by Kit Tunstall
As far as lines went, it was a doozy, especially since it hit her right in the heart. In other circumstances, she would have suspected him of just spinning a line, or manipulating her for his own purposes, but he was just so sincere that it was difficult not to believe him. She let out a small sigh. “I can’t say the same yet, Cody. I do like you, and I definitely feel something for you, but I can’t label it as love. We hardly know each other.”
He looked unhappy, but he didn’t argue. “It’s not the same for humans. This would have been easier if you’d been a bear-shifter too, but I’d rather have a difficult time with you than an easy time with someone else. All I’m asking for is for you to give me a chance and keep an open mind.”
Her voice emerged as a smoky purr when she spoke again. “That’s all you’re asking for? Really? You don’t think it’s a good idea to have some trial runs on this mating thing, so I can decide with all the facts in mind?”
He arched a brow, looking intrigued. “Are you propositioning me, Dr. Barnes?”
She tilted her head to the side and giggled. “You know, Mr. Lassiter, I do believe I am.” She had barely finished the sentence before he stood up and had her in his arms, striding to the bedroom. Perhaps it wasn’t the smartest move, but it was the best one under the circumstances, and the only strategy she wanted to take.
She was more than happy to give Cody a chance to win her over to his point of view, even if it took a thousand nights in his bed to convince her. She was willing to do whatever it took. She giggled at the idea that sleeping with Cody would be a big sacrifice on her part as he laid her on the bed. It was no sacrifice at all to open her arms and welcome him into them a moment later.
She was a logical person, but with him in her arms, and emotions and hormones swaying her intellect, she found she could definitely get on board with the idea of instantly recognizing the person with whom you were meant to spend your life. Intellectually, it sounded ridiculous, but it appealed to the emotional side of her.
Cody stripped away the doctorate and all the years of training, reducing her once again to a woman with feminine instincts, and her instincts guided her to follow him to find her place with him. For once in her life, Jade surrendered to instinct over intellect, and she had no regrets.
Chapter Five
The week flew by before she had realized it, and she was growing more certain every day that Cody was right about them being mates. When she wasn’t teaching or at the university, she was with him. The time they spent together was usually relaxing, and the nights in his bed were the most passionate ones of her life. The tantalizing idea of having this future spread before her for the rest of her life was definitely swaying her toward his request to allow him to claim her as his mate.
He’d explained the process, and she knew it involved him biting her to leave his scent, and to warn away other male bear-shifters. It was highly primitive and reminiscent of many of the antiquated marriage rituals performed throughout history. If she agreed to it, she was also going to insist on a more traditional human marriage too. They had plenty of time though, since she felt no need to be married before the children were born. It was better to be certain this was the future they both wanted than to rush into something that would end up causing them more hurt and disappointment in the future.
Not that she could imagine Cody actually hurting her. He went out of his way to be protective and loving, and though sometimes he was overly protective and kind of bossy, she usually gritted her teeth and reminded him politely to back off, knowing it came from a place of love. They were still working out the kinks and getting a feel for each other, but she was optimistic about the future.
Ostensibly, she was supposed to be grading papers, but her thoughts kept turning to Cody, so she was distracted when the door to her office opened. She looked up, and a young man stood in the doorway. She didn’t recognize him from her classes, but she assumed he was one of her students. “I’m sorry, but I have open office hours on Tuesday and Thursday from two to four. I’m not available right now for discussions.”
She wanted to reprimand him for not knocking, but she was in too good of a mood to let someone’s ill manners ruin it. The things Cody had done to her last night… She cleared her throat, forcing her attention back to the young man when he stepped into the office and closed the door behind himself. She frowned at him. “You’ll have to come back later.”
He stared at her, an odd look in his eyes. It was one of longing, if she had to identify it, though not the romantic sort. He seemed to want something, but she had no idea what that could be. Using her pen, she pointed to the door he had just closed. “Please let yourself out, and remember to knock next time when you come back during open office hours. Tuesdays and Thursdays from two to four,” she reminded him sternly.
“You don’t recognize me, do you, Dr. Barnes?”
She let out a long sigh, preparing to deal with an irritated student. Perhaps she had given him a grade he considered unfair last semester or the semester before that, and he hadn’t bothered to follow up until now, as he hovered on the verge of graduation. It was the best theory she could hypothesize on short notice. She tapped the pen against the desk impatiently. “No, I’m afraid I don’t.”
“I was on Dr. Sig’s team on the island. Your group kept beating him to all the good finds.”
She studied him a little closer, still not really recognizing him, though perhaps his face was vaguely familiar. “I think I remember you, or at least I’ve seen you around the island.” Their sites had been separated by at least half a mile, so they hadn’t interacted very often with Dr. Sig’s group, so she really couldn’t recall if she’d seen the kid before or not. “What may I do for you?”
“Dr. Sig was so angry when you kept getting all the good finds. He used to rant and rave about it, and then he’d blame us for not finding more important and significant artifacts.”
