Harlequin Nocturne March 2016 Box Set (40 page)

So which was it: Annie or Tallulah? Lover or sister?

Both choices were unimaginable.

“Let's not jump the gun,” Tombi said.

Chulah gritted his teeth. “Oh, but you were quick to accuse your own sister.”

True. Tombi didn't defend himself. He needed proof. “Have you found out anything yet from the computer records?” he asked Hanan.

“Not yet. Pisa says the tech expert he trusts to be discreet in reviewing the phone records is still on vacation for a few days.”

“Isn't there anyone else that can look at them to see who sent the text messages?”

“No one we trust. Besides, if the person was smart, they'd use a throwaway cell phone that's untraceable.”

Tombi slammed a fist into the railing. “I suppose you're right about that.” How was he going to figure this out before it was too late?

“Isn't there anything you can do?” Chulah asked Hanan.

“Nothing. We could interrogate Annie and Tallulah, of course. But Pisa can't do it in his official position as a sheriff's deputy.”

“I'll talk to Tallulah,” Chulah volunteered.

Some interrogation that would be. In Chulah's eyes, Tallulah was an innocent.

“Might be best if I did it,” Hanan said calmly.

Tombi studied his friend. Just what kind of relationship did he have with Tallulah? You would think that the news the woman you're sleeping with was a possible betrayer and could have killed you by sending information to the enemy would illicit a strong reaction. Yet nothing fazed Hanan, not even this.

Chulah, on the other hand, was distraught. Not for the first time, Tombi wished his twin had chosen Chulah. The man cared for her and was loyal in his defense of her character.

“I'll talk to both of them,” Tombi said.

Chulah shot him a hard look. “I don't see how you can be fair. Considering you've been sleeping with the enemy for the past two weeks.”

Heat burned his skin. “Careful, Chulah. My relationship with Annie is none of your business.”

“It
is
my business when she's blinded you to the truth and disrupted our circle. What's the matter with you? Our tribe comes before all else. Are you going to throw away your family and our bond and duty for...for...a piece of ass?”

Tombi stepped up to Chulah, got in his face. His fisted hands twisted by his sides. “Don't you ever call her that again.”

Chulah glowered, and anger crackled between them.

“Stop it.” Hanan pushed them apart with both arms. “We have to work together.”

He was right. Damn it. Tombi stalked off, needing distance between him and his friends before he landed a punch or said something unforgivable.

Everything was falling apart. The beginning of the end unraveled before Tombi. Nalusa was winning the battle before it even started. For all he knew, Hanan or Chulah might be the real betrayer. Maybe Chulah was emotionally unstable and Hanan a little too cool and calculating. His inner circle had collapsed.

“Where are you going?” Chulah called.

“To find the truth.”

“We'll go with you,” Hanan offered. “No sense in you walking in the woods at night by yourself. We can drive to Tallulah's place in the truck.”

Tombi faced them. “I need to do this alone. Don't follow me.”

Hanan nodded, and Chulah frowned but made no move to join him.

Tombi turned away from the faces of his closest friends, from the light and comfort of the cabin he'd built with his own hands, and marched into the gloomy darkness of the swamp. His arms prickled with a chill that defied the Alabama heat. He plodded forward, his heart hardening to stone—so hard it could be ripped from his chest and used to sling at a will-o'-the-wisp.

The fall of footsteps sounded behind him, but Tombi didn't bother turning. He recognized the vibration of the footsteps, as familiar to him as a voice.

“Here.” Hanan thrust something large and heavy against his right shoulder. “Don't be stupid.”

Tombi grabbed the leather straps of his knapsack that was loaded with rocks and other hunting supplies and armored himself. How many times had he entered the woods laden with pounds of stones on his back? Too many to count. And yet he and the other hunters barely made a dent in fighting Nalusa and the night's shadows.

He kept moving forward. It was all he could do. Just keep showing up in the face of the odds stacked against him and his people.

“I put your phone in there,” Hanan said. “Call me if you need backup.”

Tombi flipped an arm in the air, acknowledging that he heard. But this was something he needed to do on his own. No one else knew Annie or Tallulah as well as he. Surely, whichever of them was lying, he'd be able to extricate their deception.

