Shifter Wars (Mind Sweeper Series Book 3) Page 27

  “She smells sweet, doesn’t she, Seamus?”

  “Don’t hurt her!”

  “I’m not the one who’s going to hurt her. You’re going to kill her.”

  “You might as well kill me now. I won’t touch her.”

  “Oh, I agree. Your boring, self-righteous, human side won’t hurt her. But your out-of-control animal side? That’s something else.”

  I watched in horror as a shifter stepped forward with a syringe. Griffin struggled, but the guards holding him were too strong. They jammed the syringe into his arm. His eyes immediately changed, amber streaks racing through the green, and he doubled-over, his skin fluttering like a jellyfish. His fingers lengthened into claws.

  He rammed into his captors, throwing one to the ground and digging his claws into his neck. He lifted his face to mine and hissed.

  “Run, Kyle!”

  I tore through the back gate. I was dead, and Griffin was the one who was going to kill me. Hell, I didn’t even know what type of animal he turned into. But from his scared voice and deadly claws, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be a bunny rabbit.

  I choked back a harsh laugh. I really was Fate’s bitch. I couldn’t catch a break.

  A growl echoed behind me, and I tripped over a small cactus, landing hard on the ground. I was fast becoming one of those bimbos in a horror movie. I jumped back up, not stopping to check for injuries. Running and half crawling up a sand bank, I came to the top and realized I had nowhere to go. Metal fencing circled the property. I turned back and looked down the slope.

  Sitting at the bottom was the biggest lion I had ever seen. I held my breath and gazed into his amber eyes. He cocked his head and blinked at me.

  Chapter 46

  My stomach bottomed out, and hysteria squeezed my brain like a vise. How was I going to get away from Griffin? He was terrifying and awesome, and he stared up at me as if he could read my mind. He lifted his head, his mane ruffling in the breeze while he sniffed the air. I ran my shaking hand up the side of my neck and swiped at the blood, which must have marked me as a Friskies treat for lions.

  After a moment, he stood and paced back and forth at the bottom of the hill. My heart thumped as I flashed back to my childhood. One day I had watched a cat in my neighborhood mousing. The cat had played with his prey, letting it think it could escape, but would then pounce on it again and again.

  I wasn’t going to die quickly.

  When I didn’t come down the hill, Griffin rumbled in his chest and moved toward me. I stood still for a second, confused. He wasn’t acting like a crazed animal. Maybe the drug wasn’t working?

  The thought evaporated the moment Griffin bared his teeth. I backed up, turned, and ran in the other direction toward the house. Before I was able to reach the gate, a guard blocked my path, and I slammed into his chest and screamed.

  A roar sounded so loud behind me that I covered my ears. I turned and almost swallowed my tongue as Griffin leapt toward us. I flung myself to the side at the last second, and the shifter guard took the brunt of the hit. Griffin swiped at the guard, who screamed as claws ripped through his arm.

  A voice yelled from the gate. “Kill her, damn it!”

  William rushed toward us, transforming as he moved, clothes tearing, arms and legs extending as he morphed into a jaguar. I turned to run, stumbling over my own feet and landing on my butt. I threw my arms over my head when the jaguar leapt through the air. Before he could reach me, Griffin decided to play and met him in midair. They crashed together with a sickening thud.

  Cat screams erupted, and I scrambled back, trying to get out of the way. The two cats rolled across the ground, their fur littering the air. When they finally broke apart, they circled each other in a feline display, trying to gauge the other’s weakness. In a flash, Griffin clawed at William, gouging his ear. The jaguar hissed and backed off.

  William went on the offensive, his paw snapping out and ripping into Griffin’s side. Griffin bellowed in pain, and my breathing halted. I was watching a very gory show on Animal Planet, I thought hysterically, and I wasn’t alone. The other shifter guards had come out to watch the fight.

  I ran up to the closest one. Trying to form words as I gulped for air, I choked out, “Stop them… They’re killing each other!”

