Tales Of The Sazi 02 - Moon's Web (35 page)

"About that, Tony… "

I stared up in shock. I couldn't believe he was actually upright. He wasn't whole and perfect, by any means, but his skin was back to a normal color and he was only a little saggy around the original wound. He was aiming a little point and shoot digital camera at the ceiling and wearing an impish grin. Why in the hell was he taking pictures of the ceiling.

I let go of Sue, rolled onto my back and looked up. Sue did, as well, forgetting about the box in her hand. "Oh my." I stared, wide-eyed for a second before turning to Lucas. "Can I have a copy?" It was worth a shot. Hell, he might make a small fortune selling copies to Nikoli's pack members. A certain annoying councilman, along with four men and three huge snakes, were plastered against the ceiling, four stories up.

"What happened at the meeting?"

I hadn't noticed Nikoli standing behind the couch until Lucas said something. He paused and looked at the old wolf, waiting until he had turned his attention from the ceiling. "The Minnesota pack will be split in half. They have been offered an alternate territory in Quebec, but it's far from prime land. It was either that or Alaska, and there's the whole oil drilling debate up there." He paused. "I wish there was a better time or place to tell you all this, Lucas. But there isn't a private spot anywhere in the hotel. The meeting will begin again in the morning, and Charles mentioned you have to be elsewhere." Lucas nodded for him to continue.

"The cats will be allowed to remain as they are without grouping into prides." Lucas laughed. "I'm sure the Monier family had something to do with that!"

"Oddly, it was Ahmad's idea." Lucas looked suspicious, but Nikoli continued. "Angelique's raptors lost a parcel of hunting land in California where the humans have reestablished the condor." Nikoli's face fell. "And, I hate to tell you— I did my best, Lucas, but the council granted Catherine Turner part of your territory. I was able to hold them to only the part she'd purchased. Ahmad wanted to make an example of your wife and Dr. Perdue by exiling the entire pack hierarchy, but Charles finally agreed that it seemed too extreme for breach of doctor/patient confidentiality. It was a close vote. Fortunately, I was able to sway Angelique by voting her way on the California land. You seem to have made a few enemies on the council, Lucas."

Lucas took a deep breath and nodded. "I was afraid of that. But the odds were stacked against me. I should have stepped in myself long before now, but I truly thought that Jack could get control of his madness. He's killed too many people without regard for our law, but attacking Charles's godchild? Slaughtering his best friends? That was finally too much. He'll have to be put down, at long last. I presume they signed the warrant?"

A deep slow breath made Lucas look at Nikoli. "It's still in discussion. There are those who believe he can be saved, because of his efforts tonight. And there is the matter of the file… " His voice cut off as one of the pack members rushed by, bringing a pot of hot water from the kitchen. Obviously, this file was something that wasn't to be discussed in public, but they didn't seem to notice me and Sue, so I let them continue.

"As for my wife… well, that's been a long time coming too. I love her, but I can't protect her anymore." Then he returned to clicking pictures. But I could smell his anger, and his fear.

"Still, I am sorry. You may have to split the Boulder pack if you can't find more hunting territory." Lucas put up a hand to stop Nikoli. "Let me savor this sight for a moment longer before I have to return to reality, please, Nikoli."

It seemed that they were finished, so I decided to indulge my curiosity.

"How?… " I asked toward the pair, as though I hadn't heard a thing. I gestured toward the ceiling. They both looked up again. "Ah, yes. Ahmad said something… unfortunate to Aspen." Someone else caught Nikoli's eye and he moved off. "She lit up like the sun and he and all of his guards ended up there. Then she left and said he could find his own way down."

"She can do that?" I was impressed. I could see the brilliant glow of power the snakes were expending, trying to get down. It was making the Christmas lights and massive chandelier seem positively dim— it wasn't even making a dent in their condition.

"He's lucky that's all she did." Lucas snarled. "Then again, for Ahmad the humiliation may just be worse than death."

Bobby strode up, his expression fierce. "Lucas, I have to talk to you."

"As soon as I'm finis— "

Bobby shook his head and kept speaking. "No, I have to say this before I lose my nerve. I want every person here to know this, so that there are no questions or suppositions. I'm leaving Wolven. Asri and I are going to move south to Komodo and be wed in her old village."

