Charlotte Boyett-Compo- WIND VERSE- Prisoners of the Wind (25 page)

“Smelling your pee as Maveen would say,” she injected.

“Exactly,” he admitted. “I felt invincible and—boy-like—full
of myself.” He frowned. “It wasn’t until the hunger set in that I realized I
might not be able to change back into a human and that scared the shit out of
me.”

She looked up at him. “You didn’t want to remain a big cat?”

He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. The novelty of it wore off
quickly, let me tell you.”

Marin imagined her husband being terrified he would remain a
beast the rest of his life.

“That first Conversion lasted only a few hours but it was
enough to make me realize that I was now a freak, a part of me capable of
becoming a vicious beast with a taste for bloody meat.” He shuddered. “I cursed
the day your father chose me.”

“Were the next Conversions easier on you?”

“No. The next one came unexpectedly in the middle of the
night four months later. We were in cells side by side—unable to see one
another—but we could hear as each one went through the agony.”

“What did they think of what was happening to them?”

“I never knew, wench,” he said. “We were separated not long
after without ever having a chance to talk to one another. We were sent to
different sections within the Fleet Academy on Cruinne and trained for various
positions. I became a pilot right about the time the war broke out between the
Tiogars and the Madras. When it was apparent we were losing the war, the Fleet
sent me to Contúirtia. I never knew why but I think it was to make sure at
least one of us survived, and since I was the first and my father was by then a
captain, he had some clout.”

“That should have told you he had feelings for you, milord.”

He shrugged, but said nothing to her statement. “As it was,
the Madras came after me, determined to kill the last surviving member of the
Tiogar Clan. I was in the Contúirtian Alps for three years before the bitches
gave up and went back to Riochas Prime and settled down, striking for peace
with the League. After the treaty was signed, Kale and I were picked up and
taken back to Cruinne and I was given the
Revenge
as
their reward
for the years I’d spent freezing my ass off.” He nudged her. “The Madras left
me alone until I dared put my filthy paws on their leader’s little girl.”

Marin grinned. “Filthy, degenerate paws,” she corrected.

They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the approach
of wagons and the sound of men laughing and talking amongst themselves. Taegin
jumped down from the wood stack and held his hands out for his lady. She slid
into his arms and he held her against him for a moment before allowing her to
slide down him.

“Degenerate,” she giggled, for his cock had leapt against
her as he lowered her to the ground.

“Later, wench,” he said, wagging his brows.

The slightly cool morning shifted into a steaming noon as
the men worked shirtless in the broiling sun. Every last stick of charred wood
had been loaded onto the four wagons that would cart it off to the landfill on
the far side of the county by late afternoon and the base of the stilts had
been sawn off. New holes for the next set of pylons would be dug the following
day.

Constable O’Malley found Taegin resting as the men were
piling into their wagons for the return trip home. He hunkered down beside the
Tiogar. “Did you find her cave?”

“Aye,” Taegin said. Everyone knew what had happened the
evening before.

“Care to tell me where or are you going to handle this
yourself?”

“She tried to kill my woman,” Taegin said. “Burning up my
work is one thing. Coming after Marin is another. I believe I’ll handle it.”

O’Malley nodded. No one would dare gainsay a retired Fleet
Officer and certainly not one of Taegin Drae’s reputation. Whatever the Tiogar
saw fit would be accepted and a blind eye turned if that whatever turned
deadly. To a person, the village folk had no love for Kali and less compassion
now that she had attempted to harm their beloved Taegin’s mate.

“Just watch yourself,” the constable suggested.

Taegin thanked O’Malley for his concern and bid him goodbye.
He was tired again but it was a good tired this time, and all he wanted to do
was take a shower and stretch out on Maveen’s swing to let the cool evening
breezes wash over him.

“I won’t hear nothing but that you’ll be staying with us
‘til your hut is built,” Maveen had declared before Taegin and Marin had set
off for the cove. “You get your butt back here with Silus and my boys. Don’t
you stay off down there by yourselves.”

Marin was motioning him over to Andrew’s wagon, stamping her
foot in the sand when he just looked at her. Knowing she intended to make sure
he followed Maveen’s orders, he sighed and got wearily to his feet, dusting the
sand off his sweat-dampened britches. Trudging over to his wife, he lifted her
onto the back of the wagon and hopped up beside her.

