Unleashed (8 page)

It sounds trite, but I had no idea that this is what my brothers experience.

I moaned nonstop, dragging my fingernails gently up his spine.

The ability to feel what you feel is incredibly sensual. I had no idea women felt things this way.

I couldn't even think of words to answer him, so plunged into the ecstasy was I. My body was on the brink of an orgasm that I knew was going to outdo any previous one, my mind was filled with the sensations that Avery was experiencing as well as coping with my own, and my soul positively sang with happiness. Just as I was about to fall into a red well of rapture, Avery bit me, his teeth piercing flesh and tissue, a white-hot pain melting instantly to a profound sense of rightness that had me pouring into him more than just life, but every ounce of lightness I possessed to fill the black shadows I sensed within him.

Avery shouted something, but I was too busy becoming a supernova of sexual completion to know just what it was. He reared back a second time, staring at me with wild eyes. “Do you know what you just did?”

“Had an orgasm to end all orgasms,” I panted, my entire body quivering with delightful little aftershocks. “I see why the French call it the little death. I think I came very close to passing out. My God, Avery—that was . . . Words fail me. I can only say I hope it's not like this every time, or I really will die.”

He stared at me for a moment, his body trembling as well. I stroked my hands up the damp lines of his back as he said, “I don't think that's going to be an issue now.”

“Hmm?”

He opened his mouth to say something but shook his head, rolling us over so he was on his back. “I think later is better in this case.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about, but since all conscious thought stopped with that orgasm, it's not surprising. I'll get back to you in a few hours, when I can brain again.”

He laughed, arranged my boneless limbs across his body, and tucked my head under his chin. “It was a hell of an experience, wasn't it?”

“Oh, yes.” I snuggled into him, my hand on his chest, where his heart still beat wildly.

Chapter 8

“Will you stop that?” I whispered to Cora.

“Stop what? I'm not doing anything.”

“Like hell you're not. Stop staring at me as if I were a ticking time bomb.”

“Well, pardon me for having a little sisterly concern for you. And you can just take that look and shove it, because I've been good. I haven't once mentioned the fact that you and Nosferatu were doing exactly what it's obvious you were doing,” she answered with a self-righteous sniff.

“I should hope not. I am an adult, and it's none of your business what I do with Nosf—Avery.”

“You just remember you said that when the villagers with the torches come after you.”

“That was Frankenstein, not Dracula, you twit,” I scolded.

“If the pair of you aren't quieter, we'll have the entire Leshy collective down on us, complete with torches,” Avery warned, crawling back to where we were hunkered down behind a wild rhododendron bush.

“What are they doing?” I asked him, squatting next to where he was bent over my cell phone.

“Nothing sinister that I could see. The shift is about to change, which means we'll have to watch for the new patrol. I didn't see any sign of Baum, though.”

“Where are Sam and your brother?”

“Car trouble.”

“An accident?” Cora asked.

“They were driving over the mountain pass to the park you told them would be a good place to leave Dieter, when Sam insisted they stop for dinner.”

“Did someone hit the car while they were eating?” I asked.

“No, someone left a therion unattended in the car. He came to, managed to get the car started, and left Paen and Sam high and dry.”

“Crap,” I said, wondering how long it would take Dieter to drive back over the pass.

“My thoughts exactly. Looks like it's just we three, ladies.”

I smiled at him, my body thrumming softly to itself whenever he was near.

Thrum. That's a good word to describe it. I begin to see why all the Moravians are searching for their Beloveds. Thrumming is good. I could get used to it.

Even if it means giving up the legions of women you have slept with?

There weren't that many
, he said with a mental frown.

Good.

Half a legion. Three-quarters at most.

You are so going to be left to thrum to yourself
, I told him, wanting to laugh and punch him at the same time.

I've done that, too, love. You're much better.

I have no idea why you think it's flattering to be told you're better than jerking off, but that discussion is probably best left for another time.

“You're doing it again, aren't you? I can see you trying not to smile,” Cora accused. “What are you saying?”

“I was telling Avery that the discussion about masturbation is best left for another time,” I said complacently.

She gawked at me for a second.

“Serves you right for asking. Now, Avery, since we're down two people, do you think we should modify the plan to get Albert alone so we can talk to him?”

“No. I can handle him.”

“Like you handled him when he turned you into a puma?” Cora asked.

“Panther,” he corrected.

“Jaguar! Honest to God, doesn't anyone pay attention?”

