Harlequin Nocturne March 2014 Bundle: Shadowmaster\Running with Wolves (46 page)

“Listen, I'll be the first to admit I'm a bastard, but that doesn't mean I wanted anything bad to happen to you.”

“What about your marriage to my girl?” Jason asked through a tight jaw.

“What marriage? It never happened.” Malcolm turned toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Jason demanded, his tone filled with disbelief.

“I need to find Celia. I drove her away and now, because of my actions, her mother is dead. If we don't get her back here, we won't have anyone to rejuvenate the crystals and protect The Colony from the
Gauliacho.
”

Shay shuddered at the mention of the black shadows and their insidious whispers.

“I'm going to bring her home.”

“You expect us to trust you can do that after all you've done?”

“No, I don't, but it doesn't matter. I have to make things right. You, Shay, the old woman, my men, none of this was ever supposed to happen. People weren't supposed to die. I don't know how it all went wrong.”

“It went wrong because you let the power go to your head. You became greedy.”

“Maybe. But it's over now. Besides, you're in no condition to go after her yourself. For once, you're going to have to sit here and trust me to get it right.”

“I did trust you.”

“Not enough to go after Maggie. You had to do that yourself. Now it's my turn.” Malcolm turned to go.

“Wait,” Jason said, his sharp tone cutting the air.

Malcolm turned back to him as Jason held out his wrist to Shay. “Please?”

Shay began untying the knots that fastened the bracelet Shay had never seen him without. She realized as she looked at it again that the green, black and red stones intertwined within the black cord matched the crystals she had seen in Jaya's bag.

“Jaya gave this to me to wear on my travels. It's made from the same crystals surrounding The Colony. She regenerated it when she was healing me. It will offer you protection from the
Gauliacho
for three days.”

As Shay undid the final knot and removed the bracelet from Jason's wrist, the stones pricked her palm, sending an uncomfortable sensation creeping along her skin. She handed it to Malcolm as quickly as she could, not wanting to touch it a moment longer. As she did, as her hand brushed his. She could see the darkness hovering within him, but she also saw a shimmer of light buried down deep. Perhaps a remnant from his childhood before he'd succumbed to his lust for greed and power? Was that the part of him that Jason remembered? She didn't know him well enough to say for sure.

“And take this. For Celia.” Jason lifted the chain with Jaya's purple stone from around his neck.

Malcolm looked grim as he took it. “Thanks.”

Shay glanced out the window as she heard the sound of a car pulling up out front. “It's my grandfather, along with four other men.”

Malcolm stiffened. “They're coming for me.”

“Go out the back,” Shay said. “We'll tell them we didn't see you.”

Jason looked up at her, surprise filling his face as Malcolm left.

She shrugged. “He's still lost, but perhaps if Celia forgives him she can help him find his heart.”

“And if she can't? If she turns him away?”

“I guess I'm a hopeless romantic and want to believe she won't.”

He smiled and reached for her hand. “That's why I love you.”

“Do you really think he'll be able to find her?” she asked, incredibly thankful that it was Malcolm leaving The Colony and not Jason.

“We better hope that he does. For all our sakes.”

Seconds later, her grandfather and four other men squeezed into the room. “Shay,” her grandfather acknowledged, then turned to Jason. “Jason. It's good to see you're looking better than I expected.”

“Thank you.” He looked at Shay, that spark she loved so much filling his eyes. “I had a lot of help.”

Shay stood still by Jason's side as the four older men took her measure. The council. These men had the power to alter her life. She should have been intimidated by their intense stares, but she wasn't. She clutched Jason's hand, took a deep breath and then told the men everything.

Including her marriage to Malcolm.

Luckily, it didn't matter. The marriage wasn't legal. It was performed under duress and the only witness was dead. Her grandfather, Robert, would file the papers immediately to legally annul the proceedings so no one could ever come forward and claim that she and Jason could not be married. “Nothing is standing in your way now. Nor, for that matter, is there any reason to rush a wedding. Take your time. Get to know each other. Make sure you are both certain you are ready for a lifetime commitment.”

Her grandfather's words resonated within her, and as she looked at Jason, the same worry and trepidation she'd felt yesterday morning in her grandfather's house, after having learned about Maggie, came rushing back. He was right. There was nothing threatening them, no reason to rush. To not be absolutely certain. For the first time since Jason had fallen into that hole, she felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. She'd been so happy he was alive, she'd forgotten all her reservations about him, about
them.

