Grizzly Love (19 page)

She could almost hear him say, “Are you sure? What about you?”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll stay at the back out of trouble. Now scoot. I think they could use a ferocious grizzly.”

Baring some teeth in a true grizzly grin, Travis roared and lumbered off to battle. She followed a little more cautiously. Stepping around the bend, she slowed even further as she took in the scene.
Welcome to hell.

It seemed they’d found the bulk of the enemy’s troops and caught them while they partook of dinner.

Trestle tables boasted the remnants of a meal, and the benches lining it held men, men currently engaged in battle with a wolf and a polar bear while Boris aimed and shot those who thought to raise a weapon.

But three against almost twenty wasn’t the best odds.

Travis, who had halted upon entry, swung his head from side to side as if undecided what to do.

Given her lover was a bear and couldn’t utter one of his trademark smart-asseries, Jess, obviously suffering from dehydration, insanity or other channeled his spirit, and said, “Look, Travis, we’re just in time for dessert. Who’s in the mood for blood pudding?”

Rawr!

Apparently, he liked the comparison because he ran into the fray, engaging the attention of a few, which relived pressure on the others.

Stay safe,
she prayed, hoping their decision to attack instead of escaping and going for help wouldn’t cost them any lives.

Clutching her crowbar in a sweaty hand, she hugged the wall, keeping it at her back so no one could sneak up on her. She freely admitted she wasn’t a fighter, but she would defend herself if needed.

Even with so much action going on, a part of her still noted when a door at the far end of the room opened.

And look who peeked out.

Frederick.

Jess tightened her grip on her weapon.
You dirty, rotten bastard.
How she hated him. Maybe in this one instance, she could instigate injury instead of preventing it.

Given the violent battle, she expected Frederick to join his crew.

She was wrong.

Withdrawing his head, he shut the door. And it stayed shut.

What to do?

The smart, responsible thing was to stick to her wall and wait until the guys finished what they started. Then, as a group, they could go after Freddie and whoever else hid behind the door.

But what if Freddie escaped? What if, while she hesitated, the Naga got away with Layla?

Once the questions arose, Jess knew she had to see what lay beyond the portal. Another room, an escape tunnel, the entrance to hell?

As she made her way around the perimeter of the room, doing her best to keep an eye on the snarling, scratching, roaring, and even howling going on, she maintained a tight grip on her crowbar.

Whether or not she’d have the pluck to use it remained to be seen. Despite all her determination to end Freddie for his crimes against her and the clan, she wondered if she’d have the nerve. She needed to decide soon, as his distinctive scent grew stronger the closer she edged to the door.

She paused and took a deep breath.

He’s in there.

Question was, should she wait for backup or go after him? Because she could tell right now he wasn’t alone. The dry, musty aroma that tickled her olfactory sense, while unfamiliar, stirred her bird side.

Reptile. As in snake. As in the one they’d come for. Plus a more exotic cinnamon smell she recognized. Layla.

At least three of them in there. Two most definitely not on her side.

She cast a quick glance over her shoulder. The fight was going strong still. She could expect no help from that quarter, yet the murmur of voices, the crack of flesh hitting flesh, and a cry of pain from beyond the portal let her know she couldn’t wait.

“I’m a doctor, not a hero,” she muttered. Not being an action hero, though, didn’t mean she could stand by and not attempt to save a life.

She placed her hand on the door handle and turned.

It didn’t budge. Locked.

Well, that was unexpected.

She eyed the crowbar in her hand. Looked like it would get some use after all.

Whack.

It took three attempts to knock the handle off, and there went her element of surprise. She used her foot to nudge the door open. Given its weight, it only opened partway, not enough for her see fully inside, but enough to realize it led to another room.

Don’t go in.

Common sense told her to stay where she was, but it seemed the adrenaline of battle was contagious. She took a step in, pausing inside the doorjamb, the gloom of the room and the door itself still blocking her view. She placed a hand on the door and pushed.

Dear heaven.

Transfixed by the sight before her, she barely reacted when an arm wrapped around her neck in a chokehold.

It didn’t take Freddie’s triumphant, “You should have stayed in your cell,” to realize she’d made a grave mistake.

