THIRTY-FOUR
“Not Adrianna.” Evalle wanted to pull those words back into her mouth.
“Really?” Storm’s relief was immediate and tangible.
“What? You don’t want the poster witch for black majik laying her hands on you?” Interesting. She refused to tell Storm that she didn’t want the Sterling witch’s hands touching him either, since he might read too much into that. Sterling witches were tainted. That was all. “I know someone else who can ward you from sight, plus she won’t say a word and isn’t with VIPER.”
He considered it a moment. “That’d work.”
“How far is your sport utility from here?” She hadn’t seen his truck on the way to Piedmont Park after leaving her bike. “We’ll need it to transport you once you’ve shifted.”
“It’s right up Tenth Street.” He stood up and gave her a hand up to her feet.
The warmth in his eyes stole her breath. He wanted to kiss her. She knew it with every beat of her heart, and somewhere deep inside among all her confused feelings she wanted him to kiss her, too. But nothing good could come from allowing her empathic side to scramble her emotions. She broke away from him and set a fast pace to his vehicle.
The trip to Nicole’s was more comfortable than the drive home from VIPER headquarters the first day she’d met Storm. She enjoyed eyeing Storm’s profile and that he allowed an easy quiet to fill the time. She called Nicole to alert her they were coming and that she needed to do this warding in the garage, which Nicole assured her they could do.
When Storm pulled into the parking deck for Nicole’s building, Evalle gave him Nicole’s instructions on where to park in a corner that would give them privacy. That’s where they found Nicole sitting in her wheelchair with a tall, physically fit female standing behind her, not smiling.
But then Olivia would not be happy about meeting Evalle any time, especially at one in the morning. Olivia “Red” Redwine had chopped-at-the-ear strawberry blonde hair, not red, and an athlete’s body covered in gray-and-white warm-ups.
Evalle jumped out of the truck when he parked and addressed Nicole’s life partner. “Hi, Red.”
“Evalle.” After speaking, Olivia cast a suspicious look at Storm, who waited in dark shadows at the front bumper of the car.
He was obviously not comfortable with any of this either, but he was willing to shift in order to help her, so Evalle asked Nicole, “Ready?”
She nodded. “I can do this, but it will only hold for maybe three hours. I put something quick together. To do more than three hours would take a stronger spell than I can effect here, and I’m not sure this one will prevent animals from sensing him.” She looked up at Storm. “Can you control your jaguar?”
That might not have seemed so strange a question if Storm hadn’t answered, “I won’t harm Evalle.”
What had Nicole noticed that Evalle had missed?
“Three hours should be enough time,” Storm said for everyone’s benefit. “If not, daylight will be our next challenge at that point.”
Red leaned down next to Nicole’s ear, but Evalle could hear every word. “What happens if the people they’re hunting find out you helped them and come after you?”
Nicole smiled up at her. “I’m in no danger, love.”
Standing upright, Red released a put-upon sigh and accepted what Nicole told her even though she didn’t like it one bit. The glare she sent Evalle was to remind her how much Red didn’t like her.
This favor would put a nice touch on the relationship. Sort of like a turd in a gourmet meal.
“Go ahead and change, Storm,” Nicole directed him.
He stepped back around the sport utility. A door on the other side opened for a moment, then closed.
Was he stripping? Evalle stuck her head past the rear of the truck to check that no one was in the area, when in truth she wanted to scout all the way around the vehicle out of curiosity.
But that would be an invasion of privacy she wouldn’t appreciate in his place.
She’d never been around lycanthropes or Skinwalkers. How long did it take to change? Barely a minute had passed when a sleek black jungle cat stepped around the front fender.
Looked like Ashaninka Skinwalkers were the plug-and-play version.
His eyes glowed like embers and didn’t look the least bit friendly. He snarled low, a vicious sound.
Evalle’s nerves rippled, lifting hairs everywhere.
Red’s fingers clutched the handles of Nicole’s chair so hard that her knuckles were white.
Nicole spoke softly to Storm, as if she saw a jaguar that had to weigh over two hundred pounds every day in Avondale. She held a hand out to Evalle with a silver disc in the center of her palm. A leather thong had been strung through a loop on the disc. “Tie this amulet around his neck.”
Me? But Evalle didn’t want to look like some wimp in front of Red, so she took the amulet and turned to Storm, whose lips curled back from his teeth.
She bent down slowly to her knees and waited quietly. Didn’t seem wise to say “Here kitty, kitty” to a ginormous jaguar.
Storm padded over until her face was close enough to smell the warm animal scent of his fur. He stared hard into her eyes, then lifted his head so she could reach his neck. As she tied the amulet, she realized he was exposing his most vulnerable spot to her.
But he’d said he wouldn’t hurt her, so did this mean he trusted her not to hurt him?
She grabbed his head, bringing his eyes back level with hers, then kissed his nose. “You’re the best.”
He nuzzled her face, then turned to Nicole.
Evalle stood up and backed away as Nicole chanted softly in a voice that should be singing lullabies. When she finished, Nicole looked at Evalle. “No one except you will see him unless he chooses to reveal himself. Three hours isn’t an exact time, so don’t push it any longer than you have to. It’s already one o’clock. You should go.”
Evalle would have hugged Nicole if not for Red standing guard. Red was the jealous type to begin with. “Thanks, Nicole. I owe you one for sure.”
