Beast Within (Loup-Garou Series Book 3)

by Sheritta Bitikofer

  “How did you know who she was?” Logan asked, the aggression simmering down to a manageable level.

  Anton looked to Katey with fondness. “She looks just like her mother, Jane.”

  Katey dropped her gaze. Did everyone know her parents except for her?

  “Can you take us to Michael?” Logan asked his voice tense, but seemingly willing to cooperate as long as Anton seemed to be on their side.

  Anton nodded. “Certainly. That’s why I’m here.”

  Katey looked up. “Did you know we were in New Orleans?”

  He moved away and led them toward the exit after giving his regards to the bartender. The other club guests weren’t paying any attention, despite the near fight that just broke out and the vamps that moved in blurs around the counter.

  “I knew you would be coming, but I wasn’t sure when or where you would be.” He opened the door for them.

  “You tracked us then?” Katey asked.

  “Yes,” he replied as they made their way back out onto the alleyway. It took a moment for Katey to adjust to the barrage of scents and sounds from Bourbon Street again. Night consumed New Orleans, and the real partiers were starting. “I found your motorcycle first and worked my way from there.”

  Logan seemed impressed, but not surprised. “Through all of that, you could pick out our trails?”

  “Of course,” he replied and walked ahead of them down the sidewalk. Pedestrians and tourists gave him a wide berth. “You will learn that I have many abilities that some of our kind do not.”

  “That’s apparent,” Logan muttered.

  Katey left Logan’s side and fell in next to Anton. “Did Michael send you to find us then?”

  “Yes,” he answered, glancing down at her for a moment and then chuckled. “I can’t believe how much you look like Jane. It’s like a photograph.”

  “Did you know my mother too?” she asked excitedly. Katey felt Logan grab her hand from behind. Looking over her shoulder, she felt the swell of insecurity wash over him again, and she tried to not show her zeal in full force.

  “I did. I’ve known your family for many centuries. I personally serve your grandfather. I suppose you could say I’m something of his personal guard.”

  Katey let herself drop back to Logan’s side and kept her questions to herself. As much as she yearned to learn about her mother and wanted to seize any chance to do so, she realized how this must have looked to Logan.

  He just risked his neck to defend her honor against an uncouth vampire, and she hadn’t shown her gratitude. Not only that, but she was giving Anton far too much attention, despite her burning inquisitiveness. They didn’t need Logan to have a fit about her assumed infidelity again.

  In a wolfish display of affection, she rubbed her head against his shoulder and hopped up to kiss the edge of his lips.

  Logan looked down at her and smirked, amused by her playful way of thanking him.

  They took an alternate path down Toulouse Street toward the river, then turned right onto Decatur Street. They walked under the balconies of the buildings that resembled the others in the French Quarter, while to their left traffic roared by between them and a massive parking lot for tourists and shoppers.

  Some of the scents of Bourbon Street clung to her senses, but the saline breeze of the river began to detox her nostrils with its own wild aroma.

  “Michael has taken up residence in an abandoned plantation outside of the city,” Anton told them. “It’s not far from here. I will escort you back to your bike, and we will go from there.”

  “My bike won’t fit three people,” Logan remarked, his words carrying an edge like he didn’t want to associate with the vampire more than absolutely necessary.

  “No need. I have my own.”

  “Bike?” Katey clarified.

  “Yes. Although, mine is a little more… traditional than yours, Logan.”

  Logan crooked his head, probably trying to understand what he meant.

  At the corner of St. Louis Street, Katey tested the air and looked to her left. The familiar prickling sensation alerted her to the presence of another loup-garou, and Logan turned to look that way as well. Across the street, just outside of an H&M store, Katey saw them standing under a spotlight beneath the awning.

  Lily’s hands were free while Forrest’s were loaded down with shopping bags from various stores. Katey recognized the logos on the bags from stores along Canal Street when they walked down it earlier. When the two friend’s eyes locked, they squealed and ran down the crosswalk to collide in the middle of the street, ignorant of the honking cars and weird looks they received from the other shoppers.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Katey! Get out of the street!” Logan shouted.

