Honey House (24 page)

“
Fuck, KC. Don’t shout. I didn’t know you could talk this way. You’re not a shapeshifter
,” he answered, his voice softer than a whisper inside my head.

“
Sorry
,” I thought. “
Is this better?”
I mentally whispered. Okay, this rated right up there with Most-Bizarre-Things-I’ve-Ever-Done.

“Yes,”
he answered.
“I won’t hurt you. Are you afraid?”

“A little.”
I answered honestly.
“But since I’ve never seen a real werewolf, I’m not really sure what to expect. Is there any way you can reach Merkham before he could shoot you? Are you that fast?”

“No, not before he could shoot me,”
Raymond answered.

“Then we have to disrupt his plan, force him to go out of order. Are you really good enough to transform whenever you want?”
I asked, remembering his assurance that his ability to transform was under control.

His smile whispered through my head.
“I’m really that good,”
he said.

“Then let’s put on a show. I’m going to kick your ass, and you’re going to back me toward Merkham. You go ahead and transform whenever you think the time is right, but we need to move quickly. He’ll hesitate to shoot us before you shift because that would deviate from his plan. He needs this to be a werewolf kill, so we’ll have an advantage for a little while. Whichever of us can get closest to him needs to take him out. Go for his gun hand, he’s sloppy. If you knock his gun away before I do, then get out of range because I’ve got a gun, too,”
I thought.

Raymond’s gaze shot over to me then, his glance seemed to be an involuntary reaction to my last thought. Then the wind shifted and his nostrils twitched.
“Fuck! Go KC, go now!”
he urged, his words suddenly a roar in my head.

“What the fuck are you two up to?” Merkham yelled, and he glanced back up, probably looking for the moon again.

The horizon was brightening, moonrise wouldn’t be long now.

I stood quickly. “I’m not going to just sit here and wait for you to kill me,” I said to Raymond. He stood and started to circle me, as if sizing me up.

A feral growl spilled from Raymond’s still human-looking lips. His thoughts pushed out passed me, toward the tree line, “
Goddammit, Gabrielle, get him out of here!
”

The skin on the back of my neck tightened, and a shiver passed over me. Gabrielle was out there with someone else. Someone Raymond didn’t want around. We needed to move faster.

I feigned left, and Raymond was just there suddenly. I moved back with a squeal, and only part of me was acting. The other part began to be very afraid. Raymond growled again, and his skin began to ripple over his muscles. He took another step toward me, and I stepped back.

Then everything happened at once. I heard noises in the trees, branches and twigs snapping, warning growls, whining. Merkham started yelling at us to get back or he’d shoot. Another voice yelled, “Drop it!”

There was a sudden blast of heat and standing in front of me was the biggest wolf I’d ever seen.
Raymond.

I pushed aside all of my concerns and focused on Merkham. His attention was divided between the commotion in the woods, the voice coming from behind him, and Raymond’s wolf form. He never even realized the real threat was the woman he’d so casually planned to kill. Me.

With a sharp scream, I leaped into the air and let my legs fly out in a controlled kick. I hit Merkham on the right side of his head just as gunshots exploded all around us.

Chapter Twenty-two

When the dust settled, there were three bodies on the ground and a giant russet-colored wolf blocking my way to them. His hackles rose and a low, deadly growl rumbled deep in his chest. This had to be Stevie, and there was no sign he was in control. In fact, judging from his quivering muscles and snarling maw, he was getting ready for a midnight snack.
Me.

A massive black wolf lay on the ground in a pool of blood. His eyes were closed, mouth open, and he was panting shallowly. Gabrielle knelt beside him, and spoke rapidly in Spanish. I only caught some of the words, but I thought she told him to wait to change.

Merkham lay near them, his upper chest a bloody mess. Everything had switched to slow motion when Merkham pointed the gun at Raymond. I was spinning, he was firing, then my gun was in my hand, safety off, and I’d fired as he’d already been stumbling sideways from my kick. He’d hurt more than one of mine and I hadn’t hesitated to take him out. I’d placed three shots in a line down the center of his chest, as if each shot caught him as he was falling backwards. He wasn’t going to hurt anyone ever again.

