Cold Moon Rising (13 page)

They’re the closest things to friends that Sue and I have in Chicago. Yurgi thinks I’m a god in wolf form, because I keep the others from picking on him too much.

They decided—ow! I flinched too as a small stinging sensation came from somewhere on our left side. It wasn’t an arm or shoulder. It was inside our mind. Then another one made me wince and suddenly it was raining little sparkling bits of color like meteorites. Everywhere they landed they stuck and burned. At first it just made you yip, but after a few seconds it started to feel like a hailstorm pounding on our collective mind, except with bits of lava. There was nowhere to hide and no way to stop whatever was happening. All we could do was yelp and finally scream.

Fire filled the landscape of our mind. Pain erupted from places I didn’t know could feel pain until our entire reality was never-ending pinpricks of searing heat—death by a thousand cuts. If the ritual was supposed to be helping, it wasn’t. I fought back with the only thing I had, my Sazi magic. I raised a shield, pulling on what little I could feel of my body. In the process, I realized that Ahmad was still somehow attached to me. Whether or not he was aware of it really didn’t matter to me. What mattered was that there was extra energy in my head and if I could harness it, I could keep the fire from burning us up.

Borrowing someone’s magic for your own use isn’t like grabbing a rope out of your neighbor’s garage. It’s more like asking to borrow their hand, taking it off their body, and then expecting it to grab something at your command. Sure, with the right stimulus at the right nerve endings, it can. But you have to know what you’re doing.

I didn’t.

But Sue’s screams had turned to whimpering and it made me crazy. That’s a weird thing about wolves. We literally can’t stand to sense our mates in pain.

I reached out and grabbed that black-red stream of the snake king’s power, not even caring that it would be like touching a high-tension electric wire. The tiny bits of pain became one massive wave that drove me right to the edge of sanity. But slowly, as though dogging the head of a charging bull with sheer brute force, I turned Ahmad’s energy until it was not only connected to me in Kansas, but Sue in Boulder. Or maybe it was vice versa. An immediate change in our collective head happened. The mist on the ground turned red and an odd scent rolled across my nose . . . or was it Sue’s nose? It smelled of nuts but sweet—heavy yet somehow delicate. Most importantly, though, the bits of fire fell into the red mist and dissolved. No more pain.

I had no idea what Ahmad might do to me once he figured out that I was stealing magic from him. But I didn’t figure it would be good or pleasant.

You hanging in there?

The pause was too long. forcing me to ask again. Sue? Are you okay?

Her voice sounded a little . . . odd, but seemed okay overall. I’ve been trying to decide. But yeah, I think I’m okay. I feel a little strange, but strange is better than bad.

“Sue, we’ve finished the ritual.” It was Amber’s voice and it wasn’t echoing like she was intruding on Sue’s mind. We were hearing it with ears. “I’m going to give you an injection—try to bring you out of this coma. But I’m going to need your help, so really concentrate on waking up. Okay?”

What the hell? How do you concentrate on waking up? I hate it when doctors say bullshit stuff like that.

Sue chuckled. It means the alarm just went off and I can either hit the snooze or drag myself out of bed. I think it’ll work better if you go back to your body and I wake up to see if the ritual did what it was supposed to.

What exactly was it supposed to do? Was it some sort of healing chant, like shaman stuff?

I could feel her shoulders wiggle a little as she tried to describe it. Not precisely. The goal was to bind me with magic. Make me something . . . different. Not a shifter like you, but not entirely human either. If it worked, being your mate won’t hurt me anymore. I’ll have magical blood.

Um . . . huh. That wasn’t exactly what I expected to hear. You’re okay with that? Does it have side effects? Because really, what doesn’t? Even medication can give reactions.

She gave the equivalent of a mental shrug. Time will tell. A chance at living is better than the certainty of dying.

Tough to argue with that. And you’re sure you want me to go?

Yep. I’ll handle things here. But hurry back soon. We’ll have things to talk about, either way. I felt a push that moved me toward the void that separated us. I was being shown the door and I couldn’t say I liked it very much.

You’re keeping something from me, aren’t you?

The sunshiny light that filled the landscape should have warmed and comforted me, but all I could feel was suspicious. Oh, probably. Guess you’ll have to come back and find out what, huh?

