Leopard Moon (26 page)
"Looks like you're stuck with me," Cormac murmured. Kess settled into his arms. Whatever happened, they would face it together.
The day dawned in a glory of blue sky and watery sunshine. Sek paced in his sister's room at the boarding house, waiting for her to come back. He wasn't worried that she'd be alone--he had no plans to start trouble, not right now, anyway. He could behave himself if she showed up with that interloper.
He'd had a most interesting chat with his waitress last night. Rebecca had been only too happy to confirm where Kess was living and who she was dating once she knew he was Kess' beloved brother come for a surprise visit. Rebecca had even thoughtfully supplied the boy's name--Cormac. He'd sent a few of his men out to find out the boy's habits.
Before the sun was up, Sek had climbed up the side of the boarding house, using Kess' particular scent as a guide to which room was hers. He found her window cracked, something she must have done deliberately, in case she needed to enter in the same way he had. He'd levered himself in smoothly and made himself comfortable.
Hours passed. Sek didn't bother looking though her things. He wasn't a thief looking for money or jewelry to pawn. The one thing he wanted wasn't here, but soon would be. She had to come back to her room eventually, if only to grab her paltry things and flee to the next locale. But now that Sek had her trail, he'd never willingly let her go again. He fought down anger at the very idea of having to start the chase up all over again. She was leaving with him one way or the other.
Kess was his. He'd raised her, loved her and looked after her for all of those years when their father brooded and grieved, only able to give small parts of himself to his children while he tried to care for the rest of the clan after burying the greater pieces of himself with his wife. He watched her grow from toddling nuisance to shockingly bright child to beautiful young woman. He was as proud of her as if he had sired her himself.
He had kept her away from the wereleopard gatherings, the dark sensuality, the instability of them, not wanting to see her get hurt or become tainted by some of the less savory aspects of their clan. He'd kept her removed from the business of the clan, in the dark about the jaguars and the product they allowed the South American cats to move through the territory. He had wanted her protected. Innocent. It wasn't just to keep her for himself, although that was a part of it. There was something in her that called out to him, a like roaring to like from the depths of their isolation. She was like his other half, at one time so close to him as to be inseparable. He missed that closeness.
But the clan was faltering. Their clan hadn't sired a were since Kess. She was the last. She was his last hope to revive the clan, to make them strong once again. There were other wereleopard clans out there, as well as other species, interested in their territory--he knew because they were already making sorties into Miami. It was a plum real estate: wealthy, debauched, and tropical. He needed to make her understand. She had to come back with him. In time, he knew he could win back her love, make her see his way of thinking, make her realize that the brother she had once cared for was still there beneath the layers of responsibility and concern. Make her see that his way was the only chance their clan had for survival.
Sek didn't want to hurt her. He'd never wanted to hurt her. She had run scared and kept running, hiding herself away so that he could never explain or apologize. Their father had paid private investigators to find her and they had looked without success for months while he grew more and more withdrawn from everyone. Sek thought his father was almost grateful when he'd finally challenged him for supremacy. Sek hadn't wanted to do it, but they were in danger, all of them, and his father was unable or unwilling to see that.
Things had just gotten out of control the night Kess left, Sek told himself. He had scared her, pressed too fast. He wouldn't make that mistake again with her. He'd be more attuned to what she wanted, taking their courtship slowly. The pharaohs of ancient Egypt had married their sisters, as they were the most suitable brides for the line and they were descended from those beasts that had once walked beside them. Even the gods Osiris and Isis were brother and sister as well as husband and wife. There was only one suitable mate for him and he had to get her to see that.
Sek heard the key in the lock. He entertained the idea of greeting Kess from a seat on her bed, but thought better of it. No use in being overtly antagonistic. Instead he took himself off to the bathroom to wait until she had come in. He heard footsteps on the wood floor, waiting until they crossed onto the carpet before he came out of the bathroom to block the way out.
"Hello, Kess." He drank in the sight of her. She'd changed so much in the year that she'd been gone, growing taller and sleeker. She'd thinned out as she grew up, her cheekbones becoming more pronounced, her chin more pointed. No one could have possibly been more beautiful. "It is very good to see you again."
She whirled from her packing; she'd been stuffing clothing into a duffel bag. Her eyes were wide as they darted from him to the door. She began to back away from him. He put up a hand. "I've only come to talk."
Kess did not relax, not that he had really expected her to. Still, her fear disturbed him. He had not been gentle in the past but that was because his cat nature had gotten the better of him. It was hard to control his urges around her but he had a better rein on them now. He was hoping for the chance to explain.
"I don't have anything to say to you." Her musical voice shook with emotion. "Did Dad send you?"
"No, he didn't." Sek didn't want to get into their father right now, not when Kess was so obviously upset. "Please, Kess." He watched as she shoved the garments she was holding into the bag with shaking hands. He was not used to pleading, but he would do it if it meant having her back with him. "Just listen to what I have to say."
She wouldn't meet his gaze, no matter how hard he tried to catch it. Taking her silence for acquiescence, he began, "I'm sorry. For everything. But it is time you came home."
"No. I had a good reason for leaving," she said, dropping her eyes and playing with one of the straps of her bag.
Sek took a few steps closer to her. He tried to touch her face, but she flinched from him, and he subsided, hand curling into a fist. "I know, and for that I really am sorry." Her eyes flashed up into his and he smiled at her. "I will take more care with you in future."
