“It’s time to go, Natalya.” Tyler stood with a straight back. He made his way out of the room, but paused briefly between the dining room and living room.
“Apologies, sweet lady,” he said with a bow to Giana.
And then he left.
Using the napkin, I quickly wiped off my skirt, blurted out my thanks and goodbyes, and high-tailed it out of there.
I found poor Tyler in the hallway with his face in his hands, and my heart broke for him.
I reached for his back but didn’t touch him. “It’s all my fault.”
“No, it isn’t,” he managed. “They just weren’t a good match for me, that’s all.” He tried to sound upbeat, but pain stabbed each word he spoke.
Getting others to accept who you were still was an uphill battle, no matter the species.
“C’mon.” He took my arm and tugged me to follow him out. “I need to wash that beer out of my mouth and make a phone call for you.”
So the beer had tasted as awful as I thought.
Chapter 5
Listening to Tyler make arrangements with Raj from our therapy group was surreal.
Was I really ready to make the leap and go overseas?
I took a generous gulp of my martini. The bartender had added too much salt along the rim, but I didn’t care.
Tyler tried to turn away, but that wouldn’t do him any good. Even with the chatter of the evening crowd at this small pub, I could make out their conversations without difficulty.
“She needs help to reach St. Petersburg.” He sighed. “Yeah, I know what we’ll face, but I owe her one and well, you...”
Their conversation went on like that while I ordered another drink. By the time I emptied that last glass, Tyler turned to me with a one of his award-winning grins that charmed the co-eds behind us.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
I didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely.”
He nodded. “Then I have a ride for you. How much time do you need to prepare for the trip?”
I wanted to say right now, but I did need time to go home and pack. I didn’t like to just go on the spur of the moment anymore. It was too stressful for my anxiety. And, this time, I planned to just not tell people where I was going.
“I’ll be ready at dawn tomorrow,” I said with finality. If I waited any longer, I would question everything. I’d probably choose work over this trip. Or something else might come up and it would ruin everything. I had to take a stand now and not back out.
Tyler squeezed my shoulder with reassurance. “Then I’ll see you at dawn tomorrow at Raj’s house. I’ll shoot you a text message so you know where you need to go.”
I nodded and we parted ways.
That night, when I got home, I was a bundle of jitters. Thorn didn’t notice, though. I found him in our bed, fast asleep. He didn’t move or wake up as I slowly gathered what I needed in our bedroom. Indecision hit me a few times over the head. I’d need a jacket. But how many days would I be gone? Would everything fit in my backpack? Should I pick this? Would I need that?
I crept around, waiting for him to turn over and give me a questioning look. Fooling Thorn was damn near impossible. As the alpha, he had the kind of intuition I envied.
By the time I got into our bed, everything was ready. My backpack and coat waited for my great escape near the doorway. Even if Thorn got up in the night, he wouldn’t question them. Every once in a while, I took my backpack to work instead of my purse, especially if I wanted to use it to hide my purchases...
He knew damn well what I used it for.
The night took forever to pass. I held Thorn close, snuggling in his arms. I expected him to hold me back, but he didn’t.
Worried filled me. He was practically exhausted from his work at the local mill during the day. As I ran my fingers through his hair, he continued to doze, oblivious to my worry.
I took his hand and rubbed it against my cheek. His scent was there, along with his strong heartbeat.
This was all for him, even if he’d feel hurt after I left. God, I hoped I was doing the right thing.
I managed to sleep for only an hour. A few hours before dawn, the vibrating ring of my cellphone receiving Tyler’s text woke me up. I slipped out of bed and moved as if going to the bathroom. I made it without a problem.
Phase one of my master plan in action. With all the lights out, I crept downstairs and dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. Wearing my standard uniform of a blouse and pencil skirt on this trip wasn’t gonna work. And I was mentally prepared to face that.
I checked twice and made sure my note for Thorn was where he’d find it. Thorn had his own morning routine, too. He didn’t follow his as diligently as I did mine, but he’d find the letter. Hopefully, after I was out of town.
By the time I took the hour-long train from Jersey into New York, I looked over my shoulder less. From the note, Thorn would learn I was leaving town, but I didn’t tell him where. The man was as good as my dad at tracking folks, so I had to be careful.
It wasn’t hard to find Raj’s house in Queens. I’d never been to my friend’s house before. Matter of fact, I didn’t know much about Raj other than what he told us during group therapy. As I stood outside of his bungalow with the dark red sun peeking over the horizon, I came to think of him as rather normal like everyone else instead of a minor Indian deity with a quiet nature about him. He had the picket fence, in a picture-perfect state, winter shrubbery cut at an amazingly level angle, and a stone walkway free from cracks. As I approached the house, I noticed everything was almost symmetrical.
“Hey, Nat.” Tyler appeared at my side in a jacket with a backpack slung over his shoulder. He appeared disgustingly chipper like a catalogue model for a photo shoot. “You ready?”
“As much as I can be.” I glanced at his backpack. “You don’t have to come with me.”