It wasn’t like Sue to play games and I was starting to get worried that something strange had just happened. But I wouldn’t be able to tell until I got back and saw her face-to-face. I’ll see you later tonight. Stay safe until I get there.

Looking forward to it. At least that part was true, so I grudgingly slipped from her mind and closed the door again. But first I made it back to the normal kitchen door that we were both familiar with. I couldn’t seem to sense anything from Ahmad, so I was hoping that ending the ritual had ended our connection.

I came to in a twitching, screaming rush that came out as a howl of fury. Lucas was the only one in the room and he’d clamped down such a tight hold on me that I’d apparently pulled several muscles struggling against it. Once I had my head about me, though, I was able to slow my breathing and let my legs relax. It was only after staring at me for a long moment that he realized I was back to me again.

“You ready to be let go now?”

He eased on the magic holding my head so I could talk. My tongue was dry and the metallic taste was probably the blood Lucas said I was frothing with. “I think so. It hasn’t been a fun few minutes. How long was I out in real time? Felt like a century in Sue’s head.” Now the pressure holding me down released completely and I was able to shakily get up onto my four paws. “What’s the situation here? Are you going to change me back, or have you gotten everybody out of the house and I’m going to stay a wolf for the time being?”

Lucas stood and walked toward me carrying a pair of jeans that would be far too big, along with a nondescript gray T-shirt. They weren’t going to be enough to leave, and I really, really wanted to get the taste of blood out of my mouth. “You’ve been this way for about an hour. The girls drove to the store for more meat and to the motel to get your duffel. Since we hadn’t even unpacked, you’ll have everything you need to make yourself presentable again. I sent Paul to visit his neighbor, just in case anything went wrong.”

I felt a brush of magic that increased in strength to the point of pain and then I felt my body starting to shift. It’s hard to describe the sensation of changing from wolf to human. My legs broke and re-formed, lengthening and changing how the muscles attached. The fur pulled back inside my body until there was just a soft coating of dark hair on my forearms, legs, and chest. The mouth changing back is the weirdest. People like me who have had braces would understand the sensation. It’s like right after the screws are tightened. It hurts, right at the site, but there’s pressure everywhere.

Then I was human again, but one who felt like he’d just been hit by a bus. I got to my feet with the help of the built-in planter next to the door and my hamstrings told me I’d be limping for a week. Pulling on the pants was something of a challenge, because my legs really didn’t want to raise up without a screaming fit. More planter holding got the job done, but I do hate pulling up a zipper without underwear. It takes patience and extra attention to detail to prevent . . . accidents—neither of which I have tons of lately. “Well, that was an interesting ride. I think I’ll stick to the carousel next time, or maybe cut off the wrist band altogether.”

“Tell me about it. Nobody’s talking to me in Boulder, and it’s starting to piss me off.”

I shrugged as much as I could without wincing and then lifted my arms to pull on the T-shirt. “Not much to tell. I could hear you talking to some chickie named Sarah at the clinic, but Sue was in a coma, so all I could see was lots of black. At first, whatever magic they called up was pretty, but then it turned deadly—like most everything else in this fucked-up supernatural world. Lots of pain and torment, so I had to take matters into my own, albeit virtual, hands.”

“Like how?” Lucas is naturally suspicious of everyone, but he’s always saved special levels for me. He crossed his arms until muscles bulged and he centered his stance.

I put one hand on my chin and the other on top of my head and cracked my neck before I replied. “Oh, I learned my lessons well when you sent me to spend time with Aspen and her new hubby. She taught me how to channel energy so that when I get into hindsight mode, nobody I’m attached to can hurt me. Sort of like judo—I use their own strength back against them. But I can also grab it and use it to defend myself, so I did. I’m thinking I used Ahmad’s power to make the hurting stop, but I could be wrong.”

More circling of my head made the pounding in my temples ease and the nifty accelerated healing was making it so I could almost breathe without pain.

A car door slammed outside, and then a second one. The girls must be back. That’s when I noticed there was still a slender thread of magic flowing out from Lucas. “Geez! You can’t even let the girl go to the grocery store without a tracker?”

“No. She might bolt. Hell, if I could figure out how to put one on you, I would. But you don’t even have to be out of my sight to leave and get into shit. Trouble has your picture next to it in the dictionary.”

