by Nina Bangs
“You’re kidding.” She slanted him a disbelieving glance. “I’ve just learned two things. First, your Fin’s really strange. Second, you lied to me about why you’re in Houston. I think…Wait, why would Neva be safe in her apartment?”
“Fin has powers. If he protects a building, nothing gets in.” Fin would be pissed all over again if he knew how much Ty was telling Kelly. So much for Ty worrying about Q flapping his lips.
“Powers? Like woo-woo stuff?”
“Yeah.” Ty didn’t elaborate.
Q leaned forward. “I see lots of trees. Is this it?”
Kelly nodded. “Now all we do is park and then search miles of trails in the dark.” She muttered a curse. “And my flashlight’s in the other car.”
As she pulled into the parking lot, they saw only one other car. She stopped beside it. “Is this your car, Q?”
He nodded.
Ty watched the emotions play across Kelly’s face—frustration, anger, and worry. He’d never worried about anyone or anything. He’d had no one, and no one had given a shit about him. Worry was an alien emotion. But he suspected that’s what he was feeling now. All of this newfound concern should be for Neva, but a big chunk of it was for Kelly. Lesson learned from last night: cars weren’t safe places.
Grabbing her pepper spray and cell phone from her purse, she climbed out of the car and waited for them to join her. “I guess it’s no use suggesting you call the police and let them take care of this.”
Q made a rude noise. “No cops.”
Ty understood where Q was coming from, but she didn’t. He’d try to explain. He owed her that much. “We’re used to handling our own problems. We don’t bring in outsiders.”
Her expression said that was a dumb attitude. “I’ll carve that on your tombstones. There’s always someone bigger and badder than you are.” She cast Ty a quick glance, then amended her comment. “Okay, maybe not, but the police are your tax dollars at work. Let them do the dangerous stuff.”
“No.” She didn’t get them. Not her fault, Ty admitted.
“You enjoy the dangerous stuff, don’t you? Q is practically glowing with excitement.”
Ty smiled. Now she got them.
She peered into the darkness. “We could stumble around all night without finding Neva.”
No one suggested that she stay in the car tonight.
“Ty?” Q glanced expectantly at him before pulling his gun from his jacket pocket.
“A gun? I thought you guys could tear them apart with your bare claws or whatever.” Kelly looked uneasy as she glanced around. “What’re you expecting? I want to live through my last night on the job.”
Q’s grin was a flash of white in the darkness. “The gun is insurance, babe.”
“Nothing will happen to you.” Ty reached behind her to massage the tight muscles at the back of her neck. “I won’t let it. That’s a promise.”
Kelly relaxed a little. “Sure. After what I saw last night, I believe you.” She glanced at Q. “Do I need to know what you are, or should I let it be a surprise?”
Q returned her grin. “A little birdie.”
Ty felt a stirring of the primal rage he’d managed to control since last night. He didn’t need to go all prehistoric just because Q was talking to Kelly. She wasn’t Ty’s. Would never be his. Did that reasoning help? Hell, no. They’d better get started before he tried to rip his partner into easily digested pieces.
“So do you feel anything?” Q returned his attention to Ty.
“Yeah, over there.” He pointed toward the woods.
“Let me guess, it feels wrong.” Kelly sounded resigned.
“Got it.”
She nodded. “We’ll start at the beginning of the trails and you can search out the wrongness.”
Sounded like a plan to him. “Whoever took her probably didn’t go too far. Wouldn’t want us to get discouraged and go home. Stay near us, Kelly.”
She didn’t argue with him.
Ty’s night vision was good, so he forged ahead. Walking the trails would distract him from his jealousy. And, yeah, he recognized the new emotion. Worry and jealousy, human emotions he didn’t need.
Fifteen minutes later, Ty admitted that as far as distractions went, this was a good one. The encroaching trees made the path a black tunnel. He felt at home stalking prey through the darkness. Kelly wasn’t one with the night, though. After the first few times he and Q had to catch her when she tripped over tree roots, he pulled her close to him and simply lifted her over obstacles in the trail. “We’re close.”