He snorted. “I’ve heard about your antics. Do you think I’d let you go alone after talking to Heidi and Abby?”
I rolled my eyes. The mermaid and the Muse could never keep their mouths shut. “The road trip to take care of the moon debt was a little one.”
“You go ahead and call it little all you want.” He motioned for me to follow him to the house. “Raj likes punctuality.”
“That I can appreciate.”
Tyler kept glancing at his wristwatch. Finally, he knocked on the door.
Raj immediately opened it. “Hey, Tyler. Right on time.”
“We just got here.”
I chuckled, realizing Tyler was catering to Raj’s OCD, which pretty much extended into the house.
“Take your shoes off here please,” Raj said. He smiled at us, revealing gleaming white teeth against his honeyed skin. He took a step back. “You can carry them inside.”
A set of wooden shelves right next to the door had stacks of shoes. Many of them in gallon-sized plastic bags. Beyond the foyer, the dark wooden floor shined, almost as if a single shoe had never stepped on it.
After taking off our shoes, we followed Raj into his living room off the foyer. As I took in everything, the horribly organized part of me wanted to purr with happiness. The bright orange furniture had been lined up with care with easy chairs at exactly forty-five degrees to the sofa and the coffee table centered and at exactly two feet from the sofa. Not a single dust bunny lingered here. Every wooden surface was free from dirt, dust, or fingerprints. The smell of wood cleaner, bleach, and even vinegar was strong here, but I reveled in it, taking a moment to inhale, hold it in, and then exhale with a grin.
It was the little things that made a home.
All the knickknacks, like tiny wooden statues and lime-colored vases, had been lined up on the wall or end tables with the utmost care for balance and symmetry.
“Your home is perfect, Raj.” I hoped I didn’t sound turned on. I kinda was.
“I hope it is,” he said, “with all the time I spend taking care of it.”
“You’ll have to let me know what you use on
the floors.”
“Oh, I have an extensive, preferred list. I used—”
“How about we talk about that later?” Tyler gave me a you-don’t-want-to-go-there look. He shook his head pretty fast. “Don’t we need to get Nat to Russia before it gets too late in the day in Derbent?” Tyler added.
“I’ve never heard of Derbent,” I said.
“Derbent is in the southern part of Russia.” Raj motioned for us to follow him toward the back of the house. The rich scent of incense reached my nose and wrapped around me. Sandalwood and cedar-scented incense had been recently burned. The odor came from a small room off the living room.
“Does anyone else live here?” I asked.
“My wife does, but she’s at work,” Raj said. “Would you like anything for breakfast before we go? Maybe some fruit?”
“No, thanks,” I said. When we’d passed the kitchen, I didn’t see any food on the counters. No fruits or bread. Every surface in the kitchen appeared barren without any knife holders, spice racks, or the like.
Compared to my home, it was a bit sterile for my liking.
We followed Raj into the room.
Raj gestured to the space. “This is our altar room.”
We walked into the room slowly and my gaze swept over everything. Against the wall, there was a small table with fresh and used candles. As well as wooden incense holders along the edge. An empty silver bowl, where fruit had once been my nose told me, was in the middle. Other bowls, which appeared to be made from a metal like copper, were empty, but had traces of what had been in there before.
“Is this where you worship?” I asked out of curiosity.
“No,” he replied. “This is how I receive praise from those who worship me.”
Ohh. Now this was a new one for me. Raj hadn’t said much about his place in mythology or his status as a deity. During therapy, he’d always said his time was divided in ways he didn’t want it to be. He’d once said, “I need to stop wearing these gloves before I worry about how clean my altar is or where I have folks to come worship me.”
During that session, my heart broke for him. He was one of the quieter therapy group members who only shared so much about his private life.
“So how do people worship you?” I asked. Not your everyday question, but I might as well learn something new today.
“It’s as simple as you’d think.” He made a thoughtful face. “How do you worship? You believe in God, no?”
I’d been raised or, I should say, my grandmother had tried to raise me as a Christian, following the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Yeah, I guess I pray, and I take the time to talk to God,” I replied.
“It’s the same thing here,” he explained as he took one of the smaller bowls in his hands to show it to us. A fresh peach was in it. “In the religion of my followers, they have an altar and they offer me food and other things. I listen to them from here. When they want to talk to me, I receive their offerings and they appear here.”
I glanced to the altar and noticed there wasn’t much. I was about to ask when something more would come, but that would be kind of rude. I didn’t want to remind him he was just a minor deity and that few people wanted to make a paid call to his altar.
Raj’s voice remained upbeat though. “My altars also have a special purpose, too. All of them are connected throughout the world.”
“Really?” I couldn’t hide my smile. Almost like jump points. So could Raj travel all over the world?
He slowly pulled off his white gloves. Something I’d never seen him do during therapy. “Take my hands.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. I knew how I felt when holding others’ potentially filthy hands. I used to be a lot more anxious about it, but I’d gotten better.
“We can’t go without skin-to-skin contact.” He extended his palm. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Which hand do I take?” Tyler asked. “You got a few.”
