The Travelers: Book One (11 page)

Gemma peered out the peephole before turning back to him.

“It’s just my neighbor. Don’t worry,” she said, opening the door.

“Hi Mrs. Kruft! How are—”

“What did you do to him?!” The old woman shrieked.

Gemma stammered and took a step back from the door.

“I… I don’t know what you’re… to who?” She asked.

“EUSTIS! He’s gone missing! I saw you eying him the other day. You’re planning to rob me and got rid of Eustis because he was in the way! Well, you’re not fooling me. I’ve already alerted the authorities about you.”

Gemma didn’t even know what to say to the woman. She had no idea what she was talking about.

“Missing? Mrs. Kruft, I didn’t know… I’m not sure what you’re —”

“Don’t you DARE try to play that innocent act with ME!” Mrs. Kruft said, swatting at Gemma with the newspaper she held in her hand.

Gemma held her arms up to protect her from the barrage of newspaper swipes and Carson stepped in with a hand on her waist and another blocking the old woman’s blows.

“Whoa, now. There’s no need to come attacking people in their homes,” he said, trying to make peace.

Mrs. Kruft narrowed her wrinkled eyes, malice sparkling beneath their icy blue surface.

“I know you…” she rasped, “You’re Ricky Sanchez’s bastard, aren’t you?”

Carson set his jaw in a firm line, his fingers digging into Gemma’s waist in an attempt to keep his cool. He could sense her fear and the wolf inside of him didn’t like the threat. She was just a little old lady, but she was a little old lady that was coming after Gemma.

“I don’t see how—”

“Yeah! You are! Well it all makes sense now, doesn’t it? If I knew you associated with this kind of trash I would have expected it,” Mrs. Kruft spat at Gemma.

Gemma didn’t know what to say or do. When she first met her, Mrs. Kruft seemed perfectly nice. A bit over-bearing maybe, but nice. Now she was just downright nasty.

Carson took a deep breath, trying to clear the fog of rage that threatened to compromise his good judgment. He smelled something odd on the old woman: vinegar.

He tried to catch Gemma’s attention. He didn’t know how to convey this to her without saying anything. He didn’t want to alert the shadow within Mrs. Kruft that he was onto it.

Carson reached for her hand and the wolf snarled at the old lady. He smelled the tell-tale scent and was ready to protect his mate.

…His mate? Is that how he thought of Gemma? The wolf inside him did, at least. Even if Carson wasn’t sure himself about the commitment.

The wolf struggled to take control and Carson saw the faint haze of a shadow inside the old lady. Spotting the threat, the wolf wouldn’t be held back any more, he sprang into action.

The intimacy that he and Gemma shared seemed to make it easier for Carson to cross over. Becoming the wolf was effortless, like shedding a coat.

Gemma stared at him in shock as she saw the wolf take shape before her. Mrs. Kruft didn’t notice the shaggy beast in front of her or the blank stare that Carson now gave her.

The shadow inside Mrs. Kruft swirled and pulsated within her; whip-like tendrils shot out like a solar flare and Wolf-Carson took the opportunity to swipe at it.

Gemma watched in horror as Carson-the-wolf seemed to be attacking the old woman. She appreciated the protection, but she couldn’t let him hurt an elderly lady on her behalf!

Carson latched onto one of the shadow tendrils and pulled it away from the woman. It stretched like a rubber band as he pulled it further away from her and finally its grasp on Mrs. Kruft slipped and the shade snapped free from her.

Gemma shrieked as the old woman’s knees buckled, but Carson couldn’t do anything about that now. The shade that he freed from her now danced around him merrily, tendrils reaching out to snap against his skin painfully. The shadow’s touch burned him and made his skin blister beneath the singed fur.

He pounced on the shade, tackling it before he ripped it to shreds with his teeth. The shadow dissipated into nothing and Carson limped his way back into his body where he crumpled on the floor.

Gemma jumped up from tending the elderly woman on the couch.

“What the hell what
that?
” Gemma asked, her eyes burning with fury.

Mrs. Kruft moaned and her eyes fluttered, Gemma brushed her silver hair away from her face before hurrying to the kitchen to get her some water.

“That’s the shadow thing I mentioned…” Carson said, not understanding why Gemma was angry with him.

“What shadow? All I saw—” Mrs. Kruft moaned again and Gemma realized she was nearly shouting at him.

“All I saw was that giant scary wolf attacking a helpless old lady,” she whispered tersely before returning to the other woman’s side.

Carson scrambled to come up with an explanation.

“You couldn’t… you mean…?”

Gemma held up a hand to cut him off as the old woman’s eyes flitted open.

“Mrs. Kruft? Are you all right?” Gemma asked, offering the cold water to her neighbor.

