Nine Lives of an Urban Panther (10 page)

H
ANNAH AND
E
VAN
needed only one word to describe them: nervous. Their noses twitched under their horn-rimmed glasses. Their eyes shifted from their clasped hands to mine wrapped tightly around my coffee mug. It all made me twitch.

This was my second meeting with this couple and I still had a hard time getting over their furrier sides: rabbits. But with my history with the furry creatures, I was proud I was sitting fairly still before them.

“How is the housing situation working out? You said you were looking to move in together now that you didn't have to be messengers.”

Hannah nodded, brown curls falling in her face. She didn't bother to brush them away or try to meet my eyes.

“So does that mean you found a place?”

She nodded again. And she was the talkative one of the couple. The small amount of information I had pulled out of them was that Hannah was the rabbit first, and Evan followed just a few months into their dating. Haverty was using them as messengers to deliver his dirty dealings and Hannah still bore the scars of some of the responses, which is why, though the spring was hot upon us, she was always wearing a sweater.

“So you've found jobs as well? Evan, weren't you looking into working at Sprouts?”

He nodded. “They hired me. I'm stocking for them.”

“Good. At least I know that you're eating.”

They both nodded.

“Did you remember to get off the full moon?”

Both jumped and looked at each other. There was a quiet little conversation in their eyes and I couldn't help but smile at their silent dialogue. Chaz and I didn't have a secret language. We'd have to be in the same room at the same time for that.

Hannah looked back at me. “No, but I'll call in right now.”

“How can you forget the full moon? I set one rule to be followed.”

I didn't hear how harsh my voice was, but I saw it in their entire being, felt in it the soft spider thread ties between us. They were scared. I closed my eyes and dropped my head. It was more than that, something more subtle than fear with an edge of disappointment. Who was the tyrant now?

“I'm sorry.” I sighed. “But seriously. How can you forget something that I've been reminding you about for weeks?”

“We've been trying to do what you said. Find a house. Get jobs. Open bank accounts. We're doing our best.”

I bit my lower lip before I snapped that their best wasn't good enough. Lately, my best had been fair. Maybe it was their good enough and I needed to work at making their best better.

I watched as Evan squeezed Hannah's hand. They'd gotten that part right. Find someone to be better with.

I licked my lips. “Please remember to get the time off for the full moon. We are carpooling from Riverchon Park. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes, Prima,” they answered in unison.

There was something in their tone that made me feel even worse about my leadership style.

“We did have a question for you,” Evan said.

Hannah knocked his knee with hers and gave him a wicked frowning.

“Yes, Evan?”

“Are you going to be able to do something about this?” Evan lifted up his sleeve and the dark Demon Lock stared up at me from under his plastic watchband.

I gulped and had to stop my hand from reaching out to it. “I didn't know.”

I couldn't feel it like I had with Tucker and Tyler. But if anyone fit Haverty's need for prey, this one did. Haverty only marked the weakest of his pack as tributes to the demon Jovan.

“What about you?” I asked Hannah.

She shook her head. “He knew one of us having it was as good as both of us having it.”

My heart hurt for a moment and I had a feeling it was their pain and not mine. “Do you guys remember Nash?”

They both nodded.

“I've got him trying to figure out how to break it.”

Evan nodded and rolled his shirt sleeve back down.

I reached for my planner. “Keep looking for an apartment. Hannah, let me know how the job thing is working out, and I will see you in . . .” I flipped open to the monthly calendar and tried to calculate the days until the full moon. “Five days? The full moon is in five days?”

A furrow appeared between Hannah's brown eyes.

I leaned back in my chair and stared down at the planner. Five days? Five days to prepare the farm for the invasion of twenty shifters. I was pretty sure Iris knew we were invading, but I should probably call her to get a pep talk about how she wasn't going to help me out with this.

“Okay. I'll see you guys in five days.”

The two nodded and fled the table. There wasn't another verb for it. Evan grabbed Hannah's hand and they bounded away in record time.

I leaned forward and rested my head in my hands. What the hell was I doing? An unplanned full moon, scared pack members, ghouls.