“Uh huh.” She sounded nervous.
The feel of her body tucked close to his tested his predatory nature. When he hunted, nothing broke his concentration. She came close.
“Do we have to stay quiet?” She was too busy peering at the ground in front of her to look up at Ty.
“No. They know we’re here. I can smell one of them. He picked us up right after we entered the woods.”
“Smell him?” She slid a glance to where the dark silhouettes of trees marched beside them. “I noticed you’re not tripping over any tree roots. Must see pretty well in the dark. Do all otherkin have heightened senses?”
“No.”
“So you guys are special.”
“Yes.”
Kelly nodded. He thought she’d ask another question. She didn’t. Probably organizing what Q and he had told her into neat little columns and formulating more questions for the future. There won’t be any future with her. The thought depressed him. Depression, another new emotion to add to worry and jealousy.
“Damn. I hate this hiking stuff.” Her muttered complaint came after they’d slogged through a small stream. “I forgot how rough these trails are on foot.”
Ty had just opened his mouth to answer when the howls began. They undulated up and down the scale, a chorus of hunters celebrating the night, sounding completely out of place in a Houston park.
“Wolves.” Kelly didn’t sound as shocked as she probably would have before last night.
Q moved up to stand beside them. “You’re sure of that?”
“I worked in the zoo. Those are wolves.” She glanced at Ty. “I guess this is it.”
Ty was already moving in the direction of the howls. “What’s the chance other people will hear them?”
“Park security maybe. The park doesn’t close until eleven, but I think anyone else who hears them will run like hell in the opposite direction. I would.” She was almost trotting to keep up with him. “But it’s November, it’s chilly, and it’s pretty late. So maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Ty slowed down while Q strode ahead of them. “We don’t want witnesses. There’s no vampire around to wipe memories tonight.” He hoisted her over a fallen tree.
She moved closer, and something that almost felt like protectiveness stirred in him. No. He couldn’t fall prey to a bunch of human emotions just when he needed to focus on the enemies ahead. But the worry and protective feelings wouldn’t be denied. Damn.
“Wolf packs don’t run in Memorial Park. So what are they?”
He didn’t miss her shudder.
She wanted him to say the word, so he did. “Werewolves.” Fin had filled them in on most paranormal entities. Except vampires. He’d missed the vampires.
Q came back to them. “They’re right ahead.” He pulled out his gun and offered it to Kelly. “I’m not sure how to use this anyway. Can you shoot?”
“Yes.” She took the gun without hesitation. “You live in a big city, you learn how to protect yourself. Too bad I didn’t bring the one I kept in my old apartment.” The glare she leveled at Ty was lethal. “Didn’t know I’d be hunting werewolves in the park. Oh, and I think I remember reading that ordinary bullets won’t kill a werewolf.”
“Don’t know about the killing part, but ordinary bullets will hurt them. When I hear the ouch, I’ll come running.” Ty felt the rush of adrenaline that came at the beginning of every hunt. This was what he missed—the ex
citement of knowing the next few minutes would tip the scales for or against his survival. It’d always been about survival. He’d never known anything else. Yes, you did. Back when …The rest of the thought eluded him. He shook it off. No time now.
His bloodlust rose as he flung open the cage door holding back the snarling savagery of his past life. Free at last, it looked for something to kill. “Stay between Q and me. Don’t get out of our sight.”
Her expression was incredulous. “You think I’m crazy?”
Without warning, the trees gave way to an open meadow on their left. At the fringe of the tree line, pairs of glowing yellow eyes formed a semicircle. Ty counted four of them. Neva lay in the middle of the meadow. It looked as if there was some kind of note pinned to her jacket. He couldn’t tell if she was dead.
“I’ve been waiting for this. God, don’t let the bastards decide to run.” Q licked his lips in anticipation.
Kelly stared at Q. “I don’t want to rain on your testosterone parade, but this is about Neva. Get me to her so I can see if she’s alive.”
Ty nodded and started across the open space. The wolves waited until they reached Neva before leaping out of the shadows.