  He looked at me like I was an idiot. “No, this needs to happen.”

  I was so sick of this king of the mountain shit. I lunged for his gun, and he punched me. I cried out and dropped to the ground, the gun skidding out of reach. Blood flooded my mouth, and I spit it out onto the ground. Great. Adding more of my blood scent to the pandemonium had not been part of my plan.

  A large shadow fell over me, and my throat closed. I swallowed a whimper and looked up, although what I wanted to do was fold into the fetal position. I was face-to-face with Griffin. His whiskers almost tickled my face. He opened his mouth, and saliva dripped from his sharp teeth.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  Trying not to make any sudden moves, I scanned the ground for the gun. If I winged him, maybe I could slow him down enough to get away.

  I wondered why William wasn’t attacking, until I saw him pacing in the background. He was waiting for Griffin to end this by ending me. Catching sight of the gun to my right, I edged toward it and wrapped my fingers around the metal grip.

  Griffin tossed his head and growled.

  He raised his paw to strike. I raised the gun and pointed it at him.

  “Griffin, please don’t make me do this!” I cried. At the sound of his name, he stopped. “It’s Kyle. You know me. Don’t let William win!”

  He growled again, and I couldn’t breathe. My finger rested on the trigger as I had a stare-down with a 500-pound lion. William snarled behind him, and I tensed, the gun slipping slightly in my sweaty palm. Please don’t make me shoot you!

  I lowered my hand. I couldn’t shoot him. I searched his eyes…and they seemed to recognize me. Please don’t let it be wishful thinking. After a few more angst-ridden seconds, he dropped his paw, and I let out a ragged sigh.

  My relief was short-lived. William took advantage of Griffin’s distraction and leapt toward him. I screamed in warning. They slammed together and tumbled to the ground. I watched in horror as William bit Griffin’s shoulder. Griffin roared. Before I could fire off a shot at William, Griffin flipped him over and sank his jaws into his neck.

  William lay on the ground, twitching. Blood spurted from his neck and pooled on the ground. After a couple seconds, he stopped moving. I swallowed hard and turned away as he changed back into his lifeless human form.

  Griffin’s roar echoed over the courtyard. Now that their leader was dead, the guards ran toward the house. Griffin lumbered over to me and lay down. I held my breath until he bumped his enormous head against my shoulder.

  I reached up with trembling hands and stroked his mane. His fur was rough, and I tried to feel around to discover how badly he was injured, but did not move too much for fear I would spook him.

  Several minutes later, Jean Luc found me sitting in the same spot, petting Griffin. His eyes widened. “Are you okay, ma petite?”

  “I’m fine. He has a wound on his chest and shoulder. From his breathing, he’s either going to sleep or is about ready to pass out. But just to be safe, you better get a tranquilizer ready. Is Jason okay?”

  “Yes, he’s with Talia. She’s taking care of him.”

  “Have Talia call and get us a doctor until we can fly Sabrina here. Call Misha and have him arrest Doctor Jensen. He’s the traitor.”

  “How do you know?”

  “William’s mole told him something about Jason that only Griffin, Jensen, and I knew.”

  “Will you be okay until I get back?”

  I nodded. “We’ll be fine.”

  * * *

  “Griffin and Jason are both out of surgery and doing well,” Jean Luc announced.

  I slumped back into my chair and placed my head in my hands. “I don’t think my heart can take much more of thi
s.”

  He sat down next to me and patted my hand. “It has been a stressful time for all of us.”

  “Can I see them?”

  “They are in recovery. The doctor will let us know as soon as we can see them. It is going to at least be a couple of days before either of them can travel.”

  “So this doctor Talia brought in is good?”

  “Yes. Sabrina is on her way as well. Her flight should be here shortly, and Will and Talia are picking her up at the airport.” He studied me for a moment before continuing, “What else is bothering you?”

