Night's Master (16 page)

“That’s all right. I was just, you know, worried. Where’s your mother?”

“Oh, she had to go home. My dad was in a car accident. He’s got a broken leg and a few bruised ribs. The doctor said he’ll be okay in six or eight weeks, but right now, he can’t get around on his own.”

“Are you staying by yourself?”

“For now.”

“Do you want me to come and stay with you?”

“No, I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m fine, really.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re all right. You sound a lot better.”

She laughed softly. “You know what they say, anything that doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. I’m not crazy about what’s happened to me, but I think I can live with it, although I guess I won’t know for sure until the next full moon. The head Werewolf said he’d send someone to talk to me before then, sort of help me adjust, you know?”

“That’s great. How’s Rick these days?”

“I think he’s getting used to the idea. He took me to see the kids last night. We haven’t told them yet…Rick wants to wait a little longer. He’s probably right. There’s plenty of time. Anyway, I’m not sure they’re old enough to understand what’s happened.”

“I’m sure it will all work out. Speaking of work, I’ve got to go; I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Thanks, Kathy. You’re a good friend. Let’s get together for lunch soon.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll talk to you later.”

After hanging up the receiver, I ran a brush through my hair, applied my makeup, and pulled on a pair of black jeans and a green sweater. I ate a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast, brushed my teeth, then grabbed my handbag and my keys and drove to the store.

It was ten after ten when I arrived. Almost on time.

I was surprised to see Cagin come into the shop later that day. He wore a pair of tight jeans and a black T-shirt that emphasized his muscular torso. Amazingly, he looked none the worse from last night’s brawl. It really was remarkable, the way the Supernatural creatures healed. I imagined there must be doctors in hidden labs all over the world trying to discover the secret ingredient to the recuperative powers of the Werewolves and the Vampires. Anyone who could bottle it would soon be rich beyond their wildest dreams.

“What are you doing in here?” I glanced out the front window, praying that someone else would come into the shop. After last night, Cagin was the last person in the world I wanted to be alone with.

“I came for a book, what else?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged, grateful for the counter between us, even though I was pretty sure he could leap across it with no trouble at all. “I guess I just didn’t expect to see you.”

“Hey, I’m sorry about last night. Things got a little out of hand, that’s all.”

“A little out of hand? Right.”

“We’re all on edge these days, what with that new hunter in town, although I don’t imagine he’ll last long. Or the other one, either. Mara or Clive will see to that.”

“Two hunters,” I repeated. “Right.” Travis Jackson had mentioned there was another hunter in town, but he’d refused to divulge the man’s name. Cagin had no such qualms.

“Jackson and McGee—damn their eyes.”

“Rick McGee?” I shook my head. “You must be mistaken.”

“We can’t afford to be mistaken about things like that.”

It couldn’t be true. If Rick was a hunter…the possibility of what that might mean to Susie’s future was frightening. But surely Rick wouldn’t kill his own wife! Even as I tried to reassure myself, I knew Rick wouldn’t have to. Travis Jackson would destroy her without a moment’s hesitation.

I had to call Susie, I thought desperately. I had to warn her before it was too late, but what could I say? How could I convince her that her life might be in danger from her own husband?

I didn’t think Cagin was ever going to leave but, finally, he picked out a couple of sci-fi books and left the store. As soon as he was gone, I grabbed the phone and punched in Susie’s number. After four rings, her answering machine picked up.

“Hi, this is the McGees’ home. We can’t get to the phone right now, but you know what to do. Ta-ta for now.”

I broke the connection. Just because she didn’t answer the phone didn’t mean she was in danger. She could have gone to visit her kids again or run to the market. Maybe she’d gone for a walk…and maybe she was lying dead in a ditch somewhere.

As the day went on, I tried her number half a dozen times, until I wanted to scream in frustration.

I was thinking of closing up at five when I was suddenly inundated with customers all clamoring for the latest installment of the young adult series titled
Ghost Wind.
Written by a nineteen-year-old boy, bookstores all over the country were touting it as the next Harry Potter.

For the first time since I’d opened the store, I was praying for customers to leave. Instead, they seemed determined to hang around, exchanging stories of how
Ghost Wind
had turned their nonreaders into fanatics. I listened, I rang up sales, I bagged books, and all the time I was silently screaming at them all to go home so I could lock up.

It was almost six when I ushered the last customer out the door and turned out the lights. I was locking up when Rafe appeared. I’d never been so glad to see any body in my life.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Susie doesn’t answer her phone.”

He lifted one brow. “That’s what has you so upset?”

“Is that why you’re here? You knew I was upset?”

He nodded, sniffed the air, and then frowned. “Cagin was here.”

