Things That Go Hump In The Night (25 page)

Given that Mark was the head of the Physical Site Security division, and Gabriel was a Sales and Marketing guy, he had deferred to his mentor's advice.

Gabriel might be desperate to rescue his lover, but he wasn't stupid.

If you hired the best, you listened to them when they told you the best way to accomplish your goals.

At the front of the house, Rafe banged loudly on something—either the front door, or one of the van's panels.

"Hey, Asura, you bastard!" he bellowed. "Gimme back my girlfriend! I know she's in there with you! Bring 'er out!"

Gabriel froze as he saw movement through one of the windows. His sensitive hearing picked up the sound of heavy footfalls rapidly descending the stairs.

Rafe continued yelling, "Nicole, honey! It's me! I've come for you. Why did you leave me? Come back to me, baby! Please!"

The front door opened. "Who are you?" he heard a deep voice say.

Erik Asura
.

Gabriel snarled silently and tried to concentrate on the delicate work of picking the lock.

And then Gabriel heard the sound of the tranquilizer pistol firing.

Did Rafe hit his target?

Gabriel fervently hoped so. His youngest brother had always been a good shot, but it was dark, the weapon was unfamiliar, and there was a real difference between accuracy at a target range and accuracy under pressure in a real fight.

Both Rafe and the stranger cursed, and then there was the sound of gravel sliding under rapid footsteps. Amor's drug, if the dart had managed to hit Asura, wasn't slowing him down much.
Shit
. 

With a click, the door unlocked, and Gabriel pushed it open, praying that the hinges wouldn't squeal.

Mark brushed silently by him on four paws and dashed upstairs. Gabriel carefully shut the door behind him and crept up the stairs behind the large wolf, keeping a wary eye on the half-open front door.

Upstairs, only one room was lighted, so it was easy to locate Nicole.

When Gabriel entered in the upstairs master bedroom, he saw her chained by neck and wrists to the foot of a large, metal-framed bed.

Relief warred with rage as he noted the marks of abuse on his lover. Her aura, normally a blazing glory of gold veined with the blue tendrils of shape-shifter magic, was faint and flickering, the blue washed out and barely visible.

Erik had fed deeply on her, past all the boundaries of decency or safety, the son of a bitch.

More worrisome was the net of black magic that enclosed her.
Another geas. Shit. Asura didn't waste any time, did he?

And then there were the physical injuries.

Nicole was naked, her smooth skin marked with long smeared streaks of blood, both fresh red and dried brown, that ran from beneath the metal collar and cuffs. Her back and torso were marked with long stripes of raw, bleeding flesh. It looked as if she'd been clawed by a wild animal.

She looked exhausted, and her face was badly bruised, her lower lip split and puffy, and one eye swollen nearly shut, the skin around it rapidly purpling.

She had her arms around Mark, clinging to him as she shook with violent chills. The wolf rested his muzzle on her shoulder and whined softly.

Nicole looked up and saw Gabriel.

The joy and relief in her eyes humbled him, considering what a shit job he had done so far in protecting her.

"I didn't tell him anything about you," she whispered. "He tried to force me to, but I didn't—"

Guilt swept through him. She had been a prisoner, and alone, and she had still tried to protect him.

Shape-shifters were like that, but the knowledge still humbled Gabriel.

"Shhh," he said, sinking to his knees beside her.

Mark moved away, and Gabriel cradled her face in his hands and brushed a quick, light kiss over her bruised lips. "Oh, love, I'm so sorry. Are you badly injured? Can you walk if I get you out of these?" He lifted the chains attached to her cuffs and collar.

"He put something else around my neck," Nicole said, her voice thin and worn. Gabriel saw the shudder that passed through her, stronger than her shivering. "It's another one of those strings, but this one is...worse. A
lot
worse."

Gabriel pulled out the lock-picks and set to work. It was the matter of thirty seconds to open the cuffs.

