Claws (13 page)

“It wants one with my gift and Eli’s
combined,” she went on and smiled as she saw Vivvie tense. “Yes,
you can imagine my surprise to even think to have a child at my
age. Oh we have tried, quite a lot, since you went tumbling off
that cliff. It appears the Great Spirit decided I had enough
children in my time.”

“Smart dude; probably knows you’re a
freak,” Vivvie remarked coldly, pleased to see Tania react in anger
to her baiting her.

“I would be careful what you say to me,
Vivvie.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Vivvie said
and her green eyes glowed. “You aren’t the only one who knows how
this place works. You forget I have your gift. I know how to use it
too.”

“Yes, but I perfected it in three
hundred years,” Tania said brightly. “You’ve been at this game six
months or so? I’d say you’re a novice at this, Vivvie. If you know
anything at all; you know you’re trapped here. A pity you had to
sneak here to see your lover one last time.”

Vivvie looked away at that and she
laughed lightly.

“He’s wonderful isn’t he? Jericho could
always do the most amazing things with his tongue, as I recall,”
Tania whispered softly as she came closer. “Does Eli know you two
have been sneaking around in here? I wonder what he would
say.”

“What do you want from me,
Tania?”

“Right to the point, aren’t you?” Tania
commented in approval.

“You wouldn’t be here if you had what
you wanted,” Vivvie concluded. “What do you want from
me?”

“The children you lost on the mountain
that night had neither yours, nor his gift,” Tania said and ignored
Vivvie’s anguished sob at her words. “A pity, but all three had
very unremarkable powers. The demon wasn’t appeased. In order to
keep it happy; it wants what I offered or it will take me
back.”

Vivvie stared at her in shock.
Devastation filled her to know her dead children were sacrificed to
some demon in hopes of gaining one like the twins. Thoughts of the
two children who had those precious gifts already kept her
silent.

None of the tribe but Jericho knew the
children had both gifts. Eli was afraid his people would fear them
if they knew. Tania couldn’t know she had exactly what she wanted
under her nose or she wouldn’t be here.

“That’s too bad. Whatever will you do
now?” Vivvie asked dramatically and rolled her eyes. “I guess
breaking up my marriage and stealing my husband wasn’t in your best
interest. Bummer for you; you homewrecking hoebag!”

“Yes, well he did go rushing off to
Florida after you,” Tania informed her and shrugged off her
insults. “There’s no question for a man’s bad taste.”

Vivvie perked up to know Eli was with
her, unaware she was held in this place against her will. None of
the others knew where Tania went during her forty year slumber.
Knowing she’d been caught in the dreamscape by the demon gave her
cause to wonder and wrack her brain to recall Jericho’s
teachings.

Vivvie could infiltrate dreams. She
knew from Jericho it was the rarest of all gifts, like Eli’s
telepathy and mind control. Vivvie was the only one in three
hundred years who received Tania’s gift. She passed it on to Eli’s
children. Now there were three like her.

The danger Devon and Elaina were in
kept her silent. If Eli ever made the mistake of trusting this
woman; their children would be given to the demon to pay for
Tania’s parole from her prison. For that reason; she stayed
silent.

“You have three new young,” Tania went
on. “I looked in on them recently to look them over. Imagine my
surprise to find one of them has Jericho’s gift. It seems I’m not
the only hoebag here, Vivvie.”

Vivvie stared at her in shock, unable
to comprehend what she was saying. Tania laughed at her.

“You really don’t understand how this
all works, do you?” Tania asked and rolled her eyes in annoyance.
“I can hardly believe Jericho didn’t tell you all of this. He does
like to hear himself teach.”

“That’s not possible!” Vivvie exclaimed
in alarm. “You’re lying!”

“Oh, but it is,” Tania said and smiled
in obvious pleasure. “Those children in Florida aren’t all Eli’s
are they Vivvie? You didn’t know you could conceive in this place,
did you?”