“Holy hell, they’re as big as ponies.” Kelly’s eyes were wide with shock.
“They’ll all die,” was Ty’s promise.
She must’ve believed him, because from the corner of his eye he saw her crouch beside Neva.
Taking a deep breath, Ty gave his soul its freedom.
Chapter Six
A torn throat. Blood. So much blood. More than she’d ever seen. Kelly fought back nausea. The coppery scent of Neva’s life flowing away coated the night with new urgency. Panic nibbled at the edges of Kelly’s resolve, threatening to swallow her whole.
“Damn, damn, damn.” But all the damns in the world wouldn’t make her personal horror movie go away.
The creatures bounding toward Ty and Q weren’t wolves. They were something from a mad special-effects creator’s nightmare—all glowing eyes and lips peeled back to expose the scariest teeth she’d ever seen. Well, maybe not. Ty had the scary-teeth market cornered.
There came a time when the brain reached its terror limit and refused to recognize any more mindless, gibbering fear. She’d passed that a minute ago. It was only a smudge in her rearview mirror. She’d either die or she wouldn’t.
Kelly watched with a weird kind of detachment as Ty’s T. rex formed around him. Had a predator that huge really stalked the earth? And once again, she could see Ty’s shadow at the heart of the beast. How did he do that? She’d never know, because she’d either be dead or gone by tomorrow. Right now she was leaning toward dead.
The werewolves skidded to a halt, momentarily stunned. Kelly didn’t blame them. She figured if they were smart, they’d turn tail and run.
They weren’t smart. After that brief pause, they flung themselves back into attack mode.
Kelly didn’t watch the battle. Bending over Neva, she tried to apply pressure to her ruined throat. Useless. Her hands were stained with the other woman’s blood, and Kelly doubted Neva was still alive. Only stubbornness kept Kelly at it.
The noise and fury of the fight surrounded her now. A headless werewolf fell beside her, its blood splattering her jacket, her pants.
Please, please, God. Maybe God was busy somewhere else, with someone who went to church every Sunday and didn’t curse. But if He had a spare moment, she really needed Him here.
A quick glance revealed a surreal world of primal savagery. The T. rex was a prehistoric killing machine, tearing through werewolves and flinging mangled bodies left and right.
Wait, something wasn’t right. There’d only been four wolves initially, but now more and more streamed from the forest. The four must’ve just been a tease, bait to lure Ty and Q into thinking they could win the fight.
A strange cry from above her head startled Kelly. She looked up. Omigod. Something else to add to her fright night. Q. She could see his form within the body of the huge creature sailing over her. How could something that big fly? Its wingspan had to be close to forty feet, and its neck looked at least ten feet long. Other impressions came in flashes: long head, long thin beak, incredibly long legs. Long was the operative word for Q’s soul form.
The battle intensified as Q made his entrance. But Kelly could only think of one thing. She had to get Neva out of the path of all those leaping, snarling bodies. Ty and Q could keep her safe from four werewolves, but now there were too many of them. It would only take one wolf to sneak up behind her. She had to get something solid at her back so she could concentrate on defending her front.
Grabbing Neva by her jacket, she dragged her to the edge of the clearing, where two trees grew close enough together to protect her back. Pulling Q’s gun from her pocket, she held it in one hand while she returned to putting pressure on Neva’s neck. The blood flow was sluggish now. Was that good or bad? If Neva was dead, would there be any flow at all? She should’ve paid more attention during those high school first-aid classes.
No matter how hard she tried, Kelly couldn’t keep her gaze from returning to Ty. She knew that Q’s massive wings and sharp beak were inflicting tons of damage on the pack, but Ty’s ferocity and savage violence clenched her stomach and brought back the fear she’d felt last night behind the club. How could he control and contain what lived in his soul?
Finally, she couldn’t watch it anymore. She had her cell phone, but 911 probably wouldn’t respond to a reported dinosaur and werewolf battle. Her family? Never. And she wouldn’t chance a shot. She might hit Ty or Q by mistake.