“Also, Shay, we think you might be the best candidate to lead the pack. At least temporarily. Consider it a sort of probation.”

“What?” Shay asked, his words pulling her up from her dour thoughts. “But I don't know anything about your community. How could I possibly run it?”

“You will learn,” Robert said. “You have your father's gift of being able to see people's true intentions. That will help you more than the day-to-day knowledge of life here in the village. You will learn that soon enough.”

“Jason should lead the pack. He has the experience. He has the trust of the people. But more than that, he cares deeply about this pack. If this pack is going to heal and be successful, you need Jason at the helm.”

“Jason put Malcolm in charge to begin with. His judgment is suspect,” Robert said, his lips thinning into a hard line.

“Perhaps, but you said I have the gift of being able to see people's true intentions, and what I see is a pack that needs healing. You have your own issues with Jason, Robert, but they don't have anything to do with his commitment to the people here.”

“You're damn right I do,” he said, his cheeks reddening. “My daughter is dead because of him. I will not allow this pack to be placed in his inept hands.”

“Well, once Jason is my husband, I don't believe you'll have much choice.”

Sputtering with indignation, her grandfather turned and walked out of the room. Part of her wanted to follow him, to make things right. He was her family, her
only
family. But if Jason was going to be her husband, she needed him to respect that. Although a part of her was afraid her grandfather never would.

An awkward silence filled the small space after her grandfather left. Shay wanted to say something, anything, to try to make it right. But what?

“Is that your intention? Are you going to marry?” one of the council members asked.

Shay turned to Jason and saw the doubt there, lingering. She pushed out a deep breath, but before she could answer, she heard Manny coming down the hall.

“Not only does our girl Shay have the gift of sight,” Manuel said, squeezing into the small room behind them, “she also has a gift with the crystals. With proper training she will be a great healer.”

“Can she rejuvenate the boundary stones?” One of the council members stepped forward to ask.

“That is yet to be seen.” Manuel took a silk cloth and used it to pick up a large black oblong crystal off a shelf, and held it out to her. “Place your hand over the crystal and tell me what you feel.”

As everyone watched with expectant eyes, Shay took a deep breath and reluctantly touched the crystal. The same uncomfortable sensation she'd felt with the bracelet hit her, a prickling feeling that burned her palm. She snatched her hand away.

“I'm sorry, but it's very uncomfortable.”

Manuel shook his head with regret. “It's all right. This crystal is formed from dark energy. Very few of us who are gifted with being able to manipulate the stones to heal can tolerate their touch.” He turned to the council members. “No. She won't be able help us.”

“Celia is gone,” the council member said, shaking his head. “There is no one else in The Colony who can rejuvenate them.”

“Malcolm has gone after her,” Jason told them.

Surprise filled all their faces. “After everything that has happened, you want us to put our faith in Malcolm?” one of them demanded.

“Do we have any choice?”

“Yes, we'll send someone of our own after Celia. We can't depend on Malcolm to do what's best for the pack any longer. For all we know, he's left so he doesn't have to face his judgment for all the damage he's caused.”

Jason nodded with understanding. “Perhaps. How much time do we have?”

“Fourteen days at the most.”

“Fourteen days until what?” Shay asked.

“Until the
Gauliacho
breech the perimeter,” Jason said, squeezing her hand, but it didn't help relieve the absolute certainty that once more her world was about to fall apart.

“I'll go after him,” Jason said quietly. “I'll make sure he brings her back.”

Astonished, Shay turned to him. He was going to leave her again? “But you can't,” she muttered, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

“I'm the best one. Not only am I the most familiar with the outside, but I know how Malcolm thinks. We don't have time for mistakes or mishaps.”

Shay heard his words, but they didn't matter. They weren't true. He wasn't leaving to save the pack. He was running away from her. Because her grandfather was right, his duty to her was over. He was no longer obligated to her to keep her safe. And that was what was driving him, what had always driven him, and without it, he didn't know what to do. Didn't know what he wanted. Certainly not to marry her. And as the truth sunk in with ice-crystal clarity, her heart shattered.

“Am I up to it, Manny?” Jason asked the healer.

Manny looked at him thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. Then he just nodded. “I see this is something you have to do. But keep it simple. Don't overdo it.”

Not trusting herself to speak, and unable to stay a moment longer, Shay turned and walked out of the room.