“Are you always going to be waving your apron at me and
shaking your ladle, wench?” he inquires softly.

“If need be,” she returned.

“She’s got you on a short rope, son,” Silus chuckled. “Best
you learn to come up short before strangling yourself.”

The McGregor men laughed at their father’s advice. Burl was
sitting beside his father, his stumps redder than usual for he’d been lounging
in the sun working on some revisions to the house plans he and Taegin had
decided upon.

Taegin leaned over to whisper to his lady. “When we get to
bed this eave, I’m going to strip you as naked as a jaybird, tie you to
Maveen’s big four-poster, gag you and turn you inside out with my tongue,
wench.”

“Promises, promises,” she said with a deep sigh.

“I’ll stick my fingers inside your hot little cunt and make
you come twice before I allow you to have my cock driving deep into you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She pretended to yawn.

“I’ll suckle your nipples until they are as hard as little
pebbles then I’ll—”

“We can hear everything you are saying, Tae,” Burl ground
out. “Some of us don’t have womenfolk to ease the burden of what has popped up
with your filthy talk.”

Marin’s face turned bright red and she hid her face against
her husband’s chest. She didn’t see the crimson stain that had touched his
countenance, but she cringed at the hearty laughter of the McGregors, mortally
embarrassed.

Taegin Drae kept his mouth shut the rest of the way home.

Chapter Fourteen

Kali crouched before her fire, staring into the dying flames
as she worked the magick her mother had taught her. It was of the Old Ways—a
dark and dangerous enchantment that shifted the strange shadows on the cave
walls into grotesque shapes that prowled the rocky tunnels in search of prey.

Naked, the witch took up a small silken bag and undid the
drawstring closure. She dipped her fingers inside and drew out a pinch of dried
blood flecks then cast them into the fire.

“As the fire burns, Taegin Drae, so will your blood burn
once more for me and me alone,” she chanted. She tossed another pinch of her
coveted dried blood into the flames then carefully drew the silk pouch closed
and set it aside. “You will come to me of your own desire unable to rest until
you do.”

The blood was the warrior’s own, gathered from a shirt upon
which he had bled when they had first met. Carefully preserved, Kali had
lovingly scraped the dried blood from the shirt and kept it in the silk bag
worn next to her skin. There were other bags that held his nail clippings,
strands of hair, even dried semen she held more precious than all the other
takings of the Tiogar’s. Each could be used for the potent—perhaps even
lethal—rituals she would perform in the next few days to gain her revenge on
the man who had spurned her.

Between her knees she held a basket of laurel leaves. With
her gaze intent on the dying fire, she gathered a handful of leaves in her left
hand and dropped them into the flames. The leaves were used to produce strong
effects of fire and warmth in a person’s emotions, the spicy aroma filling the
air.

Watching them catch fire, the witch’s words were strong and
said with power.

“Sweet laurel burn like love’s great desire. Show him to me
in the flames of this fire!”

In the flames the image of Taegin Drae appeared, but he was
not alone. Beneath him—her body entwined with his—was the woman who had stolen
the Tiogar’s heart.

“No!” Kali screamed, dropping the entire basket of laurel
leaves upon the fire. She scuttled back from the blaze, her face seething with
fury.

Screams of outrage filled the cave, bouncing off the walls.
Curses rang out—heaped upon the head of the man with whom Kali was obsessed.
She stared at the flames and saw the man she loved coupling with the usurper,
bestowing upon the evil one the rightful affection that Kali believed was hers.
Reaching up, she tore out handfuls of her red hair in her anger and ran her
wickedly long nails down her bare chest, leaving behind long scratches that
oozed with blood.

“No,” she whispered, her violet eyes turning a deep purple
as she scrambled forward to maniacally throw dirt upon the fire to douse the
flames. “No. No. No. No. No!”

