Untouched (34 page)

Her expression went blank, and her eyes grew cold. A slow smile cracked her devilishly beautiful face. Quicker than a snake, Pasha swooped in front of Brent, grabbed him by the back of the head, and placed a firm kiss on his mouth. The boy struggled in vain against the much stronger woman.

“You’re right, lover. I don’t need you anymore,” she murmured the testament against his quivering lips and shot him in the stomach.

The blast echoed through the room, and she smiled as the bullet tore through the boy’s soft form. His face registered shock, pain, and confusion as his body crumpled to the floor with a sickening thump and landed at her feet in a heap.

“You sick bitch,” Joseph screamed, and the rest of them snarled and roared in protest.

Without missing a beat, Pasha pointed the gun back at Joseph. Smiling, she shoved Brent’s limp body with a stiletto-clad foot and stepped over him, careful to avoid the quickly spreading pool of blood. Joseph made a move toward her, but stopped when she cocked the gun.

“Ah-ah-ah,” she scolded. “He served his purpose.” She sighed. “After all, I have your daughter, don’t I?” She laughed softly, and without taking her eyes off of Joseph, turned the gun onto Kerry. “Say bye-bye to your baby,” she whispered.

Rage bubbled up, scorched Joseph’s blood, and triggered the most unexpected reaction. His gray eyes tingled and shifted harshly into the bright yellow orbs of his clan. Screaming with fury, his skin prickled, and the familiar, almost forgotten, electricity sizzled through every cell of his being as his timeworn body cracked, contorted, and shifted.

He wanted to scream in protest and tear this woman to pieces with his bare hands, but instead of a word, an earth-shattering roar ripped from his weary lungs. For the first time in almost thirty years, and without the ancient language, he shifted into his panther form. He didn’t know how he was able to do it, but he’d never been more grateful for anything in his life.

Energized by the ancient, long-lost gift, and fueled by fear for his daughter’s life, Joseph leapt onto a shocked Pasha with surprising speed. The gun fell from her hand and fired. The bullet ricocheted off Kerry’s cage. She snarled, and her sleek body flinched, shrinking into the corner. The bullet bounced around the room, finally smashing into two pillar candles on the mantel. Within seconds, flames licked up the wall with frightening speed and began to engulf the room.

Joseph knocked Pasha to the ground. He pinned her there with his massive black paws and promptly sank his sharp teeth into the tender flesh of her throat. Stunned by his unexpected attack and with no time to shift, Pasha struggled helplessly, and her glowing eyes grew wide with shock. Driven by rage for all that had been stolen from him, Joseph tightened his grip and crushed her delicate neck with his vice-like jaws.

Her mouth moved as if to scream for help, but only a gurgling sound came out, and a thick rivulet of blood dripped from her nose. Her eyes dimmed as the life was strangled from her body, and blood spurted from the wound in her neck as it snapped with a satisfying crunch.

Joseph growled, shook her violently, and tossed her lifeless body away from his precious daughter. He let out a bone-shattering roar through a blood-stained muzzle and stood triumphantly above her crumpled form.

Shaking with exhaustion and relief, Joseph padded over to Kerry’s cage and stood with her for a moment, eye to eye. His glowing yellow eyes searched hers, and his breath came in heavy labored gasps. Joseph’s heart squeezed excrutiatingly in his chest, and agony radiated down all four legs. In a flash of blinding pain, his body contorted, and he shifted back into his human form. Gasping, he clutched his chest and collapsed onto the floor in front of Kerry. She reached one paw through the bars and placed it tenderly on top of his limp, weathered hand.

Flames raced up the walls at incredible speed and quickly spread to the tattered drapes along the windows. Peter burst in through the fire-framed doorway with wild eyes and his gun drawn. Malcolm screeched and flapped his massive wings in an effort to free himself; next to him Samantha continued to whine and paced nervously. Pete ducked away from the heat and flames and ran over to Joseph, who lay on the floor in obvious discomfort.

“Don’t waste time with me, you idiot,” he wheezed as sweat poured down his face. “We have to get them out of these cages before this place falls down on top of us.” He nodded toward Pasha’s and Brent’s bodies. “Check her pockets, and see if there are any keys.” Each word came out more labored than the last.

