Lure of the Jaguar: Hades' Carnival, Book 7 (5 page)

Thankfully, she didn’t have much stuff to pack. She was used to traveling light when she was on the road. It didn’t take her long to stuff everything into her duffle bag and carefully place both weapons in an outside pocket. Then she went to the kitchen and packed up her laptop and cameras, placing them carefully into their protective cases.

When she was done, she rinsed off the few dirty dishes and set them in the drain tray on the counter. Then she threw what little food that remained into a box. Once she left here, she wasn’t coming back, not for anything.

Stavros patiently waited while she worked, but there was a sense of anticipation, of readiness about him. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t over. Not by a longshot.

“You’re naked,” she blurted. Heat crept up her cheeks and she knew she was blushing. But really, she couldn’t ignore the elephant in the room any longer. Stavros was standing naked in the living room like it was no big deal.

And it was a plenty big deal. It was impossible for her not to notice. His hair flowed around his broad shoulders. And the man didn’t have a six-pack. He had an eight-pack. She could easily see him gracing the cover of any magazine. And he’d never have to be airbrushed. He was perfection.

“Let’s get out of here.” He reached for her duffle and slung it over his shoulder. “We’ll take your car. You won’t be coming back here.” Stavros lifted the box of food and tucked it under his arm. He raised one eyebrow in question when she hesitated.

Okay, so he was going to ignore the fact he was naked. If he could, then she could too. Toni took a deep breath and glanced around the room. Nothing of hers remained. She couldn’t help but feel that her life had irrevocably changed. Whatever was going on, she needed to get to the bottom of it, needed to understand how her life had gone from normal to crazy in the span of a few hours.

And right now, Stavros was the key.

It might be smarter to run back to the city and catch a flight home to Maine, but deep in her gut, Toni knew the problem would only follow her.

No, as much as she might want to flee, she had to stand her ground and fight whatever storm was coming her way.

She squared her shoulders, slung her camera bag over her shoulder and grabbed her laptop bag. “I’m ready.” She turned off the lights and strode past him. She paused on the porch long enough to lock the door before heading to her car.

The sedan she’d rented at the airport was still sitting where she’d parked it the day she’d arrived. Stavros opened the trunk without the key. Toni ignored that little tidbit. The man was Houdini, not seeming to need keys for anything. She set her bags next to the duffle and the box.

“Do you have a purse?” he asked.

She shook her head. “My wallet is in my camera case.” She rarely bothered with a purse considering she was always dragging around her camera bag or a knapsack. She dug her car keys out of her bag and clutched them tightly in her hand.

Stavros closed the trunk and then went around to the driver’s side and opened her door. Paul must have heard them, because he called out again. She glanced toward the backyard. He was bleeding heavily from his wound and that would attract all sorts of critters.

“You can’t help him,” Stavros told her. “He signed a deal with the devil and the devil always collects.”

A shiver went down her spine. Why did she have a feeling Stavros meant what he said literally and not metaphorically?

Toni had to angle her body to fit between the car and the open door. Stavros held the door with both hands, his fingers curled over the top of the frame. “Toni.”

She paused before sliding into the vehicle. She looked up and he leaned down and kissed her. Her toes curled and her body heated the moment he touched her. He slanted his mouth over hers, tasting and tempting, taking and giving.

Toni knew better than to go down this road again. Stavros had proven he could blow hot and cold. She really didn’t need any more complications in her life right now. But she couldn’t help but respond to his ardor.

He cupped her face, stroked his thumbs over her cheeks, curled his fingers around her neck. His tongue stroked hers in a sensual slide. Her knees went weak. She moved to get closer but the car door was between them.

Like a dash of cold water, reality reared its ugly head. Toni pulled away. “We have to stop.”

Stavros’ eyes were dark pools of passion, but he nodded his agreement. He stepped back and waited while she slid in the driver’s seat. When he shut the door, she took a deep breath. “Get a grip on yourself,” she muttered.

Stavros climbed into the passenger seat. Still naked. Toni started the car and pulled away from the cabin. “Where are we going?” she asked.

“My place. Just turn right at the end of the driveway.”

Hades was not happy. Those three inept humans had had one job and one job only. Bring the girl to his demon. Still, it wasn’t a total loss. He had two new souls to torment and another on the way.

He motioned to his demon, the one he’d used to negotiate with the humans. “Go and collect the remaining human for me.” He was almost dead, his blood seeping the ground behind Toni’s house. Hades wanted the body claimed before some gator dragged it off.