I didn't think there was even a hand basket for where this city was heading.

W
HEN
I
STORMED
into the library like I usually did, the head librarian just rolled her eyes and let me go back to special collections with my twenty ounces of coffee and bad attitude.

It got a little worse when I saw Nash and Kandice canoodling over a book. How could he be flirting when he was still researching the elementals for me and still hadn't given me an answer to breaking the Demon Lock without binding more souls? If I didn't have time for romance, neither should he.

But then Nash laughed and the feeling of it echoed in the golden thread that bound his magic to mine. Nash was happy. His energy was warm and steady. And Kandice—her silken silver strand was smooth, without the constant thrum of fear that usually ran through it.

Maybe this was Nash's person. The hound dog and the hawk. There was a certain poetry in it. I almost wished I didn't need to bring my doom and gloom, but just call me a little black rain cloud.

“You two look comfy,” I said as I walked into the special collections area.

The two jumped away from each other and stared at me like I was going to yell. Their bodies flinched, waiting for it.

First Hannah and Evan, and now Nash? I really was doing something wrong.

I slunk over to the table and pulled out a chair.

“Violet. We were just looking into elemental lore,” Nash said quickly.

“You were flirting, but as long as the research is getting done, I don't mind it.” I smiled and leaned back in my chair. “How done is the research?”

Nash looked at Kandice and they both relaxed. Another couple with a secret language? Chaz and I were missing the boat on this trend.

“We've found out how to hurt them?” Kandice squeaked. Her voice was tight and she was so very unsure of herself.

I focused in on her strand and enhanced it. She and smiled. “We found that if you can completely disconnect them from their element you can hurt them.”

“So if she's a fire elemental, I just have to douse her in water?”

“It's not quite as Wizard of Oz as that,” Nash said. “But yes.”

“Bummer.”

“But,” Kandice chimed in, “you could wrap her in wet cloth and she wouldn't be able to call on her element.”

I nodded.

“And then you could go in for the kill.”

I winced. “Not really ready for the killing part, but if she comes at me, I'd like to be able to stop her long enough to run.”

“You running?” Kandice asked.

“It happens. Not in my shining moments, but it happens.” I turned to Nash. “Ready for the doom and gloom part of this afternoon?”

Nash gulped.

“I've still got four with the Demon Lock. I'd like to be able to break it by the full moon.”

“That's five days away,” he said quickly, sitting up in his chair.

“Apparently.”

Nash reached up and pinched the bridge of his already thin nose. “I'll try. I mean, without the grimoire, I don't know how much else is out there about that.”

“Well, it looks like you have a helper now. Twice the brain power should mean half the time.”

Kandice brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, revealing flushed cheeks. “Thank you, Prima.”

“For what?”

“No one's ever given me credit like that before.”

“When you give credit to yourself, others will give credit to you.”

Nash chuckled.

“What?” I asked.

“You sound like Iris.” He smiled.

“Well,” I said, grabbing my bag and my coffee and standing up, “I do like to pretend I'm getting better at all this.”

Despite everything else that has happened today,
I thought.

I left Nash and Kandice to their research and their twitterpating.

Driving home in my little Miata, I was finally ready to admit I was exhausted. I needed sleep. Needed to stop with the coffee and try some water or, heaven forbid, chamomile tea.

I needed to get home so Chaz and I could work on the secret language that I'd seen all day. I let my brain drift into a nice little wonderland where it was just me and him and maybe a set of Egyptian cotton sheets, working on our cutesy together.

However, I also wandered into the other lane and nearly sideswiped the truck beside me.

Startled and sufficiently awake, I made it back to the townhouse, where the garage was empty. Maybe Chaz had gone for groceries. We were running dangerously low on food.

I dragged my feet through the courtyard between the garage and the house and saw flowers on the dining-room table. I slid the glass door open and felt the pressure of the amped-up protection spell above the entry.

There was a small plant on the table. It was stalky, with small purple flowers. I plucked the note from the table and the plant identifier from the soil.