Her arthritic fingers closed around the glass and brought it to her parched lips.

“Wh-what happened?” she asked.

Gemma frowned, wondering how much she remembered. She decided to take her chance with a lie.

“You came over to ask if we’d seen Eustis lately. I guess you must have been out looking for him all day in the sun because you collapsed in my doorway,” Gemma said.

“C-collapsed?” she asked.

Gemma nodded, directing a glare in Carson’s direction.

“Yes, are you feeling okay?”

A few more minutes of doting on the old woman and Gemma finally sent her home. She hoped that Mrs. Kruft bought her explanation. She didn’t need the police showing up asking why her boyfriend was attacking little old ladies.

… Boyfriend?

She shook her head, turning on Carson with a murderous gleam in her eyes.

“What in the world were you thinking? You could have seriously hurt her!”

Carson frowned, crossing the room to show Gemma the angry red burns on his arms.

“Look, I know this is insane, but I’m not. She had this… shadow attached to her. I thought you could see it, too.”

Gemma’s fingers lightly brushed over Carson’s wounds and he sucked in a breath. She drew in a deep breath, grabbing a hold of their connection. Instead of letting his warmth flood into her, she pushed back on it, forcing her energy into him, helping his cells work overtime to heal the damage.

The blistered skin morphed and faded back to its usual state; Carson lifted her chin to give her a quick kiss.

“I’m sorry you were worried. I assure you I’m still in control of the wolf,” he said.

Gemma nodded. She gave him a thin smile as she tried to push back a wave of dizziness. She didn’t want to admit that there was a correlation. She didn’t want to give him any excuse to push her away now.

“I think we should tell the others about this if you’re going to go out looking for Izzy,” Gemma said.

Carson nodded.

“Okay, tomorrow,” he answered, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“What are your plans for tonight?” She asked, her eyebrow raising with a half-cocked smile.

His hands slipped into her back pockets and brought her forward until they were pressed together.

“Tonight? Oh, I don’t know, I was thinking of heading to bed early.”

“Oh were you?”

Her bashful smile made his heart yearn for her. He felt the raw animalistic need to claim her simmering just beneath the surface. He would give the wolf what it wanted, but he would do it on his own time. No matter how much his other half wanted to dive right in, Carson had every intention of taking his time with Gemma.

He pressed his lips against her throat, trailing kisses across her responsive flesh. Gemma shivered and let out a moan that made Carson growl with unadulterated need.

“What do you think of my plan?” He said, his voice barely a whisper as his lips skirted past her ear.

Gemma closed her eyes on a sigh; liquid heat pooled in her core and burned like nothing ever had before. She had an unbearable thirst and Carson was the only thing that could quench it.

“I think,” she whispered, trying to play into his game, “that early can’t come soon enough.”

Carson’s face split into a wide smile before his mouth descended on hers, dragging her out to sea with him once more. He hefted her into his arms and refused to release her lips for her answering squeal of surprise.

She watched him through her eyelashes in a sultry gaze that set his blood on fire. There was no denying that this woman had a hold on him that rivaled anything he’d ever felt.

He carried her through the threshold of her bedroom, determined to spend the next dozen or so hours showing her exactly how special she’d become to him.

Chapter 14

He tip-toed out as she slept, knowing the action would likely come back to haunt him. He knew he was on to something though; he was certain that he could track down Izzy.

Carson went to his sister’s house a couple of blocks away and sat in her living room. It seemed unreal that he’d met Gemma only a few days ago. It was ridiculous how naturally she seemed to fit at his side. And the strange abilities that they unlocked together were just the icing on the cake.

Ever since Gemma came into his life, everything had been topsy-turvy.

But now, because of her, he thought he might have the key to finding his sister.

Up until this point, he’d always needed Gemma’s support to push him through the transition. He felt something different this time, though. After he and Gemma’s recent intimacy, Carson’s mind was clearer than ever. She’d suddenly connected wires in his brain that he didn’t even know existed. Their connection was no longer a flimsy tether barely holding them together. It was concrete now; unshakable and indestructible. There was no way it was going to fade out now.

Carson took a deep breath and rested his sweaty palms on trembling knees. Exploring this insanity with Gemma was one thing, but doing it alone made him wonder if he was being reckless.

With Izzy at stake, though, there were worse things he could be than reckless, he thought. Like complacent.

No, he had to try for Isabel’s sake and if it didn’t work, Gemma never had to be any wiser about it.

His eyelids descended and he let his mind wander to the now ever-present bridge between he and Gemma.

As comforting as sliding into a favorite pair of slippers, Carson became the wolf. He took one last look at his human form, hoping that he would be safe in Izzy’s house, before he left to search once more.