  “Lily!” Forrest screamed from across the road.

  The girls didn’t pay any mind to their men. Katey hugged Lily’s neck until the human coughed for air. Only then did she let go and look at her friend, whom she thought might have been dead.

  Lily’s face was clean and grinning and apart from her clothes that smelled of bayou and swamp water, and her oily hair that was pulled back away from her face, she looked unharmed.

  Then Katey thought what she must have looked like. She hadn’t bathed in over a day, and she’d been riding on a motorcycle for hours all over the south. It was possible Lily thought Katey looked even more ragged than herself.

  Forrest came running across the street and ushered the two girls back to the sidewalk where Logan and Anton were patiently waiting. A car blared its horn and swerved to avoid them. Katey heard a few cuss words from the driver, but she didn’t care. Her friends were alive, and somehow that gave her hope that many other Devians might be alive too.

  Once their feet were back on the brick walkway, Katey and Lily squeezed each other once more.

  “I can’t believe you’re here!” Lily cried.

  “Me neither!” Katey replied. “I’m so glad you two are okay!”

  Lily’s eyes went dull for a brief second, and her lips pinched together as if she were trying not to say too much. She just nodded and looked to Forrest. What horrors they must have seen if they were at the compound when the attack happened. Forrest had experience with massacres like that, but Lily’s constitution must have gotten a good beating after seeing all the blood and carnage.

  Forrest gave a wary look to Anton as he set down his bags and then clasped arms with Logan and gave him a brotherly half-hug the way men did.

  “We’ve been to the compound... It’s good to see you,” Logan muttered, a glossy look in his eyes as well. It was obvious that what had haunted Katey’s mind had also troubled him during the long, silent drive.

  Forrest nodded after clearing his throat. “Same here.”

  They pulled away and looked to the girls, their source of sanity in these difficult times. Anton waited good-naturedly off to the side, recognizing an emotional reunion.

  “Who else is in Louisiana?” Katey finally asked as tourists and shoppers walked around their group.

  Forrest took a deep breath and shrugged as he bent down to retrieve the shopping bags. “I’m not sure. We got separated at the compound.”

  Logan raised a hand to stop Katey’s next question from blurting out. “We can talk about this later. Right now, we need to find Michael.” He looked to Anton, who in turn nodded and proceeded down Decatur Street toward their parking garage. It was still a good distance to walk.

  Anton was head of the pack, followed by Logan and Forrest who walked beside one another and talked in hushed tones about who was all left of the Devian pack and what took place in Crestucky after they left.

  Katey and Lily brought up the rear, and Lily wanted to talk about anything but what happened in Alabama. Out of respect for her friend, she listened and tried not to eavesdrop on the men’s conversations.

  “When we got here, Forrest’s great-uncle, Will, put us up on his little shack south of here.” Lily groaned and rolled her eyes.

  Katey
laughed at her friend. “What?”

  The words flowed out so quickly that Katey had to pay close attention to follow along. “He lives out in the middle of a swamp with the rest of his pack, and it’s like some Cajun community thing. They all live a stone’s throw from each other, and they’re not quiet neighbors. They’re all Forrest’s family – by marriage – and they’re funny and all, but oh my god, they smell like a sewer. The whole place does. I’m surprised they even have running water. I half expected there to be an outhouse or something. I haven’t taken a bath since we got here because the water looks dirty anyway. I don’t know how anyone can live out there!”

  Katey looped her arm through Lily’s and sighed. “The world is made up of all kinds,” she said with a smile, simply glad to have her friend back. As soon as they were settled, Katey knew they would be up all night talking as long as the persistent ache in Katey’s body would go away soon.

  “I know,” Lily whined, “but does Forrest have to be related to them?”