He stepped onto the path and into the woods. Cicadas and frogs chirruped and harrumphed in a bayou symphony. Mosquitoes buzzed by his ears and nipped at the unprotected skin of his neck and forearms. He swatted at them absently, eager to question the two women at the heart of the treachery. He could believe Tallulah had succumbed to grief, thus allowing herself to be in a weakened, vulnerable state that Nalusa preyed upon.

But Annie?

Sweet, sweet Annie. Memories flashed in his mind—the soft curve of her naked hips, her eyes darkening with passion, her fingers tracing his lips and jaw. Her sunny smile as she learned to block sound for the first time, her sorrow at her grandma's ill health, the special tea she brewed when he was hurt, the sound of her voice in their kitchen as they cooked together in the evenings.

Their kitchen. He'd come to think of the cabin as their special place. A mysterious, sexy, caring, complicated woman who had become a part of his life. Yet, he had to question her. Had to be sure she hadn't deceived him right from the start.

CHAPTER 16

T
he candle flame danced a red-hot tango, dipping and swerving to its own unheard music, leaving in its wake a hissing and popping of spent passion. Miss Belle was in the house, tripping the light fantastic. Annie knew it before she smelled the licorice and myrrh scent. She placed the grimoire on the altar top, opening it to the middle. She untied the strings of her mojo bag and placed it on the exposed pages marked with handwritten magical root-working recipes.

“Bless these herbs and infuse them with holy power. May they draw Bo's spirit close to me and help him speak this evening.”

The pressure of a warm hand patted her shoulder.
It is done
.

Weeks ago, a physical manifestation of a long-dead ancestor would have sent her screaming from the room, but now, Annie welcomed Miss Belle's reassuring contact.

Tonight, she would speak with Bo and get the name of the betrayer. After that, it was a matter of convincing her animal spirit to return the ancient flute. Her hawk wouldn't desert her and betray her trust. He just wouldn't.

A sharp rapping blasted the cottage's quiet. Annie glanced at the clock in the den: eleven thirty. Tallulah had cried herself to sleep in Tia Henrietta's bedroom over an hour ago. The muffled sobs from her grandma's room wouldn't have been audible to anyone but Annie. She and Tallulah might never become the best of friends, but Annie recognized there was some good in Tallulah. She was capable of great love.

Too bad her twin wasn't.

It had to be Tombi making that racket. Knocking in an arrogant, haughty way with no regard for the people inside. What did he care if she was asleep? He'd decided to talk at last, and that was all that mattered to him.

Annie worked up a righteous indignation. Better that than be a whining, pining fool who'd laid bare her soul. She jerked open the door. “What do you want?”

Tombi glowered, face set in harsh, grim lines. His brown eyes appeared hard as blackened, burned coal. What the hell was
he
mad about? He hadn't had his love thrown back in his face. She was the injured party here.

“We need to talk.”

“Well, I don't want—”

He pushed past her and strode into the middle of the den, filling the feminine vibe of the cottage with a bit of the dangerous night that cloaked his aura. He smelled like smoldering wood chips and damp peat and moss and cypress. Intoxicating but dangerous.

Annie didn't budge from the doorway. “Say what you want and then leave. I was getting ready to go to bed.”

A flicker of something—passion?—chased across his face, and Annie winced at her choice of words.
Bed
conjured up images of snuggling in Tombi's arms, of his skin golden in the moonlight, naked and smooth beneath her touch. Tangled bedsheets and groans and whispers and... Annie bit the inside of her mouth to stop the memories. “Why are you here?” she asked, knowing the hoarseness of her voice tipped him off to the passionate direction her mind had leaped to.

“Annie.” He came to her and ran a calloused hand over her face, brushing back a curly lock of hair. “You're as much a mystery to me as the night we met,” he whispered.

“There's nothing mysterious about me,” she denied. “You know me better than anyone. I shared everything with you.”

“Everything?”

“There are no secrets between us.”

Tombi abruptly dropped his hand to his side. “I want to believe that.”

“Why shouldn't you?” Annie countered. “I've been open. I've held nothing back.” She swallowed painfully. She'd been too open, too trusting with her heart. And Tombi had crushed it.

He hardened his face and crossed his hands. “Tell me the truth. Are you in league with Nalusa? Does he have some kind of hold over you? Because if he does, I can help you break free.”

“What?” Annie rubbed her temple, confused at the questions. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Because I believe the betrayer is you or Tallulah.”