A look of disgust marred her lovely features and his smile died. Why must she look at him like that? Why didn't she understand how much he loved her? They had been raised together, he had been the one to guide her through her first change, to hunt with her, to teach her to fight, to protect her from anyone who would have stolen her away. There had been a boy when she was going to school that had come sniffing around her skirts, but Sek had made sure the young man was removed before he became a problem.
They weren't cats and they weren't human. They were something else entirely. Human rules and distinctions did not apply to them.
"I love you," he whispered, letting the longing he felt color his voice. "Remember when we would go swimming in the ocean? Remember how I would read to you every night before you went to bed? Remember how we'd make pancakes every Saturday morning? Don't you miss that?" Don't you miss me, he wanted to ask, but he was afraid of her answer.
She nodded. "I do miss it sometimes."
"You can have it all again. Come home with me. You'll never want for anything. I can make you happy."
"I want my brother back," she said in a small, almost inaudible voice.
He rocked back. He didn't understand. "I'm right here," he said, grabbing for her hand but she pulled it from his grasp.
"No, you're something else. You stopped being my brother the day you tried to force me." She looked at him sadly. "I'm not going with you."
He was growling, low in his throat before he realized it. She was watching him warily and he forced himself to quiet. "Sis, please..."
"Don't call me that!" She hugged herself, backing away. "Please Sek, just go home. If you truly love me like you say you do, just leave me alone."
She was denying him. Again. He closed the gap between them, grabbing her arms in a bruising grip and slamming her up against the wall. She gasped and he saw the fear flash in her eyes, but he didn't care. She had to understand what he had done for her, how much finding her had cost him.
"Leave you alone? Do you know what I've done for you? What I had to do to come here--to bring you back?" He shook her with each question.
"What are you talking about?" She was staring at him now, eyes huge in a face gone pale.
"Father's dead." Sek bit off the words, wanting to hurt her as she had hurt him. He had been so happy to see her, overjoyed that she was safe and well, and she had reacted like he was worse than the lowest creature that crawled. He couldn't stop the whip-crack of anger that demanded he return the hurt in kind.
Kess was staring at him, clearly not comprehending what he said, not at first. "I don't understand. How?"
"Rite of challenge." Sek let the words hang in the air between them. He kept his hands on her upper arms, pinning her against the wall.
"You?" It wasn't a word, merely a breath. He nodded. "How could you?" Unshed tears gleamed in her eyes. "All you had to do was wait and the clan would have been yours anyway."
"You weren't there. You don't know what it was like." He felt a tightness in his chest. He did not like talking about how lonely he had been without her, moving through the landscape like a ghost.
"What is wrong with you?" she whispered, staring at him as if she didn't recognized him. His grip slackened and she pulled herself free. She grabbed her bag and went into the bathroom, shoving toiletries in the bag and wiping tears from her cheeks.
He followed her in there, fury making his movements sharp and quick. "Wrong with
me
? I didn't run away from my family! I didn't break our father's heart with worry and grief!"
She whirled to face him, eyes glowing. "No, you just murdered him!"
He reeled back, stunned that she couldn't see why he had to do invoke the challenge. "I had no choice! He wasn't going to do anything--he had stopped looking for you! I had to do this to get you back. The clan needs you. I need you!"
She took a step back at the force of his words. There was nothing in her eyes that said she loved or cared about him. There was only anger and hurt. "Don't you get it? I'm not coming back! I'll never come back to you. Don't you understand that I can't after what you did?"
"Kess..." His voice sounded so strangled he almost didn't recognize it.
Her hands came up, like she wanted to push him away. "No, Sek! Just leave town. Please. Before anyone gets hurt. Just go!"
Like your boyfriend? he wanted to ask, but felt a great roaring in his head as rage filled him. She was not the one to dictate terms to him. He had tried to be kind, he had tried to be reasonable with her and let her make her own decision. If she could only understand the things he had done to be with her, to protect her, the costs he'd paid. But she still continued to defy him, even tried to order him around as if she had a say in the matter. In two strides he crossed to the bathroom and grabbed a fistful of her hair at the base of her neck.
Putting his lips to her ear, he whispered, "I'm not going anywhere, Kess. You don't get to make the decisions anymore." He slammed her forehead into the vanity mirror. Glass shattered. She cried out, staggering as blood began to seep down her face and he released her, leaving the bathroom as if he hadn’t left a part of himself behind, as shattered as the mirror.
Kess put a hand to her forehead. She was dazed and could only stare stupidly at her hand when it came away bloody. Sek's words ran through her head on endless loop. She was the reason her father was dead. He was dead because of her. If she had stayed, he'd still be alive. She remembered the last time she spoke to him, her warning to him, his saying he loved her. She'd never thought it would the last time she'd hear his voice. She remembered the envelope of money and his note to her.
Be well. All my love
.
She heard Cormac's voice at the top of the stairs, calling her name. He'd been waiting for her in the Jeep while she ran to grab some of her things. She must have taken too long. She came into the bedroom. Sek had stopped in the center of the room as Cormac's frame filled the doorway.
"Kess?"
She saw him look from her to her brother. It only took a second and then he was moving, launching himself at Sek. He landed a thundering punch that sent Sek staggering back. She heard Cormac growling, saw his eyes glowing silver even in the soft light of morning as he drew his lips back from teeth that were suddenly too sharp to be human. She knew he wouldn't fully change because of the punishment his father had meted out and she felt relief. She didn't want to start an all out were-war.
Her brother wiped the blood from his mouth, answering with a snarl of his own. Kess had no doubt that he would recognize Cormac for what he was.
"Touch her again," Cormac warned, "and it will be the last thing you ever do."