  “You didn’t have anywhere else to go?”

  Lily looked to the ground and shook her head. “No. The whole pack just scattered and my parents are still on vacation. They have no clue what’s going on. Forrest said that Will is his closest living relative, so we came here to New Orleans.”

  Katey paused to think, and a mischievous grin spread across her lips. “I’m sure Anton wouldn’t mind taking you two with us to stay with Michael. Would you, Anton?”

  She didn’t have to shout at all, and Anton looked over his shoulder at the two girls with an arresting gaze. He looked between their expectant faces and seemed amused. “I’m sure any guest of Katey would be a welcome guest of Michael as well.”

  Lily shrieked with delight. “I don’t have to sleep on that straw mattress!”

  Forrest shot her a reprimanding look. “If that straw mattress was good enough for Will, it’s good enough for you.”

  Lily propped her hand on her hip. “I’m not a four-hundred-year-old sea dog who never knew anything better.”

  Logan smiled. “You’re staying with Will?” he asked, obviously not aware that Katey and Lily had dropped the loup-garou’s name a few times already. “I wonder if I can still beat him in a round of poker.”

  Forrest gave a big laugh. “You wish! The man practically invented the game!”

  “Have you met Michael yet?” Katey asked Lily.

  “No, I don’t think so. Is his pack in New Orleans too?”

  She shook her head. “No, he’s my grandfather. The one I told you about after we got back from Alaska.”

  Lily’s eyes went wide. “The vampire?”

  Katey nodded. “Yeah. He showed up the night we had to leave Crestucky.” While they walked, she regaled Lily with the story of their flight from Florida to Alabama, then to Louisiana. She was careful enough not to mention any details about the compound and what they saw. Lily already knew, and there was no reason to bring it up just yet. It was far too soon, and Lily’s spirit may have still been raw and sensitive.

  If there was one thing Katey knew about Lily, it was that she went shopping whenever she was upset. Judging by the bags of clothing and accessories in Forrest’s arms, they had been shopping all day.

  They finally came to the parking garage, where Lily and Forrest had parked his gray pickup truck as well, and split off with the promise to caravan wherever Anton led them. Seeing them walk away between the rows upon rows of other parking cars, a slight ache developed in the back of Katey’s throat. Her mind tried to remind her heart that she would see them again soon, but with everything that took place, nothing was for certain anymore.

  Katey and Logan went to the next floor up with Anton still in the lead. The vampire was not a man of many words, but the energy that he gave off was enough to set Katey at ease. If it weren’t for Katey’s willingness to trust the stranger, she was sure that Logan would have told him off the minute Anton assured them that he could lead them to Michael. The apprehension in Logan didn’t abate the longer they spent time with the vampire, but he simply hid it better now that he wasn’t blindsided by the whole experience of meeting Anton. That’s when Katey finally recognized that Logan somehow knew Anton, but not completely or personally. Perhaps it was the name that set him off in the bar. Whatever it was, Logan seemed willing to collaborate.

  Next to Logan’s bike was nothing short of an artifact. It was a motorcycle, but the frame was smaller and appeared lighter than any Harley she had ever seen. Her eyes skimmed from the single round headlight on the front to the flat leather seat and the matching saddlebags behind it. It looked as if someone had taken a modern design and simplified it down to the bare necessities for travel.

  Logan let out a boisterous laugh when they came closer. “I haven’t seen one of these in decades!” he exclaimed. Stepping up to the side, Katey could see his eyes sparkle with nostalgia.

  Anton flipped back his trench coat tails and mounted the bike with a suave and fluid gesture. “It’s a 1941 Indian Military Model 841,” he announced. “But, I modified it slightly.”

  The vampire revved up the engine, but hardly a sound came from the bike. A human may not have been able to detect the low whirl, and even Katey could just barely hear it over the din of parking garage noise.

  Logan clapped his hands and squatted down to inspect the components. “That’s incredible. And you’re the one who painted it black, I assume?”

