Dance With Darkness

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

  “My team will be silent, you won’t even know they are there,” Enyowas assured him.

  “All right then. Thank you.”

  While Garret spoke with Thaniel a bit more, Enyowas slipped outside for some fresh air. Emotions rubbed raw, he gazed at the cabin he’d been staying at with Elianna. All he wanted was to go see her, spend more time with her.

  But Garret’s clan needed to pay for all they’d done, though mostly it was his brother. Another twin. What was with the evil twins? Although, he shouldn’t think that, as Amit’s twin hadn’t been evil.

  Garret joined him outside. “I can’t thank you enough, Enyowas. I owe you.”

  Both Garret and Thaniel had been through a hell that Enyowas wouldn’t wish on anyone. “I’m glad I was able to reconnect the both of you.”

  “Me too,” Garret said. “It sickens me to think of what my boy has been through. I only hope now he can start to heal. I see how much Jax and Tierney love him, I think that will help.”

  “I’m sure you’re right, and having you back will help as well,” Enyowas replied. “Now let’s go take care of the imposter ruining your clan.” Enyowas noticed Elianna watching him from the cabin doorway and detoured over to her.

  “That’s him, the one who should have been my Tomlee?” Elianna asked, staring at Garret.

  “It is.”

  “He … looks the same physically, but I can see the difference. He looks older, sad … and the arrogance isn’t there,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself.

  “I believe Garret is very different,” he said. He’d already told Elianna about Garret. “I need to go help him take back his place in your old clan. I’ll be back later, okay?”

  She swallowed, eyes haunted. “He’s really going to take his place as Tomlee?”

  “He is.” Enyowas studied Elianna, noting the hopeful glint to her eyes. “You’re not wanting to go back to them, are you?” He hated to ask, but if she wanted to, he’d take her.

  “Never. I hate them. I’d rather die than ever go back there, I’m just … glad that Garner won’t be Tomlee anymore.” She shuddered.

  Enyowas bit back his anger at how her former clan had treated her. “I have to stop in at work after, so it might be a bit before I’m back.”

  “All right.”

  Enyowas had to control himself not to attack some of the assholes in Elianna’s old clan, but his team worked silently, and no one even noticed they were there. Well, except maybe Jax. He seemed to see everything.

  But they quickly spotted the males who appeared to be resistant to Garret taking his rightful place, and removed them from the premises to be dealt with later.

  Then Enyowas stood at the back of the room while Garret became clan Tomlee like he should have been long ago. It was eerie how alike the two brothers looked, yet there was an arrogance about Garret’s evil, narcissistic twin that didn’t exist in him. Thank the heavens.

  As the clan guards led the imposter past Enyowas to the holding cells in the basement, the leopard shifter struggled to get free. Eyes glinting with insanity, Garner spewed threats at Garret and everyone around him.

  Enyowas stiffened as a familiar pungent odor hit him.

  He followed the guards and their prisoner to a door. “Wait up.”

  Three of the men ignored him, while a fourth looked back. “What?”

  “Just give me a minute,” Enyowas said, wondering if the guard was really on Garret’s side, or just pretending. They’d have to wait and see, but in the meantime, Enyowas inspected each male, drawing in the differing scents, then focused on Garner. A cigar protruded from his shirt pocket. “It’s you.”

  The perfectly coifed blond-haired male sneered. “I know who I am. I don’t know you, though.”

  “You don’t, but I believe you knew my sister, Elsary.”

  “Never heard of her.”

  “What about someone named Noella, or Deanna?” Enyowas asked, watching the man closely.

  There was a slight flicker in Garner’s ice-blue eyes, then nothing. “Don’t know them either.”

  Enyowas held the bastards gaze. “I think you do. Did you enjoy killing them? And what about Tito?”

  “No idea what you’re talking about,” Garner said, though there was another shadow, a glimpse of glee that disappeared so quickly that Enyowas wasn’t sure if he’d really seen it. Garner had to be the serial killer, now he just needed to prove it.

