before we arrived that I was scoping someone out. "Not yet."

  Zaphara gave me a long look. Eris opened the passenger side door of my Tiburon and stepped out, holding it open for us.

  "Why didn't you just make a pass at her and find out?"

  I shook my head, switching my coffee cup to my right hand while taking the food from Lenorre in my left.

  "It doesn't work like that."

  "Why doesn't it? It's a simple thing to find out."

  "It's disrespectful to my client, Zaphara. She didn't hire me to encourage her girlfriend to cheat; she asked me to find out if she is cheating."

  It looked as though Zaphara was about to say something when Rosalin called my name from the backseat.

  I peeked in. "Yes?"

  "I'm starving. I can smell my chili cheese fries and I'm about to start chewing on your seats. Can't you two do that in the car?"

  I handed her the bag I was holding and climbed into the backseat, careful that none of my coffee sloshed over the edge of the cup and went to waste.

  CHAPTER Fourteen

  hen we made it back to Lenorre's I was exhausted, not only physically but mentally as well. Those of us that had ordered food had impatiently eaten it in the car on the way.

  Everything seemed foggy and touched by that haze that tiredness will cast. I held Rosalin's hand, my other loosely resting at the bend in Lenorre's elbow as we made it to the basement levels. Zaphara opened the door into the lounge and I squinted, as always, waiting until my eyes adjusted to the spill of bright light. Once inside, I let go of Rosalin, figuring she'd find a room downstairs or return to her room upstairs. Lenorre stood still, and since she wasn't moving toward the bedroom, where I desperately wanted to go, I let go of her as well.

  "Kassandra." Lenorre's voice made me turn. When I met her silvery eyes there was a look of expectation in her gaze. She tilted her head in Rosalin's direction.

  Rosalin stood there staring at her feet as if she wasn't sure what to do.

  "Ros."

  She raised her honey eyes briefly.

  "Rosalin," I tried again.

  She crossed her arms and I got the vague sense she was trying to lock herself in her body.

  Lenorre said, "Kassandra is speaking to you."

  Eris, who had been quietly standing just inside the room, chose that moment to move. She snuck up behind Rosalin and wrapped her arms around her waist.

  Rosalin's eyes went wide with panic. She tried to step away and Eris held her, whispering at her ear in a voice soft enough that I couldn't hear it, which meant she didn't want me to hear whatever she was saying.

  Rosalin wriggled again, saying softly, "I don't want to be touched by you right now."

  Eris still didn't let her go.

  If she was trying to comfort her, it didn't look like it.

  A spark of anger flared inside of me.

  Zaphara was there. She placed a hand on Eris's shoulder.

  "Sheila is a sadist, Eris."

  Eris stared at Zaphara as if Zaphara had just slapped her, her lips were half-parted in surprise. "I'm a dominatrix, Zaphara, not a sadist, and I am certainly not Sheila."

  "What's the difference?" I asked, speaking before thinking.

  Eris looked appalled. "That you would ask me that reveals how little you really know about the lifestyle. A sadist doesn't stop when asked, Kassandra, nor do they adhere to any code of ethics. A sadist doesn't care about the well-being of their submissive, only about their own selfish needs being met."

  "Then let her go, Eris."

  Reluctantly, she did.

  I wasn't sure, but I had a feeling that both Rosalin and Zaphara had hurt Eris's feelings.

  Lenorre touched my arm and I placed a hand over hers. "Rosalin," I tried again. This time she looked at me. "Do you want to come with us?"

  She lowered her gaze again.

  "Rosalin!"

  Her head snapped up.

  "Look," I said, "I'm exhausted. You either want to come with us or you don't, but make your needs known and stop caving in on yourself."

  "I don't want to intrude," she said, voice small.

  I sighed again. "Ros, I don't have the energy to expend right now on a pep talk, nor do I have the patience for it. If you were intruding, I wouldn't have offered. So yes or no?"

  Lenorre remained silent behind me, her hand sliding down my side to my hip.

  That one small touch made something in Rosalin's expression change. The hollowness that had been there was replaced by a look of yearning.

  Eris said, "If you don't take them up on their offer, I will."

  She put a sway in her walk, approaching while Rosalin refused to budge.

  "Eris," Lenorre said.

  Eris smiled beautifully. "Do not try to pretend it would be the first time we've been in bed together, Lenorre."

  I tensed.

  "Use your words carefully," Lenorre said. "Do not seek to play games with me by implying in front of Kassandra that we have slept together when we have not."

  I relaxed a little, but not much, considering Eris was standing way too close for comfort.

  Eris reached out, and with Lenorre behind me, I didn't have any room to back up. I went stock-still, forcing myself to stand my ground.

  The tips of her fingers brushed my cheek, tracing my jaw, down my neck.

  "Don't worry," she whispered, watching me with those intense eyes. "Lenorre speaks truth, but why did it trouble you to think we had slept together when the very woman you're inviting to your bed is one you have slept with?"

  "Rosalin is my friend. The rest isn't any of your business."

  Her fingers trailed lower down my throat, sending my pulse to humming in my ears.

  Lenorre squeezed my hips. If she was trying to anchor me against Eris, her gesture had the opposite effect. I closed my eyes, exhaling a shuddering breath.

  "And will you comfort your friend by sleeping with her?" Eris asked, tracing the line of my collarbone.

  Lenorre's arms wrapped more solidly around me, pinning me to her as Eris had captured Rosalin. She buried her face in the bend of my neck, placing a kiss on my pulse that, despite its gentleness, ma
de me flinch.

  "No," I said. "I'm trying to be there for her, Eris, not get in her pants."

  "And what do you think your little wolf wants?"

  "What?"

  "What do you think Rosalin wants, Kassandra?"

  "I…I don't know."

  Lenorre's lips parted against my skin, making my knees liquid.

  I whispered her name, trying to give her the hint to stop.

  Eris took a step back so that I could see Rosalin.

  Her face was blank, not as blank as Lenorre's went when she was trying to hide her feelings, but blank enough that I knew she was trying for neutral.

  "Is that why you're hesitating?" I asked.

  "I can't watch you and Lenorre," she said.

  "Good Gods, I don't want you to watch us. Why would you think we would do that?"

  "I don't know," she said, bowing her head again.

  Lenorre's lips traced a spot on my neck and I said her name again, this time through clenched teeth.

  "Yes, Kassandra?"

  "I'm not sure what you're doing," I said, "but you're very distracting right now."

  "I am very distracted right now," she whispered, murmuring against my hair, "I need to feed."

  When I didn't say anything, she stepped away from me.

  "Zaphara," she said.

  I touched her arm. "Wait, you didn't ask me."

  "And would asking you gain me anything other than your uncertainty and rejection?" Her words were harshly accented.

  Eris chimed in. "I didn't know Kassandra wasn't sharing blood with you."

  Lenorre and I both ignored her. I touched Lenorre's arm. "Fine," I said. "Point taken."

  "Is that a yes or a no, Kassandra?"

  "What do you want, Lenorre?"

  "What do you mean, what do I want?"

  "Tonight, what do you want? Do you have a problem with Rosalin coming to cuddle with us?" I asked. "You're the one that stopped and brought it to my attention. I figured you did so for a reason, or did I misread you?"

  "You did not misread me. I understand that you need to comfort your wolf."

  Was she jealous? Jealousy was never really Lenorre's style. At least, it hadn't been so far.

  "What are you thinking, Kassandra?"