CHAPTER 10

A quick hot shower, a change of clothes—courtesy Colonel Madison’s order to two MPs to get Sasha and Hunter uniforms—and she was good to go. Sasha fingered her engagement ring that she’d threaded onto the silver chain that held her amulet while she waited for Hunter in the Jeep. Back in the bayou, one shape-shift and she’d almost lost it. The silver amulet always seemed to hang right and to fall in place just so when she’d transform, but even that was a battle hazard. Now she thoroughly understood why wolves didn’t wear the traditional American demarcation of being unavailable. One thing for sure, though: She was tired of living like a nomad.

Somewhere along the way from New Hampshire to the NAS she’d lost her duffel bag. She was pretty sure that she and Hunter had dropped their belongings at Sir Rodney’s sidhe, since that was the first stop. But between all the shadow hopping, location changes, and then a shape-shift, she couldn’t be a hundred percent certain where she’d left anything. And that was the problem. They were always on the move. Nomads.

Her goldfish, Fred, had died months ago, due to either lack of care or overfeeding by Mrs. Baker. Sasha shuddered to think about how her brother was going to cope with a baby on the way. How did Shadow Wolves rear children anyway, or was it just that her life as the pack’s female alpha and enforcer mated to the pack’s supreme alpha male was the thing that made her life so insane? Did wolves do the suburbs, soccer practice for kids, or Little League? Sheesh.

The more she thought about it, when was the last time she’d even been in her own apartment? It was tidy, IKEA furnished, but it wasn’t home. Hunter had his bachelor’s cabin out in the Uncompahgre, and they’d created a love nest in a cabin up in New Hampshire. But where was base camp going to be? The French Quarter? It was one more thing that she and Hunter never talked about; life would just get crazy and then they’d up and shift and run. Then celebrate. And not a lot of talking got involved in the celebration. Howling, yes. Talking, no. Right now, for some reason, she had questions. About a hundred of them.

Sasha stared at the diamond-heavy ring that dangled at the end of the silver chain looped around her neck. New dog tags for sure. Her brother had gotten married. Hunter was talking about getting married. Shogun was planning on getting married. Bradley and Clarissa were gonna probably cave any day now.

“You okay?”

Sasha almost leaped out of the Jeep and then closed her eyes and allowed her body to slump. “Don’t do that, jeez.”

“Walking light is just force of habit,” Hunter said, looking concerned as he jumped into the driver’s seat and gunned the engine. “I guess with gargoyles flying I should have announced myself sooner. Sorry.”

“It’s cool,” she said, glad that Hunter mistook her jumpiness as mission related. Once he’d mentioned gargoyles, the other thoughts that had been tugging at her faded into the background of her mind. “I think you were right to want to take the Jeep. No sense in freaking out the Chens by stepping out of a shadow in their store.”

“I was also hoping that it might be a good opportunity for you to have a brief word with Amy.” Hunter glanced at Sasha from the corner of his eye as they pulled up to a military exit checkpoint. “I sort of promised Shogun you would, even though we have other pressing matters. This is important to my brother.”

Sasha nodded and handed the clipboard to the guard shack MP, saying nothing until they had clearance. “Okay,” she said, once they were well past the barricade.

Hunter glanced at her again. “Just ‘okay’?”

Sasha shrugged. “Yeah. Like, Oooo. Kaaay. What?”

“Usually there’s much more than ‘okay.’ ” He held up a hand and smiled when she drew a breath. “I’m okay with ‘okay’ as long as you’re okay with ‘okay.’ I just didn’t know if it was okay—but I’m pissed or okay—cool. Sometimes I don’t speak she-Shadow and I wanted to be sure I wasn’t in the doghouse.”

“You’re not in the doghouse,” she said, finally cracking a smile. “It’s just, what do you guys want me to say to this young woman? In fact,” she said, turning around in her seat to fully face Hunter. “What does any woman say to another woman about something like this?”

“Okay,” he said, giving her quick glimpses between trying to keep his eyes on the road. “This is what I meant by are you okay with this. My gut is never wrong; my wolf is always right. You’re—”

“Twisted up, Hunter.” Sasha sat back and ran her fingers through her damp hair. “Amy loves the ground that man walks on. To her, he’s a freakin’ deity. I mean, Hunter, she sees him as the knight in shining armor, the man who saved her from demons! He was gentle, and patient, and met her family. His ferocious nature only came out to protect and serve her, to save her life. Then he delivered her to a magical castle and nursed her back to health, and brought her home to her parents, who wept at her return. Then he goes with her to China and meets all her relatives.   and sends gifts and receives her like royalty—because he is. Then you guys concoct a plan in the woods, mind you, while I’m not there, and I have to be the one to tell this poor girl there’s no Santa Claus?”