With enormous effort he propped himself on one elbow and looked into the beautiful, glowing eyes of his daughter. “I’m so sorry, Kerry,” he said as he searched her eyes for forgiveness. “I was a fool and a coward.”

Pete frantically dug through Pasha’s pockets. “Got ’em,” he shouted.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Joseph coughed as smoke filled his lungs.

Pete, eyes tearing from the thickening smoke, quickly undid the locks on the cages, beginning with Dante and Kerry. He made quick work of the wolf’s cage and released the massive eagle from his confines.

The tiger roared loudly with impatience, but Peter hesitated at its cage. “If I let you out of here, you better not fucking eat me,” he wheezed. He undid the lock, swung open the door, and stepped aside, releasing the beast from its prison.

“Get over here,” Joseph gasped.

Pete stumbled blindly through the smoke. He took off his shirt and held it to his mouth, trying to keep out the toxic fumes of the burning house. Peter thought Dante and Kerry would run out as quickly as the others, but both had gone directly to Joseph. Kerry bent her large black head to Joseph and nuzzled him with her nose. She licked away the stream of tears that flowed freely down his face.

“Come on, old man, we have to get out of here. This whole place is going to come down around us,” Pete shouted above the roar of the fire. Joseph lifted his hand from his side, and Pete saw it was covered with blood. “Shit. You got hit in the ricochet.”

“Get my daughter out of here,” he bit out. His face was twisted in a mask of pain.

“She and Dante can get themselves out. Come on. I’ve got you.”

Peter picked Joseph up and followed Kerry and Dante out of the room. The fire licked at them relentlessly, and the smoke threatened to overcome them as they ran down the stairwell. They raced through the smoke-filled foyer and burst out into the Louisiana night. Their lungs burning with smoke and effort, they ran to the decaying fountain a safe distance from the raging inferno.

William, still wounded and bleeding, sat on the ground, leaning against the fountain. The golden eagle sat on the stone edge just behind his shoulder in a protective stance. The massive tiger and the gray wolf stood there as well, waiting for them.

Peter laid Joseph on the ground and breathlessly sat down next to him. He coughed and wiped at the tears streaming down his face as he leaned in to get a better look at the wound on Joseph’s side. He cursed at the sight of it and exchanged a deeply concerned look with Dante.

“Don’t do that, boy. I know I’m a dead man,” he wheezed. Peter opened his mouth to protest, but Joseph grabbed his hand tightly. “Go to The Voodoo Room in the Quarter and ask to see Beaumont,” he closed his eyes and grunted. “Use my name. Go get Jacqueline, and take her with you—she knows. You have to get the antidote for the binding spell.” He coughed up blood, and his wrinkled face twisted in a mask of pain.

Peter licked his lips nervously and looked at the unusual menagerie. Even the imposing and ferocious tiger sat next to them quietly and waited. Peter shook his head and shrugged. “Absolutely,” he said with a wry smile. “I don’t think Dante can write my paychecks with those furry mitts.”

Peter eyed the enormous black panther as she lay down next to Joseph and tenderly placed her head on his chest. Dante moved in and nuzzled her neck in a gesture of love and support as Joseph placed a blood-stained hand on her head and stroked her smooth black fur gently. Ears flattened back, tears shimmered in her glowing yellow eyes as she gazed lovingly at her father.

“I have loved you every day of my life,” Joseph whispered haltingly. “I hope you’ll remember that every day of yours.”

The bright orange glow of the burning inferno flickered brightly in the bayou as Joseph took his last shuddering breath. Kerry lifted her head and let out a grief-filled roar. William and Peter looked on as the rest of them, feeling her loss, lifted their heads toward the night sky and howled, roared, and shrieked to the heavens. The energy in the bayou swelled with their sorrowful cries as the old house came crashing down in a fiery heap.

Dante pulled Kerry closer into the crook of his arm and took a sip of his beer. After the events over the past few days, he never wanted to let go of her or let her out of his sight ever again. He stroked her upper arm with the tips of his fingers and smiled as she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. She was safe. They were safe—for now.

