The Gathering (9 page)

Carmen had wanted control of the pack enough
to kill for it. She’d lured Garrett here in hopes he’d kill
Malcolm. Who would Carmen lure to kill Garrett when he didn’t play
by her rules?

The thought caused a shiver to race up her
spine. Would Carmen kill him? When Garrett told her he didn’t want
her, that she could help rule the pack but he didn’t want her in
his bed, would Carmen try to get rid of him, too?

She will.

As much as Rayna didn’t want to bow down to
Carmen she couldn’t leave knowing she left her mate vulnerable.
Garrett belonged to her, to the wolf hiding inside her flesh.

Putting the car back into gear, she turned
around in the middle of the road and started back to the house. She
barely made it to the first turn when her headlights flashed on
someone stepping out of the forest and into the road.

She slammed on the brakes, her heart
hammering in her chest as she looked at the man who stood in her
path. It took her a few minutes to recognize him and her eyes
widened when she did.

“Please get out of the car, Ms. Ford.”

She didn’t have time to do as he asked before
the door was jerked open. “Kill the engine.”

Rayna scowled at the man standing there.
“Erik Foster. Why am I not surprised?”

“You know my name?”

“Of course. Garrett told me. He also told me
you were a liar and that you were up to no good. I guess he was
right.”

Erik laughed before reaching in and turning
the car off. Rayna winced when he pulled her roughly from the
vehicle. “I’ll have to work harder on my acting skills. I was sure
Garrett bought my reason for being at the house.”

“Well, unlike you,” Rayna said, “Garrett
isn’t stupid.”

He slapped her, her head turning with the
blow. She stared at the ground, her eyes watering before he jerked
her around to face him again.

Stan took a step forward. “That isn’t
necessary. We aren’t to harm her.”

Erik grinned. “I didn’t harm her. Besides, a
little slap is the least of her problems.”

Rayna turned her attention to Stan. He looked
exactly how she remembered him. Tall, thin, wearing jeans and
cowboy boots. A brown corduroy jacket paired with a hat in the same
color completed the look.

He’d been missing since the night Malcolm had
died. The pack had searched the mountain for him with no luck. She
didn’t get time to wonder where he’d been when the sound of a car
caught her attention. Turning her head, she saw an SUV coming
toward them.

When it stopped, and the doors on the
passenger side opened, Rayna could only stare as Carmen stepped out
onto the road followed closely by a man she’d never forget.

The vampire, Sabriel.

Sabriel was the first vampire Rayna had ever
met. He’d shocked her so much upon meeting him, and seeing his
fangs when he smiled at her, that she’d laughed in his face. She
wasn’t laughing now.

She stared at him as he rounded the front of
the SUV, stepping into the light. The last time she saw him he’d
been wearing a suit and a silk shirt while attending Malcolm’s
little infection party. Now, he wore black slacks and a shirt in
the same vibrant green as his eyes.

Her heart started pounding the longer she
looked at him and she turned away, hoping her face didn’t show her
surprise. She focused her gaze on Carmen and took a steadying
breath to try and calm her nerves.

Carmen walked toward her, glancing into the
backseat of Mitch’s car before smiling. “Going somewhere?”

The urge to play a deaf mute was great but
Rayna felt a prickling along her limbs. Heat surged through her
body and she knew the wolf was stirring. She smiled and looked
Carmen in the eye. “I was just going to drive down to the corner
market and pick up a Slurpee. You want me to grab one for you,
too?”

Carmen wasn’t amused. “Either you’re trying
to be funny or you’re just too stupid to realize how serious your
situation is.”

Rayna’s smile widened. “It doesn’t really
matter what I think, does it? I’m sure you’re not here to say your
good-byes.”

“No. I’m not.” Carmen stared at her for long
minutes before sighing. “I really wished you would have stayed at
the house. I was looking forward to killing you.”

Rayna spread her arms wide. “Nothing’s
stopping you.”

“Ah, but no one is here to see your last
minutes. It wouldn’t be quite as fun to just drop your bloody
corpse on Garrett’s door. I want to see his face as your life
drains away.”

“Dramatic,” Rayna said. “You should have been
a writer instead of a bitch. You may have been able to get more
attention.”

