Claws (31 page)

“Fine, consider me reformed,” he told
her with a grin of delight. “Anything else, mate?”

“Every time a female lifts their tail
and you even think of going there; I want a visit from you no
matter where I am or a phone call,” she insisted and her eyes met
his urgently. “That’s about it.”

“I have demands of my own,” he added
with a heated look. “I want you to find me in your dreams tonight
and every night after that, Vivvie. Take me there; show me all
you’ve learned.”

She wiped a tear away. “You would go
there with me?”

Eli snatched her to his chest and
kissed her lingeringly, his eyes on fire. “Every night you can take
me wherever you wish to go. I would follow you
anywhere.”

She giggled to think of his thoughts
about Munchkin Land and sighed, eager to show him her realm.
Jericho taught her much these last weeks, opened her eyes to her
gift, the wonder of what she could bring to their lives.

Eli brought her against his chest and
sighed, curling around her and holding her tightly. They slept not
long after that. Vivvie’s dream opened into their
bedroom.

Vivvie woke Eli and he grinned up at
her eagerly. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” she told him as he
got up.

“I do like surprises,” he said as he
got up and followed her. They went out to the deck and she took his
hand, smiling up at him secretively.

“Hold on then. We’re going for a
ride.”

~ ~ ~

Tania sat in the limo with a look of
unease as they pulled into the compound garage. The mandatory
meeting for the council was announced via email and she felt panic.
When had they ever had mandatory meetings in the past? Jericho was
even unaware of it, saying in a brief email he didn’t know today’s
topic.

Her thoughts grew dark when she thought
of Vivvie. Eli’s mate had yet to produce that which she needed to
satisfy the demon. The creature grew bolder; more demanding,
reminding her of Vivvie’s words of warning not long ago. She did
hate to agree with the Newbreed, but her soul hung now in the
balance. It appeared unless she took matters into her own hands,
the demon would claim her and everything would have been for
nothing.

The thought of the creature’s foul
breath made her gag. It was tired of waiting. Her eyes filled with
anguish to do as it asked now. There was no choice. Her golden eyes
filled with regret before she pushed such feelings
aside.

It wouldn’t be satisfied. While she had
few qualms of tossing Vivvie into its fiendish jaws, giving it Eli
made her question whether she could relinquish her true mate for
the sake of her own desires.

Her true mate had no equal. His loss
would be a great sacrifice. Thoughts of what she would reap made
her eyes glow in anticipation. To be human and immortal would be
her ultimate accomplishment, worth any sacrifice.

The demon could make such dreams a
reality, promised her all to give it what it wanted. It took over
forty years to break her down to agree to its demands. She had
never taken such matters lightly, knowing even her own brother
would curse her existence when it was done. Ty had always been her
conscience from the time they were born. He would kill her if he
knew what she’d finally agreed to in the night.

The demon came to her with another
demand. It wanted Vivvie and Eli, unwilling to wait for a child to
be born between them. She hesitated then, feeling betrayed by the
creature. It knew of her love for Eli and made her
choose.

Sadly, even her love for Eli wasn’t
enough to make her give up what she wanted and throw herself to the
demon instead. She brought all on herself when she conjured the
creature, trusted it to give her what she wanted.

After Eli forced her to her quarters
long ago to choose one among them, she reached out to the demon and
opened the doorway between their worlds, allowing it inside. She
asked it to allow her to keep all three of the Alphas. It
imprisoned her instead, forcing her to turn against her own
people.

Those years had been long and the demon
made her suffer in her cell, unleashing its torment upon her until
her mind snapped and she agreed to anything to be let out. Thoughts
of going back to that hellish pit made her resolved to see this
through.

She got out of the limo and entered the
compound, taking the hallway to the conference room.

When she entered, she was mildly
surprised to see Ty, Gideon, and Derek there too. Seeing Vivvie
sitting at the head of the table with Eli and Jericho made her feel
a sense of panic. A step back assured her a guard stood there,
blocking any escape.

The other council members were there as
well. Jericho smiled as he came forward, kissing her cheek as he
whispered in her ear.

“Boy, are you in for it now,
babe.”

Tania glared at him as he moved away,
feeling Eli’s cold gaze flicking over her, the claws he used with
his mental power raked over her then, making her flinch.

“What is all this about?” she demanded,
seeing nothing but grim looks at her words.

Eli stood up and his face was
frightening.

“My mate confessed to the pact she had
with you, Tania. You have nothing to hold over her now. Have a seat
and we will determine what your punishment is to be.”

“This is ridiculous, Eli,” Tania
snarled as she slammed down her expensive bag and glared at them
all. “What lies does she tell you now? What excuses does she
have?”

“Sit down, grandmother,” Derek snapped,
his green eyes filling with anger.

Tania looked at her eldest grandson in
worry. Derek’s behavior towards her assured her none doubted
Vivvie’s side in this. His disgust of her was obvious. All of their
scorn was evident in their expressions.

“You would take her side over mine?”
Tania demanded harshly of him, her soft hiss making Derek’s eyes
glow brightly. “I’m Mother to this tribe! I will not be spoken to
like this!”

“You will sit your ass down,
grandmother,” Derek snarled as he slammed his hands on the table.
“You have lost the right to call me, or anyone else here
family.”

“
How dare you speak to me
this way?” she asked as she slid into a chair.

“I dare after learning what you have
done to us all,” Derek replied and his gaze hardened, mentally
slapping her and making her recoil. While he had his Father’s mind
control, he lacked his other gift; the one that would have made him
Chief. “How could you do this?”