She concentrated on Neva. Frowning, she looked more closely at the woman’s throat. It looked as if the wound were closing. Impossible.
Without warning, an animal screamed from the forest on the far side of the meadow. Startled, she searched the tree line for the source of the cry. Not a wolf. It sounded like a big cat. But big cats didn’t roam the park. Right, and those weren’t werewolves leaping all over the meadow in search of a throat.
Kelly didn’t have a chance to think that through because suddenly a body hit her gun arm with enough force to knock the weapon from her hand.
Instinctively, she grabbed for the gun. Before she could reach it, though, teeth clamped onto her right arm and started dragging her. Looking up, she stared into the amber eyes of a huge gray werewolf.
Oh, shit. Ow, ow, ow! Kelly fought the wolf’s grip and the pain while she tried to figure out how she could reach her pepper spray. She’d put it into the right pocket of her jeans so she could get to it fast with her right hand. Now it was almost impossible to reach while the wolf dragged her.
Surrendering to mindless fear, she twisted, kicked, and screamed. Not hard enough, not loud enough. Her voice couldn’t rise above the roar of battle. And all her panicked struggling hadn’t made the wolf unclamp his jaws. Somewhere in the part of her mind not consumed by terror, she realized the animal had incredible strength. He’d already dragged her into the woods.
Think. The good: The wolf hadn’t killed her yet. It could’ve. The bad: It was dragging her away from Ty.
Think. She stopped fighting. It wasn’t helping, and by going limp she might fool the werewolf into thinking she’d given up.
Once out of sight of everyone, the werewolf dropped her arm. Kelly didn’t wait to see what would happen next. Jamming her hand into her pocket, she grabbed her pepper spray and let the wolf have it.
With a yelp of pain, it leaped back. But before she could jump to her feet and run, the wolf returned to human form. Male. Naked. And pissed. Couldn’t forget the pissed.
“Shit!” He bent over and coughed uncontrollably. “Why the hell did you do that?” He gasped for breath as he rubbed his streaming eyes. Crouching, he felt around on the ground.
His very real shock made her pause. “Uh, maybe because you dragged me into the woods? Hey, I read ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ too. I’m not playing dumb grandma to your big bad wolf.” Sh
e rubbed her arm. “You bit me.”
“Didn’t break the skin.” He paused to drag in more air. “Just a bruise.”
“And that makes everything okay? Uh, no.”
“Where’re my freaking clothes?” He was still coughing as he searched the ground. “I was trying to save your butt.” He sniffed, but his nose kept running.
“Yeah, right.” Kelly pulled a tissue from her pocket and handed it to him. While he noisily blew his nose and coughed some more, she spotted his missing clothes by the trunk of a nearby tree. She retrieved jeans, T-shirt, and shoes, and handed them to him.
She should run. Now. He couldn’t see well enough to chase her. She was curious, though. A dangerous state of mind at the moment. But from the way he was coughing and wheezing, it should be safe to stick around for a few more minutes.
Now that he wasn’t dragging her around like a favorite stuffed toy, she could take a good look at him. Average was the word that came to mind. About five ten, brown eyes, brown hair, and a lean build. Passing him on the street, she’d never connect him with a huge slavering werewolf. Fine, so he didn’t slaver, but it went with the werewolf image.
“Why would you try to save me?”
“My alpha sent me over to check up on the red wolves. When I saw what was happening, I knew I had to get you and the other woman outta there. Once you were safe, I was planning to go back for her.” He quickly pulled on his clothes.
“I don’t know if she’s still alive.” Oh, God, she’d forgotten about Neva. “Look, I’ve got to go back.”
With tears still streaming, he tried to peer at her. “Why? You have a death wish?”
“I have to help fight the red wolves, and my gun is back there.” Kelly started to move away, then stopped. “I want to know more about your pack.” Feeling around in her pocket, she came up with a pen. “Give me your hand.”
Suspicious, he stuck it out. His expression said he wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to gnaw it off.
She quickly wrote her cell phone number on the back of his hand. “Contact me and we’ll talk.”