He saw the savaged skin beneath and the bloodied burrs on the inside of the wide manacles, and he inhaled with rage.

Erik Asura is going to die tonight. Fuck a fair trial in front of the council.

Mark saw it too, and his soft growl rumbled through the air.

The collar took a little longer, but it, too, yielded quickly.

Then he saw what lay beneath, worse than even the band of torn and bleeding flesh that circled Nicole's throat, and his blood ran cold. Suddenly, the black net of magic enclosing her faded aura made sense.

"A
Qibītu-šiptu
," Gabriel whispered, revolted to the marrow of his bones. "My God, I didn't think anyone knew how to make these anymore. And he put one of these...
obscenities
...on you?"

But of course, Erik Asura was old enough that he had been alive when these abominations had been used on enslaved mortals. He would know full well how to make one and how to use it to punish a mortal in his power.

Gabriel had already decided to kill Erik. But now he wouldn't need an excuse.

By the laws governing the Children of Lilith, using one of the Forbidden Arts was punishable by immediate execution.
Oh yeah
.

"Do you see this?" Gabriel asked Mark in a fierce whisper. "I'm going make sure that bastard hits room temperature tonight."

The wolf growled his agreement.

"Can you get it off?" Nicole's hand rose to her throat, but she stopped short of actually touching it.

Gabriel didn't blame her. His own skin crawled at the thought of having to touch it.

But he would get that thing off her, if it killed him. And it might—the old magic could be dangerous like that.

Damn it, and I can't call
Mi̱téra for advice this time. Fucking cellular dead zone.

He would just have to try the same approach that she had advised for lifting the previous
geas
and hope for the best.

"Mark's got a plan," he said to Nicole, tenderly tucking a lock of her soft, curly brown hair behind her ear. "First, I'm going to get this thing off you."

He continued to whisper the details of what they needed to do, and she nodded.

"This is the time when you'll need to use everything Mark taught you," he finished.

Nicole looked uncertain.

Mark whined, softly, and Gabriel added, "Before he shifted, he told me to tell you:
You're stronger than you think. Make me proud
."

Gabriel took a deep breath and touched the
Qibītu-šiptu
with his forefinger, preparing to dissolve the spell bound to it.

And felt his skin sizzle with sudden heat.

"Shit!" He jerked his hand away, sucking air through his teeth and staring at the blistered stripe across the pad of his finger. It felt numb now, but he knew it was going to hurt like a bitch in a moment. The air smelled of seared meat.

"Gabriel!" Nicole whispered urgently. She caught his hand and examined the injury, wide-eyed. "Shit."

"Yeah," he agreed. It was starting to throb with pain now, but worse, he had no idea what do to next.

They didn't have much time before Erik figured out that Rafe was just a diversion and returned to the house.

Rafe couldn't stop him—his little brother wasn't the type to take on an opponent in hand-to-hand combat. He was a software engineer, not a warrior.

Gabriel had to get this fucking thing off her, and
now
.

He took a deep breath and tried to think. His mother had instructed how to use his will, untrained as it was in the use of magic, to unravel the spell of the geas bound to Nicole's
philtata
-charm.

It was a procedure similar to defusing a bomb, as he inserted his own magic between the strands of the spell and snipped away at it, strand by strand.

In the brief moment he had been in contact with the
Qibītu-šiptu
, he had sensed that the magic infusing it was very similar to a
geas
. A booby-trapped
geas
.

Shit
. He was sure he could disable it, now that he knew what to expect. But was he willing to lose a hand to do it?

For Nicole...anything.

"Hold still," Gabriel said, gritting his teeth and reaching for the
Qibītu-šiptu
once more.

The thing about being burned was that it was impossible to ignore.

Every alarm in Gabriel's system went into overdrive at once, as he touched the knotted black cord again and pushed his power at it.

It was an effort of will not to jerk his hand away from the invisible flame that was cooking his skin.

