Dire Wants (16 page)

Chapter 26

S
tray pulled into the garage, Vice and Cyd right behind him. Stray didn’t unlock the truck’s doors until the heavy garage door closed and the alarm turned on.

Kate clutched the grimoire against her and Brother Wolf was able to hear her heart pounding.

“Hey, we’re safe,” he told her. “No one’s taking the book from you.”

She nodded, but didn’t loosen her grip. She did let him help her out of the truck and lead her up the stairs. He was planning on putting her right into his room—his wolf wouldn’t tolerate anything less—but Jinx was in the kitchen with Rifter.

Probably as good a time as any to introduce her to the wolf who knew a lot more about witches than he did. “Kate, this is another one of my Dire brothers. His name’s Jinx.”

It all happened at once. Jinx stood and Kate began to shake uncontrollably. The lights went nuts; glasses flew off the table; cabinets opened. She was screaming for his help but in a way only Stray and Brother could hear. It was all a jumbled mess of words and images.

“Kate, stay with me. What’s wrong?” he asked, grabbing her shoulders to try to get her to focus, and then he went as still as she was frantic when he heard her thoughts. He pulled himself together, put his arm around her to stop her from collapsing completely as he tried to reconcile the images in her mind to the wolf he’d known for so long.

It wasn’t possible, but Kate truly believed it to be so.

“Him—get him away from me,” she said. Although Vice and Jinx weren’t completely sure who she was talking about since there were a lot of
him
s, Jinx was the new wolf in this equation.

“Dude, she’s so talking about you,” Vice told Jinx.

“I liked you better before the eighties,” Jinx muttered, backing up only because Stray was growling at him. “Down, wolf. I’m going. But I’m not doing anything to her.”

Jinx strode out of the kitchen and down the hallway, heading up to Rogue’s room, no doubt, and Stray waited to see if that was enough space for Kate. Slowly, the lights went back to normal, and she finally opened her eyes and stared up at him.

“Sorry. Shit,” she muttered. “You can put me down now.”

But he didn’t; instead he brought her into the kitchen and sat her in one of the chairs. Vice grabbed her a soda and Stray sat next to her. Her color came back slowly, but she still looked traumatized.

“Do you have any aspirin? My head feels like it’s going to break apart,” she admitted.

“I’ll go out and get you some,” Vice told her. “We don’t really have a use for that.”

“I do,” Gwen said, coming into the kitchen holding a bottle of Tylenol. “I still get headaches occasionally.” She shook out three and handed them to Kate, who gulped them gratefully with the soda. Kate started to shiver a few minutes later.

“It’s a migraine,” Gwen told them. “Stray, get an ice pack and move her into the guest bedroom.”

He did as she said, because it was closer, because she was queen and a doctor and she was tough as nails, despite knowing the wolves for only a couple of weeks. Besides, he didn’t like seeing Kate down for the count.

She was lucid enough to grab for the book when Stray picked her up. Clutched it to her like a lifeline even as her eyes closed. “You sure you gave her Tylenol?”

Gwen smiled. “Something a little stronger. She doesn’t have allergies and she won’t be out long.”

Indeed, being able to scent shit like that out had fascinated Gwen to no end. She wanted to go practice on humans, but Rifter had refused to allow it.

As they watched Kate sleep holding the book, Gwen looked up at him. “What the hell happened back there?”

He shrugged. “Bad reaction to Jinx.”

“And you know why?”

“No clue,” he lied. Gwen didn’t question him further.

They were fracturing at the worst possible time; Stray felt like he was already breaking. With Kill here, any instability within him or his new pack couldn’t be tolerated. And now Kate thought Jinx was evil. He’d felt her reaction and it was beyond fear.

“I’ll stay with her until she wakes—you guys figure this out before Rifter gets back,” Gwen told him.

“Where is he?”

“With Liam, burying the Were bodies your brother killed. Long story. Don’t ask.”

He wasn’t about to, had enough problems already. He left Kate with Gwen and found that Jinx had returned to the kitchen. Vice was there as well, staring out the window. He didn’t turn around when Stray walked in and sat down across from Jinx.

Jinx was surprisingly calm. The calm before the storm.