“Don’t forget perturb, disquiet, and pain in the ass. I specialize in those too. My mug shot is all over the thesaurus.” I couldn’t help but laugh and that’s how the girls found me when they walked through the door. Laughing my ass off on the couch with Lucas shaking his head sadly at me, even though the room was filled with the scent of oranges.

Chapter Seven

I WANTED TO stick around town longer to figure out what Stuart and Ricky were up to. Lucas refused, saying we needed to get back to Boulder—both to get Liz to safety and to check on Sue and Angelique. I couldn’t argue, I wanted . . . no, needed to get back to Sue. Especially since Amber was actively blocking our link. I didn’t know if that was good or bad, but I didn’t like it. Still, I really didn’t like leaving with a possible hit hanging over my head. Who’s to say that Ricky was the only one hired to search?

I spoke softly even though nobody around us was listening. I’ve always found it odd that it’s easier to have an ultra-secret conversation right in the middle of a group of people. We’re taught from childhood not to listen in when others talk. “Couldn’t we have just hijacked them and done a hindsight on Stuart real quick? Something has made Vito Prezza think I’m still alive, and that makes things dangerous for all of us. I can’t afford to be alive in my old life right now.”

“Do you mean those guys at the motel?” I’d almost forgotten that Liz was trailing behind us in the Denver Airport, following the stream of travelers toward the shuttle stop that would take us to the longterm parking lot. She’d stayed so quiet in the back of the extended cab truck in Hansen, keeping her head below window level, so that other than her scent and breathing, she’d been invisible. Same with the flight back. She smelled afraid, of course, but I’d gotten used to that after a while. She’d also smelled determined—the scent of cold iron. She’d made her decision and had chosen the safety of her family and friends over herself. That boded well. “Don’t worry. They weren’t looking for you. They’re looking for some East Coast hit man named Tony Giodone. Heather and I heard them talking in their car when we were grabbing the duffel bags. But nobody like that ever comes to western Kansas.” I turned my head, raised my brows, and gave her a look. She was bright enough to get it in one, and paled visibly.

“Oh. Um . . . I think I’ll be quiet now.”

“We’ll have someone look into it. That’s not important right now.” Lucas wasn’t rising to the bait of my argument, which was frustrating. Apparently, no amount of pushing or squawking was going to get him to budge.

I gave a little snort. “It’s important to me.”

Liz’s snort sounded almost like my own. “Welcome to my world.”

“Heeey, you!” The voice that said the words carried over the top of the several thousand people going about their business. A dozen years rolled backward from déjà vu. Not only did I know the voice, it came from the same world that Stuart and Ricky did. While the words were completely innocent and could have been said by anyone, there was a certain tone to the words, a particular cadence that only I would recognize, because we’d only said it in the privacy of the house we once shared. Like, anybody can say,

“Wild and crazy guy,” but only Steve Martin really says it.

I turned so abruptly I nearly tripped the kid. She managed to jump out of the way, but her roll-along luggage did a triple flip until a bank of chairs stopped it.

I struggled not to show recognition on my face. I scanned the faces like I was looking for something, but not finding it. Because Lucas and I were still under illusion. There’s no way she should have recognized us. Unless—and then I saw her, the second woman, a visibly pregnant alpha wolf. The woman who turned me and could smell me anywhere.

Lucas and Liz stopped when I did. Lucas raised brows, clearly interested and a little disturbed, if his smell was any indication. The girl just plain gawked, as did most everyone else around. Linda Leone is worth gawking at. I have to give her that. She was decked out in a low-cut designer outfit in cobalt blue that hugged every carefully toned curve and made her sapphire eyes jump out at you. But the hat adorning her shining crown of hair was more suited to Derby Day than an airport in Denver, in my opinion. Still, if Linda was wearing a hat, she was clearly on the cutting edge of the fashion that would hit here in Denver next spring.

She dripped with diamonds, just like always, and there wasn’t a man alive who wasn’t turning to watch her move in a way that probably hasn’t been seen since Marilyn Monroe left this earth. Linda glanced to her left, trying to get confirmation from the wolf’s nose that we were who she was looking for, even though her eyes were lying to her. After the brief nod from the auburn-maned Babs Herrera, her heels ticked against the marble floors rapidly as she raced toward me.