Hyena Moon (23 page)

Now all she had to figure out was how to get to Vizcaya at six in the morning without anyone noticing she was gone.

Chapter Thirty-One

Cormac rolled over and checked on Kess. She was sleeping soundly, which was good considering he kept waking her up during the night to make sure she hadn't lapsed into a coma or anything. He thought about rousing her again, but decided against it. Weres healed quickly from normal wounds; most likely, she was out of the woods as far as the head injury was concerned. Sleep was the best thing for her now.

He eyed the clock. It was after nine. He'd slept later than usual, but it had been a late night. He and Finn had stayed up strategizing and they'd wound up calling their fathers to help with planning. Finn had been right in saying that Miami was Kess' responsibility and the hyenas were hers to deal with as she saw fit, but that didn't mean they couldn't put protective measures in place for everyone. He'd checked on Lenore before he'd finally gone to bed and she'd been fast asleep.

He levered himself out of bed and pulled on a t-shirt and shorts to go scrounge some breakfast up. He imagined Kess would be hungry when she woke up and Finn was always ravenous. Once in the kitchen, Cormac busied himself with scrambling eggs and frying bacon and toasting bread. While his body did the breakfast tasks mechanically, his mind wandered to the events of the previous day.

There was a very small part of him that was pleased that his concerns had been validated. He'd never been too sure of Rafe, finding the werehyena's presence here far too convenient. To be left here by your own mother, right at the start of what looked like a territory war getting ready to explode? That seemed so contrived as to be unbelievable. He appreciated that Kess wanted to give the kid the benefit of the doubt, but it seemed now that her precautions against him had come too little, too late. He'd betrayed them and God alone knew what he'd told Samara while he was here or what information he'd grabbed before he bolted.

He hadn't talked to Lenore about it much, and if asked, he wasn't in any hurry to. He dreaded having that conversation. Cormac knew his sister had grown close to the young man during her time here, but he didn't really know how deep it went. Infatuation, certainly, but beyond that he had no idea. Lenore was just as likely to be upset as she was to take it well. She hadn't believed him last night when he'd mentioned that Rafe might have been involved; she scoffed at the idea of him leaving willingly with his sister. Still, he'd warned her to stay inside and to not stray from the grounds without him or Finn.

Cormac was preparing a plate to bring to Kess when she walked in. She was still dazed from sleep, but she seemed to his eyes to be moving easier. He gestured for her to sit at the island and laid the plate in front of her.

"Coffee?"

"Not this morning and not with this headache. Tea." She moved to get up, but he waved her back down, putting the kettle on the stove himself.

"How are you feeling?" He nabbed a tea bag for her and put it in a mug. Then he came around and sat with her.

She was pushing the food around on her plate, making no move to eat it. "Okay, I guess. Nothing a hot shower and a couple of days won't cure." She began pulling her bacon apart, tearing it into tiny shards.

Cormac let her be for a few minutes, but when it became clear she wasn't going to continue the conversation, he asked, "What's on your mind?"

She got up then, using the teakettle as an excuse to move. She poured the hot water into her mug, even though it hadn't boiled yet and began to fix it as she liked. "Looks like we found out which side Rafe was on." She stirred honey in absently.

Cormac didn't say anything at first, not wanting to sound either self-congratulatory or like he was saying
I told you so
. He waited until she sat back down, and then said, "I wish it had been different."

Kess shrugged a slim shoulder, indicating that it didn't matter. Cormac knew that it had mattered to Kess very much. It was something else he was angry with Rafe about. "How's Lenore taking it?"

"I didn't get much of a chance to talk to her about it. She didn't want to believe that he'd leave." He looked down at his hands. "I am not looking forward to telling her."

Kess took a sip of her tea. She was moving at half-speed, and Cormac wondered if it was a lingering effect of the head injury or if Rafe's betrayal had affected her mood. Probably a bit of both. "I could talk to her if you want." She looked around. "Has she had breakfast yet?"