“Is the witch all right?” he asked.

“She will be. Jinx, can you try again, because I think you can really help her—”

“Forget it. I make her tense—and I make you tense when that happens—and we can’t give her any excuse not to help us.” Jinx shrugged it off, but Stray knew his wolf was pissed and confused.

Join the club. And on that note, “What do I do?”

“Let her read the books. Her powers will recognize the spells. Make her practice. You’ve got to tell her the worst-case scenario so she’ll understand. This isn’t the time to sugarcoat anything.”

“I’ll make sure she’s ready.”

With that, Jinx pushed up from the chair and headed back upstairs.

“What’s going on, Stray?” Vice asked, his back still turned to him.

It was odd that Jinx hadn’t asked, which made Stray suspicious. Obviously, Vice felt the same way. “Kate thinks that Jinx is . . . evil.”

“Wolves can’t be possessed for long. Spirits can get in, but the wolf’s too strong,” Vice said, finally turning to look at him. “We’d know.”

Stray nodded. “That’s what I plan to tell her.”

But neither of them seemed entirely convinced, which meant Kate would be a harder sell.

“Stray?” Gwen stuck her head into the kitchen. “She’s asking for you.”

“She didn’t call me,” he muttered, more to himself than to her.

Gwen put a hand on his arm. “She said she’s trying not to make you feel . . . like a pet.”

Vice snorted softly and Stray just nodded. “Thanks for helping.”

“Do me a favor—bring her some of the tea I like,” Gwen said.

When he went into the guest bedroom with the tea, Kate still clutched the book to her chest and Stray was starting to feel a little jealous of it.

“I want you to stay in my room from now on—with me,” he told her without prelude, and in spite of everything, she gave him a small smile.

“Okay.”

He handed her the mug. “Here. It’s some kind of . . . soothing shit.”

“Sounds lovely.”

“It’s Gwen’s.”

She accepted the mug, left the book between them on the bed as he sat down on the edge. “Did you see . . . what I did?” she asked hesitantly.

“A little. But I need to know more about the Jinx is evil thing,” Stray told her. “That’s what came through most clearly.”

Kate took a few sips of the hot liquid before cupping the mug in both hands. “It was . . . just a feeling. Like I knew something bad is inside of him.”

“You’re sure it’s not a premonition—a future event we can stop?”

“I’ve never . . . it’s never worked that way for me,” she said. “But with the grimoire, the new powers, how would I know?”

“Maybe it’s a witch-wolf thing?”

“I don’t feel it with anyone but him.” She paused, then met his gaze dead-on.

“Have you ever been wrong with something like this?”

“Never,” she said.

Holy hell, they were in trouble.

* * *

Kate was alienating Stray’s brother. What good could come of that? She’d been taken by this wolf because they needed her help for one of his kind. They were tight knit.

They’ll use you and throw you away.

“What’s going on in there?” Stray tapped the side of her head gently.

She couldn’t lie to him now, any more than she could lie to herself. “I’ve hurt Jinx.”

“You looked like you couldn’t control what happened.”

True, but that was beyond the point. “Your other brothers, even Gwen . . . they’re being nice, but when they look at me . . . I can feel the suspicion oozing from them.”

“I told you—witches aren’t typically a first choice of friends for a wolf. You have a lot of natural-born enemies,” he said. “Vampires for sure. Shifters. Even the trappers aren’t crazy about you unless they can control you. Demons don’t like you, either.”

“Does anyone in the supernatural world like witches? Because, honestly, it seems like even witches don’t like other witches a lot of the time.” She wasn’t sure why she bothered asking, because she already knew the answer.

Stray shook his head slowly. “By nature, witches are solitary creatures. Always have been.”

She understood why now, and she nearly crumpled. She’d been solitary for so damned long and the thought of going through the rest of her life—which was now forever—like that was unbearable. Stray might want her now, but if she continued to see bad things relating to his family . . .

A weight crushed her chest until she could barely breathe. She was vaguely aware of Stray holding her shoulders and calling for help.

“Kate, this is oxygen,” Gwen told her. Kate tried to fight the plastic mask on her face, trying to see if she would die or not.

Because she wanted to.

