Jacob's Ladder (String of Fate) (16 page)

“I saw my capture as one of the possibilities and I prepared for it. I usually don’t carry that, but I stuck it in my back pocket earlier today just in case someone came along and tied my hands behind my back.” He grinned. “Sometimes it’s very helpful to know what might be coming down the road.”

She smiled with him, returning the little dagger to his back pocket with a little squeeze of what had to be the finest male ass she’d ever had the good fortune to see. And it was all hers, her inner cat purred. He was her mate.

She’d yell at him later for not telling her about the possibility that he might be captured. He was going to have to learn to trust her a little more, but now…thank the Goddess…they had time.

Ria walked out of the stone circle a short while later with Jake at her side. He directed them a little south of the circle, her Guard surrounding them as they went. He had talked with the mercenary leader for quite a while, discussing what was to be done with any surviving enemy soldiers and then he’d left the cleanup of that part of the night’s events in the hands of the newly-arrived soldiers and a group of the surviving fox scouts who knew the mountain ridge better than anyone.

“Just have to make a little stop,” Jake claimed when he paused near a large tree that had a thicket of bushes on one side.

So much had happened in such a short amount of time. She found it hard to keep track of all the moving parts of the day. Had it been only a few hours ago that she and Jake had had one of the most intensely sexual experiences of her entire life in the middle of that stone circle? The greenery all around was stained in places now with blood and the fog of recently-ended violence filled the air.

Jake pulled a small pouch out of one of his pockets and untied the drawstring. Ria stepped closer, wanting to see what he was up to. She felt a tingle of magic in the area, but it didn’t feel malevolent. If anything, it felt protective.

“What’s that?” she asked as he took a pinch of what looked like small pink crystals between his thumb and forefinger. They were sort of a salmony pink and looked natural, not man-made. Each was a slightly different size and shape than the other.

“Himalayan salt, consecrated by the priestess in the snowcat stronghold. A useful thing to help friends out of a small pickle,” he answered cryptically as he moved to the western side of the small circle of bushes and flicked the salt into the air.

A sparkle of magical energy showed in a dome just inside the bushes, surprising Ria and the others around them, if the little gasps of surprise were any indication.

“It’s safe now,” Jake said in a firm voice directed toward the dome. “You can come out. I’ve weakened the barrier. The rest is up to you.”

Much to Ria’s continued surprise, a tiger’s paw struck the inside of the dome and then broke through, letting the beast land on the other side of the bushes, his tail swishing in the air. He looked back over his furry shoulder and Ria strained on her tiptoes to see over the bushes.

“Medic!” Jake shouted, stepping past the tiger with no fear, moving into the circle of bushes. He came out a moment later with an unconscious Beau Champlain in his arms.

Beau was bleeding from a very grisly-looking leg wound and Tom was in pretty bad shape from a series of cuts and gashes. Jake put Beau down while two of Ria’s Guard dropped down—one on either side, already tending to his wounds. Jake went back for Tom and brought him out as well.

The tiger slunk back into the bushes and a moment later, Geir Falkes rose from inside the leafy circle, Jacki Kinkaid in his arms. She was also unconscious, but didn’t look injured.

“She wore herself out casting the dome of protection,” Geir said as he faced them. “Thank you for helping to break the spell. I tried to do it from within, but it was too strong.”

“No problem,” Jake replied modestly. “Thanks for watching over them.”

“I’m taking her to the cabin. We can set up a hospital there for those who are injured. Milday,” he addressed Ria directly. “Please forgive me for not being at your side. I was trapped within the dome of protection. It was wrong and I accept whatever consequences may come.”

“Let’s take care of the wounded first, Master Geir,” Ria said wisely. “As far as I’m concerned, everything happened as it was supposed to tonight.”

Geir didn’t reply. He simply nodded, his lips a tight line as he turned and headed down the mountain.

He also didn’t display any self-consciousness about the fact that he was nude, but then why should he? Ria watched him walk away, carrying Jacki before him, his muscular ass making a very pretty picture of male perfection as he stalked over the uneven ground.

Master Geir was as graceful on two feet as he was on four and he didn’t let the rocks, sharp pine needles, and broken twigs of the forest floor slow him down. He looked like a man on a mission and nobody stood in his way as he strode silently down from the ridge in the direction of the fox stronghold.

She didn’t like leaving the wounded to others’ care, but she knew they were in the very best of hands. Her people would take care of them and then get them to the relative safety of the cabin as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the commandos who had parachuted in at the last minute like avenging angels were busy rounding up the last of the enemy forces and processing them.

