Casually Cursed (10 page)

ONE OF THE
wolves charged forward. I whipped up the gun, but the wolf who knocked Kato to the ground pinned him, but didn’t maul him. I released the pressure on the trigger that I’d almost pulled.

“What do you want?” I asked as the three remaining wolves inched closer. I shook my head and bobbed the gun in warning.

Mercutio hissed, ready with teeth and claws to defend us to the death.

Branches swayed, and the trees murmured their displeasure. The wolves looked around sharply. I wasn’t sure whether they understood the trees’ language, but they must have felt the mood of the forest.

The wolves stayed as they were, waiting for something, I realized. Kato struggled under the wolf’s weight on his chest, and wind began to flow through the trees. He was calling the air to him, gathering power.

The wolf on Kato growled and then grabbed Kato’s throat in his jaws. He didn’t clamp down or tear flesh, but the warning was obvious. Kato’s words trailed off into silence.

“What are you doing? What do you want with us?” I asked. “We haven’t done anything to you, and you’re starting trouble you probably don’t want.”

They prowled circles around us. I wasn’t sure how much these men could understand in wolf form. They’d seemed to know that Kato was preparing to cast a spell, but they didn’t look at me or change into human form to explain what was going on, so I couldn’t be sure they understood my questions.

As seconds ticked by, Mercutio and the wolves grew restless, and their crouches deepened. Merc’s gaze turned away from the circle and then quickly back. I realized the wolves’ attention was partially focused there, too, on some distant point.

“What is it, Merc?” I asked, looking to the north the way he had. The woods loomed dark and sinister. A shiver of fear raced down my spine. Whatever or whoever the wolves waited for wasn’t likely to be a welcome sight for me and Mercutio.

I placed a hand against the bark of the nearest tree. Its branches had curled toward me protectively when the wolves had first surrounded us. My right foot rested against a tree root; the left burrowed its toes into the dirt.

My muscles tightened. I didn’t look at Merc. His reflexes didn’t need to be primed. He was already at the ready, like always.

I gripped the rough bark. A warm pulse from within the tree greeted my fingertips. “Help me,” I whispered, and then darted around it.

The wolves lunged forward. Sharp nails grazed my back as I leapt. A branch swung down, and my outstretched hands caught it. The woody limb snapped upward, dragging me into the air.

Mercutio darted to the trunk, barely evading snapping jaws that tried to catch him. He ascended in a spiral of blistering speed, avoiding the paws that scrabbled and slammed the bark trying to reach him.

Merc came to stand on the crook of the branch I dangled from. He cocked his head and meowed.

“Yep,” I said, pulling myself up. My arm muscles shook from the effort. I really needed to add chin-ups to my fitness routine. I also needed to add a fitness routine. I bet Kismet would’ve just swung up and flipped into the air and landed on her toes on the branch like a gymnast. Yeah, I had to work on that.

I put my leg over so I sat straddling the branch, facing the tree trunk and Mercutio. “Made it. Thank you, tree,” I said, patting the branch.

Twenty feet below, the wolves growled and circled us. In a whisper, I said, “Someone’s coming, huh, Merc? So it’s not a good idea to sit waiting for the wolves to give up and go away.”

The tilt of Merc’s head and his stance told me he agreed that we weren’t in the clear. I looked around. This wasn’t the jungle, so there were no vines to swing from. Plus, not being Tarzan, I wouldn’t know how to do that anyway. I’d probably just crash into a tree trunk and fall down. It would have to be a more normal plan.

“Kato,” I said.

He looked up.

“When I start shooting, get up and run back to the cabin.”

Kato nodded.

I pointed the gun at the wolves. “Let him go,” I shouted.

The wolves didn’t budge.

Animals can sense a person’s nature. I reached deep into myself for my fae side. That side of me didn’t have much conscience. She was ruled by instinct, impulse, and a lust for tasty things, like honey and Bryn. Calmness washed over me, and for a moment I was flying down a faery path on horseback, the air a tunnel of flashing colors and wind.

I jerked on the reins, and my horse’s thundering hooves planted to a stop.

I blinked and was back on the branch, my connection to Kismet broken. I felt her, though—in the distance and in myself.

I looked down at the wolves, calculating my chances of killing them all before they scattered. They stiffened, sensing the change.

Wait
, I thought.
They’re men in wolf form. I won’t murder them.

A voice in my head whispered that if my intent was to get away, my best chance would be if the wolves around the tree couldn’t chase me.

My heart thumped.

Mercutio made a small sound of warning. He likes me as regular Tammy Jo, not the detached faery version of me.

Right
, I thought with a shiver. I pushed my inner faery aside and took careful aim. I squeezed the trigger. The bullet skimmed through the fur of the wolf holding Kato. The wolves scattered.