Raj’s face scrunched up in confusion.
Tyler chuckled, a nice hearty laugh. “I’ve always wanted to ask you that.”
He shook his head with a smile. “How about you pick the one your eyes can see.”
Raj had multiple arms, but he had a glamour on himself that even I, with Bill’s goblin magic clinging to me, couldn’t get past. He was hiding some powerful stuff.
Raj’s hands were baby-smooth and soothingly warm. His grip firm.
“Close your eyes,” Raj advised.
“What for?” Tyler asked.
I was just as curious. What kind of magic did he have? Was it cool?
“Your funeral.” Raj swung his arms forward, drawing us with him toward the altar. Then the world spun violently to the right in a swirl of bright colors. It was so intense I had to close my eyes, but even behind my eyelids, maroon light swirls dived into psychedelic orange-green dots. The strange visions flipped and rotated until they faded into black, leaving me a quivering puddle of mush on the floor.
My only tether to reality was the strong hand that continued to hold my limp one. I tried to open my eyes, but the world spun, so I kept them shut. My stomach continued to do somersaults in my gut. Not far from me, I heard retching and then the inevitable sounds of vomiting.
Poor Tyler hadn’t listened either.
Raj just laughed.
We got what we deserved.
The disorientation left far quicker than it came as if a fog lifted from me.
“Does that help?” Raj asked.
“Was that you?” Tyler asked, his voice sounding numb.
“I can heal others when I’m standing on holy ground,” he said as I looked at him and he went into focus.
The room where we landed was bathed in darkness. My keen eyes adjusted quickly and I scanned the rough corners of what appeared to be a cave. Only a narrow shaft of light from my right cast a glow on our legs.
Parts of the room were difficult to make out, but at least I could see a rotting table, about ankle height, with a handful of dull metal cups. A heavy layer of dust covered everything.
My stomach quivered and I closed my eyes for a moment to hold my anxiety at bay. Slowly, I got to my feet thanks to a friendly tug from Raj.
“I don’t ever want to do that again,” Tyler mumbled as he stood.
Raj snorted. “I even tried to hold back there—”
Then he stiffened at my side.
Something in the far corner of the cave moved, a small shadow that grew in size. The dark form quivered, taking a bold step toward us.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose and a low growl rumbled in my throat.
“What the hell is that?” Tyler whispered, putting down his backpack.
“There’s another altar in the corner.” Raj’s hands formed fists. “That altar isn’t for me.”
The creature, still cloaked in darkness, hissed.
“Is that thing what’s connected to the altar?” I asked as my wolf claws cut through my fingertips, ready to fight.
Raj nodded, never glancing at me.
Chapter 6
Raj was the first of us to advance forward.
He had no hesitation, practically walking scent-free. What came for us, though, smelled like an old carcass left out in the scorching summer heat. For over a week.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, what was clouded in mystery materialized into glistening skin with hints of serpentine scales. Lidless eyes, devoid of emotion, stared us down.
“Raj, what are you doing?” Tyler muttered.
“Defending what little I have left,” Raj said.
Everything happened too fast.
Raj leapt on the creature, large fists swinging and punching. The sounds of hissing and hit flesh echoed through the walls.
My heartbeat thundered in my chest, but I was ready to help. I walked toward the fight, but Tyler stopped me.
“It’s got big teeth. Hand-to-hand combat isn’t wise.” He dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a metallic box that
was about the size of his outstretched palm. Using his other hand, he slid the top cover off, revealing a tiny axe inside.
Was he gonna pick its teeth with that?
My claws were a lot bigger than his axe.
He plucked out the axe with his fingertips. In one second, it was minuscule; in the next, it grew to the size of my torso.
Holy shit! That was awesome.
Armed with the axe, Tyler bounded in with a war cry.
Raj continued to wrestle with it. Indentations from Raj’s invisible hands revealed where Raj grasped it. His control was slipping as the snake-like creature’s tail wrapped around his leg and continued to head up Raj’s body toward his neck. Before the thin tail reached its destination, Tyler came in swinging, delivering a sharp chop to the creature’s backside.
A throaty hiss filled the room as blood splattered the walls.
“What else you got, you son of a bitch!” Tyler swung again at the thicker body closer to the head, which continued to thrash and writhe until it slipped from Raj’s grasp.
Raj shouted. More blood dripped on the floor from somewhere, but I couldn’t see where. With a roar, Raj clasped his hands together and brought them down fast across the top of the snake’s head. The creature was flung onto the rocky floor with a hard thud. Not deterred, Raj pummeled the head until only a mushy heap was left.
Chest heaving, Tyler held his blood axe close by and watched.
Raj staggered from the head, not breathing as fast as Tyler. He clutched something and appeared to hold back a grimace.
“Are you all right?” I reached for him, but he shrank away.
“It bit me.” Raj added a grunt in an unfamiliar language and frowned in the beast’s direction.
I tried to look closer, but all I could see was dark red blood running down something behind Raj.
“Did it bite one of your arms?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he finally admitted.
Compelled Page 4