The slap Carmen delivered hurt worse than
when Erik hit her. She knew then Erik hadn’t meant to hurt her.
Carmen did.

When her eyes stopped watering, Rayna jerked
her arm away from Erik and straightened her spine. “I’m getting a
little tired of being slapped around! What do you want?”

“Me personally? To see you dead, but it seems
the others have different plans.”

Others? What others? Rayna gave everyone
present another glance before returning her attention to Carmen.
“Which are?”

“For you to expose us to the world.”

Rayna looked over at Sabriel, then. He was
still standing in front of the SUV, his body illuminated by the
headlights. He was staring at her. She couldn’t tell what he was
thinking. His face was stoic, his eyes looked cold, and she
wondered how she could have ever thought the man attractive. He was
a monster, just like the others. He didn’t care about anything
other than himself and she was sure her death wouldn’t disturb his
sleep patterns.

Thinking of her own death, Rayna looked back
over at Carmen, the woman who wanted the honors of ending her life.
It may not happen today, but Rayna knew it would soon. Sabriel
being there wasn’t a coincidence. Erik’s speech to Garrett hadn’t
been a complete lie, either.

The Breed Leaders were still interested in
her. She wondered if Carmen had planned this all along or if
meeting up with Sabriel had just been dumb luck. The first seemed
more logical. The Collective had sent someone to retrieve her and
Carmen had been the one to guarantee the delivery. Either way she
looked at it, she’d lost. She lost Garrett, her freedom and, once
the public saw her shift into a monster, she’d lose her life.

She forced her attention back to Carmen. “So,
I suppose this the part where I’m supposed to cry and beg you for
my life?”

Carmen grinned. “That would be fun but it
will help you very little.”

“Good. I’m not much in the begging mood.”

The look on Carmen’s face grew smug as she
looked over Rayna’s shoulder to Stan. “Take her car to the high
ridge and run it over the side. Meet me back at camp when you’re
finished.”

Erik pulled Rayna to the edge of the road as
Stan got behind the wheel of Mitch’s car. She stumbled and Erik’s
arms wrapping around her waist was the only thing to keep her from
falling. His hands roamed places they shouldn’t have and lifting
her foot, Rayna planted her heel on his shin. His scream brought a
smile to her face.

Jerking away from him, she watched Stan drive
away, the taillights disappearing from view. She looked back at
Carmen. “What are you going to tell Garrett?”

“Nothing. I’ll just let him think you left
him, but don’t worry. He won’t miss you long.” The smile on
Carmen’s face grew and her eyes flickered to amber. She raised her
hand, sliding her fingers over the top of her breasts. “I’ll make
sure of that.”

The heat Rayna felt in her limbs intensified
and she tramped down her fear and let the wolf have full rein,
biting back a gasp when she felt the pain seconds before her nails
started to extend. Carmen grinned at her and said something, the
words lost as she concentrated on the wolf.

Carmen laughed and the sound was like daggers
to the skull. That shrill noise was enough to enrage the beast, and
gave Rayna the courage to lunge forward. Her claws bit into the
side of Carmen’s neck, blood spilling over her fingers. Carmen
screamed, her eyes wide before they fully changed color.

The woman could shift as easily as Garrett
did. In less than a minute, she’d gone from a curvaceous female to
a massive beast.

She backhanded Rayna with a clawed hand and
sent her flying toward the ditch at the edge of the road. When she
hit the ground, Carmen howled loud enough to cause the hair on the
back of Rayna’s neck to stand on end.

Carmen’s wolf was black and like the other
Alpha’s, stood on two feet. The moon was still hiding behind the
clouds and even though her eyesight had improved, making Carmen out
in the dark was difficult.

She saw her move when she stepped into the
light from the SUV’s headlights and tracked her movements. She
debated just lying there but didn’t want to be on her back if
Carmen attacked again.

Standing, Rayna closed her fist. The claws
were gone. She tried to sense the wolf but didn’t feel her. She
almost laughed. As many times as the thing tried to get out, the
moment she actually needed it, the little coward fled. Stepping
back onto the road, she faced Carmen.