Kato rose, flung spells over his shoulder, and tore off through the woods. The wolves didn’t pursue him. They all stayed with me.
Good grief!

At least Kato could bring help back. Would it be in time?

I looked around, wondering what Kismet would’ve done in my place. Would she have been able to hop from tree to tree? I might miss an outstretched branch and fall to the ground. That would be especially painful, since I was still healing from deep wounds that I’d gotten the week before.

I pulled out my cell and Kato’s. Neither had a signal. Typical! In places with lots of magic, electronics often didn’t work right. Or perhaps it wasn’t the magic. Maybe there just wasn’t one of those cell towers near enough to penetrate the deep woods.

Unless I was prepared to shoot and incapacitate the wolves, I couldn’t climb down and make a run for the cabin, because there was no doubt they’d catch me within a few feet of the tree.

Getting bolder, the wolves returned to the tree’s base, watching us from the ground.

“You know, Merc, there’s no telling what will happen once Kato goes to the cabin. Maybe they’ll come armed with silver bullets and kill these wolves,” I said, looking at the gun I held.

Realization dawned. I removed the clip of Kato’s gun and checked the ammunition. It wasn’t silver. The wolves should be able to recover from the wounds made by regular bullets. They’d have to live with the pain of being shot, but they would live.

I grimaced. The pain from deep wounds was no picnic.

But it might be better in the long run, because knowing the Conclave wizards, they’d do whatever was the most efficient thing, which might be killing the werewolves.

“Hey, listen,” I called down. “That wizard is from the Conclave. You know the Conclave, right? It’s like the magical CIA. Um, that’s American. You know what the CIA is, right?” Was there a British version? Of course—James Bond worked for it. What was the name of it? I sure didn’t know.

“So the Conclave operatives are like James Bond, except way less charming. If they come, I don’t know what will happen. It’d be better if you let me go before they show up. Safer for you,” I said.

They didn’t leave. I wasn’t sure if they understood me.

Mercutio made a skeptical sound.

“What? I shouldn’t have given away about Kato being with the Conclave and going for reinforcements? You’re right. Probably giving away strategy’s not a good idea, especially since it didn’t make an impression on them.”

I chewed my lip, trying to think of a way to distract the wolves so I could get down and run. If I’d known a spell to create a diversion . . . Of course, my spells usually went hopelessly wrong, and this might not be the best time to experiment. On the other hand, I needed to try something.

“What are you doing?” a little voice said.

I jumped, nearly falling off the branch. I grabbed it to brace myself as Merc swiped a paw at a pudgy winged creature who could’ve sat cross-legged in my palm. He wore a small leaf on his head and fuzzy pants that might have been made of squirrel fur. Another winged creature who was thinner with a long nose zipped up next to him.

“What’s she doing?” the thinner faery asked.

“Is there something wrong with your eyes? She’s sitting here.”

“But why? She must know he’s coming. Is she hurt?”

“Of course she’s hurt, or she would’ve already gone, wouldn’t she?” Chubby snapped. “You can see she doesn’t even have her bow. It must have been a terrible fight.”

“I don’t see blood. Who’s this cat?” Thin demanded, darting out of Merc’s reach. “Is this cat bothering her? Why hasn’t she thrown this cat out of the tree if he’s bothering her?”

“I don’t know!” Chubby shouted. “I’m trying to find out.”

I grabbed Merc’s paw to keep him from batting Chubby through the air.

“I like her humanside hair. Very bright,” Thin said.

“You have to get out of here,” Chubby said to me. “The wolf lord is coming. He’s two miles away, and you know how fast he can run. When you don’t give him what he wants, he could lose his temper and tear you apart.”

My stomach tightened. “I don’t know how to escape. They have us surrounded.”

“And you’re too hurt to try to outrun them? You need a fast horse,” Chubby said, looking around.

“The horse is not here,” Thin said. “The wolves would’ve caught his scent if he was humanside and nearby.”

“And he’s not on the path. We’ve just come from the path,” Chubby said, scrunching his round face. “Where is the pony?”

“I think you have me—”

“Don’t get distracted, Royal!” Thin shouted. “We have to help get her out of here.”

Royal jerked to attention. “I know!”

“Torch the tails,” Thin said.

“And get eaten? That’s getting too close!”

“Torch the tails!” Thin shouted louder.

“They’ll crush us in those jaws. They’ll eat us alive!”

“They’ll try,” Thin said, poking Royal in the belly. “You’ve gotten too fat. You’re slower than a drunk fly.”

Royal glowered. “I could thrash you, Shakes.”

“Not if you had to catch me first.”

