Spy High (29 page)

Misty seemed to think otherwise. She
cracked her jaws into a cavernous yawn before picking her way over
to the edge of the shelf and jumping down.

“Wait, come back!” Hellhound eyed her
departing posterior with anxiety. “Shit, Aydan, we scared her off.
She’s leavin’ them.”

“No, she’s not,” I promised. “She’s
just taking a break now that the babysitters have arrived.” He
looked unconvinced, and I added, “If she was a feral cat she’d
never let us near her kittens and she’d move them as soon as
anybody discovered them. But she’s so used to having people around,
she knows we won’t hurt them. She’s probably just going to get a
snack or something.”

“Ya think so?” He turned a worried face
back to the mewing kittens.

“I know so. Trust me, she does this
every time I come to visit. Here.” I reached carefully into the
nest, gently grasping the nearest kitten by its scruff. It went
limp as I lifted it, its hind legs and tail curling under.

Hellhound sucked in a breath. “Jesus!
Aydan, stop! You’re killin’ it!”

“I’m not, I promise. And it’s a ‘him’.
I think. It’s hard to tell when they’re this young.” I tucked a
hand under the little warm bundle for extra security while I
transferred it. “This is how their mother carries them, and they’re
programmed to go limp like this when she takes them by the scruff.
Hold out your hand.”

Eyes wide, he complied and I lowered
the small orange fluff-ball onto his palm. As soon as I released my
grip the tiny tom uncurled, his spindly legs splayed across the
uneven surface, his pipe-cleaner tail flailing for balance.

Hellhound instinctively tucked his hand
to his chest, cupping his other hand around it to make a protective
fence. The kitten mewed once before nuzzling close to Hellhound’s
warmth, and he extended a single fingertip to caress the small head
and downy fluff of the body with infinite gentleness.

“He’s so little,” he breathed, his face
full of awe. “I never knew they were so little. Hooker was
full-grown when I found him.”

“You should have seen them when they
were first born and their eyes weren’t even open yet. They looked
more like mice than kittens.” I fell silent, tucking a hand around
the remaining kittens in the nest to silence their mewing while I
enjoyed Hellhound’s enchantment with the mote of life he cupped in
his palm.

The spell was broken a few minutes
later when Misty returned from her errand, chirruping a
half-purr-half-meow as she hopped up on the shelf. Hellhound’s
little tom responded with a piercing mew, and as Hellhound leaned
to bring him closer, Misty craned her neck to clamp her teeth
gently but firmly on the kitten’s scruff. Hellhound’s mouth dropped
open as she transferred the kitten back into the nest and curled
herself around her brood again. After only a few moments of
squirming and tumbling they rearranged themselves in a rapt row
against her belly, and soon the silence was broken only by an
occasional sucking noise.

“And visiting hours are over,” I
quipped, smiling. “See, I told you she wouldn’t leave them.”

“That’s amazin’.” Hellhound’s gaze was
riveted on the little furry family. “That’s absolutely fuckin’
amazin’. How do they know?” He turned a wondering face to me. “How
the hell do they know?” He turned back to Misty and caressed her
side with tenderness. “Goodbye, Momma-cat. Take good care a’ your
babies.”

We rose and I quietly swung the door
closed.

“Ya ain’t shuttin’ her in there, are
ya?” Hellhound inquired worriedly. “She can still get out,
right?”

“Yeah.” I pointed to a hole left by a
rotten board near the middle of the shed. “She goes in and out
through there. If we left the door open she’d probably move the
kittens because predators could get in too easily.”

“Oh. Okay, good.” He nodded absently,
his gaze still fixed on the shed, his mouth curved in a smile.

As we came around the corner of the
main building I turned to Hellhound. “I forgot to ask, are you
hungry? I’ll show you the kitchen, and we can grab a snack.”

“Nah, I ate when I got off the plane a
coupla hours ago, but I wanna see inside the buildin’ anyway an’
get the layout.”