His nose carried him across town, the stench of vinegar burning his nostrils as he neared the warehouse district.

An abandoned warehouse became the target of his investigation. Boarded up windows did nothing to disguise the thick shadowy haze surrounding the building. He knew he was close; a concentration of nastiness this large couldn’t be a coincidence.

Through a crumpled door, Carson squeezed his way into one of the back rooms of the warehouse. He padded softly through the room, listening for signs .of anyone else.

It didn’t take long for him to hear a couple of distinct voices.

“He said there’s going to be a fresh shipment tonight,” one man said in a wheezy breath.

“There better be,” a gravelly reply.

Carson didn’t know what shipment they were talking about, but he didn’t stick around long to find out. He slinked around the corner before heading up the stairs. He didn’t know what made him take that route, but he was following the wolf’s instincts right now.

The second floor of the warehouse was converted into what looked like a kennel of some sort. Thick opaque shadows writhed and darted into the cages obstructing the prisoners from view. He could hardly see anything at all as the shade clouded his vision. But he knew he was close.

Lifting his muzzle into the air, he tried to get past the acrid sting to find more subtle scents. He picked each scent apart until something clicked with his body; the smell of Izzy’s home was in here somewhere which meant she was too!

Without hesitation he bounded into the thick shadows, ignoring the stings and burns as he clawed and bit his way through as if it were a field of thorny brambles.

He saw her then; curled up unconscious in a steel cell alone. His relief at seeing her alive was short-lived once he took a closer look. She was cloaked in a faint silver shimmer, but each time it started to shine, a shadowy tendril struck out and latched onto it, draining her until her shine was dimmed.

Don’t worry,
Carson thought,
I’m going to get you out of here.

He knew he could walk through the walls of her cell, but he wouldn’t be able to pull her out with him. He needed to break the lock somehow.

Before he could think on that any further, he heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, what’s that dog doing in here?!” Wheezy hollered, gesturing wildly in Carson’s direction.

Carson saw the distinct shadow attached to the man and as his parter — a burly biker type — joined them, Carson saw that his shade was even more pronounced. What did it all mean?

The shadows around Izzy closed in on him, giving him no escape route from the two hunting him.

The larger man’s shade seemed more agitated by Carson’s presence than the others. It hissed and popped at him; he planted his feet and growled in response, the hairs on the back of his neck bristling in warning as his lips pulled back to reveal deadly fangs.

“Leave it to me,” the big man said, pushing Wheezy out of his way.

The shade bubbled and rippled in his direction, morphing the man’s appearance with it. In a matter of seconds he went from an ordinary — if not intimidating — man to a grotesque disfigured monster.

Carson took a step back, suddenly unsure of what he was facing. The dancing circle of shades burned his paw as he tried to retreat.

The monster lunged at him and Carson braced himself for the attack.

<<< >>>

Gemma woke up with a sleepy smile on her face before she realized why she was smiling: Carson. Everything about him had been absolutely perfect. He was relentless in pursuit of her pleasure and she still felt the after effects of it in the soreness of her muscles. It was the most wonderful soreness; every slight twinge of pain reminded her of the events leading up to the injury and filled her with liquid satisfaction like no cup of coffee ever could.

She rolled over, anticipating snuggling into his warm body, but she flopped to the other side of the bed finding it cold and empty.

Confused, she got up and looked around the rest of her little home, hoping to find him. She’d been asleep for a few hours, but judging by the temperature of the sheets, he’d been gone just as long.

“You should have known better, Gemma,” she scolded, fighting back the tears that came with the sting of betrayal.

Why would she have thought that he could be any different? They both cared about Izzy, but that didn’t mean he cared about her.

The more she thought about it, though, the more she wondered.

Maybe he got some news about Izzy. But why wouldn’t he share it with her? Or at least leave her a note?

She sighed, accepting that it really was everything it appeared to be; wham, bam, not even a thank you ma’am. How could she show her face to the rest of the guys again?

Her cheeks burned with embarrassment just thinking about it. She didn’t want to give up the search for Izzy, but could she act normally around Carson knowing the strange powers they shared? How could he ignore it?

As she waited for a fresh cup of Ethiopian Sidama, Gemma’s cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“We got her. We got Izzy. We’re bringing her to your place. She needs your… attention,” Carson said cryptically.

Her mouth went dry at the sound of his voice; she wanted to be angry with him, but how could she be? Izzy was with them and alive!

“Okay, how far away are you?”

Before he answered, she heard car doors slamming outside of house and opened the door to see the familiar cadre of men toting her best friend who didn’t look to be in great shape.

“Nevermind,” she said, slipping the phone into her pocket before stepping aside to keep the door open.