Erik, you bastard
, Gabriel thought, letting his magic tear savagely at the strands of the spell. He felt them give way, reluctantly, and he let his rage feed his strength as pain seared through his hand and crept up his arm.

With a final surge of power, the
Qibītu-šiptu
crumbled into ash, and the heat
vanished
.

"Oh, thank God. Now what?" Nicole asked, swaying.

Gabriel caught her and pulled her shivering form against him with his uninjured arm.

She gently cradled his burned right hand in hers, careful not to touch his blistered and charred palm.

He looked at her, with her weakened aura and her beast magic faded to near invisibility.

"Now," Gabriel said quietly, knowing he was asking the impossible of her in her ravaged state, "you have to shape-shift."

Chapter 18 – Strength and Honor

"I'm sorry, Nicole," said Gabriel. "I know I'm asking a lot of you."

I can't. Not after what Erik did to me!

She looked up at him, ready to protest, and saw that he already knew.

Nicole had never felt so alone or helpless as she had in the aftermath of Erik's interrogation, waiting for him to begin questioning her again when she was weakened and vulnerable.

And then, miraculously, help had arrived, heralded by the shock of hearing Rafe outside, followed by Mark's appearance at her side, big and warm and strong.

And finally, Gabriel had come striding through the door of her prison, his handsome face set into stern lines like an avenging angel.

Just as he had done before, he had managed to break the filthy spell that Erik had set on her, but she had seen how much it cost him. She felt sick as she gazed at the damage to his hand.

He wouldn't be able to fight with that kind of injury. And she had no idea what had happened to Rafe. Had Erik hurt him...killed him?

Now it was up to her and Mark to defeat Erik.

"Nicole?" Gabriel asked, cradling her against his broad chest, surrounding her with his beloved, familiar scent.

"Great. Two werewolves and a half-crippled Child of Lilith against an ancient, powerful sorcerer," she whispered. "This kind of shit only happens in fantasy novels, right? If so, where's my fucking magic sword?"

His chest heaved under her cheek as he laughed soundlessly.

"I can't do it," she confessed. "He took everything I had."

"I know," Gabriel said, serious again. "But you have to try. Please, Nicole."

Erik's going to kill Gabriel and Mark if he finds them here. I can't let that happen.

And they wouldn't leave without her. She knew them well enough to guess that.

Wake up
, she called silently to her wolf.
I need you now
.

She tried to call up the magic that allowed her to shape-shift. No response.

Please wake up.

Nothing.

WAKE UP, DAMN IT!

Power stirred sluggishly inside her.

Want to sleep now
, her wolf complained.
So tired
.

I know
, Nicole answered.
But we can't. The monster is coming back at any minute
.
Please help me protect Gabriel.

At last, she felt the transformation beginning. It was very slow and very painful this time, and Nicole hunched over in an agony of suspense, trying not to scream from the sensation of her joints dislocating and bones shifting.

She couldn't make any noise and risk Erik coming to investigate sooner.

Then the pitifully small reserve of strength that she and her wolf had summoned ran out.

Nicole panted, only half-transformed, and felt the shift slow to a stop. Her body couldn't go any further.

"No, no, no, NO, damn it!" she whispered. "I can't stop now!"

But no matter how much she strained and pleaded with her wolf, there was nothing left to answer her desperate plea.

She was all too aware of Gabriel, watching her in an agony of suspense.

But nothing worked.

Nicole stared up at him in mute apology. She had come so close!

"Nicole," he said gently, and his expression told her that she wasn't going to like what he had to say. "I have an idea."

"Shoot," she said, her voice garbled by her distorted jaws. "It can't possibly be worse than being stuck like
this
."

"There might be a way that I can help you," he began hesitantly. "I might be able to give you some of my power and my life-energy, so that you can complete the change."

He stopped, and she stared at him anxiously, possibilities racing through her mind.