I led the way inside, pointing out the
kitchen, phone, showers, laundry room, and storage. We were just
coming out of the meditation room when Karma strode into the main
hall.

“Oh, hi,” I greeted him. “I thought you
were going to be busy all day, but this is perfect. This is Arnie
Helmand, or Hellhound if you prefer. Arnie, Karma Wolf Song.”

Karma smiled and shook Hellhound’s
outstretched hand. “The Earth Spirit released us a little earlier
than we expected. It’s good to meet you-”

Moonbeam had entered as he spoke, and
her gasp cut across his words. “Merciful Spirit, what a beautiful
man!” she exclaimed, her eyes shining.

Hellhound and I both twisted to look
behind us and found no one. When we turned back to face Moonbeam, I
realized she was drinking in Hellhound as though worshiping at a
holy shrine, her hands clasped in rapture. He cast another puzzled
glance around the room before crossing his arms over his chest,
frowning uncomfortably.

“Oh…” Moonbeam reached for him as if
unable to prevent herself, her hands skimming the air beside his
bulging tattooed biceps. “Oh, you are so beautiful!”

“Uh…” Hellhound shuffled his feet and
his frown deepened. “Sorry, Miz, uh… ma’am… I think ya got the
wrong guy.” He leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Is she blind or
somethin’?”

Moonbeam came back to earth with a
little shake of her head. “I’m sorry, where are my manners?” She
smiled and extended her hand. “I am Moonbeam Meadow Sky, and I do
apologize for my impulsive behaviour, but you have the most
beautiful aura I’ve ever seen.” Her eyes unfocused again as she
gazed up at Hellhound. “Silver and white and yellow, with streaks
of that lovely sensual pink…” She sighed. “Extraordinary.”

I tucked an arm around him, smiling.
“He is.”

Hellhound flushed and ducked his head
as he took Moonbeam’s slender hand in a careful grasp. “Pleased to
meet ya, Miz Moonbeam.”

I knew she was truly smitten when she
didn’t even correct him to use her full name. Instead she smiled
and caressed his hand as though the contact was a gift beyond
price. Then she dipped into the folds of her caftan to bring out
another wood-beaded bracelet.

I had briefed Hellhound about the
bracelet ceremony, so he stood patiently while she tied the hemp
cord, carefully securing the short tails that remained after
spanning the girth of his wrist.

She clasped his hand in both of hers
and looked up at him with unconcealed admiration that made him
flush again.

“This bracelet gives you the protection
of the Earth Spirit as long as you are here.” She repeated the
words of the ceremony with reverence. “Wear it always. From now on,
you’ll be known as Blessed Soul Dream, the name the Earth Spirit
has bestowed on you. Go forth in peace, tolerance, and harmony. The
blessings of the Earth Spirit are upon you.”

“Blessed Soul Dream?” Hellhound’s voice
came out slightly strangled. When she nodded up at him with her
ethereal smile, he cleared his throat, his face crimson. “Uh,
thanks, Miz Moonbeam. Blessin’s on ya, too.”

As if to spare him further
embarrassment, Karma spoke up in his hearty bass voice. “Well,
Storm Cloud Dancer, have you been giving, er…” he hesitated with a
sidelong glance at Moonbeam. “…Hellhound… the twenty-five cent tour
this afternoon?” At my nod, he smiled and turned to Hellhound. “I
hope you’re feeling welcome.”

“Depends on what ya mean by ‘welcome’,”
Hellhound replied. “If ya like gettin’ bayonets shoved in your
face, then yeah, I got a helluva welcome.”

Moonbeam gasped, and Karma wrapped a
protective arm around her shoulders. “What happened?” he
demanded.

“We took a walk over the bridge, an’
these four guys jumped outta the woods an’ held us up with
bayonets,” Hellhound explained. “Who the hell are those assholes…
sorry, Miz Moonbeam, I mean, who are those guys?”