Cormac checked his watch. "I haven't seen her yet, although it's a little early for her to be up." He stood. "I'd better check on her. She may be sulking in bed."

"You're sister doesn't sulk," Kess disagreed.

"You haven't known her as long as I have. She's a sulking master when she wants to be." He left the kitchen and made his way down the hall that led to the other side of the house where Lenore's bedroom was. He knocked on her closed door and waited for an answer. When he got none, he knocked again, opening the door and sticking his head inside. Her bed was neatly made, something she never did at home, but always did when she was in someone else's house. His mother had ingrained that in all of them, saying they may be animals some of the time, but they weren't barbarians and could make up their own damn beds when someone was insane enough to offer them hospitality. He was glad to see that it had stuck with her.

It was odd though. He would have expected to have seen her if she were already up. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, but forced himself to remain calm. She may be outside, catching the morning sun before it got too hot to be anywhere but inside.

He veered towards the back of the house, planning on checking the pool. Kess joined him as he circled back towards the kitchen and followed after him, almost as if she could sense there was something wrong. The pool was empty.

"You didn't happen to see her in the living room?" he asked Kess, even though he already knew the answer. Lenore hadn't been in the living room and he hadn't heard the television on in there when he'd been in the kitchen.

Kess shook her head. "Guest house?" Her eyes were wide, but otherwise, she looked calm.

They walked quickly across the lawn to the guest house. Cormac shoved the door open and found no one in there. Empty.

Lenore was gone.

Kess was already running back to the main house. Cormac followed, catching up with her easily and passing her. Together they searched every room. There was no sign of Lenore. Finn had already left for his morning run, so it was possible Lenore had gone with him, but Cormac highly doubted it. His sister wasn't big on physical exercise as a rule.

"Hang on," Kess said, disappearing into their bedroom. She returned with their phones.

Cormac dialed Finn's number. He didn't expect his cousin to pick up if he was still running, but maybe he was already on his way back to the house. Kess was looking for missed calls or messages when her phone rang. She smiled when she looked at the number and held it up so he could read the name showing on her display. Lenore.

He heaved a sigh of relief. He was going to kill his sister when she got back--she should have left a note or a voicemail telling them that she was going out. He thought he had impressed upon her the seriousness of the situation in Miami. He'd apparently misjudged.

"Hey Lenore," Kess began, then her face went white. She took the phone away from her ear and put it on speaker so he could listen. Lenore was not who was on the other end of the line.

"...disappoint you." It was a voice he didn't recognize, but his guts locked up when he heard it. Nobody but Lenore should be using that phone. "I've got your girl here, and if you want her back in good shape, you'll leave Miami to my mother."

Teresa, Kess mouthed. Cormac nodded tightly, trying not to rip the phone out of her hands in an effort to launch himself through it. He reined in his fear and anger and tried to think rationally, but all that ran through his head was his sister's name. He clenched his jaw until he thought it would break in an effort to control himself.

"Is Lenore okay? Let me talk to her." Kess' voice was an icicle, cold and brittle. She put her hand on Cormac's arm, although whether it was to steady him or herself, he didn't know.

Teresa's voice sounded smug. He wanted to rip her tongue out to stop her words. "Princess is out of it right now, but she's still breathing. You'll have to take my word for it. If you want to keep it that way, consider the offer. Miami for the girl. If we don't hear from you at this number by tonight, her breathing--and everything else--stops.

"How do I know...," Kess began, but Teresa cut her off. Cormac nearly snapped his teeth, his wolf self very close to the surface.

"You don't." She paused. "Oh, and if you don't believe me, I left a gift for you outside the gates. Toodles." She ended the call.

Cormac was already moving, out the front door before Kess had even pocketed her phone. Finn was getting out of the car, soaked in sweat from his run along the beach. Cormac didn't even bother to acknowledge him, knowing that Kess would bring him up to speed. He was more interested in finding the gift Teresa had referred to him.

"Did you see anything on the gate?" he yelled at Finn as he ran towards the front of the property. He hoped that Finn's driving in hadn't ruined anything.