She eyed him with confusion. “I see. It doesn’t surprise me from what I know of Dr. Sig. He probably planned to plunder and sell whatever he could melt down into gold. His behavior must have been difficult to handle, but I’m not certain how it’s relevant to me.”
He smiled at her as he walked closer, leaning against the edge of her desk instead of taking the seat across from it. He was clearly there for the duration, paying no mind to the fact that she was busy and trying to get rid of him. “I just thought you might find that funny. Some of us had a good laugh every time you found something terrific, and he went and got a little more unhinged.”
At the word unhinged, she frowned as comprehension started to dawn. “Is Dr. Sig the one who broke into my office and home and Dr. Deceric’s office? Is he the one who killed Eli and injured Glenda?” Her irritation rose rapidly.
He shook his head. “No, that wasn’t Dr. Sig. That was me.”
Fear gripped her suddenly, and she held onto the pen so tightly that it snapped in her hand. She cursed at the sharp shards of plastic as she dropped it on the desk and reached for a tissue the blot the bleeding from the small wound. “Why would you do that?”
“I might be just a postgrad student, but I know the importance of the finds you made, particularly the scepter of Inanna.”
She arched her brow. “Good for you for paying attention in class, but I’m still not certain why you’ve come to me. You must know that I’m not going to ignore the fact that you broke in to my personal space and injured someone. Besides, you’re the one with the scepter, according to Glenda.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old book, one that had been bound in animal hide and had seen many better days. She instantly recognized it as the book she had found during the excavation of the site. She frowned at him. “What are you doing with that?”
“I’m studying it. It appears to have belonged to a high priestess of Inanna. It details their daily lives, offerings for the goddess, and most importantly, how to call Inanna to possess a human host.”
She scoffed. “Don’t be ridi
culous. That was based on mythology that’s five thousand years old. You should be well educated, or at least educated enough to know what nonsense that is.”
He shrugged in an airy fashion. “Perhaps, but I like to keep an open mind. I have everything I need to perform the ritual, so I don’t see any reason not to at least try.”
She eyed him skeptically as a frisson of fear raced up her spine. Knowing the things he’d already done left her terrified of him despite his lack of threatening demeanor at the moment.
“The ritual calls for the scepter, the book, a sacrifice, and a host.”
She shuddered slightly when he used the word sacrifice. “I think you should go now. As I’ve already explained, my office hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I’m busy with other work at the moment.”
He gave her a look that was almost filled with pity. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Dr. Barnes. You’re a key ingredient to the ritual.”
She attempted levity, hoping to get through to him and burst the bubble of delusion surrounding him. “I don’t see how I could be a critical ingredient to anything. I don’t have any ingredients around either for magical spells. Sorry, but I’m fresh out of eye of newt.”
He just sighed, as though he felt sorry for her lack of vision. “It’s not a magical spell. Or maybe it is. I really don’t know what it is, but if it works, it’ll be amazing. I’ll be rich and famous, and Inanna will have returned.”
She tried a different approach. “Are you sure you really want Inanna back? She was the goddess of fertility and love, but she was also the goddess of war and vindictive like most goddesses. You might be her faithful servant one day and end up torn limb from limb the next if you do something to displease her.”
He waved a hand in her direction. “Please stop pandering to me, Dr. Barnes. I know you don’t believe in the ritual, and I’m not sure I do either, but I see no harm in trying it.”
She glared at him. “I see harm in it. I don’t particularly feel like being a human sacrifice for your little ritual.”
He gave her a small smile, one that was probably meant to be reassuring. “Don’t worry, Dr. Barnes. It isn’t a sacrifice in that way. It’s a blood sacrifice, of a fashion, but from what I can discern, there’s no need for you to die.”
She eyed him skeptically. “What does that mean then? Do you need some of my blood?”
“In a way. I need you to give me your child, which is a type of sacrifice.”
She reared back in shock, instinctively cupping her stomach. “You’re out of your mind.”
He held up a hand. “Please hear me out. According to the ritual, it requires a willing pregnant woman to sacrifice her child as the human host for Inanna. All I need you to do is agree to give me the child after her birth so I can perform the ritual. I’m not asking for your life.”
She didn’t know how to handle that request. It was so insane that there were no words for it. She wanted to be cool and logical, to try to reason with him, but she feared he was already far past that point. “I’m not giving you my child. You’re absolutely nuts.”
He gave her an earnest look. “Can’t you see how perfect this is? It’s like destiny. You’re the one who found the artifact again, and you can have the honor of having Inanna reborn into your child’s body.”
“It’s hardly an honor, and what happens to my child’s soul?”
He shrugged. “I don’t believe in souls.”
She let out a shaky laugh, edged with hysteria. “You believe in some crazy old ritual that’s five thousand years old, but you don’t believe there might be a spark or essence inside us that makes us who we are? There’s a flaw in your thinking.” Likely due to complete insanity, but she left that part unuttered. “The answer is no, and I suggest you leave my office before I call the police.” Of course she was going to call Detective Strand as soon as she got rid of the young man, but he didn’t need to know that.