Chapter 20

J
ason watched her go. He was an idiot. He knew that. But he had to save the pack. With Manny's help, he got out of bed. “I don't have a vehicle,” he rasped as his stitches pulled in his thigh.

“Take mine.” Manny dug a set of keys out of his pocket.

“I'll leave it by the gate where I left my truck.”

Manny nodded grimly. “I won't try to stop you. But I will tell you you're pushing it.”

“Thanks. I'll be careful.” Jason walked toward the door as doubt pulled at him, twisting and turning. By the time he climbed into Manny's small four-door, he was out of breath and sapped of energy. What was he doing? He didn't have an answer. He just drove forward down the road as fast as he dared, heading south. With any luck, Malcolm's head start wasn't as big as he feared and he'd catch up to him sooner rather than later. An hour later, driving faster than was wise, he rounded a bend and saw Malcolm in front of him. He flashed his lights, and soon Malcolm was pulling onto the side of the road.

“Jason, what are you doing here?” Malcolm asked, disbelief thick in his voice as Jason opened the passenger door and climbed in.

“I'm coming with you to bring back Celia.”

“What help are you going to be? You can barely stand up. And look at you, you're the shade of goat's milk and let me tell you, it ain't a pretty sight.”

“Thanks for your concern, especially considering how I got here, but I'm fine,” Jason said drily.

“You'll only slow me down.”

“I'll be healed by the time we find her. Now where are we headed?”

“
We're
not headed anywhere. I'm doing this alone. Celia is my responsibility. My mistake.”

“You can't do it alone. And we can't take the chance. If you fail...”

“I won't fail. Go home to Shay.”

“Shay is fine.”

“Is she? Not if she's figured out why you're really here.”

“She knows why.”

“Then she knows you're still not over Maggie?” Malcolm's gaze locked onto Jason's.

“Maggie has nothing to do with this.”

“That's why you're running away from the first woman you've loved in years. Sitting in my truck, slowing me down when you can barely stand, let alone fight a demon. You are no use to me and you know that.”

“I'm not running away from anything.”

“And yet here you are, willing to risk going beyond the gates when you can barely walk just so you don't have to face your true feelings about this woman.”

“The pack is my responsibility. It's my fault you're in charge.”

“Yes. Yes,” Malcolm mocked. “It's all your fault. It must be great to be you. Get over yourself.”

Jason closed his eyes. “I'm over Maggie. I have been for a long time. She...she was leaving me.”

“I know,” Malcolm said softly.

Jason wasn't expecting that.

“It's why I offered to go with her to find Dean.”

Jason turned to him, wondering if Kate's allegations were true. “Because you wanted her for yourself?”

“Because I knew she would go without telling you. She was stubborn that way.”

Jason sighed. “Yes, she was. She wanted time alone. Without me. It got her killed.”

“Her choice. Not your baggage to carry.”

“When I couldn't find her, I was sure she was still alive out there, that she'd found Dean and she just didn't want to come back to me.”

“But she wasn't.”

“She wasn't,” he agreed.

“You need to go back, Jason. The truth is you are in love with Shay and it is scaring the shit out of you. Shay is not Maggie. You no longer need to live up to Maggie's or her parents' expectations. You no longer need to hide behind the ‘shining armor' you're carrying. Admit it, it's gotten too heavy. Now you can go back and you and Shay can lead the pack together. The way it should be. You have a chance to make things right this time. Shay has given that to you. You'd be a fool not to take it. Stop running and hiding and go home.”

“You think that's what I've been doing?”

“Guilt is an ugly motivator. But the truth is Shay wants to marry you. She doesn't have to. No one is forcing her. She wants to be with you.”

“This has nothing to do with Maggie or Shay,” Jason said, though his bravado was gone as Malcolm's words slammed into his gut with the force of a Louisville Slugger. “We have to find Celia.”

“You're a coward,” Malcolm said, his green eyes hardening. “Face it.”

“Maggie died trying to get away from me.”

“She died trying to find herself. It's time you let her go. You're on your own now, brother. Responsible only for yourself and all your dumbass decisions, and you damn well know it. Now if you don't mind?” Malcolm reached past him and pushed open the door.

Jason got out of the truck and stood there long after Malcolm had driven away.

* * *

Shay stormed through her dad's house, looking in closets, the pantry, searching for anything to do that would quell the nervous energy flooding through her system. If she stopped for even a minute, her thoughts would go back to Jason and the last time they were together right here, in this living room. On this floor.

