Skin Deep (14 page)

Justin would have a perimeter guard out. Iain had always spoken of his military precision with a certain admiration. I borrowed my Panther ears, allowed them to soften and lengthen. I caught a slight rustling as guards moved in the trees around me. Over Anjelo's annoyingly loud breathing, that is. He kept a few paces back, but his panting could've woken the dead.

The guards' breathing hummed, low and soft—trained to blend into the foliage. But I could scent them as well as they could scent us. And they never hid their presence, allowing us to locate them. I wasn't intimidated. I glanced at my bumbling, reluctant companion, certain if Anjelo became aware we were being watched, he’d give off sloughing waves of fear that would entice them to us, inviting them in for the kill.

Four guards emerged before I got to the edge of the grounds, emanating waves of pure animosity. The rigid set of their shoulders meant they could smell the Alpha in me. Probably the only reason I still stood in one piece.

They approached me two on each side. Tough guys. I'd brought my bow along for the ride, my backpack nestling it close to my body. Even unarmed, I was not afraid. I could take them, and from the wary glances they exchanged, I knew they knew it too.

They slowed their approach, their steps cautious.

Anjelo came crashing through the brush, complicating the serious nature of the meeting. I sidestepped off the path, hoping he wouldn't crash into me. I could hardly be intimidating while lying at their feet.

One of them, tall, bulky with a shock of red gold hair, stepped in front of me, eye to eye, paying no heed as Anjelo came to a skidding halt beside me.

"Who are you, and what do you want? This is Lake's land." His jaw clenched… relaxed. Clenched again.

"I am Kailin Odel, Panther Clan. I need to speak to Justin—it's urgent." A copper eyebrow rose. Indifferent. I squelched a sigh. I was in for a hard time.

"Follow me." He turned on his heel and stalked toward a large house flanked by a dozen modest homes on either side. It had the feel of a modern housing development. Pretty place Lake had carved out for himself here. Their protectiveness made sense.

They waved me into a small front room, a reception area of sorts, while Anjelo remained on the porch, guarded by Red. There I sat for a full ten minutes without any further attention. I'd expected someone to come back—at least to say how long Justin would be.

I hated waiting. Unless I was hunting. Then I savored the anticipation. Now I fidgeted until I finally gave up and left the room. I crossed the hall and walked straight into a large sitting room, empty except for one rather large male Cougar.

"I wondered how long you'd be." He smiled, a hint of white teeth glittered and I wondered what his canines would look like fully formed.

"Well, I didn't want to offend you by barging in." I retorted, hardly ready to apologize for the intrusion. And happily taking in the sight of the blond Walker, all broad shoulders and toned muscle.

"You just did." He gave me a wry smile.

"I have other stops to make. If I stay here any longer, I'll be late getting back home."

"So, Kailin of the Panther clan, what's this matter of urgency you need to speak of?"

He watched and listened as I recounted my discovery of the body and its condition.

"So what's it to me?" Justin leaned back, the chair squeaking its protest.

"The victim was a Cougar. I scented his pack in his blood." A vision of the flayed face hovered before me and I squeezed my eyes shut. No weakness. Not now.

Justin leaned forward in his chair. I could smell his awareness.

"And you waited this long to let us know?" His eyes glittered.

"I found out who he was in the last couple of hours. And you happen to be my first stop. I wanted to tell you face-to-face. Not some impersonal phone call telling you one of your pack mates has just been murdered." I leaned in, hands on the table. We faced each other, mere inches apart.

"When did you find this body?"

"The night before last. Around eleven."

"And it took this long to find out who he was?"

"Listen, Justin. The body was skinned, not an inch of flesh was left. We had no way of identifying him until a count was done and someone figured out they hadn't seen him for a few days." I found it so difficult to say his name—Jeremy. It was easier for me to continue thinking of the body as just a body, and not a person.

Coward
.

"Who's next on your list?"

"Byron, then Iain."

"Left your brother for last?" He punctuated the question with a curve of his eyebrow.

"Yes. Is that not acceptable to you?" I barely checked my attitude at his snippy tone.

Why did he care what order I was visiting the packs? I refused to participate in some male pissing contest.

"Anyone missing in the last few days?"

"This is a free society. I don't control the movements of everyone in the colony." Justin avoided my eyes. He knew something and wasn't ready to share.

"Did you send someone down to the city? Jeremy Ryan?"

Justin stilled, taking his time to answer.

"We aren't obligated to you just because you gave us the information."

"No, you're not obligated, but head counts are being done across all the packs. The first victim may have been a Cougar, but there may be others we don't know about yet. We can't take any chances. He may not be from around here at all. He may be from the Deep. Who knows? We need to be more vigilant until this scumbag is caught."

"Fine. I’ll get a count done and call you." He hesitated. "Okay, Kailin, I owe you this at least." Justin shoved his chair back, as if suddenly uncomfortable. "Jeremy was one of ours. We haven't heard from him in a while. We'd assumed he'd 'defected.'" A wry laugh.

"What was he doing? Infiltrating our Clan?" I was bristling with anger. The nerve of them.

"It's wrong. Clans are of one people. Not a mishmash of every pack around, thrown in with Mages and Humans. It's not right." Justin turned, raking me with a glare so icy I knew he believed every prejudiced word that fell from his lips.

"We
are
one people. We have a common need—community. There are those who are not happy with this integration, and they have the right to voice their opinion. The Deep is a combination of all the people within the city who need help and need a society where their own has failed them."

"A bunch of misfits then?"

"Yep, and proud of it." I smiled. "Oh and there’s something else. I've been told there’s a drug on the streets that may be addictive to Walkers. Know anything about that?"

Justin stared at me, his face tight. "What? You know that’s not possible, Kai."