Lucas held up his hand and I saw a flash of power hit Bobby in the chest. It froze him in place. "Would you stop for a minute, Agent! I already anticipated this, when I found out that Asri was pregnant. But you also have a number of months before you are a father. If you insist on leaving Wolven, you will at least train your replacement."

He released his hold on Bobby, but Raven had heard his words and was walking quickly our way. "Lucas," Raven said warningly. "We're dangerously low on agents… Fiona won't… " Lucas turned to him with flashing eyes. "Fiona is not presently in charge of Wolven, Raven. I am. I will be returning to the field myself, and will be recalling some retired agents to pick up the slack until the case load is whittled down some. We can't be positive that only one spider was born this generation. And Jack's warrant has finally been issued."

Raven looked startled and fell silent.

Lucas smiled. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, Bobby will be training his replacement." He turned to me. "That would be you, Agent Giambrocco."

Sue gave a little yip of happiness and started grinning broadly. I held up my hands. "Whoa! We have never discussed this. I don't want to be a cop."

Raven and Bobby both wore the same shocked expression as me. Lucas raised his brows, and lowered his voice to a threatening rumble. "I didn't ask?"

"Lucas," Bobby stammered, "He doesn't have enough power. He's a three-day, for God's sake!" The older man turned and stood to his full height. "Then we'll give him a powerful partner— perhaps Ivan." He held up a firm hand to both my and Raven's objections. "Tony is fast, he's smart, he's an excellent shot and, most importantly for the jobs I have in mind, he has hindsight. Think about it, gentlemen. How many cases are unsolved? One touch from him and bingo! Done and gone, case closed. And he has no messy morals to get in the way of proper punishment. We'll be busy with new cases. He'll handle the old ones." Raven and Bobby stared at me with something approaching wonder. It made my skin crawl.

"Excuse me!" I interrupted with annoyance. "I don't like being talked about in the third person while I'm standing in the room. I'm one of the bad guys."

Lucas turned back to me and raised his brows. "And you're for sale, just like always. I merely have to make sure that I'm the highest bidder. For the right price, I think you'll play by my rules. We also might have a very lucrative position for Jessica." He turned to Raven. "She's a professional bookkeeper." Raven's dropped jaw closed and his lips parted in a broad smile. "All of those acres and acres of paper on Fiona's desk! My God! I'll take the assassin as long as the wife comes with!" I shook my head. I wasn't sure I liked how this was turning out. But Sue was practically beaming.

"Please, Tony? I'd really like to have a useful job, and we could stay near each other, at least most of the time. You'd like that! And," she said with a finger pointed at me, "Who better to train me to be tougher?" I turned back to Lucas with a sigh, but he was back to taking photos of the snakes on the ceiling. I suppose I could be a cop for a little while, if it would make Sue happy. I would probably hate it, though. Sue had taken the few moments while I contemplated to open the velvet box. Since I hadn't seen what Yurgi had bought either, I glanced over. The light overhead caught the flurry of gemstones in the ring and made them sparkle like fire. Sue gasped. A swirl of white gold was covered in diamonds, sapphires and rubies. They framed and enhanced a full-carat brilliant round diamond. Impressive, and a little scary. I winced when I thought about how many batteries were probably gone. I wondered just what a good price ended up costing me.

Then I chuckled to myself. It didn't matter. No price could be too high.

I reached over and kissed Sue lightly on the lips. "Merry Christmas, Sue. I hope you'll be my wife for a long time to come. I think we should have a real wedding, instead of just names on paper. What do you think? Will you marry me, for real this time?"

She was awestruck, staring at the ring. I finally had to remove it from the box, and put it on her finger. It was a perfect fit. Another point for Yurgi. Tears rolled down her face, and she nodded her agreement. The scents of her happiness were almost overwhelming.

Bobby glanced at the ring when he caught her scent, and nodded his approval. Then he turned his attention to Lucas. Like me before, his eyes slowly followed the path to the ceiling. His jaw dropped as he finally noticed the ornaments four floors high. "Oh my God!" he whispered, but with humor in his voice. "Who are the pictures for, Lucas?"