When she'd been happy.

When she'd still believed they had a future together.

Now she knew better.

Disgusted, she left the room, the house, and went to the shed out back. Inside was an array of gardening tools hanging on the wall. She picked up a hatchet and a shovel, walked out of the shed and kept on walking. “Come on, Buddy,” she called. She would find that pit, and she would fill it, even if it took her a week. If it hadn't been for that pit... She stopped herself midthought. The problem wasn't the pit. It was Jason. She'd told the council they were getting married, she'd told her grandfather that they were getting married despite Robert's feelings about it, and Jason had run. He would rather face down a demon than stay and say he wanted to marry her. She was an idiot.

She berated herself as she trudged through the bushes. It didn't take her long to find the spot. To see the blood. She tried not to look at it and instead set down the tools and started dragging branches and bushes, anything she could find that was already lying on the ground, and threw them into the pit, trying to get rid of it once and for all. It and all the horrible memories that came with it.

After a while, she had to walk farther and farther to find loose debris, until finally, with the pit half-full, she just picked up the shovel and started to dig. Digging until she was so exhausted she couldn't think about Jason or the way he'd left her. She collapsed next to a tree, tears filling her eyes as she wondered what she would say to him when he finally came back.
If
he came back.
If
she wanted him back.

Buddy whimpered and sat next to her, dropping his head in her lap. She stroked his soft fur and leaned her head back against the tree, closed her eyes and thought about absolutely nothing. She didn't know how long she sat like that—listening to the birds, feeling the cool breeze on her cheeks and smelling the heady scent of pine—when she heard the snap of a twig. And felt something...ominous; a pervasive dark energy that crept under her skin.

She opened her eyes and found Scott towering above her. A thick cloud of angry red surrounded him. Her heart dropped to her stomach and she choked on a deep watery gasp.

“What are you doing here?” she said, her voice sounding surprisingly strong.

“I've lost everything and everyone because of you,” he said, his tone hard and sharp as the obsidian glittering in his eyes.

“No,” she said, pushing to her feet, one hand stretched out against the tree for balance.

“You did this to me.” He stepped toward her.

Buddy started barking and snapping at him.

“Call off your beast,” he demanded.

Fear for her dog, for herself, closed in on her, focusing her senses, narrowing her vision so all she saw was him, all she heard was the heaviness in his step, the rasping of his breath. An acrid smell of anger rose off him. No, that wasn't quite right. Not anger.
Revenge.
It was all he thought about. All he wanted.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“What should have been done before you stepped foot into the Colony. If Mitch hadn't missed.” He grabbed her arms and yanked her off her feet as if she weighed nothing. Buddy went crazy, lunging at him, attacking his arms, and still he held on tighter. He was a rock. A monster.

In a quick, fluid movement, he thrust her toward the edge of the pit. She teetered backward, her feet hovering on the edge as she pinwheeled her arms. She looked behind her down at the debris below, still so far.... She couldn't stop herself. She was toppling...falling.

It was a hard landing. Branches broke beneath her, cushioning her fall and yet digging into her, bruising her at the same time. And then Buddy was flying into the pit. She rolled out of the way as, yelping, he fell next to her.

“Buddy,” she whispered, and tried to gain her balance on the shifting dirt and branches. He lifted his head and whined. Thank goodness, he was fine. They both were. But then she heard movement above. She looked up and saw Scott standing above them on the edge of the pit holding a large boulder above his head.

“No, please!” she cried, lifting her arms to cover her head as she prepared for the blow.

* * *

Jason had just reached Dean's house when he heard Buddy barking. He knew Buddy's barks well enough by now to know that something was wrong. Panicking, he hurried as fast as his legs would take him through the woods. He knew as he'd stood out on that empty road that his life was no longer on the outside. His life was here. With Shay. If she'd still have him. He was ready to take the chance, to open himself up to her, to trust her with his future. So where was she?

He heard Buddy yelp. Dammit! Why had he left her alone? Because Malcolm was right—he was a yellow-bellied coward, through and through. Not anymore. As he ran he pulled off his shirt, his pants, his shoes and transformed just as he heard Shay scream.

As his true self, he flew through the forest, running down the path, and then he saw Scott standing above the pit, a rock in his hands high above his head.

Without warning, Jason jumped, knocking Scott backward to the ground. He jumped on top of the man, clamped his jaws around the soft skin of Scott's throat and ripped.