"What's the catch?" she asked, aware that there was something he wasn't telling her. "It won't kill you, will it?"

He shook his head. "No. But there's only one way to do this, as far as I know."

Gabriel stopped and took a deep breath. Then he reached into his pocket and drew out an all-too-familiar red string bracelet.

Nicole stared at it in shock.

"I’m sorry, love," he said. "If there was any other way, I wouldn't ask you to bind yourself to me. I know how much you loathed wearing one of these...before."

His expression was a mixture of fierce determination and heartbreaking vulnerability, and she loved him for it.

"Only because Erik was the one to make me wear it," she said firmly. "Gabriel, I trust you." She raised her left arm, halfway shifted to a lupine foreleg. "Do it."

He exhaled in relief.

"I'll remove it as soon as Erik is dealt with and we're safely gone from here," Gabriel promised her, as he slipped the soft bracelet over her hand. "Ready?"

She nodded, bracing herself for...what?

He spoke a phrase in that resonant, guttural language that the Children of Lilith used for their spells. Gentle warmth traveled from her wrist, spreading over her chilled body, gentling the shivers.

And she could suddenly feel his presence in her mind, as strong as that of her wolf.
Determination. Fear for her. Tenderness.

Love.
Above all, love. The strength and depth of his feelings for her humbled her.

And she realized that she had never told him how she felt.

"I love you, Gabriel," she whispered, knowing that she would be unable to speak once she finished transforming into her wolf-shape.

Oh, God, his
smile
. The joy in it nearly killed her as he leaned down to kiss her.

And then his power flowed into her, and she was able to slide the rest of the way into wolf-shape. It was almost effortless, compared to her earlier struggle.

The input faded.

Gabriel swayed on his knees and nearly toppled into her, his glamour fading away. Worried, Nicole saw his skin shining with sweat, soaking his shirt. She nuzzled him. He was ice-cold.

You told me this wouldn't hurt you!
she thought angrily.

He gave her a faint smile. "Good. You're safe now."

Then she heard Gabriel's earpiece crackle to sudden life.

"Gabriel! Erik finally stopped chasing me. He's on his way back to the house," Rafe said, his voice sounding ragged with exertion.

"Did you manage to drug him?" Gabriel demanded.

"Nope," replied Rafe.

Gabriel groaned. "Shit."

"I know," said Rafe. "The dart hit him, but it bounced right off his skin. It was like he was wearing armor...or some kind of defensive spell."

"Fuck."

"And you know what else?" Rafe said, his voice rising with stress. "The bastard took to the air and is headed straight for you. I don't think he's going to bother with the stairs."

Mark's ears perked up. He turned to the master suite's sliding glass door, which led out to a wide balcony. An instant later, Nicole heard it, too: the flap of leathery wings.

Erik was coming.

Mark gave her a long look from golden eyes, then vanished with silent speed, concealing himself in the master suite bathroom.

And not a moment too soon.

Erik burst through the sliding-glass door, entering the bedroom feet-first, surrounded by a spray of tempered glass that fell around him like a shower of diamonds.

He stumbled, went briefly down onto one knee, then rose to face them, his features monstrous with rage.

"Amestra!" he said, his voice thick with rage. "You and that fool outside were the one who stole my
philtata
?"

Gabriel staggered to his feet as Nicole pressed protectively close to him, a growl vibrating through her chest.

Gabriel gave a hoarse chuckle. "She was never truly yours. And she's mine now. She gave herself to me, body and soul," he taunted.

Erik looked him up and down, his demonic features twisted into a sneer. "You think you can fight for her, half-breed? I know all of the old magic that you never learn—"

With a movement too fast for Nicole to track, Gabriel reached behind him and pulled a gun from a holster nestled in the small of his back. He aimed it at Erik's face. "You've got magic, but I've got
this
."

Erik spat a guttural word, and Gabriel flew backwards, into the bedroom wall.

His gun discharged, sending a bullet into the ceiling.

