Savage (28 page)

Justin had told her that Lee had killed his father, Lee’s own brother. Had he done it out of necessity or madness? It had seemed monstrous to her, but her own grandfather also had blood on his hands when it came to family.

And for some reason she believed Justin, that Lee had had to. Buried memories of the weeks leading up to her father’s death were slowly coming back . . .

One night, about a week before he died, he had come home just as Katelyn was getting up in the morning for school. He hadn’t looked good; he’d been disheveled, clothes and hair completely rumpled, and he’d smelled of dirt and something more, something unpleasant that had made her wrinkle her nose.

He had cupped her chin in his hand and looked down at her. His eyes were bloodshot. His smile didn’t light up his face like it usually did. And with a jolt she remembered what he’d said to her.

“
Good morning, sweetie. You look good enough to eat all up
.”

She’d laughed, she remembered that, but she also remembered being a little frightened of him for the first time in her life.

“
But, Dad, I’m a little girl, you can’t eat little girls
.”

“
Can’t I? I’m the big bad wolf after all. And you’re my little cub.
”

“Sean!” Her mother’s voice had barreled at them like a bowling ball from the end of the hall.

Her father had dropped her chin and turned to stare at her mother. Katelyn had, too. And what she saw frightened her more than her dad’s strangeness:

Giselle’s face had gone completely white but her eyes were blazing. She had been shaking from head to toe, her fists clenched at her side. Dangling from her left fist was a silver necklace her dad had given her mom for their anniversary. Sean McBride had taken a step backward and then laughed low and hard. He didn’t sound like himself at all.

Now Katelyn paused, her hand wrapped around a tree. Her mom had clearly thought her father was a threat to her.

Because he was
, she realized.
He could have hurt me, even accidentally, or bitten me on purpose to make me like him
.

That must have been when her mom had asked Ed to come out for a visit. And he had come.

He had come.

And he had killed her father.

She gripped the tree so hard the pine needles quivered and a dusting of snow danced in the cold air. She hoped that there would be a chance to tell her grandfather that she understood. She couldn’t imagine how hard it had to have been for him to kill his own son.

But the fact that he was willing to love and protect her even though she was a werewolf was further proof that her dad must have given him no other choice.

She allowed herself a brief fantasy as she wondered how things might be different right now if she and her grandfather had been able to be honest with each other earlier.

There was no use in dwelling; what was done was done. The best she could do was promise herself that moving forward she and he would sit down and have a good long talk.

She prodded herself forward until she stood behind a tree and peered into a small clearing ringed by hooded figures. In the center they had built a sort of a stone mound, and on it several dead rabbits lay in a circle. Then in the middle, propped upright, stood the most bizarre animal skull she had ever seen. She’d seen at least two dozen stuffed animal heads on the walls of the cabin, but never anything that would contain a skull like it. As far as she could tell, it was the remains of a large dog, only with horns. Over the gleaming white surface, crosses had been painted in blue.

The Hounds of God, for sure. She strained to make out the words they were chanting, but it was another language. It sounded like it could be Latin. To what purpose, she had no idea. But she didn’t like it. Beyond not wanting them there at all, they were way too close to the cave.

Her eyes flitted from figure to figure, seeking Magus or Daniel. All wore their hoods up, but Daniel was so tall she would have been able to tell if he was there. He didn’t appear to be. As if by prearranged signal, the hooded figures lifted their hands in unison. The chanting took on a deeper tone, more sinister, and she fought back a shiver.

Her attention was drawn back to the skull. She hadn’t noticed before that a burning coal glowed in each eye socket, and tendrils of smoke were rising into the air.

They weren’t there before
, she realized.
And no one moved to put them there.

The Hounds of God began flicking their fingers repeatedly, contracting them toward their palms and then thrusting them outward, splayed apart. As one, they dropped their arms to their sides. The chanting swelled, then stopped. In utter silence, they threw their arms skyward.

The coals in the eye sockets of the skull flared.

Around Katelyn the trees took on a blue tinge and she blinked, assuming her vision was beginning to shift. Only the trees appeared to be a different color. There were no splashes of reds or oranges to indicate heat. The ground and the robes of the Hounds of God all looked the same.

The blue danced along the tree limbs, growing steadily brighter. Katelyn stared in fascination, feeling an overwhelming sensation of heat. She shoved up the sleeves of her jacket, sweat popping out all over her body. Water sluiced off the tree she hid behind; and more droplets dribbled on her head.

It’s raining.

The patch of snow on a branch above her head shrunk until it was no more. Her lips parted. It wasn’t raining. The snow was melting faster, because of the heat.

She stared at the tree limb as it glowed more brightly and began to smoke.

The blue light wasn’t just light and heat.

It was
fire
.

The hair on the back of her neck raised. The heat around her increased as if it was singeing her very bones. Panic began to set in.

But then she realized that the blue fire wasn’t traveling. It was only destroying the trees immediately around the Hounds of God.

They had summoned it. Could they also control it? Magical fire, a forest. Trick and Daniel had talked about such a “natural disaster.” Surely Trick and her grandfather hadn’t agreed to this.