“Got a call. Cause, not underwear. Should be back tomorrow. Will expect the cavalry if I'm not. Get some rest. Love, Chaz.”

I looked over at the plant marker. Catnip.

Tired laughter echoed through the blissfully quite house. Screw the secret language. He knew the way to my heart was through a joke.

I took the catnip and the note and went straight to bed.

 

Chapter Ten

S
HADOW WAS ON
the bed when I woke up. His tail wagged as he began to jump. He might have been enjoying his role as guard dog too much.

“Oh my God, what?” I said as I sat up and adjusted my tank top.

Shadow jumped off the bed and ran to the bedroom door.

I was about to tell him to use his doggie door when I heard the pounding at my front door. The next round of it shook the whole front of the house.

Rubbing my eyes, I adjusted the charm at my neck and slowly walked down the stairs. I caught a glimpse of the clock on my way. Six thirty in the morning.

Who the hell was knocking on my door at six thirty in the morning? I ran my fingers through my hair and looked out the peephole. Crap.

I flung the door open and Peter Delmont was standing on my doorstep.

“Someone better be dead,” I growled.

He just smiled. His workout attire was already soaked in sweat and I was going to blame it on my drowsy sensibilities when I admitted that he smelled amazing. “Wanted to drop these off. The paperwork was filed yesterday, so you officially own all seven properties.”

I eyed the folded manila envelope he clutched. “You couldn't wait for a decent hour of day?”

“Frankly, I thought you'd have a lackey get the door.”

“I don't have lackeys,” I said as I grabbed the envelope.

“You shouldn't be here alone. Where's that fiancé of yours?”

I frowned. He was asking entirely too many questions. “How did you even know where I lived?”

“Paperwork. The devil is in the details, Miss Jordan.”

I leaned against the door frame. His blond hair was combed back despite the exercise and his blue eyes looked almost teal in the morning light. He really was a specimen.

“Well, I appreciate the house call, Counselor. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a day to start.”

Peter licked his lips and put his hands on his hips. He looked over my shoulder and his eyes landed on the silver protection charm in the foyer. “That's big stuff.”

“It's why I don't need lackeys.”

Peter smiled, his lips still pressed together as he fought his amusement. “You really just do things your own way.”

“Pride myself on it. Will I be seeing you at the full moon or did your secretary not get it on your calendar?”

“I'll be there, sans caravan.”

“Right, because your undoubtedly phallic sports car can't be caught on the same drive as the rest of us.”

This time, his smile was wide enough to have some teeth in it. “Have a good day, Miss Jordan.”

“Mr. Delmont.”

He turned to go just as Tucker was making his way up the sidewalk still in full police regalia. Oh, this would be interesting.

I took off my charm for a moment just to feel the story between them. It took a moment for my energy to adjust to being unhampered by the spell.

The two men slowed as they approached each other and static electricity sizzled between them as they passed, eyes locked and fists clenched. They really hated each other.

Tucker made his way up the sidewalk, not taking his eyes off Delmont until he was standing before me. “Why is Delmont leaving your place sweaty at the crack of dawn?”

I laughed. “Are you serious?”

I walked into my place and Tucker followed, closing the door and locking it.

“He stopped by to drop off the keys to the properties. The signatures went through. It's official.” I tossed the keys on the dining-room table and walked into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.

Tucker leaned against the counter next to me. Shadow joined us and Tucker reached down to give him a good scratch behind his ears. Still brothers, no matter the shape.

“And he decided first thing in the morning was best.”

Discovering that coffee had not magically reappeared in my kitchen, I huffed and turned toward Tucker. “Listen. I know there is bad blood between you guys. Nash didn't tell me everything, except that he was responsible for keeping you guys on the outside of the old pack. Did you hear the keyword in there? Old pack.”

“Still think he's a do—”

“Language,” I snapped. “What is it with you guys and that word?” I turned back to get two mugs from the cabinet. There was Plan B for caffeine but I hated to result to such measures. “But he's ours. He chose me, Tucker. That has to mean something to you.”