“Oh, yeah? On what evidence, you...you jackass?”

He ignored the gibe. “Ever since we met, the shadows have grown more powerful, Nalusa has infiltrated our ranks, and the inner circle has crumbled. No one trusts anyone else.”

A cold fury tingled along Annie's spine. “I'm not in league with anybody. And neither is your sister.”

“I want to believe you.”

The anguish in his eyes softened her temper. “I understand that you have to suspect the worst of most people. But I thought we had something special.”

He drew her to him, resting his chin on the top of her head. “We do.”

The warm, husky voice made her tingle inside, and her thighs tightened. This part, the physical attraction, was so easy between them. If only everything else could be.

“Come back to the cabin with me,” he urged, pressing his need against her core.

Annie's breath caught. She wanted to so much. To bury her heartache and disappointment in his kisses, to feel him inside her, pulsing, their bodies electric with desire. It took all her strength to step out of the warmth and safety of his arms.

“No.”

“Why not? It's so damn good between us, Annie.”

“In bed. But I want more than that. If you can't love me, I at least want your trust. One hundred percent.”

“I'm working on it. Isn't that good enough for now?”

No. She'd tried to make Evan love and respect her, but it only ended with her doing all the giving. She wanted Tombi, but only if he could love her as she was. Nothing less would do.

“Don't hurt me any more than you already have. The longer we're together, the more I need to know you love and trust me. I'm done with one-sided relationships.”

He gave a reluctant nod. “Best we end it now. There's nothing more I can teach you about blocking sound anyway.” He started to the door and then stopped. “You'll let me know if your hawk brings you the flute, won't you? The full moon is in two weeks. We'll need it.”

“I'll do my best to get it back,” she promised. “I'll still help you any way I can. That hasn't changed.”

He opened the door and stared into the night. “Will you be safe?”

“I managed twenty-seven years without your protection,” Annie pointed out. “And at least for tonight, Tallulah's staying over.”

“If you need me, call me.”

Annie followed Tombi and shut the door behind him. She leaned her back against it and closed her eyes. It would be so easy to stop him, to go back to his cabin and enjoy his lovemaking. No, she'd done the right thing. Too much had been either said or left unsaid between them.

The rattle of his truck engine faded.

He was gone.

Annie took a shuddering breath. If Tombi knew what she'd planned for the evening, he would have never left. Quickly, before she lost courage, Annie went to the altar and picked up the mojo bag she'd infused with power. She tied it to a belt loop on her jeans and blew out the candle. On the way out, she grabbed a flashlight from the bookshelf near the entryway.

The black night was sticky with humid moisture as she gently shut the door, not wanting to wake her guest. But if Tallulah hadn't awoken when Tombi came over, she wasn't going to get up now.

Good. Best to proceed on this task on her own. Bo had never come to her while she and Tombi sought him together. She suspected his strength to communicate while trapped in a wisp was a difficult feat, easier attempted when he only had to concentrate on one human gifted to hear his voice.

With each step to the woods, Annie relaxed her mind and opened her hearing. The buzz of mosquitoes and the guttural music of bullfrogs were an instant, familiar backdrop. Amazing how the weeks training with Tombi had allowed her to adjust her supernatural hearing at will.

The elliptical beam of the flashlight guided her steps. Between its light and her night walk training with Tombi, her steps were quick, and the dark didn't impede her as much as before.

The smell and taste of salt tickled her nose and the back of her throat. Strange how often taste was enhanced by a stronger sense of smell. She didn't just absorb scent through her olfactory glands without it also arousing her taste buds.

Darkness descended further as she entered the woods. Annie stopped and leaned against the rough bark of a pine tree, switching off the flashlight. How far would she have to go in? She fingered the smooth flannel of her mojo bag.

The slightest snap of a twig and her breath seized. Was she being followed? She hardly dared breathe, straining to see or hear anything else in the silence of the swamp. Must have been a porcupine or squirrel. She shook off the fear and inhaled deeply.

“I'm here, Bo. Come to me,” she whispered.

A faint blue-green light skittered from afar.

“Closer, Bo. It's okay, I'm alone.”

The orb streaked through the forest, leaving a comet tail of sparkles that illuminated the twisting tree branches above and tangled vines and saw palmettos beneath. It stopped and hovered several feet away, its inner heart pulsing, breathing color.