“I’m not naïve, Dr. Barnes. I know you’ll turn me over to the authorities if you aren’t willing to make the sacrifice. I guess we just have to do the ritual without one ingredient, which is a willing pregnant woman. I imagine it will still work either way—if it’s going to, I mean.”
“I said no.”
He shook his head, looking almost regretful. “Now who’s being naïve? I’m not really asking you, Dr. Barnes. I’m telling you you’re going to help me with this, and we’re going to leave the school together and find a quieter place to work.” He was subtle about it, but he opened his jacket to show her a gun tucked into the belt of his pants. “I don’t want it to become anything messy, but you will come with me now.” His tone brooked no argument.
Dread filled her, and when he gestured for her to stand up, she was afraid not to comply. She trembled as she took a step away from her desk, whimpering slightly when he put a hand on her arm and anchored her against him. “You can’t do this. It’s really wrong. You must know that, even though you aren’t thinking clearly. What would your mother think about you trying to steal my baby?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea. She abandoned me at birth, and I was raised in foster care.”
That hadn’t gone as she had expected, and she swallowed, temporarily rendering herself mute as she searched for a way to get through the young man’s delusions. “I’m having boys, you know.”
He faltered for a step. “Pardon?”
“I’m pregnant with twins, and they’re both boys. It doesn’t seem like fate when you look at it that way, does it? I mean, if Inanna had somehow planned all this, wouldn’t she have picked a host that was having a single baby girl?”
He seemed to ponder it for a moment, confusion in his expression before he shrugged again. “I’m certain that Inanna will be thankful to be resurrected, and it won’t matter to her if she has to share a male body. And this way, there are two in case I do something wrong, and the ritual doesn’t work the first time.”
Up until that point, she had been at least slightly optimistic that she might get through to him, or find a way to deter him. She realized now that her mistake was thinking he was approaching this logically or rationally at all. He had fixated on the idea of resurrecting a five-thousand-year-old goddess, so clearly he wasn’t using his rational brain. She didn’t know how to appeal to the side of him that was dominant at the moment, because she didn’t speak crazy, so she fell silent.
It wasn’t a silence of timidity or being cowed. It was simply a silence of strategy as she tried to think of a way to escape him. She could scream as soon as they hit the quad, but he might shoot her, the twins, and other innocent people. On the other hand, if she allowed herself to be taken somewhere quiet with him, away from any prying eyes, there was no telling what he would try to do. When his little ritual failed, he might finally come to his senses and let her go, or he might decide to kill her to cover his tracks. “How long do you have to wait to find out if your ritual works? Is it until the baby is born?”
He shook his head. “Not at all. There’s another ritual in here for inducing birth, and according to the book, Inanna will quickly grow from a fetus to an adult woman, or man, as the case may be. All we have to do is induce birth, and she’ll take care of the rest.” His eyes gleamed with sudden surge of excitement. “It probably doesn’t even matter that it’s a boy. I’m sure Inanna can manipulate the body she’s given to become female if she can make it develop from an infant to an adult in a matter of minutes.”
Her heart paused for a beat when she realized he planned to induce labor. Even with the growth advantage her babies had as half bear-shifter, they were still far too young to survive outside the womb without major medical intervention. She didn’t for one minute believe some mythical goddess was going to be able to possess one of the children and grow into an adult before he could die. If she went with him, he was planning to kill her babies, and probably her too.
That cinched it, and she opened her mouth to scream for help. Instead, a tiny squeak of surprise left her as she saw a
bear running their way, a bundle of something in its mouth. It should have been a frightening sight, but she knew immediately it was Cody. She didn’t know why he was there, or how he had known to shift into his bear form, but he was there, and she suddenly felt safe again.
Apparently, the young man didn’t share her reaction. He saw Cody running toward him, and he started to scream. Cody, in his bear form, was attracting a crowd, and the young man abruptly released her arm as he turned to run away. She wasn’t sure if she was surprised or not when Cody continued running after him, temporarily ignoring her. It seemed strange that he didn’t pause to check on her, but if he had sensed she was in danger, he would definitely want to deal with whoever had put her there.
She couldn’t bring herself to admonish him, or ask him not to go after the young man, because he needed to be locked up. He definitely needed some kind of mental help, and as long as he was free, she and her babies were in danger.
The young man rounded the corridor, with Cody close on his heels. She couldn’t see what happened, but she heard the younger one screaming and begging for his life before the roar of the bear drowned it out. A moment later, there was a thud of flesh against the wall, and Jade flinched at the sound. Her mind tried to supply a mental image to accompany what might have made that sound, but she quickly shut down the idea. She didn’t want to know, and she certainly didn’t want to see. For the first time in a few weeks, a surge of nausea assailed her, and she nearly lost the battle before her stomach calmed after several deep breaths.