"Yeah but I had to ask. There's no solid proof as yet. Just rumor. But if you hear anything please let me know." He nodded.

I turned to leave and threw a glance back at him again.

"Why do you still hate each other?" I asked.

He remained silent at first, cogs turning in his head. "You should ask him." Justin shook his head. "Just leave it, Kai. It was a long time ago, and hate leaves canyons of pain in its wake."

"Is it worth it?" I wanted to know, simply because I'd seen the same loss and longing in my brothers eyes when he spoke of Justin. "Wouldn't Sonia want you two to be happy?"

He rose and came to stand before me. Should I be afraid of this large Walker?

"It's complicated."

"So is life." I looked up at his strong, yet gentle face. "You were friends for so long."

"The best of friends," he whispered, his words soft, reminiscent. I wished so badly they would at least try to rekindle that friendship. Shattered by the death of a sister and a wife, I didn't believe it should stay that way. Sonia would’ve wanted them to be there for each other.

Justin read it all in my eyes, and I was glad when he opened the door and let me out without a word.

After my run-in with Justin, all I wanted was to go back home. Knowing Justin for the better part of my life had certainly not given me any prior understanding of the man. I hated the bad blood that simmered between Iain and Justin. Sonia's ghost still shimmered between them. Iain's wife; Justin's sister. And Justin blamed my brother for Sonia's death. Or maybe for not being the one to die instead of Sonia.

***

Done with Justin, I headed off to meet Byron Teague. Wolf Alpha, and danger personified. His pack happened to be the largest wolf pack in the state of Illinois, which pretty much made him the big cheese of Wolf Alphas for miles around. As much as my instinct told me to turn and run, I owed it to him to clue him in. Especially after what happened to Jeremy. If the killer was after a Skinwalker, all Walkers were in danger.

I looked over at Anjelo as we stepped out of Cougar territory onto a safer, uncontrolled portion of the mountainside. Emotions spun in his eyes, a carousel of relief, gratitude and waning fear. I felt like a total heel to have to put an end to his happy smile.

"We have to speak to Byron." I hadn't mentioned a visit to the Wolf Prime, knowing it would elicit a bad reaction. Skinwalker packs tended to be just as prejudiced as Humans, and the canine-feline divide was often more insurmountable.

The smile faded slowly from his lips, followed quickly enough by his eyes.

"You know, I always knew you were a bit...strange." He tapped the side of his head and glared at me. "But I never thought I would see the confirmation that you were crazy. You have any idea how dangerous that will be? It won't matter that you're an Alpha. You're a damned feline Alpha, and that makes you prey. You are friggin' insane."

It always paid to allow Anjelo's ravings to run its course, so I let him continue with his tirade, uninterrupted. After a while, he ran out of points to consider, ran out of fingers to tick off with reasons why this was a very bad idea.

"If you go to Byron, I won’t go with you."

"Who said you were invited?" My question caught him in a twist of comical surprise.

"Fine, I'm going home." He brushed passed me, the air around him reeking of damaged ego.

"Home?" I squelched my giggle. He did look amusing, pursing his lips in annoyance.

"Yes. I'm going to see my mother." He rounded on me, as if to continue the line of thought with a well-placed insult and stopped. And I loved him all the more for it.

It would’ve been so easy, caught up in anger and annoyance, to jab me on the lack of my mother's presence. But Anjelo had stopped. Even in the heat of anger, my feelings came first, and I felt a rush of love toward my friend and ally.

"I'll meet you there. After I see Byron."

Anjelo had no choice but to walk away. Fear and ego were not happy bedfellows.

Unlike Angelo, I had nothing to fear from the Wolf Pack. Byron would see me out of respect to my brother and father, if not out of respect to me as an Alpha.

***

The Wolf-Walker colony nestled in the foothills of the valley, over the next ridge. One might consider the proximity of the feline and canine colonies an invitation to danger, but both colonies were policed well enough to ensure neither group sought each other out. Anjelo was wrong to be so concerned for my safety. Or perhaps it was his own chicken-skin he was afraid of losing. Either way, we would’ve traveled relatively unharmed, straight to Byron's lair.

And although I’d expected Byron would be less than helpful, his lack of interest in our predicament bordered on insult. Unlike the Cougars, these guys wasted no time in bringing me to their Master. I was marched right up to the edge of Byron's desk, where I waited, flanked by two of his most muscle-bound guards. I gritted my teeth at the invasion of my personal space, at their uncouth treatment, but thought it wisest to bite my tongue.

"Give me one good reason why I should give a hoot? It's a Cougar problem, not a Wolf one." He spoke the words, clear he considered Cougars and other Walkers of a similar ilk, to be nothing higher than a cockroach on his version of the food chain.

"The killer may not only be targeting feline Walkers, Byron. He hasn't established a pattern yet." Déjà vu anyone.

No response there.

"We'll get involved if and when we are convinced it's necessary."

"So will you at least do a head count?"

I was beginning to feel a little dizzy. What was it with these damned Alphas? It seemed to be a sore point when they were asked to count the members of their colonies. Or perhaps they didn't take kindly to a female giving them orders.

"Every pack in the Chicago basin is, at this moment, processing their colonies, ensuring they know where everyone is. Are you telling me some stupid racial prejudice means you won't do the responsible thing because the cats are doing it?"

I was so disgusted with his childish behavior I barely registered the words as they left my mouth. Barely registered Byron as he flashed toward me, claws drawn on huge hairy paws, each easily the size of my head. Then the room tilted. I was falling. I’d expected my head to crash in the polished redwood, and when the crunch of my skull on the wood did not come, I found myself flat on my back, Byron lying beside me, one paw cushioning my head while the other was splayed at my neck, claws bared.