Apparently the foxes had a cave nearby that was deep enough to house more than a few prisoners, and relatively easy to secure. Ria wanted to see the prisoners at some point. She wanted to see the kind of man who would align himself with evil. But that could wait. Tomorrow would be soon enough. For now, she wanted to go someplace safe and just be with her mate.

Escorted all the way down the ridge to the cabin, Ria was glad to see the little building hadn’t been damaged in the action. She walked in, taking note of each injury and spending a few minutes with each of those who were conscious and okay to talk. She thanked them for their work there that night and delivered the messages she had been tasked to pass on from the other side.

She was glad to leave a few of the injured with lighter hearts after hearing from their loved ones. This was what the Nyx was meant to do. Offer comfort and knowledge from those who had passed on. Maybe now that the
Venifucus
had been defanged a bit, Ria could finally get back to her true calling.

She didn’t know for certain that was the way it would go, but she had hope. Only a thorough interrogation of the prisoners would tell her if it was safe to think she might be out of the crosshairs for the time being. But that was for tomorrow. For the rest of tonight, now that her duties were almost completely discharged, she wanted quiet time with Jake.

The fox Alpha himself escorted her and Jake from the cabin, along with a contingent of her Royal Guard, toward the cave system. Ria stopped a few times after entering the cave system to speak with specific fox scouts who were inside, being looked after by their people—or looking after their comrades. She had a few messages for them too.

She straightened from talking to a fox woman with a gunshot graze on her shoulder and stepped under Jake’s arm, settling in as they followed behind their very patient escort. The fox Alpha had left them in the capable hands of his second while he went off to coordinate care for his injured.

“Is that the last one?” Jake asked quietly as they walked deeper into the cave system.

“For now,” she replied. “We’ll do the final ceremony of the month tomorrow night up at the stone circle and I have a feeling they’re lining up on the other side, now that they know we made it through this evening more or less intact.”

“It’s late. Let’s find the bed the Alpha promised us and put this night behind us.” For the first time that night, Jake sounded tired. Heaven knew, he had a right to be. So did she. In fact, if she thought about it at all, Ria knew she had pushed way beyond her normal reserves of strength. It was time for some restorative sleep. Past time.

The foxes had given Ria and Jake a secure chamber toward the back of the cave complex. Her Royal Guard had gone over the preparations, making sure everything was as secure as they could make it and then they withdrew. They would guard from beyond the door while she and her mate sought comfort in each other, and in the fluffy bed that seemed to be calling her name.

Ria cleaned up—sharing a quick shower with Jake that neither of them had the energy to turn into anything more than an experience in hygiene. They dried off then tumbled into the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms.

And that was the last thing she knew until morning.

Chapter Thirteen

Jake woke Ria with a kiss the next morning, feeling as if the world had started spinning anew. It was like everything had been on hold until the battle and now that the conflict was resolved, things could move again.

He was truly happy for the first time in a long time. He had a woman he loved, who loved him in return and they had won a major victory in the ongoing war against evil last night. Life was good for the moment and he intended to savor it.

“Good morning,” Ria murmured when he pulled back to look down into her sleepy eyes. “What time is it?”

Jake looked over at the clock on the nightstand. “Early. Probably too early to wake you up after the night we had, but I couldn’t resist.” He placed nibbling kisses on her collar bone as he spoke, working his way downward as he moved the blanket aside.

Ria halted his progress, pulling on his shoulders until he lifted up to gaze into her eyes. “There’s somebody at the—” a loud knock sounded on the wooden door set into the stone of the cave, “—door.”

“Damn,” Jake groaned. “That shifter hearing of yours comes in handy,” he quipped, kissing her nose with quick motions before he levered himself up to a sitting position on the side of the mattress. He looked back at her, his expression rueful as the knock sounded again. “Do we really have to answer that?”

She felt a giggle rise up in her chest. It was a joyful feeling that felt so darn good. Only recently had she felt free enough to wallow in these happy emotions. Only since meeting Jake.

“They wouldn’t knock if it wasn’t important,” she said, knowing that duty called—or in this case, knocked.

Jake sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in an impatient, sleepy gesture. “Okay. I’ll get up and see what’s going on.”

“You’re my hero,” she joked as he stood and bent, looking for his pants and giving her an excellent view of his physique while he was at it. Her inner cat wanted to purr. Then again, it always seemed to want to purr when she was with Jake. He had a potent effect on both the human and panther sides of her nature.