“I’ll hold you to that if it means you’ll be here to pay up.” She smiled, then patted Red’s hand. “Let’s go back up.”
After loading Storm into the backseat, where he’d have more room, Evalle drove back to Tenth Street and parked along the curb in a neighborhood close to Piedmont Park. She held her breath when Storm jumped out of the truck and prowled along the sidewalk.
At the corner, two men jogged past Storm. One had a Labrador on a leash. Neither human noticed the jaguar who stepped out of their path and onto a front yard.
But the dog jerked around, sniffing, until his leash tightened.
Storm watched them pass, then looked up at her. This time, when he pulled his lips back, he exposed razor-sharp teeth in what she thought might be a smile.
“Let’s beat feet and see what we can find at the park,” she said, catching up to him.
When she reached the spot where she’d last seen the woman with the rock, Storm put his head down to the ground and turned into a predator on the hunt.
She was glad not to be his prey.
He spent almost two minutes there, then spun around and headed for Tenth Street, where he dashed across the highway without going to a crosswalk where a streetlight would stop traffic.
Running to keep up with him, she waved her hands at cars trying to mow her down when she crossed right behind him.
Evalle, where are you? Tzader asked in her mind.
Back at Piedmont Park. Storm thinks he may have picked up a scent. Literally. Where are you two?
Sen decided there was nothing to be risked at this point by bringing in recruits since the stone is going to bond with the new master by daylight. We’ve been tied up all day calling in more Beladors to flood the city to search for the Kujoo.
No. That’s just what the Medb wanted. I don’t think that’s a good idea, Z. Not until we know what they meant about wiping out all the Beladors.
We’ve got strength in numbers once we link. I’ll put a wall of Beladors up against any Medb or Kujoo at any time.
What if the Medb had a plan to kill Brina when the Beladors linked? Massive slaughter. But that wouldn’t wipe out all the generations.
Got to go, Tzader said. Call us if you find anything and we’ll get warriors to you.
Will do. The lump in her throat was getting thicker by the minute. She’d put her trust in Storm, which was what she believed Nicole’s vision meant. Don’t let me be wrong.
Storm wove through streets, hesitating occasionally to sniff a mailbox post or a car tire. This area was packed with animals, which had to be hampering his tracking.
Or the young woman with the rock walked everywhere. If she was blind and unable to drive, that could be the case. Or if she carried her dog some of the time, she’d have broken the scent trail.
Two hours later, Evalle’s legs burned from jogging up and down a couple inclines without slowing. She only had two legs, but she wasn’t going to complain, dammit.
She hunched her shoulders in defense right after cursing mentally, sometimes anticipating an air slap to her head from Brina, but it never happened.
Tzader said Brina heard all cursing, but maybe she only listened to the rest of her tribe, not Alterants.
Storm bumped Evalle when he swung around, intent on something. Had he picked up an especially promising scent?
When he slowed and crept up to a house, Evalle cast a glance all around to check for animals. The last dog they’d encountered had followed them for a while. Was Storm’s protection ward beginning to fail?
He padded across the street to the driveway of a cottage-style wooden house painted blue and white. The yard was neat and filled with flowers. Storm paced several feet back and forth across the driveway, then lifted his head to her.
Evalle walked past him, over to a window on the side of the house, and peered in.
The woman she’d been hunting was curled up on her sofa with her mutt next to her. Bingo.
Hurrying back to Storm, Evalle squatted down and brushed her hand over the soft fur on his head, considering what to do next. “This is the girl’s house. I don’t want to scare her, so I’m going in alone.”
He growled and nipped at her arm with his lips.
“No arguing. That dog we passed on the last block sensed you. You’re close to being out of time with the ward. Go back and change into the clothes I left in the bushes for you. I’ll meet you at the park with the girl.”
He didn’t move.
“Storm, I need you to do this. You can’t go in with me, and if someone sees you when the ward wears off they’ll call animal control. I don’t want Sen coming after you for doing this around humans without authorization.” She stood up.
He rubbed his wide head along her leg, then took a step, but paused, reluctance to leave in every move he made.
“I’m fine. I can call Trey, Quinn and Tzader telepathically if I get into any trouble. Trey is superfast and lives maybe a mile or two away at the most. He can be here in a minute. But I’m not calling anyone until I know what’s going on with this girl, the rock and Vyan.” She leaned over and kissed his head. “This might save my tribe. Thank you.”
He licked her cheek, then trotted away, looking back every fifty feet until he disappeared into the night.
When she climbed the wooden steps to the cute porch, she took a close look at the pottery planter next to the door that came up to her waist. She’d been studying ancient languages at night on her computer. She’d seen those letters before and made a mental note of the bold inscription across the top, but she put it aside for now and knocked on the door. When it opened, Evalle faced the young woman from the park. “I need a minute to talk to you. It’s important.”
The woman gasped. “I saw you in the park early this morning.”
Finally. Something would be easy. “Yes, you did.”
“Are you a Belador?”
Not a question Evalle expected. “Yes, I am.”
“Are the Kujoo your enemies?”
That’s when she noticed the rock in the woman’s hand and reconsidered the first response that came to mind, since there could be a wrong answer to that question.
Easy never stayed in her vocabulary long.