Vivvie remained mute, unwilling to
think all the children she bore weren’t Eli’s. She went through no
cycles while there and assumed it was because she was so upset. The
last time she’d gone to Jericho was…her eyes flew wide.

While Eli slept at her side, she went
to Jericho for comfort, not realizing when Eli brought on her heat
what could happen.

“He might not ever know with Ryken’s
blood in yours. But, he will hate you if he finds out.”

“He hates me already, Tania. You talk
in circles. What is it you want from me?”

“I’ll give you your freedom and say
nothing of what I know of your time with Jericho if you agree to
satisfy the demon’s desire,” Tania informed her and laughed at her
horrified look. “Oh please, you could have hundreds more, Vivvie.
We both know what you meant to do before I pushed you over the
ledge. You didn’t even want them.”

“I changed my mind! That’s not
true!”

“You knew what Eli would say if you did
it without his consent. That’s the only reason you didn’t abort
them yourself,” Tania murmured triumphantly to see the guilt in
Vivvie’s expression. “I can keep you here for as long as it takes
to get you to agree. I was here for forty years until I gave in. I
wonder how long it will take for you to agree.”

“You’re insane,” Vivvie cried and
backed away from the bars, eyes wide with horror. “You can’t make
me do this!”

“Eli rallies to your side now. It’s
really quite touching. If you were to wake up right now; we both
know he would forgive you and take you back,” Tania said and folded
her arms across her chest. “I know him well.”

“You expect me to sacrifice one of my
babies to this demon to keep your silence?” Vivvie asked in
shock.

“I realize it means I have to give Eli
up. It appears he seems to care for you. A pity if he learned about
you and Jericho’s little fling. You can imagine what he would do to
you if he knew. Think about dear Jericho. He would be exiled like
you or worse. Eli can be so nasty when he’s in a rage.”

Vivvie did know. Her husband would have
little or no mercy. She would lose him. She knew she had no choice
to agree to get out of this place. Tania was demented if she
thought she was going to hand over an innocent child to this demon
who preyed upon the tribe.

“I can’t make a snap decision,” Vivvie
hedged and avoided the woman’s glowing golden gaze. It was
difficult to look at her and know she was Ty’s sister. They were
nothing alike. Where Ty was noble and selfless, this creature was
shallow and self-serving. She knew them to be twins and was amazed
at their differences.

“Take all the time you like. I enjoy
the wait,” she encouraged. “Don’t think he misses you in any way at
all. I’ve had three hundred years to perfect that too.”

Vivvie watched her leave and disappear
into the misty shadows of the cavern. She shuddered and closed her
eyes, wondering how she would get out of this mess. To give her
what she wanted was to sacrifice one of her young; to not give in
was to earn Eli’s wrath for the rest of her days. It took three
more weeks in the cavern prison to reach a decision.

~ ~ ~

Vivvie woke to see Eli dozing at her
bedside. He was unshaven and looked uncomfortable sleeping in the
chair. She felt tears fill her gaze to think of how he would hate
her to know what she did in her hurt and ignorance. How the news
would affect his relationship with Jericho made her
tense.

Tania offered her silence and would
give her back her husband. A voice warned the demon would up the
ante as it had before. It played with Tania, wanting more with
every negotiation. Vivvie didn’t dare try to figure the matter out
anymore. Her new children needed her. The ones at the compound were
vulnerable without either parent there now.

Jericho would argue with her if he knew
what was going on. He would opt for telling Eli the truth and
beating Tania at her own game. He wasn’t aware what leverage Tania
held over them.

Eli popped open one eye and jumped
forward to see her eyes were open. He leaned forward, taking her
hand, bringing it to his lips. He avoided her gaze as he put his
dark head across her lap. He lay there against her and Vivvie was
reminded of all she stood to lose if she didn’t give Tania what she
wanted.

“What are you doing here?” she asked
with a scratchy throat. “I thought you left.”

Eli raised his head and she was
startled to see the moisture in his eyes for a moment, attesting to
his relief she woke up. “I came back when you didn’t wake up. Where
were you, Vivvie?”