“He came in to buy a book. He told me there are two hunters in town, and that Susie’s husband is one of them! I’ve been calling her house all day, and she doesn’t answer. You don’t think he’d…” I couldn’t say the words aloud.

Rafe rubbed a hand over his jaw. “It’s possible.”

“You know something. What? Tell me?”

“My grandfather and I followed McGee the other night. He met up with Jackson.”

I stared at him, my heart pounding with dread. “And?”

“Jackson asked McGee if he could take her out, or if he wanted Jackson to do it.”

“I don’t believe it! How can they expect Rick to kill her! How can Rick even associate with someone crazy enough to expect him to kill his own wife! It’s…it’s insane!”

“All the hunters I’ve known are dedicated to destroying the Supernatural. They take a blood oath to do their duty or die trying.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this before!”

“I don’t want you involved in this.”

“I’m already involved. Susie’s my friend.” I grabbed Rafe’s arm. “We’ve got to stop them before it’s too late.”

“I’ll see if I can find her. You stay here.”

“No! I’m going with you.”

He shook his head. “Not a chance. These guys are killers. If you get in their way, they won’t hesitate to kill you, too. You got that?” He slipped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “For all you know, she could be at the movies.” He kissed my cheek. “Stay here,” he said again. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

I grabbed his arm. “I need to go. If you won’t take me with you, then I’ll…I’ll…”

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll find someone who will. Someone like…Cagin.”

Rafe glared at me. I knew he was trying to intimidate me, but I refused to back down.

“Dammit, Kathy…”

“We’re wasting time.”

With a shake of his head, he stalked out of the building.

I turned off the lights, locked the door, and followed him outside, half expecting that he would be gone. But he was leaning against the front fender of his car, waiting for me.

I told myself not to worry, that if anyone could find Susie, it was Rafe. After all, he’d done it before.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

I gazed out the window as Rafe drove up and down the streets of Oak Hollow. I was counting on him to find Susie, but as it turned out, I was the one who found her, in a roundabout sort of way.

We had been searching for over an hour and were about to give up and go back to my place when I sensed the presence of a Were.

“Slow down.” I glanced up and down the street. “Over there.”

Rafe pulled up in front of the house I indicated. A large
FOR SALE
sign hung from a post in a corner of the yard. A smaller sign read
VACANT
.
I thought I recognized Susie’s car in the driveway.

I glanced at Rafe. If it was Susie’s car, what would she be doing here, in the dark, in an empty house? I was surprised at the number of ghastly possibilities that quickly flitted through my mind, each one worse than the last.

“I’m going inside to have a look around,” Rafe said. “Any point in my telling you to wait here?”

“Probably not.”

“Stay behind me.”

I didn’t have any problem with that. I followed him up the walkway to the front porch, waited while he listened a moment, then tried the doorknob.

It opened at his touch.

Apparently, he didn’t need an invitation to enter a vacant house. He crossed the threshold on silent feet, and I tiptoed in behind him, my heart pounding as I glanced around. I couldn’t see much, but even in the darkness, I could see that the room was empty.

Rafe stood just inside the doorway for a moment, then moved unerringly through the living room and down a narrow hallway, with me close on his heels.

There was the sound of a scuffle followed by a sharp cry that was quickly cut off, but not before it lifted the short hairs along my nape. The scent of blood brought the taste of bile to the back of my throat.

Rafe stepped through a doorway to the left, then glanced at me over his shoulder. “Stay there.”

His tone left no room for argument, so I waited until he moved farther into the room before I peeked around the door frame.

And wished I hadn’t.

There were no curtains on the windows. In the faint light cast by a streetlamp, I saw Susie sitting on the floor, her back against the wall, her expression stricken. A thin ribbon of red marred her throat. It took me a minute to realize it was blood.

Her husband lay sprawled on his back at her feet, a gaping hole where his throat had been. A large knife with a wicked-looking silver blade lay on the floor beside him.

Cagin, wearing only a pair of jeans, stood beside the body. His yellow eyes were glowing. Blood was splattered across his chest and stained the corners of his mouth.

“What happened here?” Rafe asked.

It was Cagin who answered. “He brought her here to kill her. I couldn’t let that happen.”

Cagin had saved Susie’s life…. I frowned, remembering the night outside Susie’s house. Maybe the look on his face hadn’t been anger, as I had supposed, but worry. Or affection.

I stepped into the doorway. “You were protecting her the other night, too, weren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“And you were going to shift and go after her, weren’t you? Only Rafe’s grandfather beat you to it, and then Rafe showed up…. You didn’t want to fight him, did you? You were just angry because we interfered.”

Rafe glared at me. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“He’s in love with Susie.”