“I wasn't expecting to be turned into a jaguar,” Avery continued. “This time I'm ready for him. His tent is the big one, over there. We'll give the patrol time to swing around to the other side of the camp, then make our move.”

“How come you're not just flying in there with your bat friends, and flashing fang and claws and stuff and taking them out?” Cora asked in a whisper as we moved as quietly as possible to a clump of laurel that ringed one part of the camp.

“I'm from Scotland, not Hollywood,” Avery said grimly. “We don't do those things.”

“Boy, that's lame.”

Your sister is a big—

You don't need to finish that thought. I am in agreement, although I would like to point out that she's motivated by affection for me. She honestly is worried that you have me under some sort of hypnotic trance.

Did you tell her it was just incredibly hot sex?
he asked with male smugness.

No. I told her you were lost and alone, and needed someone to repeatedly explain to you the difference between a panther and a jaguar.

He held up a hand to stop us, gesturing toward a shadowy figure moving silently ahead of us.

Patrol. We'll have to be on guard.

I grabbed Cora's arm and pointed at the shadow, then put my finger across my lips. She nodded her understanding.

The patrol moved off, making almost no noise, just a few whispers from the branches and leaves as he brushed past. We waited a few minutes to make sure he wasn't doubling back, then crept slowly forward until we were behind a stack of wooden crates sitting next to a big old-fashioned canvas tent. A faint glow of light showed within it.

Avery pulled out of his black pullover sweater a small leather case containing, amongst other things, a heavy pair of shears. Quickly he set to work, and in less than a minute had a slit up the back corner of the tent. He peeled back a tiny bit and peered in, Cora and I pressed up close behind him.

What the—

He slipped into the tent without finishing the thought. I exchanged glances with my sister, then shrugged and sidled through the opening after him, Cora on my heels.

The tent was one that could hold several people, and did in fact have three cots, one of which was occupied—by a figure who was bound and gagged.

“Albert!” I whispered, hurrying over to him. Avery cut off the old man's gag before turning his attention to the hemp rope binding his hands and feet.

“Are you all right?” I asked, keeping a wary eye on the opening of the tent. Although the flap was down, the night breeze made it flap now and again, giving us glimpses of a fire pit in the center of the compound, around which two people sat, talking in subdued voices. “Are you hurt?”

He squinted at me in the dim light. “You're the Mexican girl, aren't you?”

“The politically correct term—” Cora started to say.

“Another time, Cora. Yes, I'm Jacintha from the wildlife department. That's my sister, and Avery I'm sure you know.”

“Thought you would never get here, boy.”

I stared at the man and blinked a couple of times. “Wait a minute. You expected Avery to come back after what you did to him?”

“ 'Course I did. Why'd you think I dumped him somewhere he'd be safe?”

“It was you who put me in the shelter?” Avery asked, freeing Albert's hands. “Why?”

“To keep you from being killed by my cub, of course.”

“Dieter?” I asked.

“Franz?” Avery asked at the same time.

“Danielle,” Albert answered. “When I saw that she turned you, I knew she'd be sending you to the farm.”

“The hunting reserve,” Avery said, answering the question on the tip of my tongue.

“She didn't know you'd turn therion instead of were, though,” Albert continued, thoughtfully eyeing Avery. “She didn't ken what you really are.”

“And you did?” I asked.

“Aye. Not much slips past me.” He winced as Avery severed the ropes on his feet. “Except when my own cubs turn on me. The she-bitch caught me leaving you off, boy, and told me my time was at an end. Lucky for you, folks started showing up at that shelter, so she couldn't get you back.”

“Lucky indeed,” I mused, looking with warmth at Avery. My blood ran cold at the idea of him, helpless and drugged, in the clutches of a woman who would so abuse her own father.

Avery and I helped him to his feet. The old guy was unusually tall, probably close to seven feet, thin as a sapling, with long salt-and-pepper hair, and a wiry beard that would have been at home in a Tolkien story.

“What about your sons?” Avery asked quietly as he steadied Albert, who seemed a bit wobbly. “Do they know that Danielle is doing this?”

“Not Franz. Boy's as thick as a stump. Dieter, now, he's—”

“Missing.”

We all whirled around at the sound of the female voice. Two people stood with the tent flap pulled wide, a petite woman with a gorgeous mane of blue-black raven hair (a color I've always coveted), and a man whose smile left my stomach feeling as if I had been eating lead.