  “You know me too well. In the past few hours, the name Thomas Wilson has been screaming in my head. I can’t get it to shut off.”

  Jean Luc squeezed my hand. “Maybe you should not be trying to shut it off. What if you relax and concentrate on the name? It might tell you something. You did say you saw Hilliard’s face when you flashed on his name.”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe your Thomas Wilson will be revealed to you as well.” He hesitated. “I may be able to help you, if you would allow me?”

  “Through your thrall?”

  “Yes.”

  I knew my smile was lopsided, but at least it was a smile. “No woman is an island, right? I would appreciate your help.”

  He smiled, showing a little fang. “Excellent. Close your eyes and concentrate for a few moments on the name. I will stay right here with you.”

  Okay. I wasn’t going to fight it anymore. Jean Luc ran his thumb over my wrist where he had bitten me, and I relaxed. His voice whispered along my subconscious, and I let go. I don’t know how long I thought about the name Thomas Wilson, but after a while, an image emerged in the back recesses of my mind. I drew it to the foreground and gaped when I saw a familiar face.

  I opened my eyes and looked up at Jean Luc. “Well?” he asked.

  “Will you go with me to Mesquite? I need to see an old friend.”

  * * *

  I dialed Misha, and he picked up on the first ring. I didn’t even have a chance to say hello.

  “How are they doing?”

  “They’re both good. Jason’s going to need you, Mish. He’s angry, and I probably won’t be his favorite person for a while. You and Jean Luc will have to help him until he can look me in the eye again.”

  “We can do that.”

  “Have you been able to find anything out about the boy Charles Hilliard saved forty years ago?”

  “Yes, hold on.” The sounds of typing came over the phone. “Hilliard rescued a teenage boy by the name of James Thompson from his burning house. But the rest of the news isn’t good. Thompson became a serial arsonist as an adult and the fires killed several people over the years.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “Dead. He was killed in one of his own fires.”

  “Damn,” I muttered.

  “What does this have to do with the case?”

  “Nothing. I was just wondering what happened to him.”

  “Okay. I want you guys to come home as soon as you can. You got it, little one?”

  “As soon as I clear up some unfinished business.”

  Chapter 47

  I stepped up to the door of a silver trailer gleaming in the Nevada sun. I had come full circle.

  I looked over my shoulder at Jean Luc, who’d insisted on remaining, and baking, in the car. He nodded slightly in encouragement. Squaring my shoulders, I knocked. Running Wolf opened the door and smiled knowingly at me.

  “Hello, Thomas Wilson.”

  “You’ve come at last.”

  My mouth dropped open. “You knew I was supposed to see you? Knew your name has been rattling around my head for months?”

  “I know about the Key, if that’s what you mean.” He grinned and pointed to a couple of lawn chairs sitting under the awning.

  We both sat.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked. “Why the subterfuge with the name?”

  “There was no subterfuge. I’ve never cared much for my white man’s name, so I use it rarely. When I met you, I could feel your power, but I also sensed your confusion. You didn’t understand what was going on.”

  “I still don’t. Would you please, please fill me in?”

  “The Key is a conduit of good. It will help you fight the true evil that wishes to take over the world. It serves as a balance.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell me that?” I pushed.

  “For two reasons. One, you weren’t ready. Somehow you had found your way to Mesquite, but you didn’t know why. My job was not to find you. Yours was to find me.”

  “What is your job?”

  “To welcome the Key to their powers. My name was the one you were to seek out first.”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t meet you first. I already met someone else.”

  He scowled. “That was not supposed to happen. You must have needed him to help you with something, right?”

  “Yes, he—”

  “Wait. Don’t tell me about him. I’m not to know about the names you are given.”

  “I don’t understand. What are the names for?”

  “For many reasons. Don’t fight the names when you receive them. These men and women may help you in your day-to-day work, or they may have done something that tipped the scales to good.”

  “That’s what I believed, but the man I met had what he called a ‘heroic moment,’ which only led to more pain and misery.”