But strong hands held her arms down and her body’s survival instincts kicked in, forcing her to gasp in several deep breaths.

She didn’t know how long she remained like that, but finally the grip on her loosened and she slumped forward.

“What did you do to her?” Gwen said from somewhere above her.

She wanted to defend Stray, to tell Gwen that he’d simply given her more of the truth she’d asked for, but no words came.

“Kate, are you all right now?” Gwen asked, her face set in serious lines.

“Fine. Sorry—don’t mean to keep causing trouble for you and your family,” she murmured.

Gwen cast a look Kate couldn’t quite read her way and then told Stray, “Keep her calm. I can’t give her more meds on top of what I gave her for the headache.”

Kate heard the door close, felt the bed sink from Stray’s weight.

“I didn’t mean to do that to you, Kate. I suck at this stuff, but I’m trying to be there for you.”

“Stop. I got what I asked for. I keep asking and you’re going slowly, but every time you tell me something, I know you’re holding back. Now I know it’s witches against the world. Better I know what I’m in for, right?” She tried to give a small laugh and failed.

“It’s not you against the world alone, you know. You have us, despite what you’re thinking. You see what you see—you’re not doing it to hurt us. It’s better that we know.” He paused, then said fiercely, “You have me.”

She wanted to believe him so badly, but her breath came a little harsh again and she held the oxygen mask to her face for a few minutes until she was calm

“Here, drink more tea,” Stray urged. She did so, mainly to stop him from fussing over her. For a minute, everything settled in and then, with no warning, she shot up, the tea spilling on the floor and narrowly missing burning her. “Stray, I have to . . . go.”

“Is Seb back?”

“No. It’s nothing like that. But I need to find something.”

Stray stood as she did. “I’m with you. Do what you need to do.”

She hoped she wouldn’t run into Jinx again, but it wasn’t about him this time. Something yanked at her and she had to follow it. She pointed to the book and Stray stared between it and her for a long moment.

“You’re sure?”

It would be the first time he’d touched it, the first time she’d allowed anyone but her to. “I’m sure, Stray. Please.”

He looked down at it with a reverence she appreciated, then picked it up carefully and tucked it safely under his arm. And just like that, they’d crossed another line, gotten in deeper.

And she knew that it was right.

Only when the grimoire was secured with Stray did she leave the room, one hand out in front of her, palm raised like it was some kind of divining rod. She took a few wrong turns and rapidly retraced her steps until she was on the right track.

She faced the wide set of stairs—she’d never officially been invited up there—and started up them, her heart beating rapidly. Something drew her this way, and it wasn’t Seb’s voice in her head. She was aware of Stray behind her, which calmed her somewhat.

She stopped in front of a closed door and put a hand on the knob. It gave under her touch. “Whose room is this?”

“Rogue’s.”

“The brother who needs help?”

“Yes. Jinx’s twin.”

Her throat went dry. If Jinx was in there, she would know soon enough.

With that, she opened the door and moved forward without looking, narrowing her focus before her courage left her.

When she raised her eyes, she knew exactly what called her to this room. For a long moment, she refused to look at it, stared at Rogue instead, not identical to Jinx, but close enough. Except for the markings on the side of his face, which looked as though they were a part of him, rather than mere tattoos.

Go closer,
she told herself.

She did, reached out and stroked his hair with a trembling hand, swore she heard
thank you
inside her head.

It was only then that she looked up at the same kind of monster she’d once seen on her mother. This one was sitting on Rogue’s chest, its wild eyes staring at her. Laughing silently. So close—and she hadn’t noticed.

She hadn’t backed away from it all those years ago. She wouldn’t this time.

Bitch
, she told it before screwing her eyes shut and turning to Stray. “How long has it been there?”

“You can see it?” Stray asked.

“Yes. What is it?”

“A mare. Typically, it’s part of a nightmare—a dream you have when you feel like you can’t move. Superstition says it’s a mare sitting on your chest.”

That thing was way more than a superstition—and it wasn’t going away easily. “He’s trapped like that—by her?”

“Six months now,” Stray confirmed and then Rifter’s voice came up from behind him.

“Get her out of here,” Rifter said.

Stray walked her out and Rifter went past them and shut the door to the room behind him.