Her options were few. Either Carmen killed
her now or she’d be delivered to the Collective and she’d die in a
crowd of onlookers as they gawked at the monster she’d shift into.
Either way she lost.

Raising her hand to wipe a trickle of blood
from her lip she straightened her spine and looked the wolf in the
eye. “You hit like a girl, Carmen. No wonder Garrett’s wolf didn’t
want you.”

The next swing knocked her off her feet and
slammed her into the side of the SUV. When she hit the ground, the
world went fuzzy. Her entire body ached and she hoped she’d be
unconscious when the killing blow came.

She saw Carmen coming toward her, her lips
pulled back to expose teeth sharp enough to saw bone in half. Rayna
closed her eyes, pictured Garrett’s face in her minds eye, and
wondered what he’d do when he found her… if there was anything left
of her for him to find.

Someone touched her back and she opened her
eyes. Carmen was still coming toward her but the words, “That’s
enough,” stopped her.

Rayna watched Carmen, her vision blurry.
Someone moved her, rolling her over onto her back. She groaned and
blinked, gasping as she was picked up in strong arms. Focusing her
eyes, she looked at who held her.

Sabriel was staring down at her. His eyes
weren’t that forest green she found so fascinating, instead they
were pale blue, almost white. His skin was ashy and she knew then
he could go all creepy like Lydia.

He said something before walking around the
front of the SUV and to the open door. He sat her inside and
climbed in behind her, mumbled instructions to the driver, and they
were moving before Rayna could get her wits about her.

When she could think clearly, and realized
they were moving, she reached for the door, jerking on the handle.
It didn’t move. “Let me out.” She raised her fist, beating on the
glass while pulling at the handle.

Sabriel grabbed her and pulled her across the
seat. His arms circled her, holding her tightly against his chest.
“Relax, Ms. Ford.”

“You relax! And let go of me.” She struggled
against him, his hold on her tightening until she was barely able
to move. “You can’t do this!”

“But we already have.”

“And you’ll get your head ripped off when
Garrett comes to get me.”

He chuckled and the sound skated across her
flesh like a feathery touch. It caused goose bumps to pimple her
skin and she had to bite her tongue to keep from moaning at the
sensation. She stared out the window, watching the trees rush by in
a blur.

“You were found on the main road with
luggage. Will your mate think it foul play when he finds you
gone?”

Rayna did want to cry then. She’d told
Garrett she was leaving and had sex with him shortly after. He left
their room thinking she had changed her mind. What would he think
when he came back and found her gone? Would he come after her or be
so pissed he’ll welcome Carmen back with open arms?

She slumped against Sabriel and kept her gaze
on the window. They were on the main road, miles from the house.
Mitch’s car had been disposed of and no one would know she was with
the Collective.

No one other than Carmen and she wasn’t going
to tell.

It was in that moment she realized no one
would be coming to her rescue. By all appearances, she’d left.
She’d told Garrett she was leaving. He’d watched her pack a bag,
heard her tell him she couldn’t stay. Why wouldn’t he think she’d
done exactly that when he found her, and her luggage, missing?

The seriousness of the situation hit her,
then. She was in the hands of the very men who wanted to harm her.
Once she had been delivered to the Collective, she’d have no choice
but to play along with them. They’d force her to shift in front of
the world and her life would be over. If she wasn’t killed
immediately, she’d be locked up and used for lord knows what.

Turning her head to look over her shoulder at
Sabriel, she noticed his features were normal again. He was staring
at her and an unreadable look lingered in his eyes.

Rayna blinked and struggled against him,
surprised when he let her go. She moved across the seat, putting as
much distance between them as she could. “Can you believe I
actually entertained the thought of you being one of the good
guys?”

He smiled and her heart did a funny little
dance in her chest. “You don’t think so now?”

“No. The good guys help out when the damsel
is in distress.”

“I did help. I stopped Carmen from killing
you.”

Rayna chuckled. “You just prolonged the
inevitable. Once I perform parlor tricks for the Collective, I’m as
good as dead!” She winced and reached for her jaw. She wouldn’t be
surprised if half her teeth fell out by morning. Between Carmen’s
wicked backhand and the impact with the ground, she could only
imagine what her face looked like. It already felt swollen and
would probably be a pretty shade of ugly by morning.