  “The path to good is not always a straight line. If it were obvious, evil would find a way to destroy it.”

  “What was the second reason you didn’t tell me?”

  He hesitated before answering. “You’re not who I expected.”

  My heart raced. I asked the question even though I already knew the answer. “Who did you expect?”

  “Over the last year I have been having dreams of a white man with eyes the color of turquoise.”

  “Dalton.”

  “You know him?”

  “Yes.” And I proceeded to tell him the story of Dalton’s torture and how I saved him by erasing his memories. Then I asked Running Wolf about the prophecy and whether or not he could interpret it, but he knew nothing.

  “What do you think it all means?”

  He grasped my hands and closed his eyes. A strange tingling ran along my palms and up into my arms. After a moment, he opened his eyes.

  “I don’t know what this means. The Key should not pass from the host unless he or she dies. You have the memories and knowledge of the Key, but yet, I don’t sense the full power of it.”

  My chest tightened. “Do you think it’s still in Dalton?”

  Running Wolf didn’t answer immediately. “Possibly, but without his memories of it, he most likely will not be able to use it.”

  “But that’s the one thing I can’t give back to him. It could kill him.”

  He studied me for a moment before answering. “At some point, you might not have a choice.”

  * * *

  I hit speed dial on my cell while Jean Luc sped along the highway toward Vegas. “Misha, I need a favor.”

  “Name it.”

  “I want you to do some more research on James Thompson, the arsonist. See what happened with the rest of his family. Check to see if he has any children.”

  “Got it. I’ll call you back if I find anything.”

  I clicked off the phone and stared in the general direction of Jean Luc’s profile for a moment.

  “Are you following a hunch?” he asked.

  “Something like that. Running Wolf said good does not always follow a straight line.”

  He nodded and turned to me for a second before looking back at the highway. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I think. Sort of. This whole Key business is overwhelming.”

  “It is a large burden to bear.”

  “You heard what Running Wolf said?”

  Jean Luc actually looked a bit chagrined before answering, “Yes.”

  “Don
’t worry about it. If I hadn’t wanted you to overhear, I would have asked you to leave. So you heard about Dalton?”

  “Yes. What do you plan to do about it?”

  “Nothing for as long as I can. If I’m able to interpret the names and the reasons why I’m receiving them, then we may not need to endanger Dalton again.”

  “We are all here for you, ma petite.”

  I smiled. “I know, and trust me, I will be asking for help from now on. It’s too important not to. Now let’s talk about you for a minute.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what is the deal between you and Talia? Why did you break up?”

  “There was no breaking up.” Jean Luc shrugged. “We are not teenagers, Kyle.”

  “Excuse me, oh ancient one. Let me rephrase that. Why are you no longer together?”

  “I helped Talia when she was newly turned. I was her teacher.”

  “I bet you were.”

  “Kyle!”

  I raised my hands in surrender. “Sorry, go ahead.”

  “Talia is very independent. Once she learned to master her vampire skills, she needed to discover if she could take care of herself.”

  “How long ago?”

  “Twenty-five years.”

  “Okay, and now she can obviously take care of herself, so you can get back together again.”

  Jean Luc sighed. “It is not so simple.”

  “What?” My mouth gaped open. “I never thought you would be a hypocrite, Jean Luc.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Were you not the one who sat on a barstool not too long ago when I was pissed at Dalton and declared there was nothing more simple than love?”

  “Yes, but—”

  I held up my pointer finger. “Ah, ah, ah. It isn’t any different in your world than mine. I may be clueless about my own love life sometimes, but not others. When Talia saw your bite mark on my wrist, the look she gave me was not one of a detached woman. She was jealous. And when she saw you for the first time in the hotel room? She closed down.”

  “Oui. It was not the face of an interested woman.”

  “You silly vamp. She was protecting herself. That’s what females do when we’re faced with the males we love and are scared to tell them.”