Her hawk flapped and kree-ed in her head. Upset at how she’d allowed herself to get trapped.
Danger.

However, Freddie wasn’t the most dangerous thing in the room.

Nor was Layla, whose slack-jawed expression and glazed eyes spoke of some pretty potent drugs.

Nope. The most dangerous thing in the room was sitting coiled on its tail, a mottled gray and green sinuous monstrosity with a misshapen rattle at the end. If it were all snake, it wouldn’t have proven so morbidly fascinating, but its upper body remained human-shaped, albeit covered by a dark robe. Only yellow eyes, vivid and spiteful, glared from the holes in the head covering.

A raspy voice managed to make itself heard over the raucous sound of battle. “Welcome, Jessss.”

Kind of busy with her throat being crushed by Freddie, Jess didn’t reply.

The hooded head tilted as it perused her. “Thisss puny thing isss your wife?”

Jess couldn’t help the shiver at hearing it speak, the hissing S jarring.

As his hold relaxed a fraction, Freddie replied, “Yup.”

Having sucked in a breath at the reprieve, Jess managed to croak a retort. “Not his wife by choice. Set me free and give me a few minutes. I’ll make myself a widow.”

The hold around her neck tightened, as Freddie growled in her ear. “Such cocky confidence.”

Gasping for air, she clawed at his arm, certain she was breathing her last, but Freddie eased after a moment.

Jess drew a few deep breaths then replied. “More like certitude. Only one of us is leaving this room alive.” And she dearly hoped it was her, even if Freddie held the upper hand or, in this case, arm around her neck.

“I’m getting mighty tired of dealing with you.”

“I’m beyond tired. Let’s get this done.”

“Yesss. Let’s finish thisss. Die, ssslut.”

The slithery sound rolled over Jess and left goosebumps in its wake. While hoarse and somewhat discordant, the voice possessed power. Magic. An ability to force people to do its bidding.

While not much was truly known about Nagas—their kind deemed too dangerous to live and thus hunted to the death—Jess had read about them on the flight over. According to reports, their scales were tougher than any armor. Only the sharpest of blades, and the most deadly of bullets, could hope to pierce. Their tougher than armor snake skin against claws and teeth? The best a predator with fangs and fur could hope for was to inflict some irritating scratches.

So weapons were required if you wanted any hope of incapacitating it, but even if you scored a hit, Nagas enjoyed ridiculous regenerative powers. They could regrow limbs with enough time. Heal in minutes what took other shifters hours. The only sure way to kill them was decapitation and fire.

Yet their healing power wasn’t what made them so dangerous. Their voices had the ability to enchant. It was said that a Naga’s voice could make you do whatever it wanted.

Kill your family and not even blink an eye.

Forget your past life and work for the serpent, causing mayhem.

It seemed farfetched, yet the evidence was all around them and back at the military camp, where dozens seemed to be under the snake’s sway.

And if a Naga told you to die, why, a person’s very heart could stop beating. Instant death.

Or not.

See the serpent’s voice relied on some odd use of harmonics and intonation, how much Jess couldn’t have said, but the hypothesis that it wasn’t magic but some odd form of hypnosis was the prevailing theory about how their siren-like ability worked. Or worked on most folk.

Having done her research, Jess could have laughed—with hysterical relief—when it failed on her.

Never had Jess been so happy that she was completely and utterly tone deaf. She also lacked rhythm, but a few cocktails never stopped her from jiving on a dance floor if the right song came on.

Back to the snake, which again hissed, “Die ssslut.”

A wicked smile stretched Jess’ lips as, once again, the creepy voice tickled at her and gave her an urge to eat artery-hardening fast food. A slow death. But definitely not the instant one the snake expected.

Cocking her head, Jess, once again, couldn’t help but channel Travis, starting to understand the appeal of a good taunt in the face of impossible odds.
I won’t give this creature the satisfaction of seeing me scared.
“First off, I resent the label of slut. I hardly call me sleeping with one guy in the last couple of years slutty, not when hubby dearest has been cheating on me all this time.”

Rough laughter bubbled forth from under the cloak. Laughter that was higher pitched than expected.

Jess frowned.