Joseph’s funeral at the old cemetery, although just attended by their intimate circle, had been poignant. He was buried in the crypt with Victoria, Kerry’s mother. Richard had even left his pregnant wife Salinda in order to perform the ceremony and give him the burial of an Amoveo warrior. The Purist Network was no longer a secret. Richard called a gathering of the Council and made it clear that anyone involved with the Purists would be dealt with quickly and harshly.

It looked as though Pasha had been involved with other Purists. However, the cold, hard truth was that they just didn’t know who they were. Was this what their lives would be? Looking around every corner and only trusting the select few who knew about this conspiracy from the beginning? Looking at Kerry’s lovely fair skin, and stroking her long soft arm, he realized it didn’t matter. As long as they were together, it would be alright.

“Dante,” William barked from the wingback chair across the room. “Are you listening?”

“Of course I am, William,” he said without taking his eyes off of Kerry. She arched her neck and looked up at him with a smile tinged with sadness.

Jacqueline and Peter came back in the room with a tray of cheese and crackers and two bottles of wine. Jacqueline placed the tray on the coffee table and instantly scooped up Jester, who’d been standing patiently at her feet waiting to be put in the familiar cradle of her arms. Peter poured more wine for Kerry and then for Samantha and Malcolm who sat on the other sofa.

“He’s not listening to you, bud. I think he’s permanently punch drunk on love,” he said with a wink to them both.

William let out a loud sigh. “Then would you mind answering the question,” he said with his typical impatience.

Dante’s gaze flicked to William, and an amused smile curved his lips. “You’re still pissed about the whole knife thing, huh?”

William straightened his back, and pain briefly flashed over his features as he smoothed one lapel. “No.” He sniffed. “I know it was an accident. Besides, I’m practically healed. Now, please answer the question. Has Boris connected with you yet? I was very surprised that he wasn’t at Joseph’s funeral today.”

Dante nodded his head. “Yes. He’s been busy with the police. Pasha had stashed that Penelope girl in the basement of their bar. He’s had to give his statements and so on. Pasha is getting the blame for all of this with the humans. The fire, murders, kidnapping… the whole ball of wax.” He looked lovingly at Kerry and played with a silky strand of her long hair. “They think that she was an obsessed fan of Kerry’s. She coerced Brent by kidnapping his girlfriend and then made the poor kid help her lure Kerry out to the house. Joseph came home early, surprised them… and well, we all know how it turned out.”

Everyone nodded somberly in agreement.

“At least the girl is okay,” Kerry murmured. “I saw her at the police station that night and had a chance to touch her. She doesn’t remember much, and the grief of losing Brent overwhelmed her,” she said with tears shimmering in her eyes.

“I can’t imagine how she feels.” Dante squeezed her tighter and kissed the top of her head. “I don’t know what I’d do if Pasha had achieved her goal and taken you away from me,” he whispered.

“I have to be honest,” Kerry said quietly. “There’s a part of me that actually feels sympathy for Pasha.”

Everyone in the room looked at her as though she’d lost her mind.

“Why on earth would you feel sorry for her?” The lines in Dante’s forehead deepened.

Kerry shrugged one shoulder and wiped at the condensation on her wineglass with her thumb. “I think I can understand how frustrated and sad she must’ve been.” She looked around the room at each of her friends. “Can you imagine? She thought she’d found her mate, but he ignored her and had chosen someone else?” Kerry sighed softly. “I know what true loneliness feels like, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

Jester mewed loudly, breaking the melancholy mood of the room.

“Apparently, Jester feels the same way.” Jacqueline smiled at them. “I, for one, am very glad to have found you, Cousin,” she said to Kerry through a shaky voice.

William’s stern expression cracked with confusion. “What on earth are you talking about, woman?”

“Uh-oh,” Pete sang. “Looks like somebody isn’t the smartest kid in class today.”

William shot him a look that was a mixture of boredom and doubt. “I had some things I needed to follow up on.” He looked at his watch. “In fact, I’ll be leaving shortly to attend to my… business.”