Then Erik was on him, tearing the weapon from Gabriel's burned hand and throwing it out the broken window. It disappeared into the darkness.

With Erik's attention focused on Gabriel, Nicole made her move.

Snarling, she lunged for Erik's vulnerable throat.

He turned with inhuman speed, caught her by the neck, and shoved her brutally into the wall next to Gabriel.

She yelped as she felt the sickening crack of breaking bones. Red-hot pain shot through her right foreleg and the ribs on her right side.

Nicole landed on top of Gabriel's sprawled body and rolled off him with an effort. Then she lay on her side on the carpet, trying to breathe through the pain in her side. It eclipsed the steady burning from the shallow gouges Erik had left across her back, belly, and sides.

She had known when she launched herself at Erik that she probably wouldn't succeed in hurting him. But her attack had served a purpose; it had been a feint to let the most experienced fighter among them, Mark Aquila, ambush his prey.

He came out of the bathroom with blurring speed, silent as death, and Erik shouted, taken by surprise when Mark's jaws ripped open the back of his left knee.

With a spray of blood across the beige carpet, Erik's left leg collapsed beneath him and he went down. Mark lunged again with lethal speed and crippled Erik's right leg, too, tearing a large chunk of flesh from the back of his thigh.

Watching from the sidelines, Nicole cheered silently for her teacher, his fangs and muzzle now bloodstained.

Holding on to the wall, Gabriel struggled to his feet. He was holding a long knife now in his burned hand.

Nicole smelled his blood and saw it oozing around his clenched fist as he gripped the knife's handle and moved in for the kill.

Then Erik, who was down and bleeding copiously, but apparently not defeated yet, spoke another one of the guttural, resonant phrases and moved both of his hands in a gripping motion.

To Nicole's horror, she saw both Mark and Gabriel jerked off their feet. They hung suspended in mid-air while Erik rasped something at them in a language that Nicole didn't recognize.

Gabriel growled a reply, and Erik...laughed.

Then something began to happen to his two captives. Their muscles strained and they fought, but she saw how some invisible force pulled them into a spread-eagled position...and continued to pull.

Joints began to pop, and she realized with sick horror that Erik intended to use his magic to rip Gabriel and Mark apart.

Erik had apparently dismissed
her
as weak, injured and useless, homing in on Gabriel and Mark as the real threats.

Nicole tried to stand. It took two tries before she made it to her feet—barely. She couldn't put any weight on her right foreleg, and it hurt to breathe.

Okay, so one of her legs was broken, but the other three were working just fine, and most importantly, her back legs were fully operational. Cracked ribs she would just grit her teeth and deal with.

She would only get one chance while Erik was distracted by his other prey.

Nicole gathered her uninjured hindquarters beneath her, and leaped, knocking Erik flat on his back and landing squarely on his chest. Her broken foreleg screamed with pain, but she'd managed to take him by surprise.

Her wolf surged into control, and she buried her sharp fangs in his throat, tasting Erik's salty blood as it spurted into her mouth.

Erik gave a gurgling scream, unable to speak any more spells.

With a growl, Nicole gave a violent shake of her head and was surprised when the movement tore Erik's head off with an ugly popping sound.

A gout of hot blood soaked her face, and her wolf went berserk with pent-up rage and blood-lust.

Her wolf flung his head across the room and began to tear at his chest and soft belly, ripping him apart in great bleeding chunks of fresh meat, just as she'd wanted to do since the moment they’d awoken in Erik's cage.

Nicole, stop.
Gabriel's plea slid into her mind, accompanied by warmth and love.
It's over. He's dead.

The wolf ignored him, in favor of reducing her enemy to a pile of broken bone and shredded meat.

She tried to ignore Mark's threatening growl as well.

So he grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and flung her off her kill, then knocked her off her feet when she tried to rise and confront him. Her broken foreleg hit the floor, and the pain was red and hot.