“Oh, I’ll catch you. After we torch those tails, you’ll see.”

Shakes grinned. “We’ll help. Wait and see,” Shakes said to me. “I told you you’d be glad you saved us.”

Shakes and Royal swooped down. Within moments they were flying around the wolves with tiny flaming spears, trying to set the wolves’ tails on fire. The wolves spun in circles, snapping at the faeries.

Merc and I climbed partway down and then jumped to the ground. Then I ran as if my life depended on it—which, if the faeries were to be believed, it did.

THE WOLVES WERE
gaining on me when I heard Zach shout, “Get down.”

I dived to the ground and covered the back of my neck with my hands, expecting to feel a wolf land on me, but instead a gunshot rang out, and a wolf landed heavily on the ground next to me.

He shifted into human form, gasping for breath.

“Oh, God,” I said as blood bubbled from a hole in his chest. He must’ve been leaping when the bullet hit him. I crawled to him and pressed my hand over the wound. “Hang on.”

He gripped my upper arms tight, his eyes wild with fear. “Silver.”

The raging howls of the other wolves echoed around us as they crashed into the woods. I heard more shots and explosive sounds as magic was wielded, and then a scream and growls.

“My son . . .” the werewolf lying next to me whispered in his accented English. “He’s three. He won’t understand.”

Tears sprang into my eyes. “Then you have to hang on so you can see him again. Werewolves are the strongest of all the supernatural creatures. You can make it,” I said.

His large brown eyes squeezed shut, causing crinkles around them. “Can’t breathe,” he said.

“We need help here!” I yelled. “Stop fighting! He needs a hospital.”

The man’s eyes opened, and he stared at me. “You’re not her.”

“Who?”

“Not a disguise to trick us. Who are you?”

“I’m Tammy Jo from Texas. That’s in America.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face for a moment. “Wait!” he yelled, his expression startled as he looked over my head.

I turned just in time to see the muzzle of another wolf, who leapt at me. I got my arm up, but the force of him slamming into me toppled me over the fallen guy. Sharp teeth sank into my flesh.

I screamed.

The wolf dragged me behind a tree, holding my arm and shaking me by the trapped arm when I tried to fight.

“Stop!” I yelled, the pain like a lance driving into me.

Another wolf raced up, and then transformed. He was short, but powerful. His dark hair skimmed his shoulders, and he glared at me as he put his hand on my throat and squeezed.

“Where is it?” he demanded.

“Let her go,” Bryn said.

Yes! Get off!
I wailed in my head.

I tried not to struggle, which only sent piercing pain through me, but lack of air made me feel panicked.

Neither werewolf released me.

“Let her go now,” Bryn said, pointing a gun at the wolf who had my arm. “This gun is loaded with silver.”

“I can crush her throat before you have time to shoot us both.”

“I can save her from a crushed throat, but nothing can save you if a silver bullet rips through your skull. I won’t miss.”

“You’re wasting your time. Leave her to us. She’ll never give it to your kind,” the werewolf said.

I clawed at his fingers with my free hand. I was starting to see spots.

Bryn narrowed his eyes. “She’s not who you think. This is the first time she’s ever been in Scotland. You’ve confused her with her mother or someone else.”

The werewolf bared his teeth in a snarl, but he dipped his head and smelled my hair. “She’s the one,” he said with a sneer. “She’s disguised her scent with magic, but underneath it’s the same.”

Bryn shook his head. “She’s not the one you’re looking for. Let her go or I will kill you.” The deadly calm of Bryn’s voice sent a chill through me. The wolves must’ve been able to feel how serious he was.

The man’s grip on my throat slackened and then released. He shifted into wolf form, made a low growling sound, and then he and the other wolf turned and melted into the forest.

“Are you all right?” Bryn said, extending his free hand to help me up. I rose and looked around.

“I’m okay,” I said, dabbing my arm carefully. The teeth punctures weren’t nearly as deep as they might have been, but they throbbed. Blood seeped from the wounds, but luckily didn’t spurt or gush.

“This way,” Bryn said, hurrying through the woods, glancing at the night sky occasionally.

“Where’s Zach?”

“I don’t know. We got separated. But he’ll know to double back to the cars as soon as he gets the chance.”

“He won’t leave the woods if he thinks we’re out here and in trouble.”

“If I hadn’t gotten to you after ten minutes, I would’ve lit the night sky at five-minute intervals to let him know not to return to the cabin.”

“What if he’d found me rather than you?”

“He’d have signaled with a double shot into the rotten tree near the site where we confronted the wolves.”

We spoke and jogged as quietly as we could.

“I’m surprised the Conclave gave you guns.”

“They didn’t give them to us,” Bryn said. “The wolves killed Van Noten, the driver, and the Frenchman, Mouclier.”