“I don’t know,” she lied and knew he
believed her; relieved she woke up at all.

“You have three children to meet,” he
told her proudly and smiled gently. “They’ve slept at the foot of
the bed since I got here. I’m afraid to say I’ve had no luck
getting them to mind me.”

“Where are they?”

“Ty took them out on a potty run,” Eli
told her and grimaced. “They’re harder to housebreak than the twins
were.”

Vivvie didn’t care. The desire to see
them all made her sit up too quickly; moaning from the dizziness
and she fell back. The weakness in her limbs reminded her she slept
for nearly a month.

“Don’t try to get up. I’ll have them
brought in to you,” he promised as his deep blue eyes lingered on
her face. “We have time to discuss names when you’re up and
around.”

“Why did you come back, Eli?” she asked
softly, her voice raspy. “Did you come to punish me some
more?”

He looked as if she hit him. “No, I
came back because I’m done being an idiot. I love my mate. Whatever
happened doesn’t matter. I can’t lose you, Vivvie. Please come
home. We’ll work things out.”

“We’ll talk later,” Vivvie told him,
her eyes filling with tears. It was what she prayed and feared to
hear. Eli got over his hurt and anger. He wanted her to come home.
She was ecstatic and aware of Tania’s demands all at
once.

Eli nodded, overwhelmed in his relief
to see her awake. The weeks took their toll on him. He looked
exhausted and drained. He climbed in next to her and held her. In
minutes he was fast asleep, curled around her.

Vivvie dozed for a time and woke up as
she felt something land upon her feet. She opened her eyes and
stared at the adorable black fluff ball staring back at her, its
huge yellow green eyes meeting hers unwaveringly.

The other two were females and jumped
up on the bed excitedly, purring and coming into her arms, sniffing
her appreciatively. They both had their Father’s eyes and scent.
They also had a new power she observed as they scattered items on
her bedside table, moving things at random with a look.

The male still stared at her, waiting
at the end of her bed to be invited. She patted her side and he
walked to her, creeping on his belly. She had tears in her eyes to
see he was indeed Jericho’s son. He nuzzled her hand and nibbled
playfully at her fingers.

“He looks just like Ryken,” Eli
commented drowsily as he sat up and grabbed the kitten by the
scruff of its neck. Vivvie stiffened and her husband chuckled and
dropped the kitten in her lap, kissing her on her cheek.

“It’s common for some of your maker’s
traits to pass on, Vivvie. Ryken and you share bloodlines. You have
his DNA.”

She smiled slightly, relieved her
husband didn’t know. A feeling of fear over Tania’s demands made
her heart clench. She demanded her due. She wanted a child with
both their gifts to satisfy the demon; in exchange for her never
telling Eli the truth. The male pounced on her hand and bit and
played with her, charming her at once. Eli believed he saw Ryken in
the boy. Her eyes only saw Jericho.

Within a few days, Vivvie was up and
around and tending to her new children. The young panthers were all
named. The girls were named Isobel and Margot, or Izzie and Margie
as they called them. Their power was annoying. They could move
things with their minds, always causing commotions. The boy was
named Justice. He followed Eli everywhere; already picking up on
his Alpha ancestry.

Eli adored him. Vivvie felt the matter
was best left alone. Justice was more like Jericho than her. She
knew he sensed her emotions and feelings of unease from the onset.
He often looked at her when he sensed her moods, alerting her that
he would be as powerful as his Father one day in gauging feelings
and emotions.

Ty sat with her one night while Eli
took the three out for a potty run. His golden eyes were solemn as
they met hers. The wound at his neck was now healed over. She knew
about the challenge from Eli. They hadn’t spoken of it. She could
see he struggled to stand aside now that he knew she would be
leaving with Eli.

“Don’t go back with him, Vivian,” he
asked her as he took her hand. “He’s renounced you once. Stay here.
He won’t force you to go back.”