Forbidden (6 page)

Episode. What an ordinary word to describe the night terrors that had haunted her since she'd been abducted and tortured. It was her Alpha who had rescued her, who had come to her room at night when she'd woken up screaming to hold her, kiss away her tears, and sing to her until she fell back into an uneasy sleep. Her surrogate mother had made sure that when she started shifting, she didn't harm anyone accidentally. It was hard to fault the woman for continuing to try to protect her.

“It's okay.” She offered a shaky smile. “It's not your fault.” Dani stared at them like she was missing part of the conversation. And she sort of was. Claire decided it wouldn't do any good for only one person in the house to know. Dani would likely find out eventually anyway. She looked over Asylin's shoulder. “I was kidnapped when I was ten.”

Dani's hand raised to her suddenly open mouth and a gasp escaped her. After a long moment, she took the hand away and let out a slow breath. “I'm sorry, Claire. But at least you were found. So that gives me hope.”

She didn't want to discourage Dani and looked to see whether her mother knew the truth. The look in her eyes said she did, but the scent that rose pleaded with her not to reveal it. So Claire shrugged and gave a little smile, which brightened Dani's face. Asylin, on the other hand, did her best to swallow back the soggy scent of worry, because Claire had not been found. Not then, and not by her parents. She remembered little about her life before her abduction and what she did remember, wasn't worth returning to.

A choking cloud of smoke abruptly enveloped them. Dani immediately turned around and started to cough at the roiling black that rose from the stove. “Oh no! The bacon!” She awkwardly grabbed the heavy cast-iron pan from the stove and moved it over to the sink.

A head-splitting wail filled the air from the smoke detector on the wall, forcing Claire to cover her ears in pain. Asylin started shouting orders. “Claire, open the back door!” She raced to obey, bearing the pain from the noise as she fumbled with the lock before flinging it wide open. The older woman took the pan from the sink outside. Dani started opening windows, one-handed, and then closed the door to the rest of the house to keep the smoke in just one room.

But the door opened immediately from the other side and a dark-skinned balding man rushed in, followed quickly by a fair-skinned teenage boy with blond hair that hung down in his eyes. “What's going on in here?” The man yelled over the din, just as Asylin came back inside. He reached high on the wall and pressed a button on the white detector and there was immediate, blessed silence.

Asylin coughed lightly and started using a dish towel to fan the smoke toward the door. “My fault, John. We got to talking and I forgot to turn off the stove. Lord, what a stench!”

The teenager stared at Claire like it was somehow her fault the smoke was in the room. But not all the burning scent was in the air. A big chunk of it was coming from the boy. He smelled angry and suspicious of her. He also smelled human but she knew from her research that he came from wolf blood.

The older man turned to Claire with a smile. “I'm John, the papa bird of this nest.” Claire knew the former military officer was, like Dani, a snowy owl. He motioned to the teenager, who had wormed behind the table and was sulking in the chair in the corner. “This is Denis.” Claire offered a little smile and wave, which was met by a glare from under hooded eyebrows. John let out a small noise. “Denis, mind your manners. Say hi to your new sis.”

He let out a scoffing sound. “She's not
my
sis.”

Asylin turned in a rush. “What did you say?” Her voice had turned from warm and concerned to stern and unyielding. Her hands went to her slender hips and she stepped forward two paces, eyes flashing—her scent cold-metal determined and burned-coffee angry. The boy's eyes widened. “Denis Siska, you apologize this minute! Every person who walks through that front door to live with us is family and you know it.”

Claire moved to lean against the cabinets near the door where the air was a little clearer. The lingering grease smoke was making her head pound. She tried to wave it away. “It's okay. Don't worry a—”

Danielle picked up the banner and turned on Denis too. “So, what? I'm not your sis either? I'm not a Siska, and you're not a Williams. I guess picking up after you and making your lunches for ten years doesn't mean anything?”