Lucas answered without moving his lips. "Jack would lick dirt off a hyena to get a copy of these!" Bobby's face grew startled. "Jack? Jack Simpson?"

That's right! He'd been out of the picture both times. "The one and only," I replied, just as quietly. I didn't want to risk the councilman's wrath if he heard us. "He saved your tail when he gave us the antidote to the spider paralyzing venom back at the apartment."

The startled expression turned to absolute horror. "Jack Simpson saved my life?" He grew silent for a moment and all that moved were his eyes, which showed too much white.

Then he snorted abruptly. "Figures! I still haven't gotten that taste out of my mouth!"
REVENGE GIFTS

by

Cindy Cruciger

ISBN 0-765-35225-7

"You ready?" He looked directly into my eyes, and I definitely got the feeling that Howard was all business now.

Hell no, I'm not ready, but I'm not about to tell him that. Even though the big secret is out that I haven't had sex in ten years— maybe more now that I think about it— I've never fessed up to anyone about how bad the sex was when I was actually getting it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was a college kid. Sex was everywhere, so there's no excuse for not finding the big "O" with someone, or even by myself— but trust me, had I known the dry spell after college was going to be this long, I would have strapped a mattress to my back and gone to class naked until the goal was reached. Maybe.

I swallowed hard. "Ready."

He smiled that wicked little smile guys do when they know they are about to get lucky. I love that smile. It does things to my inner thighs. You have no idea. He stood up and poured two glasses half full of Merlot and walked over to hand me one.

Tapping his glass against mine he leaned in to my ear and whispered, "So am I."

… coming from Tor Romance in September 2005

THE DARK LORD

By Patricia Simpson

"Claire?" he asked, tilting his head for a better view. "You okay?"

"You— " She broke off, too stunned for words. Her mouth was full of cotton. Her legs were shaking. A chill of fear and awe coursed through her, setting her teeth chattering. She glanced at Jack's face to find him staring at her, his gaze boring into her as if seeking the image she still held in her head. He grabbed both her arms, intent on keeping her on her feet, even though her body hovered precariously out of her control, as limp as a rag doll.

"Claire?" he whispered, his voice cracking.

"I saw a— " she gasped, and Jack bent down to her. She couldn't believe he was going to kiss her, not after all the angry words they'd flung at each other. And yet, she didn't want to pull away. He spoke her name again as he drew her against his tall frame, and then his wide mouth sank upon hers, claiming her, demanding that she come into the searing reality of his embrace. Again Claire saw the horse, heard each heaving breath as horse and man merged into one— hot gasps and silken hair on her neck, hard muscles rippling beneath her palms, heat and power crushing her breasts as she was gathered against what she could only define as a pillar of strength. The kiss shocked her into the here and now, tearing through her body with the force of a wildfire.

… coming in November 2005 from Tor Romance

ISBN 0-765-35324-5

COLLIDING FORCES

By Constance O'Day-Flannery

D. shrugged. "I don't know the future— but reality has shown me that marriage isn't an easy institution."

"You have been married?"

Throwing her head back with laughter, she said, "Absolutely not! The only institution I've been in is one of learning. And college wasn't that easy."

"I see," Marcus murmured, smiling gently into her eyes.

All right. This was progressing well. Time to wrench it up a notch. "What do you see, Marcus?" She hoped her voice was as sexy as she felt now that her body temperature had regulated back to almost normal. His smile remained gentle. "I see a lovely woman who has turned her back on fairy tales and romance. Such a shame."

"Hold on. I didn't say I didn't believe in romance. I'm all for it. Just that it doesn't last." She paused, letting out her breath. "But I'm all grown up now and know how the game is played." She paused again for effect. "Any time you want to play, Marcus, just call." There. That was more like it. She was back, no simpering little female at the feet of a Roman god.

Smiling as her gaze slowly left his chest and traveled up to his eyes, she added, "I'm easy to reach." And with that parting shot, she started to walk back to the party. That was better. Let him do the chasing.

"Deborah… "

She stopped and turned around. Against her will, her breath caught in her throat as she took in the sight of his tall frame against the sunset, the breeze playing with his dark curls. Curls her fingers were itching to touch.