  The guards hauled Garner through the door and down into the basement.

  Enyowas tried to follow, but another guard shut the door and the lock engaged.

  Enyowas clenched his fists as fury roared inside of him. He looked toward the clan’s new Tomlee who was busy talking with son. He hated to bother the guy, but it couldn’t be helped. “Garret?”

  The male looked over and inclined his head. “Thank you, Enyowas, for all you’ve done.”

  “I’m leaving my team here for a couple days, to ensure no one gives you a hard time, or tries to betray you. You’ll need to figure out who you can trust,” he said. “Do you have any mind readers?”

  “I’m not sure,” Garret said.

  “I’ll have someone sent over as soon as I can,” Enyowas said. “It will be important to figure out who you can trust. In the meantime, I need to have a talk with your brother. I believe he might know something about the recent string of deaths in Spokane.”

  Garret swore, and then sighed. “I can make that happen, can you give me a bit?”

  “Yes,” Enyowas said. “You get settled in here. I’ll call tomorrow and set up a time to come by.”

  “Sounds good,” Garret agreed. “And thank you, for everything.”

  “Don’t thank me yet,” he said. He might have to rip out his brother’s heart, because though happy for his friend, anger still pumped through his veins.

  Enyowas drove back to the city and his office. His decision to give it a day or three would give him time to cool off a bit. Maybe.

  He pulled up behind the EfPP building and cut the engine. It was a long moment before he got off his bike, though, and he realized that he didn’t want to be there. He wanted to be with Elianna, which was messed up. He had a job to do—responsibilities.

  Enyowas went inside.

  “I told you, everything’s under control,” Veldi said for the second time in five minutes as Enyowas paced restlessly through the building. The place was spotless, and if he didn’t know better, he’d think they’d never been infiltrated.

  “With all the destruction that happened, you say nothing is missing?” Enyowas asked.

  “Right,” his brother answered, looking as confused as he.

  “So they could have been looking for someone, or something that’s not here then,” Enyowas mused.

  Veldi shrugged, then changed the subject. “Thought you were bringing the girl with you.”

  “I will be.” Or so he hoped, as long as Elianna agreed to join the clan.

  “Why are you here anyway? I told you Ferno and I have everything under control,” Veldi said.

  “Funny. Ferno said the exact same thing to me a moment ago, makes me wonder what else you two might be conspiring against me on.”

  Veldi grinned. “We’re not against you, just on the same page, and this is the first time you’ve ever taken any time off in …” He frowned. “Ever.”

  Enyowas didn’t respond. He’d never seen a reason to take time off other than for a run in the forest, and the one time he tried to do more, shit hit the fan, so he never attempted to again.

  Enyowas turned at the knock at his door. It was Elias, a young trainee and clan mate, and judging by his pale face and the nervousness in his eyes, he had something to say that wasn’t going to be happy.

  “Come in,” Enyowas said, “What going on?”

  “Ah … well, it’s about your ah … m-mother.”

  “What’s she done now?”

  “Well, you gave word that no one was to run alone, and I was assigned as one of her running pa
rtners, but …” The kid hesitated to speak what was on his mind.

  “Let me guess,” Enyowas said. “She doesn’t want a running partner.”

  “Right. I told her it’s for safety, but she refuses. I tried following at a distance, but …”

  “But she lost you,” Enyowas said.

  Elias swallowed and nodded, shame in his stance.

  “Don’t beat yourself up over it, she’s sneaky, and fast. If she wants to lose you, she will. Hell, she’s capable of losing any of us on her trail,” Enyowas told him.

  Elias met his gaze. “Still, I had a job, and I failed. I’m sorry.”

  “Elias, there is nothing to be sorry about, and I’ll speak with her,” Enyowas said.

  After the kid left, Enyowas snarled. “Must she always be such a pain?”

  “Apparently.” Though it had been a rhetorical question, Veldi answered.

  Enyowas drew in a deep, calming breath of air. The last think he wanted was to confront his mother right now.