The blue flames crackled. Sparks flew into the air like fireflies.

Another ring of trees glowed blue.

Someone was watching her. She dropped to a squat as she whirled around.

A figure materialized out of the dark. She kept herself poised, then relaxed slightly as she recognized Justin. He saw her; she put a hand to her mouth and he nodded, creeping up beside her and peered out at the flaming trees, a look of awe and horror on his face mirroring her own.

She let him look for a few seconds, just so he would clearly understand what was happening. Then she took his wrist and led him back a short ways away.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered. “Where are the others?”

“I marked the trail from the cabin to here as well as I could and I came back to be with you in case anyone showed up early.”

“That wasn’t what I told you to do,” she replied.

He offered his neck. “Then take my throat. But first tell me what the
hell
is going on.”

She motioned for him to follow her and they walked on tiptoe back toward the cave. The detonator was in her pocket. If the Hounds of God tried anything, maybe she could lure them into the mine and blow it up.

Could I really do that? Am I a killer?

When they had gotten closer, she picked up her pace. It wouldn’t do to be the last to arrive when she needed to be the first. Justin marched beside her without saying anything and she was grateful. She needed the time to think.

Things were going from bad to worse. There were too many variables. You’d have to be some kind of general or chess master to be able to keep them all straight and try to predict outcomes at this point.

Just breathe
, she told herself.

“What the hell?” Justin finally muttered.

“Hounds of God. Magic.”

“No. No way.” He looked back the way they had come. “It’s some kind of chemical. They doused those trees. They can’t have sprayed the entire forest.”

“They did a ritual, and then it happened,” she insisted. “And if they can do that, what else can they do?”

As she spoke, a third ring of trees caught fire and blue light shimmered in the sky above them like high-powered lights at a movie premiere.

“The fire is spreading,” Justin said. He sounded jumpy, and she assumed it was his animal side responding to the threat. “They’re trying to disrupt the meeting.”

“Maybe. But that won’t work,” she said. “The meeting will go as planned.”

He took off his cowboy hat and fanned away the encroaching smoke. “If it comes to the cave . . .”

“We’ll go inside,” she said simply. She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.

“And suffocate?” he asked.

“There’s a hole in the ceiling. At least one.”

“If that’s what you want,” he said. “You’re the alpha.”

He was putting her in charge of his survival. It terrified her.

I can handle this. Whatever they throw at me, I’ll deal.

And I’ll win.

“It’s like chess,” she said aloud. “We just need to keep track of their moves. The fire might drive more players here,” she began. “And—”

“Damn, alpha, this isn’t a game,” Justin cut in.

Out of the darkness, Lucy leaped screaming on top of Justin.

20

AS QUICKLY AS
Lucy had leaped on top of Justin, the two began to transform into wolves and they rolled down the hill in a blur of silvery gray. Katelyn’s mind registered a moment of shock. Neither of them were supposed to be able to change.

In human form, Katelyn barreled after the snarling dervish of fur and slid down the embankment. A twig scratched her cheek; then she slowed and bolted upright to take pressure off the detonator. She had crash-landed in a copse of trees. Her vision was normal, human, and she couldn’t see Justin and Lucy anywhere. She couldn’t see much of anything at all.

A low howl was cut short by a yelp of pain.

Melting ice poured down on top of her head as she pulled herself to her feet. Smoke billowed around her and she looked up. Blue flames wove and danced mere inches above her head and she darted out of reach.

Every tree around her was alight with blue flame. And then, as if someone had flicked a switch, the flames turned orange, yellow, and red — normal everyday fire.

A forest fire, as promised.

The threat of the fire triggered her wrenching, rapid-fire transformation. Agony coursed through her and it happened faster than it ever had before. Her human thoughts began to fade until she forced them to stay with a supreme effort of will. The wolf side was so strong and so much more appealing than her human side. She had a rival to kill, a mate to protect—

A soft, plaintive howl escaped her as she zigzagged out of the trees. The blood scent was nearly overpowering. Justin, where was he? The bitch couldn’t have bested him. She had ignobly ambushed him, coward that she was. She would pay, and pay . . .

Justin
, she thought. Waves of searing, brittle sensation smacked into her and then she was kneeling naked, her sides heaving.

Steam revealed a pool of blood just ahead of her and starlight dotted a human form. She scrabbled toward it.

It was Lucy, lying face down.

Katelyn reached for her and rolled her over. A sigh escaped Lucy’s mouth and for a second, Katelyn thought she was still alive. But the sound had only been air escaping from her lungs.

Lucy’s eyes were open, sightless. Her mouth was covered with fresh blood. Justin’s blood?

“No,” Katelyn whispered.

“Kat,” said Justin. Barely able to stand, he was holding onto a tree that hadn’t yet begun to burn.

She leaped to her feet and ran to him, but he stayed behind the branch and held up a hand.

“I’m hurt bad.”

“How bad? Let me help you,” she said.

“Where’s Jesse?” he asked, looking past her, searching the darkness. “He goes everywhere with her.”

“We’ll find him,” she promised. “Let me get help.”