“And bring me the bodies of the other two as well.” Better to clean up his mess than leave any evidence.

“Yes, my lord.” The demon bowed deeply and hurried off. The creature’s quick compliance and bowing and scraping soothed Hades’ temper.

Really, if you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself.

He stared at the darkened mirror, wishing he could see what was happening. Soon, he’d be able to find them. In the meantime, he needed to prepare. It was going to take quite a bit of power if he hoped to slip out of his realm for a few minutes to kill the woman with Stavros. Maybe the warrior didn’t love the woman, but he was protective over her. It would have to be enough.

Hades was tired of this game. Tired of those infernal immortal warriors. He hated losing, and he hadn’t won a round in this battle. Even when he’d thought he’d won, he hadn’t. All the warriors were alive and well and six of them were happily mated.

Hades growled and headed toward the door of his chamber. He stepped out in the hallway and quickly transported himself to the very depths of his domain. This is where the nastiest and most powerful of his creatures dwelled.

He motioned to the one nearest to him. The ten-foot tall skeletal creature lumbered toward him. Hades felt the demon’s resistance, but the creature had no choice but to obey. Hades laughed and caught the demon by the throat. “Your purpose is to serve me, and I’ve decided you can best serve me by dying.” With that, he opened his mouth and began to suck the life-force out of the demon.

Power flowed into Hades. It felt incredible. He’d made do with weak demons for too long. This was how he was supposed to feel. Unbeatable. Invincible.

When the demon was totally drained and no more than a shriveled husk, Hades dropped the body. Then he motioned to a demon cowering in the corner.

Chapter Five

Stavros knew Toni was confused. Hell, he was confused. He’d never expected to run into someone like her during his self-imposed exile here in the bayou—a woman who stilled the restlessness inside him, who completed him in a way he’d never dreamed possible, a woman he wanted in his life forever.

And when he said forever, he meant it. Immortality made that a very real possibility.

Neither of them spoke on the drive from her cabin to the one where he was currently living. He’d called on some of his power to clothe himself on the drive over. Not all the way, but he was now wearing a pair of leather pants. He figured it was the least he could do. He probably should have done it sooner, except there was a part of him that liked the way she looked at him when he was naked. In spite of her best efforts, he knew her gaze had kept coming back to his bare chest time and time again, and lower.

Even now, his cock was swollen with need. It went beyond the mere physical. No other woman would do. Only Toni.

She pulled the rental car to a stop in front of the cabin and turned off the ignition. The light was on over the door. He’d remembered to use his powers to turn it on just before they turned into the driveway. The silence grew even louder.

Stavros sighed, opened his door and climbed out. What he had to tell her wasn’t going to be easy for her to understand or accept. In fact, it might have her reaching for her phone to contact the authorities. And while that wouldn’t be a problem in the long run—not with his powers fully restored and the money he now possessed—it would be a nuisance.

Toni slammed her car door shut, not bothering to get her bags from the trunk. “You finally ready to tell me what this is all about?” She brought up short and stared at his legs. “You’re wearing pants.” It came out like an accusation.

“I thought it would make you more comfortable.”

She shook her head. “Where did you get pants?” Her voice rose with each word she spoke. “This night just keeps getting crazier.” She threw her hands in the air. “I mean, first there are three men who want to either kill or kidnap me for some unknown reason. Then I see a gigantic jaguar, which is impossible. Then you’re there, totally naked, in the same place the jaguar was only moments before. Furthermore, you seem to know the unknown man who wants to harm me.” Her chest was heaving by the time she finished her rant. Her hands were balled into fists by her sides and her entire body trembled.

He thought about reaching out to her but figured she wouldn’t want him touching her right about now. She was right. This was a lot for her to take in. It was a lot for anyone. And it was all his fault for paying special attention to her.

“I’m an immortal shapeshifting warrior.” Better to get that out upfront.

Her blue eyes widened and she took a step back. “Ah, okay.” She reached into her back pocket and then stopped. Looking resigned, she took another step toward the car.

Stavros figured either she’d forgotten her phone, it wasn’t charged or she couldn’t get cell service out here. Either way, he was grateful. “I’m not crazy,” he assured her.

She nodded but didn’t look convinced.

He raked his hands through his hair, knowing what he was about to do might send her running and screaming into the night. He reached for the opening of his pants to remove them and then decided what the hell. He imagined them gone and they were. Once again, he was naked before her.

“How did you do that?” Her mouth was open and she was staring at his blatant arousal. His cock flexed beneath her heated perusal.