“I don’t have to answer to any of you!”
Tania shouted and looked about, her eyes filled with scorn. “I gave
the ultimate sacrifice when I started this compound. I asked for
nothing then. I bred every one of your litters for this cause
without complaint. I have earned the right to ask for my
reward.”

“Even at all our expense?” Derek asked
and shook his head, a look of pain in his gaze, his ability to
sense emotions obvious. “After centuries; you’ve learned nothing,
grandmother.”

Tania regarded her grandson with a
bitter gleam in her eyes. “I gave you life! You dare question my
desire to have more? When does our kind ever stop wanting
more?”

“What did the demon promise you to
betray us grandmother?” Derek asked with shared bitterness. “Did it
tell you it could give you humanity in exchange for what you would
give it?”

“Among other things; it promised me a
way out of this existence that is ours,” she snarled and laughed at
his obvious pain. “It is what we have all wanted! All these
centuries we scratch out an existence down here. To be human and
have all our power would be to rule this world. Don’t deny any one
of you would have leapt for it.”

“It deceived you,” he informed her
sadly. “It never had the power to offer you that. Only the Great
Spirit has that. It saw enough to take your ability to create life
away for a reason.”

Tania eyed her grandson in contempt.
“We will see the truth of this when it gives me my reward at
last.”

“You have been tricked,” he told her
harshly. “It wanted only the power of the nine returned to it. Then
it would have taken us all. Don’t you see that?”

Tania refused to believe it and shook
her head in denial. “No! It promised me! It gave me all else I
asked for!”

“It gave you enough to insure you would
do as it asked,” he argued and shook his head. “You have let it
back into our world with no thought it wouldn’t wish to
leave.”

Tania said nothing, feeling all eyes on
her, judging her.

“The council voted for your death, all
but one,” her grandson informed her bitterly, making her flinch to
know it was him. “Instead, we think it fitting you return to your
room and take to your sleep again; for the remainder of your
days.”

“You can’t do this to me!” she shouted
and looked about wildly, realizing they could as her eyes fell upon
Vivvie and saw the look of satisfaction in her gaze. Jericho moved
behind her before she knew better, injecting her with a syringe.
She stared up at him in denial as all went slowly black before her
gaze.

Jericho went over and injected Vivvie
in her arm then, smiling down at her. “She’ll be out of it and not
know what to think. Go get her, Tiger,” he said before Vivvie
slumped and went under.

The dreamscape opened into a cavern
below the mountain. Tania came too and looked about wildly and saw
the bars where Vivvie stood outside. She realized at once she’d
been tricked.

“Do you think this cell can hold me,
Vivvie?” the elder female snarled as she came to the bars and
hissed at her. “The demon will let me out! You would be better off
to kill me than leave me here. When I’m freed; I will eat every one
of your children and lick their bones clean, do you hear
me?”

“I hear you only we both know you will
never get that chance,” Vivvie snarled, eyes glowing. “I had a lot
of time to work at my gift, Tania. Jericho showed me the way to get
around in here. Do you see this?” she asked as she held up a large
golden key. “Do you know what this is?”

Tania rolled her eyes. “It’s a key! So,
what of it?”

“This is no ordinary key,” Vivvie
informed the elder with a smug look. “It’s from a land far, far
away from here. It’s the key to the city actually. I borrowed it
when I was there the last time to make sure you could never get out
of here.”

“I will get out!” Tania promised and
snarled and sputtered. “You don’t have the power to keep me here!
The demon will help me!”

“I don’t think so. Unless your demon
pal knows how to get there,” Vivvie stated with a smile. “Somehow I
don’t think that creep has that much of an imagination. Look at
this like a little kit for cat, Tania.”

Tania glared at her and tossed her
head, her eyes filled with scorn. “The demon will find that place
and let me out. You will lose everything you have when I get out of
here, starting with Eli. I will make you pay for this!”

“You failed to give the demon what it
wanted,” Vivvie reminded her and shrugged. “I don’t see it doing
anything for you now, except entertain you down here where you both
belong.”

“You might have stopped me for a time,
Vivvie,” Tania said harshly as she stared at her through the bars.
“I will get out one day.”

“Not in my lifetime, sweetheart,”
Vivvie said with a smile. “I’ll be gone by then. Mortality makes us
now even.”

Tania chuckled bitterly. “You think so?
The original prophecy was put back into place before you locked me
in here. We’re back to that whole nine soul thing again, thanks to
your dragging your feet to give me the child.”

Vivvie looked deflated at her words.
The elder laughed and shrugged.

“The demon reinstated the original
prophecy last night, a little incentive for me to hurry things
along,” she stated with a harsh chuckle. “Yes, I can see that got
your attention. We are right back to where we started, thanks to
you. Our people won’t thank you for this, Vivvie.”

“What did it ask for now? Don’t tell me
it changed the rules again? I think this demon is definitely
female,” Vivvie joked with little humor.

“It wants only you now,” she said with
a wide smile. “You really have loused things up. One child out of
the hundreds you could have had and it was too much for you to
sacrifice.”

“This demon has no power in our world.
With you locked down here it doesn’t have help anymore,” Vivvie
reminded her sharply.

“You made the mistake of opening the
doorway, Vivvie,” she purred and her eyes glowed brightly. “It
really doesn’t like you at all. That’s another thing I might have
failed to mention. You seal your fate when you let it in. Now it’s
in your life.”

“What do you mean?” Vivvie demanded and
tried to ward off her own terror to know the demon was now after
her.

“You will see,” she said and laughed
scornfully. “Expect a visit from it in the future.”

“I’ll be waiting, with bells on,”
Vivvie muttered and rolled her eyes. “Oh, and Tania, just so you
know; there’s no room service down here.”