“Sasha, I—”

“No, let me finish,” she said, feeling her face become warmer and warmer the more she thought about it. “This is much worse than the whole Santa Claus analogy, which doesn’t even begin to do it justice. No, Hunter, you guys owe me big-time for this because I have to tell some virginal young bride-to-be that her fiancé gets really, really horny when there’s a full moon out and needs to go break-your-back primal, so, sorry, he’ll cheat.”

“Oh, man, Sasha, my brother really does love her, even though he has a Werewolf compulsion that Shadows don’t own. You make it sound so.  ”

“Real? The word ‘real’ comes to mind, Hunter.” She folded her arms over her chest but kept looking straight ahead as he drove faster. “Upper and lower canines presented, eyes glowing gold, and this dude will be howling on his wedding night and then need a half a side of raw beef to come down or go into priapism. Or he’ll have to be in a Werewolf brothel every twenty-eight days when the moon goes full.”

“Damn. ,” Hunter muttered. “I know, but you make it sound so.  ”

“Not one affair, not one little indiscretion that maybe a marriage counselor can fix,” Sasha railed on without missing a beat.

“But it’s a biological issue—a.   a.   disability.” Hunter glanced at Sasha and then looked straight ahead. “Baby.   he’s a Werewolf, for crying out loud.”

“I’m not arguing his pedigree; I’m just stating the facts that I have to convey to a normal human chick who is crazy in love.”

“Well, I know Shogun loves her, too,” Hunter said with triumph in his voice.

“Did you hear what I said?” Sasha turned in her seat and waited until Hunter glanced at her. “The operative words are ‘crazy in love.’ It’s the kind of thing that gets a man poisoned at his own dinner table or stabbed to death in his sleep. He may be a Werewolf, but she’s a woman, so hey.”

“You think she’d go there?” Hunter quickly turned and looked at Sasha, who casually shrugged and turned away to stare out of the window.

“You never know what a person will do. I don’t think she’ll leave him, no matter what he says. And he’s not going to be able to fix this. We are talking about a pattern, Hunter. A lifestyle or whatever. Call it what you want to, but it’s gonna be brutal, emotionally, on the bride. So, unless that fragile lotus flower of a girl can land on her feet after a hard wolf toss or take a running body slam on a hard rollover—”

“Okay, okay, we owe you,” Hunter said, gripping the wheel.

“Oh, maaaan, what am I going to tell that poor girl?” Sasha let her head drop into her hands. “Now that supernaturals are coming out of the closet, there should be a new instructional-video industry that springs up for human education.”

“Now that would beat chasing gargoyles and Vampires at night,” Hunter said, swallowing a smile.

Sasha slapped his arm and then they both laughed.

“Be serious, Hunter.”

“I am being serious..   I’m not shy.”

“You are incorrigible.”

Hunter waggled his eyebrows as he turned into the Chens’ block. “You don’t know the half of it. Moon’s up. I’m showered. Hungry. The subject matter is—”

“Get out of the Jeep, man,” Sasha said, shoving Hunter’s arm.

“It all begins with wolf play, an aggressive push, a bite, and—”

“You are so getting on my nerves,” she said, trying not to laugh, and then leaped out of the vehicle.

As Hunter turned off the engine, she listened, trying not to smile at his low, subsonic chuckles. He was right on her heels.

Walking away from him quickly, she rang the bell to the apartment that was above the now-locked storefront. This detour made no sense. But she knew Hunter well enough to know that, he was trying to tidy up loose ends before potentially going into battle. That whole honor and my-pledge-is-my-bond thing sounded good on paper but was sometimes a royal pain in the ass. Like now, when they had much more important things to deal with. Besides, this was Hunter’s pledge, not hers, but he’d gotten her all mixed up in the whole convoluted mess!

“Hi,” she said, waving through the window at Amy with her best pasted-on smile. Sasha tried not to fidget as Amy managed the locks and opened the door.

But rather than invite them in, Amy rushed out of the house, grabbing Sasha by an arm.

“I am so glad you and Shogun’s brother are here. We must hurry.”

Sasha stumbled forward, amazed at the strength the petite girl suddenly wielded. “Okay, okay, but what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain as we drive,” Amy said. “Is that your Jeep?”

“Yes,” Hunter replied, frowning, rounding the vehicle, and opening the door.

“You have brought weapons?” Amy asked, quickly climbing in.