“I can do all kinds of things,” he told her. “And I wasn’t lying when I told you I was a shapeshifting warrior.” He turned around so she could see the tattoo that graced his back. “I am the jaguar, and it is me.”

Facing her once again, he spread his arms wide. “Watch.” He embraced the changed and allowed the jaguar to slide from inside him. His body became long and lean. His head reshaped and his jaw elongated. Huge fangs sprang from his gums. Sleek fur took the place of skin and paws replaced hands and feet. The man was gone, replaced by the jaguar.

Stavros faced Toni. She was staring at him, her face pale. “Holy shit.” She took a step back, stumbled and landed on her butt. He hurried toward her, concerned she’d hurt herself.

She was going to die. That was Toni’s first thought when the massive cat leapt at her. She threw up her arms to ward him off even knowing it wouldn’t do her any good. It certainly hadn’t helped the men who’d come to her home, and they’d had a gun. Her weapon and theirs was locked in the trunk of her car and of no use to her.

When deadly claws didn’t rake over her skin, Toni peeked out from behind her arms. The cat was sitting next her, calmly waiting for her to acknowledge him. She peered into eyes she knew. There was no denying they belonged to Stavros.

“This isn’t possible,” she whispered, even though the evidence to the contrary was right before her eyes. The cat lowered his head and butted it against her arm. The gesture was so much like a housecat that she automatically reached out and scratched him behind the ears. The jaguar began to purr. Realizing what she was doing, she yanked her hand back.

Okay, so maybe Stavros was telling the truth. Unless she was having some sort of hallucination, an out-of-body experience, or her mind had lost its grip on reality, the only truth was the one sitting in front of her.

“You really are the jaguar.”

The cat chuffed his agreement.

Toni swallowed hard and reached out to touch the amazing creature once again. No, not a creature. Stavros.

The jaguar’s fur wasn’t really black. It was covered in dark rosettes that enveloped his entire body, making him appear to be one solid color unless you were as close as she was to him.

His breath was warm on her face as he chuffed again.

“Okay, I believe you.”

The cat stood and flicked his tail as he walked several paces from her. The play of muscles beneath his sleek coat of fur had her wishing for her camera. But she didn’t think he’d appreciate it if she jumped up, got her equipment and started snapping photos. Better not to anger the shapeshifting warrior.

And, yeah, it was going to take her a while to wrap her brain around that one.

Stavros began to shift once again. Only this time, instead of morphing into a cat, he became a man once again. Thankfully, he was wearing those leather pants he’d worn earlier. Not that they were much of an improvement. They clung to his muscular thighs and slender hips like a well-fitting glove.

She looked away from the prominent bulge in the front of his pants. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking about sex, no matter what her libido wanted. His bronzed chest was once again on display. A smattering of dark hair spanned between his two nipples before thinning to a line that ran down his midsection and disappeared behind the waistband of his pants.

“Toni.” His rough voice sent a shiver of longing through her. She suppressed it and met his black gaze.

“So you really are a shapeshifting warrior?”

He nodded. “An immortal. A warrior of the Lady of the Beasts, a goddess few in the world remember.”

That much was true. Toni certainly had never heard of her. “What are you doing here?” It seemed strange to her that she’d run across such a being in the bayous of Louisiana. Maybe the rainforest of South America near some ancient ruins. That would be easier to believe.

She started to laugh and slapped her hand over her mouth. It didn’t help. She’d obviously lost it. Nothing in her life made sense.

Stavros looked concerned, and there was nothing she could do to reassure him at the moment. She was clinging to her sanity by a thread.

He scooped her into his arms as though she weighed nothing at all and carried her toward the small home. She held on to him, needing something to ground her on this crazy night. Maybe she was in shock. Fine tremors wracked her body from head to toe.

He carried her inside and kicked the door closed behind him. The place obviously had a woman’s touch. It was evident in the little touches. The pillows on the sofa, the glass bowl on the table and the pictures on the wall.

Did he live here with someone?

He sat on the sofa with her on his lap and held her against his warm chest. “I’m sorry. What happened tonight was my fault.”

She sat up straight, resisting the urge to lean on his strong shoulder. “I don’t understand. You didn’t hire those men to harm me, did you?” It seemed unlikely since he’d rescued her. Nor did he match the description that her potential kidnapper had given Stavros.

He shook his head and his long, silky hair brushed his shoulders. “No. But my interest in you has brought you to the attention of Hades.”

She knew her mouth was open, but really, things just kept getting stranger and stranger. “Hades? As in the devil?”