Gone was the love she had once harbored for Taegin Drae and
in its place was a hellish ire that bubbled like venom through her veins. Where
she had thought to punish him before bringing him back to her, now she wanted
only his utter destruction. Not just mentally, she thought, as she got to her
feet, her chest heaving with passion, as she had with the destruction of his
beloved hut. That had hurt him—and hurt him deeply—but the cut had not been
nearly deep enough. She wanted only to bring the Tiogar to his knees before her
so she could run the blade of her
athamé
across his lying, cheating
throat, and the only way to break him completely was to take his woman from
him.

* * * * *

Taegin was restless—tossing and turning, unable to get
comfortable though he was dog-tired. He was afraid he would wake Marin with his
fidgeting so he eased from the bed, putting on his jeans as quietly as he
could. Plucking a black cotton T-shirt from the bedside chair, he picked up his
boots and left their bedroom.

The McGregors were all abed for it was long after the
witching hour when all good folk should be asleep. Quietly, he let himself out
on the back porch, being extra careful to keep the screen door from squealing.
Placing his boots on the flooring, he tugged on the T-shirt, for the night was
cool, another storm brewing to the west. He went to stand by the porch railing
and let his attention drift up the dark mountainside to the spot where he
remembered the entrance to Kali’s cave to be. He put his forearms on the
railing, clasped his hands together and leaned on the railing.

“Can you hear me, Kali?” he whispered to the night air.

There was movement in the forest to his right and he turned
his head to look that way. A small boar stood frozen in place, staring up at
him, then it melted back into the lush foliage, making as little noise as
possible as it scurried to get away from him.

Taegin listened to the night sounds and heard them cease as
something passed in the darkness. He strained to see but whatever was moving
was doing so stealthily, cautious in its actions. Straightening up, he sniffed
the air and caught her scent. She was upwind of him, and that particular odor
she had about her wasn’t hard to pick up. It flowed past the McGregors’ hut,
heading toward his cove.

A hateful grin tugged at the Tiogar’s chiseled lips. As
quietly as possible, he picked up his boots and carried them down the back
stairs. He leaned against a palm, put the footwear on and blended into the
night as furtively as the prey he sought.

* * * * *

Marin turned over in the bed and flung out a hand. It was
something she did often just to assure herself her husband was with her. When
her fingers encountered only cool pillow and turned-back sheet, she sat up, her
heart pounding in her chest.

“He’s gone after her,” she said, fear running rampant
through her heart.

She threw back the covers and got up, dressing hurriedly in
jeans and pullover, determined to go after him and keep him from doing
something he would regret all his life. Having no idea how long he’d been gone,
she knew she’d need to hurry, but she moved as silently as she could through
the house and out the front door.

* * * * *

Kali drew her blade from its sheath and crept toward the
clearing. She moved quietly but, even before she reached the tent, she knew it
would be empty. Frustrated, she checked the tent anyway to be sure. Realizing
Taegin must be at the McGregors’, Kali cursed under her breath then flung open
the tent and ducked aside. The moment she did, her upper arm was caught in a
brutal grip that jerked her around to meet the blazing eyes of the man she had
once loved so passionately.

“Looking for me, Kali?” he asked.

Bringing the knife up, she made a stab toward him but he
blocked her attempt, pummeling her wrist with the edge of his hand so savagely,
she cried out with pain and dropped the dagger. She tried for his eyes with her
fingers hooked into claws but he caught her wrists and slammed her against him.

“Now that wasn’t nice,” the Tiogar said.

She tried kneeing him in the groin, but he moved so
quickly—his leg shooting out to trip her so that she fell heavily to the ground
at his feet. Before she could scramble up, he bent over and his palm spanned
her throat, squeezing while she raked at his hand to remove it, gasping for
breath.

“I should choke the life out of you for trying to harm my
woman,” he spat at her as he dragged her to her feet.

Kali was digging her nails into his flesh—scoring it with
bloody furrows—but he didn’t seem to notice. He was holding her up by her neck
and her feet were no longer touching the sand. She was strangling and dared not
struggle too much for fear he’d snap her neck. Stars were coming down from the
heaven as wind rushed in her ears. He was killing her, but a moment before she
thought her life was about to end, he tossed her away from him as though she
was a piece of garbage. Landing heavily on her side, Kali gasped for breath,
her depleted lungs heaving as she held on to her bruised throat.