  “Yes. This is the ideal stealth motorcycle.”

  Katey believed it. Black and silent, and if Anton were wearing a helmet and gloves, it would slip through the night, and no-one would be the wiser.

  “We must hurry,” Anton said, knocking Logan out of his daydream.

  Katey and Logan climbed onto the more modern bike and sped out of the French Quarter and out of New Orleans. Forrest and Lily followed close behind as they traveled down Highway 18 alongside the Mississippi River. After several miles, they turned south down an unmarked road concealed by birches, elms, oaks, and pines that closed in around them. The path wasn’t paved, but the way was smooth enough for their motorcycles and truck to pass through without rattling their bones at the same time.

  The farther they traveled away from civilization, the more at home Katey began to feel. The rich, earthy scents of the wild consumed her soul. The only thing to make it better would have been the lack of vampire scents that seemed to be all around them. No doubt, Michael had deployed some of his guards to watch over the mansion and ensure that no intruders were permitted in.

  At first, it was peaceful, and Katey relished in the droning buzz of nocturnal insects. As the trees and foliage became thicker with every mile, Katey began to feel the strange and painful ramming inside of her skull like she had felt in the motel.

  Her wolf sprung to life, exhorting her to dismount from the speeding motorcycle and to disappear into the woods. Katey resisted and paid dearly for the refusal. The pain intensified and she gripped Logan’s shirt front in her fists.

  He looked over his shoulder. “You okay?” he asked.

  She lied and nodded. The slamming inside of her skull continued until Anton slowed. Ahead was a break in the trees that opened out onto the cleared front lawn of Michael’s mansion.

  The home was massive and screamed of antebellum influence. The wrap-around porch extended along every side and was supported by immense columns that stood like sentinels to guard the two-story building. The top story was skirted by wrought iron railings that dripped with wiry moss and vines. Along the front face of the mansion, Katey counted three floor-to-ceiling windows with black shutters on either side of a grand set of doors. Around the doors, she could see skinny windows that were boarded up from the inside to block out light, but through the several glass panes of the larger windows, she could see the glow of firelight.

  The stone and wood that made up the mansion must have once been painted a bright, gleaming white, however, after over a century of abandonment, the paint was peeling. The shutters looked to be newly fas
hioned for the vampires who lived inside, but otherwise, the place seemed as if it hadn’t been touched by humanity in decades or longer. Shingles on the roof were bent and missing in many spots. Some of the railing along the second story was rusted out, and cracks in the stone columns snaked along its surface.

  Moonlight shined down upon the wild, unkempt lawn that was overgrown with weeds and various native flora of Louisiana. The drive up to the front entry was bordered with weeping myrtle trees, whose tendrils of moss and leaves swayed majestically in the night breeze.

  Around the side of the building, she spotted the glint of metal from the numerous cars parked out of the way from the front walk. Among them was Michael’s SUV. However, Katey wondered who else Michael was hosting in his elegant but slightly dilapidated mansion.

  Before they even had a chance to touch foot to ground, Michael opened the front door and stepped out on the expansive porch. The light from behind the old vampire made him seem more like a silhouette from their view, but Katey would know that proud stance anywhere.

  Anton led them to park around the side of the building with the others. Behind the house, Katey saw something she hadn’t expected. In several neat rows, stood shack-like homes with patched up roofs and crooked porches. The cut-outs for windows and doors were darkened, but she could hear the softly spoken words of the inhabitants. One sniff confirmed that the voices belonged to vampires.

  Seeing the questions in her eyes, Anton said, “The fields have been overgrown for many years, but the slave quarters remain. Michael refused to tear them down. He said they reminded him of how racial prejudice can ruin a society.”

  Michael followed them down the length of the porch and stood beside a white column. “Also, there is limited room inside the mansion for all of my guards to sleep.”

  She smiled and threw off her helmet with the intent to run up the wooden steps to greet her grandfather.