Keeping Her (9 page)

“You
do know you’re ridiculous right?  Eli has been nothing but a
gentleman.” 

A
gentleman?  Eli?  Fuck.  Tricky damn cat was up to something.  He
tried any moves on Clytie and he’d be searching for his spleen.  “Baby, put Eli
back on the phone.” 

There
was a short silence.  “Why do I worry when you get that sweet tone in your
voice?”  Eli started laughing like an Ass in the background.

“I
just need to talk business for a minute.”  He said in his most persuasive
voice.  “Put Eli on and I’ll see you at the opening.”

“Business?” 
She said clearly suspicious.  “Fine.  But if you feel the need to
once again threaten him with mutilation if he touches me, I’m going to be very
upset.”  Before he could say anything to that insight, she handed the
phone to Eli.

Eli
didn’t say anything for a few seconds then his voice lost the playful edge.  “O.K.
she’s out of the room.  What’s up?”

He
huffed out in annoyance reminded Eli was a damn loyal friend.  He wouldn’t
poach.  He released the clamp on his jaw.  “Clancy and some of the
high wolves were missing at the ceremony.”

“You
think they were expecting you and set a trap?”

“Which
they haven’t sprung yet.” 

Eli
thought that through.  “You think they know about Clytie?  This
fast?  They’d have to be watching awful close and I have a hard time
believing they could do that without any of you spotting them.”

“Probably
not but if they are planning an ambush I don’t want Clytie caught in it, even
by accident.”

“Not
on my watch.  I’ll let Logan know to be especially vigilant.  He did
want me to ask you a question when you called.”  Eli’s voice changed to a
smirking playfulness that Demon didn’t trust. 

“What?”

“How
the Hell did you, of all people, manage to land an angel like Clytie?  My
theory is psycedelic drugs but Logan thinks a blind fold was involved.” 

“Wouldn’t
you like to know?”  Demon hung up while Eli was still laughing.

Chapter
9

No
matter how many times Clytie told herself worrying would serve no purpose, she
still felt like a symphony of moths performed in her belly.  She had
picked out her outfit a week ago, and she still managed to agonize over the
choice.  She went with an evening dress in siren red that fluttered
directly above her knees.  The rounded neck showed a small amount of
cleavage Eli and Logan both approved of in heated glances and exaggerated
compliments.  Her heels were also red and high with straps crisscrossing
over her feet.  They made her wonder what Demon would do when he saw
them.  With her wrap around her shoulders to keep her warm she wished
fervently for Demons distracting presence, then felt selfish.  His mother
had recently died.  That trumped the girlfriends’ art show any day of the
week.

“Och
Darlin’” Eli said in an exaggerated Scotch accent as he helped her into the
limo.  “You make the moon jealous.”

It
made Clytie smile despite her nerves.  Logan took the drivers seat and
winked at her through the rearview mirror.

“A
limo?  I don’t think I’ve ever been in one before.”  She said as they
left the compound behind and headed for the front gates.

“Only
the best for you, darlin’.”  Eli said his accent heading south.  “You
being a big ar-teest and all.”

One
minute Clytie was laughing and the next a loud explosion rocked the car. 
The sound of crunching metal and splintered glass was overwhelming as the car
veered off the road.  The metal roof ripped as if the car was a giant can
someone was peeling open around them.  By the time the limo came to a
screeching halt folded against a tree Clytie knew she was going to suffer
bruises where her seatbelt dug in. 

Eli
was suddenly there snapping off the seatbelt as if it consisted of paper and
kicking the door into origami until he made enough space to drag her out with
him.

“Are
you hurt?”

“I...
don’t think so.”  Clytie searched for Logan, happy to see that despite a
gash across his forehead, he was unharmed.

Looking
at the twisted carcass of what had been a stretch limo, she was amazed they all
walked away from it.  Especially Logan, since the front took the most
damage.

“What
do you think?”  Eli asked it in a hard voice Clytie had never heard
before.  He pulled out a gun to match the one that appeared in Logan’s
hand.

“Half
a dozen Wolves, probably armed if the rocket that took out the car is any
hint.”

“Wolves?” 
She asked, “How can wolves be armed?”

Eli
and Logan moved so fast they were pushing her down against the rear wheel
before she could glimpse what came charging out of the dark.  The guns
were loud in the night, dropping two shapes mid leap.  Then it all jumbled
into a nightmare as a half dozen wolves attacked.  Clytie screamed, sure
she would witness the men shredded by wild animals.  Instead, one minute
Eli was ripping off his clothes and the next he was a great jungle cat. 
Logan changed into a black wolf.  Clytie blinked, doubting her eyesight,
but the animals still fought two feet away.  If she had anywhere to go
she’d run screaming, instead she tried to make herself as small possible
against the rear tire. 