Denis finally held up his hands in surrender. “Okay,
okay
! Sorry. Jeez…” He turned his head to Claire and sighed deeply. When he spoke, his tone was polite, if not warm. “Nice to meet you, Claire. Sorry. I just had a sucky night. I'm not in the best mood right now.”

“Yeah?” asked John, with sarcasm thick in his voice. “Well, using our food budget to bail your butt out of jail didn't put me in real jovial humor either. I don't think
you
get to be in a bad mood.”

Asylin didn't say a word, but her lips thinned and her eyes flashed dangerously. Dani gasped loud enough that it was obvious this was news to her. “
Denis!
What did you do?”

Denis tipped his chair back until it was on two legs. He spread his legs wide, bracing his weight against the table legs, and crossed his arms over his chest. He wouldn't meet Dani's eyes, instead staring down at his knees. “Totally bogus charge. Besides, Alek was supposed to come get me last night so you didn't have to bail me out, Papa. He totally blew me off.”

“No, Denis.” John leaned down and slapped his palms down on the table to get Denis's attention. It worked. His chin lifted immediately, but he couldn't hold John's glare for long. “Alek isn't your legal guardian.
I
am. It's not your brother's job to keep you in line. It's mine, and apparently, I've been falling down on the job. But that ends today. You're grounded, young man. We're going to have lots and
lots
of time together to figure out how to fix your attitude.”

Now the youngster's scent and look shifted to angry embarrassment, and he risked a glare at her. Somehow, Claire knew he was going to blame her for everything that was happening. But John either smelled or saw the reaction forming and pointed a long finger at Denis. “Hey, don't look at her. This has nothing to do with Claire. Just so you know, Alek didn't come to get you because he was in an accident last night.”

All of a sudden, Denis looked shaken. He looked from John to Asylin and back again. “What? On his bike? Is he okay? Where is he, Mama?”

Asylin shook her head, both sad and angry. She sat in the chair next to Denis's. “Did you not even notice Dani's face? Just look at her, son. And poor Claire's head, all covered in gauze. Alek saved their lives last night when a wild animal attacked them. Dani's car was torn apart.” She laid a gentle hand on his bare arm and the simple gesture broke down his last defense. The surliness slipped from his aura and Claire saw that he finally took notice of the woman who had been his AP sibling for the past decade: swollen face, thick black stitches across her forehead, eyes brimming with tears. Worry washed from the teenager's pores. “Dani … I … Are you okay?”

Danielle shrugged her good shoulder. “I'll heal. Eventually. Claire saved my life when we wrecked. Then Alek had to save hers. He gave her CPR until Marilyn got there. So we're family now, the three of us. We protected each other, just like people did after the plague. The big question is whether you are too. Are you family, Denis?”

Denis didn't respond for a long moment. Claire understood what was happening but she wasn't sure how she felt about Dani making her into a bludgeon. Her nose told her the kid was already embarrassed about being arrested and having a total stranger witness him being berated by his family. She decided to offer an olive branch. “I'm sure Denis would have helped if he'd been there.”

His gaze flicked to her and he seized her words like a rope in a raging river. “Sure. Of course I would have. You know I'm family, Dani. I've been helping search for Kristy and Darrell. I'm not a jerk.”

Dani looked to her parents for confirmation with raised brows. They both nodded, staying out of the interaction between the siblings. There must be a reason why, but Claire didn't know it. Too many emotions rose from Dani and the others for Claire to sort out.

“Are you, Denis?” Dani asked sadly. “Sometimes I wonder if you even know what a family is.” Denis's reaction was clear—his expression shifted from stunned to angry and new scents rose into the air. Dani sighed and turned away. “Look, I've got to get down to the police station to see if they have my purse. And the nurse should probably look at Claire's head.”

Claire couldn't think of anything she would like more than to leave the house for a while and get away from the tensions swirling about the family. “That sounds like a great idea, Dani. You can show me around town.”