Sasha slammed the door as Hunter piled in behind the steering wheel. “Okay, now you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

Amy held her head in her hands. “I can still see with Lady Jung Suk’s eyes. When Shogun’s demon Were Leopard aunt possessed my body, even though you killed her, some of her powers stayed with me. I wasn’t sure of it until the moon rose and Shogun sensed a presence while we were out in the park. He was trying to explain something to me about our marriage and then he stopped speaking and stood.” Amy looked up at Hunter and Sasha with tear-filled eyes. “I saw it, too,” she added in a quiet tone. “It was clear, like water moving past us. He brought me home and said to stay there and be safe.   and not to tell my parents. I did as he’d asked. But then he left to draw it away from us.”

“Do you know where my brother went?” Hunter said, gunning the engine and careening away from the curb.

“At first I wasn’t sure, because he never told me. Then as I sat in the kitchen trying to have some tea to calm down.   I stared into my cup, thinking, and I saw.” Amy looked between Sasha and Hunter. “It’s the new house you have built your business in over in the French Quarter. He went to a shed there.”

“Weapons,” Sasha said, glancing at Hunter. “We have heavier artillery there than a normal gun shop and it’s closer and has easier access than the Naval Air Station or the base.”

“No doubt he saw what we saw in New Hampshire,” Hunter replied in a low rumble. “Let’s just hope we’re not too late.”

“Has the call to arms gone out?” Sir Rodney walked back and forth along the windowed wall of his war room, looking out of the leaded beveled glass with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Sent spell-protected by way of the cauldrons of Forte Inverness to every Seelie Fae magick advisor of the nobles throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland—and all of those present here in the Americas.” Garth looked at his fellow advisors, waiting on the rail-thin Rupert to set down food and drink for the monarchs. Garth’s suspicious gaze fell upon Queen Cerridwen. “And, Your Majesty, should we send a missive to your northern stronghold so that you may deploy some of your resources, as well?”

Queen Cerridwen gave Garth an icy glare but responded with cool regard. “Trust me, dear Garth, the moment the first Unseelie head rolled, my resources were fully deployed—and my people are already aware that we are allied with the Seelie on this. The greater question is, are your people equally aware of this union?”

Hunter stopped short as he turned off the engine. “Amy shouldn’t be here, if Shogun has cornered prey.”

“Damn,” Sasha muttered, and then turned around to stare at Amy. “Half of me wants to tell you to wait here; the other half of me knows that’s how the innocent always gets killed in a horror movie.”

“Then that settles it: I’m going with you guys,” Amy said, nervously glancing between Hunter and Sasha.

“All right, but stay on our heels just in case,” Sasha said, pulling a handheld Uzi out from under the tarp on the backseat.

Hunter had already begun walking toward the house, stuffing a Glock 9mm in his waistband. Sasha hung back with Amy, visually casing the house for signs of a struggle or forced entry while Hunter issued a low, quiet howl to summon Shogun so that they didn’t startle him.

Signaling with two fingers that they should move forward around the back, Hunter ducked low under the windows and hustled down the side yard. After a few seconds, Sasha and Amy mimicked his steps and then waited. The back door was ajar. The shed door was open and the guts of the alarm system were a jumble of spaghetti wire.

“Shogun!” Hunter called out, leaning against the wall next to the door frame and then opening the door with a quick side kick.

“Brother?” Shogun called out.

Sasha and Hunter slumped with relief.

“Shogun, I was worried!” Amy shouted, and bolted past Sasha and Hunter.

Hunter closed his eyes and banged the back of his head against the wall. “My brother will never forgive us for this, you know that, right?”

Sasha nodded and placed the safety on her weapon. “Yeah. But what can you do?”

Hunter stood at the back door as Sasha trudged up the steps. By the time they got into the darkened house, Amy was hugging Shogun in the middle of the kitchen floor.

“I was so worried,” she murmured, burying her face against Shogun’s neck. But he looked over the top of her head at Hunter and then Sasha with an accusatory glare.

“Did she tell you I was chasing something unseen and dangerous?” Shogun held Amy protectively for a moment and then stepped away from her to confront Hunter.

“Yes, Brother.”

“Then why the hell is she here!”

Stepping between the potential combatants, Sasha intervened. “Because I was trying to talk to Amy and she began telling us about the invisible entity while driving—and there was no time to double back.”

It was a stretch, but Sasha watched Shogun pace away from Hunter and rub the nape of his neck.

“My apologies,” Shogun finally said, trying to coax away his distended upper and lower canines, albeit his eyes still glowed gold in the darkness.