Eli
and Logan were werewolves or shape shifters or whatever they called themselves
and they were fighting other shifters to protect her.  Once she made that
jump, it wasn’t so far to the realization that she had just moved in with three
more of them.  That she had fallen in love with one.  It was hard to wrap
her brain around, but many things about Demon now made sense.  The
growling, the sniffing, she placed her hand over the mark on her shoulder, the
biting.  So intent on her brain numbing thoughts Clytie missed the shifter
coming over the car until he landed on her.

When
Logan in wolf form finally looked around, he was bloody and bruised but still
standing.  He saw Eli’s jaguar form in the same abused shape, and all the
attacking wolves that could still walk had long since run off.  He shifted
back to two legs and watched Eli do the same.  They turned to get Clytie,
wondering what the hell they were going to say.  But Clytie was gone and
from the marks on the ground, she had not walked away on her own two
feet.  He shifted back to his wolf needing the superior senses.  He caught
Clyties scent and with a bark at Eli headed into the forest surrounding the
compound.

Eli
cursed his missing cell phone.  He hated wasting the valuable time to
search but they were going to need backup.  He finally found it in the
scraps of his jacket.  He didn’t breathe easier until he got a dial out.

“Demon. 
They attacked outside the gates with a goddamn rocket launcher.  They took
Clytie.”  The roar was unmistakable. 

“Report.” 
Mac must have picked up the phone.

Eli
pulled open the trunk as he made his report.  Inside they kept a wide
range of weapons, none of which were useful right here and now.  Instead,
he pulled out the blanket and used it to collect wolf parts off the
street.  As soon as he passed on his report and cleared out the road he
dropped the phone into the battered trunk with the grisly remains and slammed
it closed.  He changed back to jaguar grateful his quick healing had
already closed the worst of his wounds.  He sprang after Logan on four
feet.

They
followed the scent until it was lost among the city smells of the busy highway
then they headed back to the compound to wait for Demon and the rest.

Clytie
woke up in the pitch dark.  Her head pounding and her arm stung.  She
touched angry claw marks but no gushing blood when she examined it by
feel.  Her dress was ripped to hell and back, she had lost her pretty
shoes and she smelled bad.  So much for agonizing over what to wear for
the show, she should have just gone with the jeans.  She rooted around for
her purse, but all she found was the mattress she was sitting on and
concrete.  She remembered the crash and the fighting.  She took a
second to pray Eli and Logan had made it, then concentrated all her good wishes
on herself.  She remembered something falling from above and pain. 
She had no way of knowing how long she had been knocked out so she might very
well be in Siberia for all she knew.

She
was trying really hard not to panic when a door opened and an overhead light
flipped on.  She covered her eyes against the sudden glare.  The
pounding in her head got worse, even as the pounding of her heart surpassed
it.  When she could see more than spots, she saw a small room with
concrete floors.  Besides the naked twin mattress, the only other thing in
the room was a high window too small for her to fit through. 

“Do
you like it?”  The man spoke from the open door drawing her eyes. 
She had never seen him before.  “We weren’t expecting guests but when I
saw you I had to get to know you.”  He was shorter than Demon, but then
who wasn't.  He had a hard body crammed into tight black jeans and t-shirt. 
Black hair cut close around the face of a fallen angel.  He had movie star
good looks with perfectly symmetrical bone structure and ice blue eyes. 
No matter the rest of the package, it was the eyes that told the story. 
After one look, Clytie was wishing she was back in the woods with the
werewolves. 

“Very
minimalistic.”  She did her best to fake bravado, but was sure her shaking
knees would give her away. 

He
laughed, a harsh sound, more a bark than anything else.  He moved into the
room and squatted down at the edge of the mattress.  Clytie didn’t realize
she’d backed up until she hit the wall.

“Who
marked you?”  He asked, reaching for her neck.  Clytie stood up
nearly flying to get away from his hand.  She ran for the open door hoping
to get out before he could reach her, instead another man filled the opening,
and she had to stop her flight mid run.  The man now behind her laughed again
as he stood up and sauntered toward her.  “What’s your hurry darlin’? 
We were just getting to know each other.”  Clytie moved until she had her
back against the wall again, closer to the door with both men in her
sights. 

“Why
did you bring me here?”