“Greg. I might have known.”

“Hello, Jacintha. Yes, you might have, but I've been very careful that you haven't, not even when you came sniffing around my office asking so many obvious questions. Danielle, my dear, it looks like we have three more pets to ship. I hope there is still room on the plane.”

Danielle Baum was staring at Avery in a calculating way. Before any of us could move, she whirled around and knocked her father backward with a blow to the face. “You stupid old man. You just had to change him back, didn't you? I told you what would happen if you interfered with my plans again.”

Change you back? She thinks Albert changed you back?

She doesn't know I'm a Moravian
, he answered.
She doesn't know that's why I'm a therion, not a were.

“Hey!” Cora said, kneeling next to the prone Albert, who was sputtering in a language I didn't understand. “He's old! You could have broken his hip or something. You okay, old-timer?”

Albert continued to speak, chant really, his eyes closed as his lips moved almost silently.

Danielle laughed and nodded at Greg as she moved over to a canvas duffel bag sitting on a camp stool. “Take them outside. I'll tie up Daddy dearest again.”

Greg, who had produced a gun and pointed it at me, frowned at Albert. “Did he hit his head or something?”

“No, he's just babbling to himself,” Danielle answered, pulling out a length of rope and moving toward her father. “Summoning the spirits of the woods. Don't worry—they don't answer to him anymore. Do they, old man?”

Her voice held a note of taunting that had my hand itching to slap her.

“This way,” Greg said, evidently reassured by her statement. He waved the gun toward the center of the camp. “You first, Jacintha. And just in case your boyfriend gets any ideas, I won't hesitate to shoot you.”

Albert's daughter and Greg—what an unholy alliance.

That's what she must have meant about needing a consort, and why she wanted so badly to marry me
, Avery mused as we stumbled out of the tent to the center of the compound. The others had disappeared, leaving us four alone next to a large fire.
She was planning on usurping Baum and taking over his position as lord of the forest.

And she wanted you at her side?

He gave me a mental smile.
I told you I am quite popular with the ladies.

Were
quite popular.
Were
is the key word there, isn't that right?

I don't know—it's rather enjoyable seeing you jealous.

Retribution for such sentiments aside, what are we going to do?

Stop them
, he said simply.

Before I could ask how, Danielle emerged from the tent. “Right, that's done. Now let's take care of these troublemakers before the others come back from meeting Dieter. Once they return, we'll tell them we have a couple extra for the shipment.”

“Sorry, Jacintha,” Greg said with mock sorrow. “I would say it's too bad the way things ended, but I always knew the day would come when you'd stumble across our business.”

“The business of murdering people?” I asked.

He blinked for a moment.

“Didn't Danielle tell you that's what happens to the people who are changed into animals and sent to Scotland?”

He frowned and turned to look at her. “I thought you said they were sent to zoos?”

“Does it matter what happens to them?” she snapped, taking up a stand next to the fire. “They bring us money; that's all that should concern you. Now be quiet and let me concentrate.”

Get ready to grab your sister and get the hell out of here,
Avery warned me
.

What? What do you—

Before I could finish that thought, Avery's body shimmered, shortened, and changed into a sleek black cat.

Danielle stood at the fire, her eyes closed, her hands held out blindly as she started a chant that sounded similar to the one Albert was mumbling.

“What the—” Greg stepped backward as Avery leaped across the fire toward him, knocking him backward onto his ass.

Run!

No! I'm not going to leave . . . leaf . . . love . . .
The world around me swam in a dizzying swirl, my head spinning, leaving me with the feeling I was going to pass out, or vomit.

I heard Cora calling my name, but it seemed to come from a very long way away. My entire body felt hot, as if I had a great fever; then suddenly my vision cleared.

The leaves rustled in the trees around us, a wind whipping across the compound and bringing with it the sound and scent of a half dozen animals nearby.

“Oh my God!” Cora yelled, staring at me with huge, disbelieving eyes.

Greg screamed as Avery bit down on his hand, forcing the man to drop the gun.

“Jas! What . . .
Jas!
”

“Excellent,” Danielle said, opening her eyes to smile at me. That was when I realized I wasn't looking at her properly. I was several feet lower, as if I'd fallen onto my hands and knees. . . . I looked down and saw two furry feet, and in an instant knew what had happened.

Holy Mary and every single little saint that ever was and ever will be!
I'm an animal! A whatchamacallit—one of those weres!