I shuddered.

“Van Noten had a lot of power, but she was too slow when casting. She wanted to sweep the area with a big spell. There’s no time to get complicated with werewolves. Mouclier was taken by surprise. He was shooting and spelling at two in front of him that kept weaving in and out of view. Then a third flanked him. He was blindsided and taken down, his throat torn so deeply there was nothing but—” Bryn clenched his teeth. “Sorry. You don’t need to picture that. I didn’t see the attack on the driver, but passed his body. We got separated from Poppy, Kato, and Lundqvist, the operative with the brown buzz cut. I’m not sure whether they’re alive or not.”

He swallowed and frowned. “These werewolves attack with more precision than most. Almost military or paramilitary. Sutton noticed immediately,” Bryn said with admiration in his voice. “That’s why I decided to try to reason with the leader. Normally with attacking werewolves, you just have to shoot them. I don’t have to tell you. You saw what the pack in Texas was like.”

I nodded.

We emerged from the woods at the cabin to find Zach and Mercutio running toward us.

“Wolves or wizards?” Bryn asked, yanking the van door open.

“Both,” Zach said, shooting holes in the tires of the other cars. “Keys?”

“I’ve got them. Van Noten had them on her.”

Once we were locked in the van, Bryn started it and slammed his foot down on the gas pedal. I heard the soft pop of gunfire from the woods. The sound was muffled by the heartbeat pounding in my ears. I held my breath, bracing for a tire to be blown out.

As we barreled down the narrow road, kicking up gravel and dirt, I spotted two pairs of yellow eyes just behind the tree line. The wolves were running with us. If our car was incapacitated, they’d get to us before the wizards. I had no doubt they’d tear the van open as if it were made of tin.

I bit the inside of my mouth, sitting rigidly still and holding the armrest. We turned onto a wider road. I looked back, finally exhaling, when I saw that we were out of range for the wizards.

I unbuckled myself and went to the window, peering into the trees. Mercutio joined me, standing on a seat with his paws on the window.

I spotted a blur of dark fur and saw it stop. I watched the wolf’s yellow eyes, stationary now. The wolves were done chasing us. At least for the moment.

Did that mean they’d given up? Or would they track us? Werewolves, like Mercutio, can track anything, including magic. I had a sinking feeling that we hadn’t seen the last of them.

*   *   *

“WE NEED TO
change vehicles,” Bryn said.

“Tracking device?” Zach asked, leaning forward. He was in the back behind the divider, but Bryn had turned on the intercom to allow us to talk together.

“I assume. It’s standard on Association cars.”

I stared out the passenger window. “That werewolf who got shot, he had a little boy. Three years old.”

“Kato shot him. Not Zach or I.”

I pursed my lips, frowning. “They didn’t try to kill Kato and me when they had the chance. They were holding us for the leader to come and question us. If I’d had the chance to convince them I wasn’t whoever they wanted, nobody had to get shot.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

My gaze turned to Bryn. “Did Kato tell the other Conclave members that they didn’t hurt us?”

“No,” Bryn said. “He just said that werewolves had chased you, that he’d gotten away using gunfire to slow their pursuit, and that he’d left you up a tree with them circling, ready to attack.”

I folded my arms across my chest and looked back out the window. “Do you think it’s possible a werewolf shot in the chest with a silver bullet could survive? If they got him to a surgeon who could take the silver out and fix whatever things in his chest had gotten hurt?”

“Yes,” Bryn said. “They have an amazing capacity to heal. If they got him to help in time, he could recover.”

I didn’t know if Bryn was just saying that to make me feel better, but it worked. That werewolf had still been talking and breathing when I’d left him. I’d recently survived a wound that would have killed any regular person, so the power of supernatural healing could never be counted out. I rubbed the breastbone in the middle of my chest, which still ached on and off, especially when I jarred it.

The difference was that I hadn’t been stabbed with a metal that was poisonous to my supernatural healing. Still, he’d been in the heart of his homeland. The other wolves would know right where to take him for help.

I ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t think it was Momma they were looking for.”

“Let’s not talk about that right now,” Bryn said, cutting me off.

“Why not?” I asked, glancing back at him.

“There could be recording devices or bugs in the van.”

“Oh,” I said. I pursed my lips and shook my head. “You know what? I’m sick to death of the Conclave. They can go to hell.”

Bryn’s brows rose, but that didn’t stop my flapping jaws.

“President Anderson, if you’re listening,” I said loudly, “I know that you just took over, but you should really worry less about artifacts and more about what your assassins are doing. Because sooner or later it’s going to come back to bite you in the butt. And speaking from experience, I can tell you, werewolves have real sharp teeth.”