Finn caught up quickly, running next to him. Kess was still a couple of hundred yards behind. "No. Mac, what happened?"

Cormac bit off each word, imagining that he was biting into hyena muscle and bone. "The hyenas have Lenore."

Finn looked thunderstruck. "Shit."

Cormac ignored his cousin and opened up his sense, specifically his sense of smell. He knew Lenore's scent like he knew his own and he began to pick up traces of it on the breeze off the water. He led the way, his head down so that his nose was closer to the earth. He stopped when the smell became strong, catching a glimpse of metal just inside the gates. He knelt and picked up the item that had fallen onto the pavement.

Lenore's charm bracelet.

He held it in his hands carefully, afraid he'd break it, as the others gathered around him. He could feel them at his back, but he didn't care about them, not now. His sister was gone, in the hands of monsters. The sister that he was supposed to be protecting.

He threw back his head and howled.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Kess followed Cormac into their bedroom and closed the door. He hadn’t bothered to turn on the light and had kept the blinds closed so the room was dark, but she could see him in the little bit of light that leaked in from the edges of the curtains, standing stiff as a plank. He was trying hard to control himself, Kess knew, but she was amazed he wasn’t vibrating like a plucked violin string with all of the tension in him.

“We’ll get her back,” she said softly. She turned on the light. He flinched, but didn’t turn around.

She went to him, putting her arms on his shoulders. She rested her head against his back. Cormac didn’t relax. After a moment he moved away from her. She looked after him, unsure of what to say to help him. Samara had his sister. On his watch. There wasn’t anything she could say to make it better.

But she remembered how he’d been with her when she was running from Sek. How patient. How kind. Cormac had been there for her when she thought there was nobody who could help, who could understand. It wouldn’t be right if she just did nothing when he was hurting.

“Please talk to me.”

He turned. His face was a hard mask, the points of his jaw jumping when he gritted his teeth. Kess had never seen him so angry, not even when Sek had smashed her face into the mirror. “And say what, Kess? What would you like me to say?”

She shook her head. “Anything. Just tell me what’s going on in your head.”

“I should have been with her.” His voice was full of angry guilt.

Kess went to him and put a hand to his cheek. “It’s not your fault. You can’t blame yourself.”

“I don’t.” His eyes flared silver, furious when he looked at her. “I blame you.” He jerked away from her as if her hands had turned to flame.

She took a step back, equal parts hurt and angry. She tamped down on those emotions, trying to see things through his eyes. She wasn’t going to lose her temper. It wasn’t what he needed right now. But being told she was to blame for Lenore’s kidnapping made her feel like she had when Sek had told her it was her fault their father was dead.

“Okay,” was all she said.

“I told you Rafe couldn’t be trusted! I told you he shouldn’t be hanging around Lenore, that it was dangerous. Hell, I even said that he was probably a spy! But you didn’t listen to me. You knew better. And look where that’s got us.”

“I did listen to—“

“My sister could die and for what? So you could work out your fucked up family issues?” His voice was cold and Kess recoiled as if he’d slapped her. “Maybe you should have seen a shrink instead of starting Kess’ home for wayward hyenas!”

Kess bit down on her lip hard. It was an effort of supreme will not to shout back at him, not to get as mean as he was getting. He was hurt and afraid; she understood that. She understood that he had to take it out on somebody, but it was hard to listen to. He knew all of her soft, vulnerable spots, knew where she could be hurt the most.

“I know you’re upset…”she began, trying again. Forcing her voice to calm.

“Upset? UPSET?!” He paced the room in long strides, forcing Kess to get out of his way. “My sister is gone, Kess. My human sister has been kidnapped by a pack of whackjob hyenas that might do anything to her.” He choked back something that might have been a sob and Kess took a step toward him. But his next words froze her back in place. “I know your brother was a psycho so you might not understand what it’s like when brothers and sisters actually love each other without it getting all freaky, but upset doesn’t even come close to covering it!”