Rafe’s brow furrowed thoughtfully, and then he looked at Cagin. “Is that right?”

“What if it is?”

“Wolves and tigers don’t mix,” Rafe said.

“Mind your own business,” Cagin said, his voice a snarl.

I looked at Susie. She hadn’t moved, hadn’t said a word. “Susie?”

Slowly, she lifted her head and looked at me. “Joe’s been helping me adjust,” she said, her voice so low it was barely audible.

Joe,
I thought.
Who’s Joe?
And then I realized she meant Cagin.

“He promised to stay with me when the moon is full.” She looked at Cagin, the horror in her eyes changing, softening. “He understands me.”

Good grief, she sounded like she was in love with him! But how could that be? She couldn’t have known him for more than a few days.

“We need to get out of here,” Cagin remarked.

Rafe nodded. “We need to get rid of the body.”

“You two can take care of that,” I said. “I’m taking Susie home.”

She was silent in the car. Now and then, a long shuddering sigh escaped her lips, but other than that, and a few tears, she just stared out the window, her hands folded so tightly in her lap, her knuckles were white.

When we reached Susie’s house, I pulled into the driveway. I cut the ignition, then helped her out of the car and up the walk. Inside, I urged her to sit down; then I went into the kitchen and fixed her a cup of tea heavily laced with some brandy I found in one of the cupboards.

Refusing to meet my gaze, she drank it without question, then put the cup aside.

“He was going to kill me,” she said, her voice devoid of emotion. “He said he was sorry, but it was his duty. He told me not to worry, that he’d look after the boys, and then he pulled a knife….” She looked up at me for the first time. “He had the knife at my throat, and then Cagin was there, and…” She began to tremble. “I’m cold,” she murmured. “So cold.”

I went into her bedroom and pulled a blanket off the bed. I tried to imagine what it had been like for her, feeling the knife against her skin as she waited for her husband to slit her throat, then watching while Cagin attacked and killed her husband.

Returning to the living room, I draped the blanket around her shoulders, then sat beside her.

Susie lifted a hand to her throat. “If it wasn’t for Cagin, I’d be dead now.”

“You seem very…” I searched for the right word. “Very fond of him.”

A blush stained her cheeks. “He’s been very kind to me. He listens when I talk. He makes me feel like what I have to say is worthwhile.” She smiled faintly. “He makes me feel beautiful.”

It just proved that you could never tell, from the outside, what was going on in someone else’s life, or someone else’s marriage. Had anyone asked, I would have said that Susie was happy with her husband and her marriage, but in just a few short sentences, she had proved me wrong.

She looked at me through haunted eyes. “What am I going to tell my children? What if Rick was right? Maybe they would be better off without me.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. For all I knew, Werewolves made wonderful mothers. Then again, maybe they didn’t.

Susie rested her head against the back of the sofa and closed her eyes. A moment later, she was asleep.

With a sigh, I carried her empty cup into the kitchen, rinsed it out, and then stood at the sink, my hands braced against the edge of the counter as I stared into the darkness beyond the window. Where was Rafe? What had they done with Rick’s body? How was Susie going to explain his absence to her children, her parents, his family, the townspeople? And what of Travis Jackson? No matter what story Susie concocted to cover her husband’s disappearance, Travis would suspect the truth.

Feeling a headache coming on, I fixed myself a cup of tea, then went into the living room and sat in the chair next to the sofa. Susie had been crying in her sleep. Her cheeks were damp with tears.

My heart ached for her. I wished there was something I could do to help, some words of wisdom that would ease her fears. It just wasn’t fair for such a sweet lady to suffer so much. But she wouldn’t have to suffer alone. It was obvious that Cagin was in love with her. Given the chance, he would take care of her.

And then I frowned. Cagin had said two Vampires were watching Susie’s house. Having seen Rafe’s grandmother there, I had assumed the other Vampire was Roshan, which begged the question, where had Rafe’s grandparents been tonight? Why hadn’t they followed Rick and Susie?

It was a little over an hour later when Cagin and Rafe showed up.

Cagin didn’t say a word. Lifting Susie from the sofa as if she weighed no more than a small child, he brushed a kiss across her brow, and then carried her out the door.

“Is she okay?” Rafe asked.

“As okay as she can be, I guess, all things considered. Where’s he taking her?”

“To his place, for tonight. Tomorrow, he’s taking her away from here.”

“Away where? And what about her kids? What’s going to happen to them?”

“I don’t know. I guess they’ll stay with their grandparents for however long it takes for Susie to get a handle on her new lifestyle.” He grunted softly. “No doubt her kids will have a new father soon.”

“You think she’s going to marry Cagin?”