As it turned out, there was an urgent call from the Lords—the identical twin wolf shifters who ruled over the vast majority of werecreatures in North America. They had counterparts in many corners of the world. Most of the wolf Packs across Europe and Asia chose to be led by such beings. Identical twins were rare in the shifter world and it was thought that the Goddess chose the next rulers of each group wisely. Once in each generation, a set of identical male twins would be born and they would be raised to rule over all shifters who owed their allegiance to them.

In North America, that meant wolves, bears, cougars, foxes, various forms of raptors, and many other Tribes, Packs and Clans answered to the current twins. As such, they had a great deal of power, but because the identical twin pairs always seemed to mate with a single priestess of the Lady, they were also well-guided on their path.

Jake had never met the Lords, but Ria seemed to know them. After dressing hastily, Ria and Jake had been led into the heart of the cave complex where a communications room lay ready for their use. The fox Alpha was already there, as was the company commander of the mercenaries—a pale bear shifter who went by the name Roth—and a few others. Ria took a seat that had been left open for her directly in front of the video pickup and Jake sat at her side.

He could see the other room on the video monitors. In it were two identical men—had to be the Lords—and a pretty blonde woman who was most likely their mate. There was also a large fellow at their side who might be one of their lieutenants.

“Milady Ria,” one of the twins began as soon as she was seated. “It’s good to see you again. Kinkaid told us where to find you. I hope you don’t mind the early call. I just remembered what time it is on the east coast. Sorry.”

Ria chuckled. “It’s okay. And just call me Ria,” she answered with a smile and a casual wave of her hand. “This is my mate Jake.” She gestured toward him.

“I’m Rafe,” the first man to speak identified himself over the video connection. “You’ve met my brother, Tim, and our mate, Allie. This is Rocky.” He nodded toward the other man on their end. “My apologies, but I didn’t know you had mated. Congratulations.”

“Thanks. It was a recent thing,” Ria smiled and took Jake’s hand on the table, making her position clear. They were a team.

“What Clan are you from, Jake?” Tim asked in a friendly yet assessing tone.

Jake shook his head. “No Clan. I’m not a shifter.”

Everyone on the monitor stilled and seemed to be staring hard at the screen on their end.

“Well, what are you then? Mage?” The man named Rocky asked in a gruff voice. He didn’t sound unfriendly, exactly.

Jake shook his head again. “I’m not a mage, but I am a seer. Look, we can establish my credentials very easily. Don’t you know a guy named Slade? Last I heard, he was working for you. Ask him about me. He’ll tell you what you need to know.”

“Give us a minute.” Tim reached forward and hit a button that muted the conversation from their end.

He was then seen lifting a phone and punching in some numbers. A short conversation ensued that the folks in North Carolina couldn’t hear and then Tim seemed to make a few comments to the folks on his end that made everyone’s eyebrows rise a bit.

“I’d love to know what he just told them,” Ria said with a grin. “Who’s Slade?” she asked Jake in an almost purring tone.

He looked over at her, captivated as always, by her smile. “He’s an old friend from Tibet.” He almost laughed when her eyes widened, making the connection. He had just told her without words that Slade was, in all likelihood, one of the rare, mystical snowcat shapeshifters.

Tim was seen hitting the button that turned the audio back on. “Slade sends formal greetings to his brother,” he said, then whistled between his teeth. “Someday I’d love to hear how you got adopted into
that
family.” Clearly, Tim knew a bit about Slade’s background.

“It’s a long story. Maybe one day, I’ll get a chance to tell it to you. For now, I’m sure my brother told you to listen for the right words, but it beats the hell out of me how I’m supposed to casually work
lotus blossom
into a sentence.” Jake confirmed his identity with the code words and he saw Tim’s short nod.

They got down to business after that, discussing the action of the night before and everything that had led up to it. It turned out the Lords were spearheading the North American intelligence gathering on the movements and actions of the
Venifucus
all over the country. They were also interfacing with their counterparts all over the world to build a cohesive picture of what was going on globally.

They had several high-value prisoners in detention and were using magical means to interrogate them. Roth reported what they had learned so far from the prisoners they had apprehended last night and the Lords asked if a few of the higher-ranking prisoners might be transferred to their custody. It seemed they had a high-security prison of sorts, all set up and ready to accommodate them.

Since Ria and Jake didn’t have a home base and the foxes could only handle a few prisoners at a time on an ongoing basis, they agreed to the scheme. Besides, having a priestess in on the interrogations implied a lot of things. First, that the prisoners would not be mistreated. Second, that they would be given the chance to truly turn from the dark into the Light. And third, that every last harmful secret they held would eventually come out.