It worked
. She gripped the mojo bag, crushing the herbs and releasing more of the scent, bolstering her confidence. The glowing light twisted its shape, the upper half bending and pointing westward. Figured he would want to go back to the Choctaw sacred grounds where they'd first met.

“I'll follow you.”

The wisp's glow made the flashlight unnecessary. A blue-and-green haze coated the air, painting teal brushstrokes everywhere. It felt like entering a strange, beautiful fairyland. She trudged along until the path grew less firm beneath her feet and became sludgy, the salt smell grew more pungent and her mouth puckered, briny as a pickle.

The light stood still.

“You came back,” Bo said, his voice faint but clear. He sounded weaker than their previous encounter.

“Yes. Tombi wants to free you. But first we need—”

“Such a good friend,” Bo said mournfully. “And Tallulah, my love, is nearby. She's followed you.”

Aha. So that was what she'd heard earlier. “I thought I heard something. She's desperate to talk with you.”

“No. It would only make her healing that much harder. I'm dead to her forever, and she must move on with her life.”

“I'll give her your message. Knowing you care might help.” Annie hesitated to bring up the purpose of her visit, but she sensed their time together was brief. “Please, can you tell me the name of the person who's been telling Nalusa the hunter's plans and secrets? If we don't find him soon, Tombi fears that they have no chance of winning. That, with the next full moon, Nalusa and his shadows will make a bold move to eliminate all of them.”

“Tombi's right.
Na haksichi
is—”

“Bo!” Tallulah burst through from the path, long black hair streaming behind her, silver-streaked with moonlight. Her eyes were wild with a combination of grief and hope. “Is it really you?” She cast wild eyes on Annie. “What is he saying?”

The teal heart flame within the smoky wisp heated to an incandescent red that roared and cackled like an erupting forest fire. Annie took a step back from the wall of heat that singed her clothes and hair.

Tallulah dropped to her knees and held her hands out, imploring. “Take me with you, Bo. I only want to be with you.”

Annie's own heart broke at seeing the proud woman so humbled and vulnerable. The woman warrior's loss was so intense, and seeing Bo trapped as a spirit had to be devastating.

“No!” Bo's voice rang out so loud it vibrated the earth beneath Annie's feet.

“It
is
you,” Tallulah whispered in awe. “Even I heard you just now.”

Annie knelt in front of Tallulah. “I need to talk to Bo. We have to find out the name of the betrayer.”

“He approaches now,” Bo warned. “Run!”

Annie scrambled to her feet and looked behind her. But this time she could make out nothing in the darkness. Except a stealthy footfall advancing toward them, one she had heard before. It teased the back of her brain like a spider crawling up her arm. “We have to go,” she said, tugging at Tallulah's arm.

Tallulah didn't spare Annie a glance. She was transfixed by the fire that was once her lover, had eyes only for the conflagration burning at the wisp's center.

“C'mon,” she urged, pulling harder.

The vibrations underfoot grew stronger, faster, more sure.
Na haksichi
, the traitor, was near. Annie dropped Tallulah's arm and stood, slowly turning around, dread prickling her spine.

Hanan's eagle eyes pierced the night, the topaz glints in his pupils like ground star chips.

“You,” she breathed out, past the lump of fear in her throat. “You are the one.”

His smile emphasized the sharp beak of his nose, and his white teeth were prominent as a chomping wolf's. “Just as you suspected at the start.”

“Tombi had so much faith in you.”

“Tombi.” He spit out the name in apparent distaste. “He's leading us down a path of sure destruction. We are outnumbered. He should have compromised with Nalusa long ago.”

“What kind of bargain have you struck with the devil?”

“One that allows me to live.”

“And to hell with your friends? Your family? What kind of life is that?”

The wisp moved between her and Hanan.

“Be gone,” Hanan commanded. His voice screeched like the talons of an eagle scraping glass. “You have no power here, Bohpoli. I killed you.”

Tallulah shrieked, her banshee wail echoing through the swamp. She rose to her feet and stumbled past Annie. “You killed my Bo? Why?”

“Because he caught me with Nalusa. And because he was the most skillful hunter, the best shot.”

Tallulah leaped at Hanan, screaming and clawing. He shoved her, and she tumbled several feet away.