The poured into her tiny cottage. Even standing shoulder to shoulder they nearly filled her tiny home making her feel suddenly claustrophobic.

“Here, put her on the couch,” she said, clearing a path for them, “where did you find her? What’s wrong with her?” she added another silent question for Carson with a pointed glare. He looked apologetic, but didn’t offer an explanation.

“Izzy? Izzy can you hear me?” Gemma asked, crouching down next to her friend.

“What the hell, man, for real,” Trick muttered, flopping down into an armchair.

Carson watched Gemma intently as she whispered and cooed to Isabel. The past few hours were all a blur, but he was thankful  that they’d rescued Izzy.

His friends started to rehash the events, but Carson only had attention for Gemma.

While she thought no one was looking, Gemma drew on her own powers to give Izzy strength. Carson watched as Gemma’s golden sparkle slowly faded and Izzy’s silver grew strength.

Then, the silver faded again. Carson frowned before spotting it: a shadow attached to Izzy, growing, feeding off of their combined energies.

“Gemma!” He said, pulling her away from Izzy.

Everyone turned towards him, expecting some kind of explanation. He opened his mouth, trying to think of an excuse when he was knocked to the ground.

His stomach connected with the floor first, knocking the wind out of him. Before he was able to catch his breath he saw Izzy leap towards Gemma. The shadow fed and fed and Carson saw the color drain from Gemma’s face just as Aaron pulled the girls apart.

Carson rolled over and coughed violently, trying to pull oxygen back into his lungs.

Aaron’s arms wrapped around Isabel in a vice grip as she squirmed and shrieked against him.

“LET ME GO!” she screamed, her nails clawing at his hands, drawing blood.

“I don’t think so,” said Aaron.

Carson stood and tried to intimidate his little sister with the stare-down that had always worked before her age reached double-digits.

She used Aaron’s unrelenting embrace as support and swung her legs out to kick Carson’s shins.

“Jesus, Iz!” He cursed, hopping backwards.

Everyone was confused by her strange behavior, but none of them could see what he could.

“Why don’t you guys go? I’ll stay with her while she comes down from whatever they had her on,” Aaron said, shouting over Izzy’s ceaseless screams.

Carson helped Gemma to her feet and supported her when her knees buckled after three steps.

“I don’t… I don’t know what happened,” she muttered.

“I do. And I think it’s time everyone else does, too,” he said.

“I’m still not really clear on how you found her,” Trick said.

“I was wondering that, too,” said Ty.

Carson nodded.

“I think it’s time that Gemma and I share with you guys everything we know.”

<<< >>>

“So, you expect us to believe in all of this magical nonsense?” Ty asked.

Carson shrugged, “I don’t know what to tell you, man.”

Trick looked like Christmas had come early.

“This is so freaking cool. I’m so jealous. I want magical powers, too!”

Gemma glowered at Carson.

“You said you were going to wait to tell them before you went looking for her,” she said, her arms folded across her chest.

“But aren’t you glad we found her?”

“Of course I am, Carson! That’s not the point! You lied to me; you tricked me; you
used
me,” she said, her voice cracking near the end.

His stomach sank to the floor.

“Gemma… I didn’t…”

“So you didn’t think that sleeping with me would help you cross without me?”

He averted his gaze; out of the corner of his eyes he saw Dez, Ty and Trick trying to look like they couldn’t hear the entire spat.

“I… uh… the thought crossed my mind,” he admitted.

Hearing the words out loud made Gemma’s chest hurt.

“I thought that… I mean, we have this…” she faltered, her voice trembling with emotion.

He took her hands in his and squeezed, “We do. I know it was selfish and reckless and I’m sorry.”

She nodded and wiped the tears from her face; she wasn’t forgiving him completely, just acknowledging that there were more pressing matters at the moment.

“So what did they do to Izzy?” she asked, dreading whatever answer he would give.

“I’m not sure. She has a shade attached to her though…”

“Can’t you pull it free like you did with Mrs. Kruft?”

Gemma knew from the deep lines that crossed Carson’s face that it wasn’t so simple.

“I haven’t told you all everything about how I found her…”

“There’s more than magical powers and creepy shadow creatures?” Trick asked, scooting to the edge of his seat.

Carson sighed and nodded.

“One of the shadow creatures attacked me while I was there as the wolf. I attacked it just as I had before, but when I ripped the shadow from him… well, I think they were one and the same at that point; he was destroyed.”

Gemma clasped her hand over her mouth with a gasp.

“But Izzy…”

“I know, that’s why I didn’t touch hers. It was feeding off of you though, draining you.”

“I felt like I was being sucked through a straw,” she said.

“I think it could have killed you,” said Carson solemnly.