I hadn’t looked at the third body yet. I couldn’t. Not now. I knew who it was, and any help was a long ways off, if I couldn’t get the situation with the werewolf under control.

The wolf moved slowly toward me, blue eyes grown dark with hunger, maw gaping, growl constant. Another quick glance at Gabrielle and Raymond confirmed I was on my own. I shivered. There were already enough bodies on the ground. Goddamn Merkham for putting us all in this situation. It wasn’t Stevie’s fault he’d been turned or that Jason had discovered the wolves. He shouldn’t have to pay with his life. I kept my gun at my side.

“Stevie…you’re Stevie, right? You don’t need to do this. You
can
control your wolf,” I said. 

I was relieved to note that my voice sounded confident. I was about to run the most important con of my life. If I wanted to sell it to Stevie, then I needed to sound as if I believed it, too.

Raymond and Gabrielle were coming home with me—that made them mine. Following that logic, since Raymond was the pack’s alpha, meant that in a twisted way, all of the werewolves were mine.

My heart filled again with the certain knowledge that I was supposed to protect what was mine. I would not kill Stevie. Power welled up within me with that thought. I gasped at the sensation of heat that spread through me. It was as though my blood now pumped ten degrees warmer. I was here as protector.

Stevie lunged, shattering my newly inflated sense of well-being as I scrambled to get out of his way. He leaped again and this time he caught a scrap of my sleeve as his paw brushed against my arm. He landed on all fours and turned to face me. The wolf snarled, jaws snapping, and he came at me a third time.

I turned, twisted, and moved out of his path with ease. With a jolt, I realized the wolf was too slow for me. Too slow?
How is that possible?

A low growl raised the hair on the back of my neck as he started toward me again, belly slung low to the ground. He was stalking me.

Without thinking, I used the inner voice, the one I’d used just minutes ago to converse mind-to-mind with Raymond.

“Stevie! No more. You will not attack,”
I shouted with my mind.
“Back down. Now!”

With a whimper, Stevie dropped his head and cocked an ear to one side. He looked unsure as to how he was hearing my voice in his head. Who could blame him?

With his haunches quivering, he lowered his muzzle to the dirt. His eyes shifted down and away, glancing back up at me every few seconds. It was a posture of complete submission.

We needed help. I needed to get to someone’s cell phone and fast, but I couldn’t if I had to watch Stevie the whole time. I had to be sure he wouldn’t attack if I shifted my attention away from him.

I didn’t yell, just spoke quietly in his head.
“Stevie, it’s going to be okay,”
I thought.
“Go to Raymond, to your alpha. Help Gabrielle. You’re going to be fine, no one will hurt you.”

Stevie rose with another whimper and slunk his way over to where Gabrielle was cradling Raymond in her lap. Stevie nuzzled at Raymond, his attention now completely focused on his injured pack leader. Gabrielle pulled Stevie’s head down closer to Raymond and I could finally run to where my heart wanted me to go all along. To where that third body lay too still on the ground.
To Quinn
.

Blood soaked Quinn’s chest, but I searched his pockets first, desperate to find his cell phone. Basic first aid: call for help. There wasn’t anything I could do for a chest wound, we needed an ambulance. Then a movement caught my eye and I looked across to Gabrielle surrounded by two giant wolves.
Shit
. The wolves would be in danger if I called the 9-1-1.

I found the phone and saw the missed call displayed on the small screen. Owen. The phone rang before I could dial for help.

I pressed the answer key, and Owen’s voice came in a rush. “Tell me where you are, KC,” he demanded.

“The Way They Were,” I answered. “Please hurry.” I resisted the urge to ask how he knew I was the one answering, since I was using Quinn’s phone.

“Is anyone armed?” Owen asked.

“Just me, now. Everyone else is down,” I answered. “Owen, hurry. Raymond and Quinn have both been shot. There’s a werewolf here, too. Or three of them, I guess. Gabrielle is in her human form, and Raymond and Stevie are wolves,” I said.

I closed my eyes, willing Owen not to ask any more questions.

“Keep your gun down,” Owen said and he stepped through the trees, not more than fifteen feet away from me.