  “I’ll speak with Deidra, you go,” Veldi said.

  Enyowas looked at his brother and just about rolled his eyes. “You speaking with my mother will not go over well.” His mother hated Veldi with a passion.

  “Then I’ll have Ferno speak with her. Deidra likes him,” Veldi said.

  “That would work, but it still felt like something he should take care of. She was his mother after all.”

  Veldi shoved him. “Just go already, be with the leopard female. You deserve a break.”

  That might be true, and Enyowas was confident in Ferno’s and his brother’s abilities, but he hated to pawn his duties off on anyone else. Yet … Elianna was waiting on him. “Just until tomorrow, I want to make sure her heat is really done, then I’m bringing her into the clan.”

  “Her heat, right. Sure.” Veldi gave him a knowing smirk. “Now get back to your female.”

  “She’s not my female.” Enyowas scowled.

  “Isn’t she?”

  Muttering under his breath, Enyowas left. Yet as he got on the road and started north, he found himself looking forward to seeing Elianna again. Could Veldi be right? Could she really be his mate? His soul mate? His cat seemed to really like her, and he hated leaving her alone for even five minutes. In fact, just thinking of her had him hard and aching, and his beast demanding release.

  Though, what worried him the most was the connection he seemed to share with Elianna. He’d never felt like this with anyone before, hadn’t even believed he could.

  But he really didn’t want a mate.

  When he got back to the cabin, it was empty.

  Chapter 14

  In leopard form, Elianna didn’t feel the cold, and instead soaked up the sun as she basked on the large slab of rock. Her gaze took in the valley below that stretched far to the south, but her mind was elsewhere. One never knew how a single decision could alter the course of their life. Some changes could be slow, while others were swift. So swift in fact that it could feel like you were bobbing along on a current, trying not to drown as you grasped for a root, a tree, or a log, anything to help you gain firm ground.

  Elianna considered her future and it was no less certain than the moment she refused to go back to her clan. What was it, mere days ago? It almost seemed like forever, with her hanging here in limbo.

  Enyowas wanted her to join his clan, or at least check it out. He told her that she’d be safe there, and she had no doubt, since she couldn’t imagine anyone messing with him or the big brute that was his brother.

  But he’d also made it clear that he didn’t want a mate.

  Which Elianna completely understood, and certainly didn’t hold against him. Yet it hurt, and the idea of not being with her dark lover filled her with sadness.

  And, while a clan that wasn’t as rigid and structured in hierarchy as hers might be a nice change, she wasn’t holding her breath. She learned long ago that most people weren’t to be trusted.

  Does Enyowas fall into that category? She didn’t want to believe so, instead preferring to think he might actually be one of a few who was trustworthy.

  So, what if she did go with him to his clan?

  That decision could ultimately be another bad one, because in the few days she’d known Enyowas, she’d come to really like him. In a way she’d never felt for anyone before.

  That scared her.

  She’d already done some horrible things, thinking she was in love. In reality, it had been infatuation and the desire of having someone of her own. Someone to love, who’d love her back, that drove her.

  What would she be capable of if she found the real thing?

  It was an impossible situation, and her recent shitty decisions proved she couldn’t trust herself to make the right choices.

  No, if she were smart, she’d just thank Enyowas for his help and go on her way. She’d watched how people on the streets lived and had no doubt she could take care of herself.

  What if it isn’t just you, though?

  She sighed. She should have told Enyowas to pick up a pregnancy test, but from what she’d heard, they weren’t always accurate with shifters.

  Mind roaming in circles, she sat there for a few hours until a familiar scent blew her way. Elianna’s heartbeat picked up, and she turned to see a gleaming ebony-coated beast approaching.

  A large, yet lean, cat with a mane like a lion, darker dapples on his coat when the sun hit it right, and muscles that rippled like a black panther. All sleek male. Elianna wanted to sink her fingers into the thick fur around Enyowas’s neck.

  Green eyes held her captive as Enyowas easily leaped up and then casually lay beside her.