Tucker let out a long, slow sigh. He wasn't convinced.

I put a kettle on, and with a heavy heart, dumped in two scoops of instant coffee. As I waited, I took a moment to appreciate my Riko. I'd been wearing that damn charm for so long I'd forgotten how powerful Tucker really was. Slightly pissed off, his power pulsed around him like a heartbeat.

“Besides”—I smiled—“he's the low man on this totem pole.”

Tucker seemed to take great pleasure in that as the smile spread across his face. “Where's Mr. Garrett?”

I frowned. It sounded so odd and my first response was going to be that Mr. Garrett died almost seven years ago fighting Haverty. “Mr. Garrett?”

“Your fiancé?”

The kettle started to whistle. “Why'd you call him that? He's just Chaz.”

Tucker looked down at his coffee. “Well, it doesn't seem right to just call him Chaz anymore.”

I poured the hot water and stirred. “Why not? He's still just Chaz.”

“But he's your Chaz.”

“Damn straight, but you've never called him Mr. Garrett.” I handed him the mug. It was odd to be having this conversation with Tucker after the conversation I'd just had with Chaz.

Tucker pressed his lips together and looked for his words in the steaming coffee. “He's not a Primo even though he's your mate.”

Oh, well, that was out of left field.

“Don't get me wrong. He's like a brother, bled for us, fought with us, but he's not pack.”

I took a sip of coffee. I'd been waiting for this, for the ancient politics of all this to finally mangle the situation. “What would that take?”

Tucker's smooth answer made me think that he'd prepared for this question already. “He'd have to be committed to us and break his alliances with the Cause.”

“Why?”

Tucker put down his coffee. That's how I knew that this was important to him. I put down mine to let him know it was important to me too.

“Because you can't have two alliances, Violet. It doesn't work. You'll pull yourself apart trying to be true to both.”

“Sounds like you're not just talking about Chaz.”

Tucker licked his lips. “We all understand why you weren't able to host the first full moon, but you haven't even told me of the plans for the next one.”

“We're going to the farmhouse.”

“And what then? Do you even know how to commune? What are we going to eat? The devil's in the details, Violet.”

Shivers wracked down my spine at hearing that horrible phrase again and I spilled coffee down my hand. I walked back into the kitchen to get a towel.

Tucker leaned against the door frame. “You can't half-ass this, Violet.”

I put my coffee mug in the sink, only half drunk. “It wasn't my intention to half-ass this.”

“The road to hell is paved—”

I put my finger up and stopped yet another annoying cliché. “Did you want to look at the properties with me today or just be Mr. Judgey?”

Tucker dropped his head. “Let me change.”

I
LOOKED DOWN
at the double macchiato in my hand and then up at the condo not three blocks from where I lived. Haverty had also been drawn to the intimate townhomes in Uptown for one of his seven safe houses. I tried to let the similarities stop there for now.

Tucker took the first step toward the front door. I sipped my hot beverage, let it steel my nerves, and followed after him.

It smelled like mildew and wet carpet. I covered my nose with my hand, visions of spore-induced zombies dancing through my head.

“Pipes must have burst,” Tucker said as he freely sniffed the air.

He ran his hand along the wall and found a light switch. The living room was sparse: a couch, a TV on a plastic milk crate. It looked like my first place in LA when I got the job working for Drew at Cloak & Dagger Productions.

“Guessing no one's been here in a while?” I asked as I walked into the living room.

I crushed something under my sneaker. When I lifted my foot, I saw a bag of vegetable chips. Fresh vegetable chips from Sprouts. “Or still living here.”

Carefully, I opened my borders and let my power wash over the bottom floor. Even with the dampening spell, I could still feel the hide-aways.

Two rabbits. Young. And mine. My stomach churned. I closed my eyes and sorted through the fifteen strands that floated like spider's silk through my power. When I found the correct two, I pulled at them slightly and there was an audible gasp from behind a half-sized door under the stairs.

I looked at Tucker and he nodded.

“You can come out,” I said nicely.