Stavros frowned. “The Greek god of the Underworld.”

Toni had a million questions, but for now, she just went with the flow. “Why would he be interested in me?”

“Because I am.” Stavros stood and placed her gently on the sofa. She’d die before she’d admit that she missed his solid presence under and around her. When she was in his arms, she felt protected. Safe. And that was a myth. They had no real connection other than their few meetings, even though Stavros had saved her life.

He hunkered down in front of her and placed his hands on the sofa on either side of her hips. He gazed at her, and she could see sorrow reflected in his eyes.

“This all started five-thousand years ago.”

Toni had a feeling she wasn’t going to like this story one bit. “Go on.”

“The gods of Olympus were at war with the Lady. They are power hungry, never content with what they have.” He stood and began to pace the confines of the small room. He reminded her of a jaguar she’d seen at a zoo years ago when she was a child. She’d always thought it unfair to cage such a majestic beast.

“We fought,” he continued. “Battle raged. In spite of our prowess in battle, we were losing.”

“We?” she asked. Were there more of him? It boggled the mind.

Stavros flashed her a smile that made her pulse jump and her nipples tighten. “I am one of seven warriors. There is Roric the white tiger, Marko the bear, Leander the lion, Arand the wolf, Phoenix the phoenix and Mordecai the serpent.”

The way he said the last name with a slight growl of displeasure told her there was another story there. “So there are seven shapeshifting immortal warriors.” Even saying that aloud sounded crazy. But crazy was her new reality.

Stavros nodded. “Yes. The Lady cast a spell on us when she realized we could not win.” He began to pace again. She watched him prowl around the room, the tension increasing with each passing second. “We were trapped in our animal form, but we were saved from Hades. He was unable to take us to Hell. Instead, he sent some of his demons to watch over us in this realm and took the Lady back to his domain and imprisoned her for five-thousand years.”

This was like something out of a fantasy novel. Come to think of it, hadn’t she skimmed a graphic novel with a similar storyline the last time she’d visited her favorite comic shop in New York?

“Then Hades came up with a new plan. He wanted the power of the Lady’s warriors to help him take over the world.”

This sounded like the plot of a B-movie. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. She was a sucker for a good B-movie. “What happened?”

“Because of the spell the Lady had put on us, Hades could not free us. But somewhere in the world there was a special woman for each of us, one who could free us after thousands of years of captivity. So Hades had his demons build a carnival with a very special ride—a carousel where we seven warriors were displayed. The carousel was hidden from the regular carnival goers, but it drew the women, one by one, and we began to be set free.”

“Holy crap.” This was incredible. It was hard to believe it was all true, but it was either believe the story or check herself into the psychiatric ward at the nearest hospital for evaluation. And she wasn’t willing to do that.

Stavros straightened, hands on his lean hips, lost in the past. As she watched, he shook off the memories. “Once we were released from our captivity, Hades had twenty-four hours to kill us or convince us to come over to his side.”

“What did you do?”

The look he sent her was filled with anger. “I escaped and spent many years in the remote rainforests of the world.”

“And the woman who freed you?” No, she wasn’t jealous at all, merely curious. At least that’s what she told herself. She ignored the burning in her gut as she waited for him to answer.

“Hades thought she was dead, but she was saved and lived. I watched over her for many years.”

“And the others?”

He waved away her question. “It is enough for you to know we defeated the god and the curse. As a consequence of the bargain Hades made with the Lady, the god cannot harm any of us or the chosen mates of the warriors.”

Wait, did he say mates? “Some of the warriors have wives?”

Stavros smiled and she curled her toes. He was lethal to her senses when he was rough and serious. When he smiled, he was irresistible.

“Yes, the rest of them have mated. Four of them with the women who freed them, and two others with women who played a part in our defeating Hades.”

Wow. That was a story she’d love to hear someday. But she needed to get back on track. “What does any of this have to do with me?”

When Stavros came to crouch in front of her once again, she knew she wasn’t going to like his answer. His smile was gone, replaced by a solemn expression that had her shivering once again.

“Hades is a vengeful god and he feels cheated. He cannot harm any of us or the Lady.”

“You already told me that,” she reminded him.

Stavros trailed his fingers over her forehead and down the curve of her cheek. “He will harm anyone who is important to me. That is how he plans to take his revenge. He already tried it with two of the women before they were mated to my fellow warriors.”

That didn’t sound good, but Toni still didn’t understand. “I get that, but what does it have to do with me?”