“I would apologize for ssstealing your husband, but he doesss fill my needsss ssso well. Don’t you, my sssexy lover?” Purred in a husky tone.

Lover?

“My pleasure, bella,” Freddie replied with an affection she’d not heard since he’d left to serve abroad.

Puzzle pieces clicked into place. “You’re a woman?”

“Sssurprise,” exclaimed the Naga.

“But why hide it?” Probably not the brightest question of the moment, but Jess found herself wanting to understand why the snake chose to hide her sex.

And like most villains who’d lost a few screws during their lifetime, the Naga explained.

“My birth land is not a place that likesss taking ordersss from a woman. And I cannot constantly compel. Even I have limitsss. But if they think I am a man, a strong man like my father wasss…” The serpent trailed off, but her meaning was clear.

“Okay, I can understand why you’d hide your gender, but what about the rest? Why are you doing this, ambushing and hypnotizing folk? Why attack us? Why subvert those poor soldiers to do your bidding? What are you hoping to accomplish?”

“Asss if you don’t know. For revenge, of course.”

The words, “Revenge for what?” died before getting spoken, as the Naga finally revealed herself in all her gorgeous, voluptuous splendor—and horrifying reality.

As gloved hands lifted and flung the bulky robe to the side, Jess could only gape.

Oh my god.

Hour-glass in shape, if one ignored beyond her waist there was a coiled tail, the Naga’s upper body was curvy with full breasts encased in a thin tank top. Full lips with just the tips of poisonous fangs peeking, bright eyes, long, dark, lustrous hair, at least half of her was model gorgeous. The other half, though…

“What happened to you?” Jess breathed the query in a whisper, aghast at the extent of damage done to the woman. Some of it recent.

Scarred flesh, rippled, shiny in spots, creviced and horrible, marred the left half of the snake woman’s body.

“You’re a doctor. You tell me.”

“Fire.” One of nature’s deadliest weapons. A bane not just to vampires but shifters too. Burn enough flesh and even their shifting ability couldn’t heal cauterized skin and tissue. “But how? Who?”

A throaty laugh, tinged with madness, sent a shiver through Jess. Forget rationalizing with the woman. Even a bottle of the strongest meds wouldn’t cure the psychosis that shone from her eyes.

“Who? None other than those you would call friends.”

“They set you on fire?” Jess had a hard time believing the guys could be so cruel. Surely they would have killed the Naga first.

“Not intentionally. Sssee, I wasn’t their target. My dear father wasss. And yet, they never thought to look further than the main tent when they poured the lamp oil everywhere and lit it. They never knew a young girl, a teenage girl, ssslept in the back. But while I did burn, they didn’t kill me that day. I sssurvived. I healed. And I took my father’sss place. I learned to use my powersss. I practiced on those I could, and then when I’d amasssed the needed ssstrength, I went after those who killed my father and maimed me.”

Everything led back to vengeance. Yet revenge for wrongs didn’t excuse the snake woman’s behavior. “But you hurt innocents while exacting your retribution,” Jess pointed out.

“Just like they hurt an innocent on their mission to kill my father.”

“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Jess quoted.

“But blood makesss everything feel better. It tastesss good too. Enough though. I tire of you. I asked my men to keep you alive that I might meet the ssslut who kept my lover chained. But now that I have”—the Naga flicked a forked tongue, and her lips curved in a less-than-reassuring grin—“I am in the mood for roasted fowl.”

“Not today, bitch.” Layla, whom Jess had counted out of the equation given her drugged appearance, lunged upward and clocked the snake woman in the face.

Damage-wise, it didn’t accomplish much, but it did create a diversion, enough that when the room suddenly filled with furry bodies, and a gun-toting Boris, Frederick dragged her to the side, deeper into the shadows.

“Ssstop!” The yelled command froze the chaos in the room for a moment.

Only a moment because, despite the order, Boris raised his gun and aimed for the Naga’s heart.

“I command you to ssstop,” the psychotic woman hissed, anger contorting her beautiful side into something ugly, something that matched the warped soul she hid inside.

Boris smiled and pointed to his ears. Rather, at the bright yellow globs in them. Ear plugs. Which meant…

Boom
.