I dropped the phone in relief and started removing Quinn’s shirt, looking for the source of all that blood. Owen hurried across the lot, but Stevie pushed to his feet, clearly intending to protect the pack alpha. Stevie’s low growl carried clearly in the night air.

Speaking with my mind once more, I said,
“Stevie, we need him. I need you to let him pass.”
With another shake of his big head, the russet wolf circled back around to crouch next to Gabrielle and Raymond.

As soon as Stevie turned away, my attention shifted to the unconscious Quinn. His face was deathly pale, as the life force within him soaked onto the hard packed soil. Fear gave me a desperate strength and I ripped Quinn’s shirt from his body. I used the ruined cloth to wipe at all the blood, I needed to get a look at the wound.

“Come on, Quinn, stay with me. Come on, baby. I’m not going to let you go, now. You’re going to be okay. Hold on.”

I continued to murmur nonsense phrases as I explored the extent of his injuries. It looked as though there was one large hole, just above his left nipple. I needed to turn him, to see if the bullet had gone all the way through. I didn’t know if I was trying to staunch the blood from one wound or two. From the mount of blood, I knew we couldn’t have much time. We needed to get him to the hospital, now.

“Where’s your car, Owen? Or better yet, let’s take the patrol car. We don’t have time to wait for an ambulance.”

Owen looked at me for a long moment and I wanted to scream at him to hurry. I was not going to let him tell me that it was too late. I would not lose Quinn!

With a slight smile, Owen knelt beside me and passed a hand over Quinn’s chest. “You’ll heal now, Quinn,” he said and then he whispered some other words in a language I didn’t recognize.

Quinn’s eyes fluttered open, blinking rapidly as if he was trying to see something that wasn’t there. Owen pressed a hand to Quinn’s forehead, and said, “Heal, my friend. I must tend to the others, now.”

Owen stood, and said, “Gabrielle, I need to get to Raymond. Stevie, please. You must let me by.”

“Yes,”
I added silently, and then I turned my attention from the wolves to focus on the honey gold eyes that were looking up at me.

“Quinn, I need to call an ambulance. I need to call the cops, too. Merkham’s dead.”

“Shhh, Katie. Just kiss me,” he whispered, and his hand reached for the front of my shirt to pull me down.

I pressed my lips softly against Quinn’s, a gentle touch to let him know I was glad he was alive. Quinn tangled his hand in my hair and pulled me against his lips in a hot, soul-claiming kiss that had nothing to do with gentle. His kiss was an affirmation of life. Quinn was alive. We would survive this night to fight another. He pushed his tongue into my mouth, drawing me in. It was as though he was feeding from me and I felt an energy flow between us. My newfound power was filling him, healing him.

One minute, Quinn was a bloody mess on the ground, the next he was savaging my mouth. I pulled back, breathless from the kiss, worried I might be hurting him. Quinn quirked his mouth, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Stopping now is probably a good idea,” he said a bit breathlessly. “I need to call this in, take care of business before we go any further.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “You need to be in the hospital. That wasn’t a bug bite, you’ve been shot!”

Quinn pushed to his knees, then stood up, pulling me with him, “Have I really?” he asked.

Owen joined us then, and ran his fingers over Quinn’s bloody but unblemished chest. “Nicely healed, friend,” he said.

“Yes,” Quinn said, and to my complete shock, he planted a quick kiss on Owen’s mouth, and another on mine. “I owe both of you. Now, get out of here so I can do my job. There are things I must take care of, people I need to call.”

“Quinn,” I started to protest. He cut me off.

“Katie, I need your gun and your truck keys. Owen, I need your shirt. Take Katie home, and then go get Gregory,” he added and handed Owen a key. He turned back to me, and said, “I’ll stop by as soon as I can.”

Before I could protest further, a now naked-from-the-waist-up Owen wrapped me in his arms and the world as I knew it blinked away. 

Chapter Twenty-three

Nonplussed. Bewildered. Flummoxed. How in the hell could I even begin to describe how I was feeling? I was sure that only a moment ago I’d been standing in the dirt lot that surrounded the office of The Way They Were, talking with Quinn and Owen. Now, I stood looking around my living room, trying to make sense of the world.

“Owen?” I began, my voice sounding shaky to my own ears. “How did we get here? What the fuck just happened?”