“Blame it on the moon, man,” Hunter said, trying to appear casual, but Sasha noticed that the muscles in his shoulders had bulked in preparation for a wolf fight.

Quiet strangled the room for a few moments and then Shogun suddenly looked at Sasha and spoke with unexpected candor.

“Did you and Amy have a chance to speak?”

“Uh.  ” Sasha dragged her fingers through her hair.

“Yes,” Amy said quickly. “Of course.”

“And you’re still here?” Shogun stared at Amy for a few moments and then walked deeper into the kitchen’s shadows beyond the light of the moon.

“Why wouldn’t I be? I love you.” Amy walked toward the darkness, but Shogun held up both hands.

“Don’t,” he murmured. “What Sasha told you is true. Go home to your parents’ house, especially tonight.”

“Come on,” Sasha said quietly, guilt lacerating her soul. She so wished she’d had a chance to speak to Amy, but like everything else in her life, things had happened too quickly. “I’ll take you back while Hunter and Shogun go after that thing that cruised you. I can catch up with them later by jumping the shadows.”

Amy shook her head no and continued advancing on Shogun. But there was something in her walk, something in the attitude that seemed to possess her entire body that put the three wolves in the room on high alert.

“I want to hunt it with you,” Amy said in a slightly deeper voice than normal. “I want to help you kill it.” She stopped in a pool of moonlight and stretched like a lazy feline would stretch in the sun.

Hunter and Sasha backed up, glancing at Shogun for a sign of what he wanted to do. But Shogun quickly sidestepped Amy, looking at them for answers they didn’t have.

“Amy,” Sasha said quickly. “When we talked, you said you’ve been feeling a lot of the old things you felt when Lady Jung Suk was in your body, right?” Sasha looked at Shogun, hoping he’d catch her cues.

“Yes,” Amy said, closing her eyes and rubbing her arms as though to warm herself. “And I could see with her telepathy tonight. I never could do that before.”

“Are you cold?” Shogun asked, and then turned quickly to Sasha and Hunter. “The entity that once inhabited her was a snow leopard, used to the Tibetan climate. Maybe—”

“I’m not cold or possessed,” Amy said with a sultry chuckle. “Every full moon since Lady Jung Suk temporarily entered my body, whatever was left after you killed her seemed to get a little stronger.   and I said nothing because it frightened me so. First it was just an amazing rush of energy. Then the next moon left me with clarity like I’ve never known—keen senses. Now, I really can’t say what is happening to me.” Amy opened her eyes and her once-dark irises were a deep, shimmering gold like that of an Amur big cat.

“That’s not supposed to happen!” Shogun said, rounding Amy to stand by Sasha and Hunter. He glanced at them both. “Is it?”

Amy tilted her head, questioning.

“Your eyes. ,” Sasha murmured in awe.

“What about them?” Amy looked from one face to another.

“She cannot go home to her parents like this,” Hunter said, keeping his distance.

“Definitely not,” Shogun said, racing between the counter and the door arch while rubbing the nape of his neck. “She also cannot be left alone. Who knows what she might do? And this might have been caused by whatever I was chasing—”

“We were chasing, Brother.” Hunter held Shogun’s gaze. “It cruised Sasha and me up at the cabin in New Hampshire. Sasha and I went after it, but it also got away. Something that elusive is potentially demon in nature. Your aunt was infected..   We don’t know how bad a situation this could truly be, man.”

“You all speak of me as though I’m not here in the room with you,” Amy said in a too-calm tone.

The three wolves kept their eyes on her as she moved around the kitchen.

“I’m hungry. Very hungry.” Amy opened the refrigerator door and then slammed it shut. “There’s nothing here. I have to go out and hunt.”

“Not a good idea,” Shogun said carefully. “I will hunt for you and bring you back something—”

“Raw,” Amy said, slowly licking her bottom lip as she captured Shogun’s gaze and held it.

Shogun swallowed hard. “Absolutely.”

“Brother.   be advised, she could be infected.” Hunter turned and placed a palm in the center of Shogun’s chest. “You need more information.”

“Maybe we should bring her to the Sidhe, where they have, uhm, facilities and a full magick team.   and maybe Silver Hawk can come, too, so he can divine whether or not she’s been infected?” Sasha looked between Hunter and Shogun. “But she’s gotta be quarantined in case.   the less desirable aspects of Lady Jung Suk are also with her.”

“All right,” Amy said calmly with a dangerous smile. “I like the castle. But I don’t think anything is wrong with me beyond wishing that I was alone with Shogun right now.”