It took them a while, but slowly the tarnished handle turned and I saw four small brown eyes peer out of the darkness.

“It's okay,” I cooed. It didn't sound like my voice. It sounded like disappointment, but not at them, at myself.

Slowly, Hannah and Evan unfurled themselves from the small cupboard under the stairs. They stood before me, smelling like wet fur and moist wool. The smell was new since I'd last met with them, but the look of guilt wasn't.

“Hannah, you told me that you were living in Plano.”

“Actually, all we said was that we'd found a place.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I wouldn't fault her on the technicalities. “How did you know about this place, Evan?”

“Followed Carlisle for a while. He used it to have parties.”

I cringed at the name and I think they all felt it through our connection.

“You know a pipe has burst someplace,” Tucker said.

“Yes, sir,” they both answered, eyes still cast down.

I studied them. I'd never seen two people more suited to their animals. Or a couple who needed a fresh start.

I looked over at Tucker and raised an eyebrow. He held out his hand with the keys in his palm. I plucked the keys out of Tucker's hand and held it out to the couple.

“The place is yours on a few conditions.”

They twitched with anticipation.

“You clean it up. Make it livable.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“You keep it that way.”

“Yes ma'am.”

“And if one of your pack mates needs help . . .”

Their eyes darted to mine. “We will give them a home.”

The sentiment hit me like a warm shot of tequila. It started in my chest and spread out to my extremities. I couldn't help but smile. There were lights in their eyes, or maybe it was a hum in the connection between us. I liked it. It felt like being a Prima. Felt like I might be doing something right.

“You've got a week to get that smell out of here.”

Hannah looked over at Evan and he nodded. She reached out took the keys. “We will.”

I looked around the place and back at them. It would be the perfect nest for two rabbits, who could make more rabbits. The thought of a whole host of rabbits sent a chill down my spine.

“Something wrong?” Tucker asked.

“My burden. Let's leave these two to it and head over to the next one.”

“Thank you, Prima Jordan,” Hannah called out.

“I'll see you in a few days. Full moon, remember?”

As we left, I think I heard a happy squeal from the two inside.

S
OMEWHERE IN THE
middle of the third property, my stomach growled.

“See, I knew you weren't eating,” Tucker grumbled as we walked through the kitchen.

“I'm fine,” I said. I grabbed a packet of peanuts from the bottom of my bag. “See, not starving.”

But the peanuts smelled too good and the roasted honey smell of them filled my senses. I was hungry. Too hungry.

I threw a handful of nuts in my mouth. “What's this?” I asked as I turned the handle of a small door that looked like a pantry off the kitchen.

When you are about to engage four ghouls in battle, might I recommend not doing it with a mouthful of honey-roasted peanuts?

Four slimy humanoids rushed out of the white door.

“Violet,” Tucker yelled.

I put my hands out against the barrage and a thumb sunk into shoulder meat. That's why I shouldn't have had the peanuts. Bile rose up in my throat at the rotting breath of the thing that came out at me.

Two rushed past me toward Tucker and I managed to kick one of them back into the pantry.

The ghoul's milky eyes seemed to look at me as his hands came out again.

Instinct took over and I struck him with an open palm strike, only to feel his ribs crack beneath my palm and not stop him coming.

He swung a limp arm at me and I pulled back, but not far enough, and his long dead nails raked my cheek, drawing blood.

I should have been more in control. I should have been well fed and well rested and maybe been taking the time to shift every now and then, because the moment that I smelled blood, the panther took over.

I fell back against the kitchen counter and into the silky blackness of my animal.

W
HEN
I
CAME
to, I was kneeling naked over a decapitated body with a slightly cheesy taste in my mouth. Crap and double crap.

My heart raced as I looked around the scene to piece together what was going on. Body parts lay all over the empty dining room. The smell of filth was all around us. I looked down at my pale skin to find it slick with this black ooze. Why I was naked?

Movement to my left drew my attention as Tucker shifted back into his human form.

“Violet?” His voice was high and tight as he turned away and shielded his eyes. “What the hell happened, Violet?”