 

CHAPTER 6

No good deed goes unpunished.
Alek forced his exhausted leg muscles to push the remains of the Toyota up next to the police cruiser on a tarp they'd spread out against the fence of the impound lot. Although “impound lot” sort of implied that the police actually impounded vehicles, the fenced-off area generally contained the remains of junkers strangers dumped in the wilderness. The problem was that none of the larger city police departments would take them and there wasn't a crush yard for a hundred miles in any direction. Oh, Lenny went through the motions of entering the vehicle identification numbers in the system—when he could find one—but mostly the cars were wrecks with no particularly interesting history and no known owner. “Okay, that's the last of it. Can I
finally
go home and get some sleep?” He was pretty sure he'd ripped out his stitches, but he was too tired to care.

Ray Vasquez pulled the remaining broken car parts from the backseat of the car and tossed them over Alek's head to land in the tall grass. He snorted. “You wish. Wanna bet how many people are lined up at your door wanting you to do something for them? There were three when I went by while you were finding a tarp.”

Alek let out a pained sound. It was probably Mrs. Wilson wanting her computer back and Courtney looking for the flash drive with the spreadsheets. Who the third one was he had no clue.

“Don't worry,” Ray continued. “I chased them away for the moment. Sorry you got sucked into this, but you know the rule around here—first responder gets the cleanup. At least you get to go home. I still have to go back to the office and write reports, with a splitting headache. Air bag, hell. I'm pretty sure I did a face-plant on the steering wheel.” Alek was pretty sure he was right.

He shook his head ruefully. “Yeah, I don't envy you that. But this rule thing, it makes me feel like I'm back on prom committee … first in, last out. Almost makes me not want to stop for the next one.”

The older Belizean panther shifter rolled his eyes and let out a small laugh. Citrus drifted into the air to join the scent of dripping antifreeze and oil. “Like you'd let people bleed to death. It's no surprise you're going to sign up to be a cop. It's in your DNA. You couldn't be an innocent bystander if your life depended on it.”

Alek shrugged. He couldn't deny it. He'd wanted to be a cop since he could remember. “You're probably right. But the part I'm not going to enjoy is the paperwork. I've really got to force myself to sit still for hours on end.”

Ray stepped forward and clapped him on the shoulder before steering him toward the gate to lock up the wreck. “It's a big part of the job, I'm afraid. No report, no record, no conviction. Trust me, it's no worse than what you do now for the town Council. My advice is to pretend you like it. It makes the process easier, and eventually it might even become true.”

It was Alek's turn to chuckle. “The triumph of imagination over reality, huh?”

Ray shrugged. “Never hurts.” He bent down to pick up a file box at his feet. “Don't forget to let your sis know we've got her purse and stuff. Shame her luggage didn't survive, but the passenger's did. If you run into her at your folks' house, let her know everything's at the station.”

The passenger
. Alek looked back at the wreck, at the crumpled quarter panel and deep gashes through the metal, and shuddered. Thankfully, the beast hadn't come back while they were cleaning. But it was still out there somewhere. The individual claw rips through the car had been caused by something far bigger and stronger than any bear he'd ever seen. Hell, it was bigger than any
Sazi
bear he'd ever seen and he'd hunted with several. Four tears covered the entire height and length of the car, as though it had been standing still and slashed the car as it drove by. It wasn't just the outer sheet metal damaged either. “All the way through the frame. S'blood.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Alek saw Ray staring at the same damage. The scents that rose from his pores were peppery with anger and awash in honest fear. “I wish I could say I saw it. But it was just
dark
. Like a black hole that the headlights couldn't penetrate. I don't know what the fuck that thing was.” The next words were quiet and voiced Alek's own dread. “What if that
thing
got the kids, Alek? Maybe we haven't found them because there's nothing left to find. Maybe they disappeared into that darkness.”

Alek didn't answer. There was no need. Because in reality, any animal, including a Sazi, if hungry enough or insane enough, would prey on humans. “We'll find them.” They had to.

The officer shook his head, then stared out into the woods. “Dude, we've had the best trackers in town looking for those kids. Four separate Ascension champions have searched a dozen miles in every direction. What can we do that they couldn't?” Ray looked as frustrated as Alek felt.