“You
keep bad company girlie.”  The new man at the door growled out.  He
was an older man, grizzled and tough.  He reminded her of beef
jerky. 

“Well... 
I appreciate you looking out for me.  If you call me a cab I will be more
careful in the future.”  Worth a try.

The
old guy growled, the young one laughed, she really hated his laugh, but neither
sound was encouraging.

“What’s
your name darlin’?”

“If
I tell you my name will you tell me who you are and why I’m here?”

“Aah,
where are my manners?  I’m Clancy.  The old man is Red and you’re
here because we rescued you.”

Clancy. 
Oh, Crap. 
This was the family who wanted Demon
dead?  “Rescued me?”

“You
are what we call an innocent bystander.  We weren’t expecting to find such
a sweet thing in with such bad company.  We figure you couldn’t know what
kind of riff raff you were associating with so we brought you here.”

“Bunch
of mongrels and outlaws.”  The old man growled out spitting to the
side.  Like even saying it was dirty.

“Who
exactly are you referring to?”

“Listen
to that, would ya?  Talks like a real lady.  We are ‘exactly
referring’ to the gun toting bastards in the limo with you.”

“Eli
and Logan?”

The
old man spit again. 
O.Kay...
 

“You
saved me from Eli and Logan?”

The
young one laughed again.  “Exactly.”

Whatever
game they were playing she was willing to go along to a point.  As long as
they were talking, they weren’t acting.  If they wanted to convince
themselves she had not been on the same team as the men they’d attacked she
would play along.  Anything that got her out of this room and away from
mister tight pants was worth a shot.  “Well then if I can use your phone
I’ll call a cab and take myself home.  I certainly appreciate the
warning.  I’ll be more careful in the future about who I hire as
bodyguards.”

“Bodyguards? 
That would explain it except for one thing.”  He moved so fast she felt
his breath on her neck before she realized he had moved.  He grabbed her
arm to hold her when she would have pulled away.  He pushed her hair away
from her neck trailed his hand over the bite Demon had placed there. 
“You’re marked darlin’.  Now what we need to know is who you belong to.”

He
pressed her close against the walls and she felt his excitement bearing down on
her belly.  His smell surrounded her and though he possessed a primal
scent that reminded her of Demon in a small way, she just found it pungent and
unpleasant.  She wanted away from this man in the worst way.  “I
don’t belong to anyone.”

He
sniffed her neck directly over the bite.  “But you do.  A wolf at
that.  Who you been lettin’ nibble on your sweet parts darlin’?”

She
tried again to move away from him but he pushed her tighter against the wall,
his fingers leaving painful marks on her skin.  “You’re hurting me.”

“Not
yet.”  He tightened his grip until she worried he would crush the bones in
her arm.  She couldn’t hold back a yelp of pain and he laughed against her
shoulder digging his hips into her stomach.  It hurt and in case she had
any illusions left about what he planned, his free hand went to the hem of her
skirt and started to lift it.

Her
eyes filling with tears of pain and fear Clytie head butted him in the
nose.  It hurt her, but not as much as it hurt him if the way he jumped
back and grabbed his nose was any indication.  He cursed pushing her
towards the old man so hard she hit him with a snap of her neck and bounced
into the doorjamb.  Before either man got another hold, she took the
chance to push her way out into the hall.  The old man grabbed at her and
part of the dress shoulder ripped off into his hands along with four deep
furrows of skin.  She ran, curses following her as the men tangled in
their efforts to give chase.  It gave her the extra time she needed to
reach another room. 

She
took the door at a run, slamming it behind her and locking it just before
bodies crashed against it causing pictures to fall off the wall.  There
was a dresser beside the door and she pushed it into place right as the door
cracked along the frame.  Only when she was hit in the face with a strap
did she look up and see the shotgun sitting on top of the dresser.  She
grabbed for it, and backed up checking to make sure the safety was off and
cocking it.  There was another crack along the doorframe as she moved to
the side of the door. 

A
hand that looked a lot like a claw pounded through directly above the dresser
and Clytie put the barrel of the shotgun right up against the wrist and pulled
the trigger.  The blast sent her falling back from the recoil and for a minute,
she couldn’t hear the howling.  From the sounds, there were more than the
two wolves congregating in the hall.  The sliding glass doors looked like
a sign from on high and with a frantic sob, she headed for sunlight. 
Before she could get it open with the hand not clutched around the shotgun, the
dresser, which she had needed every ounce of strength and adrenalin to move,
went flying against the far wall.