“I’d bet my next fifty years on it.”

“But…what kind of life will that be for her boys, having a Werewolf for a mother and a shape-shifter for a stepfather? And how can they marry? I mean, he’s a Were-tiger and she’s a Werewolf.”

“They’ll work it out. It won’t be the first time such a thing has happened.”

I shook my head, amazed at his nonchalant attitude, but then, I guess after being a Vampire as long as he had, there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot that surprised him.

“Where were your grandparents tonight?” I wondered aloud. “I thought they were watching Susie’s house.”

“Mara needed their help with another matter. That’s why Cagin was there.”

“He would have been there anyway,” I muttered. “You know, I don’t understand you two. One minute you’re trying to kill each other and the next you’re both looking out for Susie.”

“I don’t care for him much, but he’s all right. He’s just got a bad temper.”

“Are Mara and Clive having any luck ending the war?”

He nodded, his expression suddenly grim. “Most of our people and the Werewolves have decided to sort of fade into the woodwork, so to speak, until things die down. Mara had a hard time convincing Clive it was the smart thing to do. Sometimes I think he’s got more pride than brains, but he finally agreed. The hunters are more organized and more numerous than we first thought. From what I understand, more than fifty Werewolves have disappeared without a trace in the last three months or so, and about half that many Vampires, and that’s just here, in the States.”

“Maybe they were killed in the war.”

“A few perhaps, but not that many with no one knowing what happened to them or where they are. Come on,” he said, “we should get out of here.”

He was right. I didn’t want to be in Susie’s house if the police came by. I wondered again what Rafe and Cagin had done with Rick’s body, and then decided I really didn’t want to know.

When we reached my house, Rafe walked me to the front door, then took me into his arms. “You should get some sleep.”

I started to say I wasn’t sleepy, but I yawned instead. It wasn’t that late, but it had been a trying night. “Will you stay with me until morning?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“I do.” After all that had happened, I didn’t feel like being alone.

I unlocked the door, and Rafe followed me inside. He locked the door and then followed me down the hall to my bedroom. He sat on the foot of the bed while I went into the bathroom to change into my nightgown and brush my teeth. Even with the door closed, I could sense his presence in the next room, feel the tension stretching like a fine wire between us, taut and quivering. Right or wrong, I couldn’t help wanting him.

Feeling a little nervous, I smoothed my gown over my hips, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Rafe was still sitting on the bed. He hadn’t been idle, though. He had removed his shirt, T-shirt, boots, and socks. His chest and shoulders were a study in masculine perfection, like a handsomely sculpted work of art. I yearned to run my hands over every inch of him, but I wasn’t sure I was prepared for what would surely follow.

He rose as I walked toward the bed, his eyes glowing with need, but a need for what?

Trembling, I pulled back the bedspread. My gaze met his for a long moment, and then I slid under the covers, my heart pounding wildly as Rafe settled down beside me.

“Relax,” he said quietly. “We’re just going to sleep.”

Relieved and yet a little disappointed, I closed my eyes. I had always heard that Vampires were cold-blooded creatures, but there was nothing cold about the man lying beside me. Warmth radiated from him like heat from a blast furnace, or maybe it was just my own overheated imagination.

“You must think me an awful prude.” I wished I could be as blasé about sex as most of the girls in my home-town had been. Some of them had embraced the New Morality with open arms. They had changed lovers as often as they changed their hairstyles and nail polish. Marriage was old-fashioned, they’d said. People were living longer now. How could anyone be expected to stay with the same person for seventy or eighty years? I pictured Rafe in my mind, thinking that seventy or eighty years would never be long enough.

My friend, Nancy Gale, had been of the opinion that a woman needed at least three husbands. Number One should be dependable and of good stock, the kind of man you’d want to father your children. Husband Number Two should be carefree and full of fun, able to show a girl a good time, while Number Three should be easygoing and good at conversation, someone to spend your declining years with.

“An awful prude,” I repeated with a sigh.

“No, I think you’re a woman who knows what she wants and won’t settle for less.”

I wished he was right. I wasn’t sure what I wanted. One day I wanted Rafe more than anything in the world, the next I was swamped by doubts. Could a big-city girl find lasting happiness in a small town? Could a mortal woman be truly happy with a Vampire? Tune in tomorrow, same time, same channel.

Rafe’s fingertips lightly stroked back and forth across my brow. “Go to sleep, Kathy. You don’t have to decide anything tonight.”

“I hate it when you do that,” I murmured.

“Sorry, love.”

“Love…I do love you, you know….”

His lips brushed my cheek, light as butterfly wings. “I know.”

His words, and the sweep of his lips on mine, lulled me to sleep.