After the video conference drew to a close, Ria and Jake went with Roth to look over the prisoners. One thing became very clear from the reports of the interrogations so far—only the so-called Necromancer had known exactly why he was chasing the Nyx. Most of his people saw his obsession with Ria as a personal vendetta. It became obvious that Willard had boasted of powers he never really possessed as far as raising the dead or even communicating with them.

As a result, his people saw his hounding of the Nyx as his own little obsession because she could apparently do something he had tried repeatedly to do and failed. His people continued to follow him because, for all his perceived failures as a necromancer, he still had a whole lot of very specific magical power. He also held political influence in his position on the
Venifucus
Council of Elders.

Knowing they had, indeed, killed a Council member last night was a real feather in their cap. It was something nobody else could confirm having done anywhere around the world and it would most likely have dealt a severe blow to the
Venifucus
political structure. It was therefore, highly unlikely that anyone would try coming after Ria again anytime soon. If she and her people were able to take down a Council member, they were definitely a force to be reckoned with. It would take a lot of preparation and planning before anyone attempted to come after her again.

They had earned some much-needed breathing room.

There was a sense of relief and guarded happiness in the fox den all that day. Most of the foxes had made it through unscathed. They had been able to take cover in their home territory better than everyone else. Only one of the foxes had been captured, and that during the run-up to the battle.

They had retrieved that scout—a man named Zevon—and were tending to his wounds. He had been hurt badly as the enemy soldiers interrogated him, but he would live. He would need help for his wounds, both physical and psychological, but the fox Alpha had already sent out word that the non-combatants of his Pack should return to their home area. Zevon’s family would look after him, smothering him with love and care, the Alpha had said. Apparently Zevon had quite a large family.

Many people were sporting bandages of one kind or another and one of the larger caverns had been set up as a hospital. Lots of gunshot wounds, but only a few were truly life-threatening. The fox Alpha had called in a go-team he had set up ahead of time that consisted of at least three doctors and several nurses and medics that were members of the fox Pack. This high up in the mountains, they had to be self-reliant and the Alpha had encouraged any of their young folk who had the desire and inclination, to go to school. As a result, this Pack had several members with advanced medical degrees earned in the human world, which came in really handy at a time like this.

In fact, the Pack owned and manned a small clinic lower down the mountain, closer to the human settlements that offered medical care for shifters and humans alike. Most of the Pack’s medical personnel worked there, earning a tidy profit for the prosperous Pack and themselves.

Ria really liked what she saw of the fox Pack and the forward-thinking Alpha. He had taken his group into the twenty-first century and made it possible for them to not only survive, but thrive in the modern world.

She wondered if she might now have a chance to set up a home base and territory of her own, now that the
Venifucus
threat had been staved off. Where would she go? How would she gather the members of her Clan together? They were few and far-flung around the world. Maybe she should operate on the old movie premise—if she built it, they would come.

“You know…” she told Jake as they walked hand in hand up the mountain. It was almost time for the final new moon ceremony of the month and it was going to be done in the stone circle. “The tiger king has a stronghold built into the side of a volcano. And I heard Kinkaid has bought thousands and thousands of acres in Texas for his seat of power. Now that I’m not being hunted…” She trailed off, still hardly able to believe she might actually be free of the constant threat that had hounded her most of her life.

“Are you thinking about where to build your own nest?” Jake asked in a warm tone that made her feel loved. He was such a good man. So attuned to her moods and needs.

“
Pantera noir
isn’t a Clan in the traditional sense. Not like the lions or the
tigre d’or
. In nature, there’s no real equivalent to us in the animal kingdom. There is not one breed of panthers. Instead, black cats of several different species are called panthers. We’re a little different. Once a big cat family breeds a
pantera noir
, they’re members of our Clan. In the normal course of business, they breed true and all their progeny will be
pantera noir
. There aren’t many of us, and it is seen as a mark of the Goddess’s will when new
pantera noir
lines are created.”

Jake nodded, seeming to contemplate her revelations. “So your Clan is small and spread out,” he concluded correctly. “That kind of allows you to choose where you want to be, doesn’t it? I mean, if there’s no big concentration where all your people live, you can decide where to make your home more easily.”

“I want to stay in the States,” she said immediately. “Some of my predecessors lived at Delphi. I think they wanted a way to bring the wisdom of those who had passed to all, not just to shifters. So the Oracle at Delphi was a good place for them, then. The world is a lot different now and the rules around what those on the other side can tell me have changed along the way.” She thought about her mother’s words from last night and paused slightly. “Although…I think they may have just changed again after last night. My mother said as much when she told me to do the ceremony up in the stone circle again tonight.”