  Elianna held back the purr that was vibrating deep within, and was about to shift into her human form, when a voice filled her head.

  “You’re stunning.”

  Elianna jumped and let out a snarl, then realized it was Enyowas’s voice in her head. “Wh-what are you doing?”

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you, but have you never mind-linked with anyone before?” he asked.

  “It didn’t scare me, well … maybe for a moment. It mostly just startled me, but this is kind of cool,” she said. “And to answer your question, no, I never have. It was forbidden.” In fact, to prevent anyone from breaking the rule, a blood spell had been cast upon the leopard clan home.

  Enyowas gave a low growl. “The more I hear about your narcissistic Tomlee, the more I hate him.”

  “Me too. I don’t know what I ever saw in him.” She paused. “That’s not right, I saw in him what I wanted to see, what I needed to see.”

  “I know.” It was said quietly, a brush of gentleness in her mind.

  “Can you talk to anyone this way?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “I can communicate with my siblings like this, but generally no, you need to have a sort of bond to the person, and you have to be within a certain distance,” he said.

  “What kind of distance?” she asked.

  “Usually within a few miles of each other.”

  Elianna processed what he’d told her. “So, we have a bond.” She wasn’t really surprised. If she were honest, she had felt it almost from the first moment she met him.

  Enyowas gazed out at the view, then looked back at her, a glint in his eyes. “It’s beautiful here.”

  His gruff tone said one thing, but his emerald gaze pierced Elianna. A lump formed in her throat, and heat slithered through her. Need, strong and demanding. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “I didn’t mean to, sorry, I have a lot on my mind.”

  “Is everything all right?” she asked.

  “It will be.” He changed the subject. “Have you been out here for a while?”

  “I have. It feels good, the air is so fresh up here,” she responded.

  “Are you ready to go in? I noticed someone brought more food to the cabin. Maybe we can go eat and talk.”

  Talk? That was never good. “Are you sure everything’s o
kay?” Did he no longer want her to join his clan.

  “Shh.” He purred through the link. “Everything’s fine. Like I said, just some work stuff, and, I’m really hungry.”

  “Okay, sure. I’m kind of hungry as well.” She stood and stretched, then leaped down off the large slab of rock. “I’ve never seen a black lion before.”

  “That’s because I’m a mix of lion, black panther, and jaguar,” he said as he walked beside her.

  “I’ve heard that mixed breeds can shift into each mix they hold, is that true?”

  “If I think about it, I can shift into my lion or my panther, but there’s not enough jaguar in my blood to take that form,” he replied.

  “So, this form you’re in now is your base one?” she asked.

  “It is.”

  “I … like it.”

  At the cabin they shifted into their human bodies and went inside, and suddenly Enyowas seemed to be keeping his distance. Had she read his intentions wrong?

  “What did you decide?” he asked once they filled their plates and were seated at the table.

  Elianna picked at her food nervously. “About?”

  “You joining my clan?” he asked.

  So, he hadn’t changed his mind. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  Elianna wasn’t ready to admit her feelings for him, though the real reason she hesitated was fear. “What if they hate me? My clan did. Hell, no one anywhere likes me.”

  “That’s not true,” he said, quietly.

  Elianna’s heart skipped a beat. What was he saying?

  “While Sami, Hellfire, and the others here might not be overly friendly, it’s only because you hurt someone they care about. I don’t think they hate you; otherwise, they’d never have let you stay, or tried to find you help when you needed it,” he replied.

  “Maybe, or they’re just good people.” In order to prevent being hurt, Elianna had learned a long time ago not to give anyone a chance. “My clan put me through hell, I just can’t do that again.”

  “I’m not going to lie. It won’t be easy. The Spite Cat clan is made up of many different feline shifters. They can be a tough lot. Like you, they come from clans that for whatever reason, didn’t want them. Some have survived horrors I can’t ever imagine. They don’t trust easy.” His eyes held hers. “But once they do, you couldn’t ask for a better family.”