“Oh, Storm Cloud Dancer, I thought I
had been clear about the boundaries of the commune,” Moonbeam
chided.

“Sorry, Miz Moonbeam, that was my
fault,” Hellhound said hurriedly. “I pushed her into it, but I
wouldn’t’a done it if I’d known it was gonna be dangerous. I didn’t
think there’d be armed guys runnin’ around out here.”

“Are you going to call the police?”
Moonbeam asked.

“I don’t know what we’d say if we did,”
I replied. “We were trespassing. And they weren’t carrying real
guns, so I don’t think the police would do anything. I’m pretty
sure it’s legal to play war games on private land.”

“Maybe we should call the police
anyway,” Moonbeam quavered.

A flicker of movement near the kitchen
door caught my eye, and I glanced over to the now-empty doorway,
trying not to distract Moonbeam and Karma.

Shit, had that been Ratboy? Several of
the commune members were slim dark-haired men sporting beards, so
maybe not…

I returned my attention to the
conversation as Karma’s arm tightened around Moonbeam. “We’ll deal
with it, my love,” he rumbled. He turned back to Hellhound and me.
“I’m very sorry that happened to you. That’s actually what our
meditation was about today. The Earth Spirit warned us that our
renters were not living in the harmonious way of the Spirit, and
after this incident it’s obvious we’ll have to evict them. Please
stay far away from them. We’ll ask them to leave as soon as
possible.”

“They might not take too kindly to
that,” I said. “We were barely across the bridge before they
accused us of trespassing. We were lucky another guy happened along
who seemed like their leader and he let us go. I don’t think you
should confront them. Send an email or a letter or something, and
call the police if they don’t cooperate.”

“Thank you, dear, that sounds like good
advice.” Moonbeam exchanged a glance with Karma. “We’ll write the
letter tonight. But please, stay away from them. Such violent
intent is against everything the Earth Spirit represents.”

“We will,” I promised.

“And speaking of the Earth Spirit,” she
continued, “I believe Aurora Peace Rain is helping Blaze
Featherwind prepare for her talk this evening. Have you instructed
Blessed Soul Dream in the way of the Callings, or should I arrange
for Aurora Peace Rain to do so later?”

“I told him,” I assured her.

“Very well then. We will need to
meditate on the contents of our letter, so we’ll take our leave
now.” Moonbeam hugged me and Hellhound in turn. “Spirit bless you,
children.”

“You, too,” we chorused, and watched
them leave arm in arm.

I hurried to the kitchen and peeked in,
but it was deserted. I eyed the opposite door speculatively. It led
to an outdoor deck with firepits that were likely used for cooking
when the weather was too hot for woodstoves, but it would only be a
short dash to the concealment of the trees from there.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Hellhound
asked.

“I thought I saw Ratboy.”

He strode across the kitchen and
stepped out on the patio, scanning the forest. After a moment he
returned, frowning. “If it was him, he didn’t hang around.” Then he
glanced around the empty room and leaned close to growl, “Fuck,
Aydan, what the hell? A pink aura? An’
Blessed Soul Dream
?
Don’t tell Kane, or I’ll never fuckin’ live it down.”

“I won’t, I promise.” I kept a straight
face with an effort. “But she didn’t say it was completely
pink.”

“Yeah, well, yellow an’ white an’
silver ain’t much better.” He eyed me suspiciously. “Did she name
Kane, too? What colour’s his aura?”

“Um, yeah…” I made a stab at changing
the subject. “Maybe you should think of it as chrome instead of
silver. Nothing cooler than a chrome aura, right?”

“Nice try. Spit it out, darlin’. Tell
me what she said about Kane.”

I sighed. “Sorry, but she named him
Sunstar Desert Hawk and said his aura was clear red.”

“Fuck.” Hellhound glowered at his
boots. “Okay. Fine. She’s just seein’ what she wants to see an’ I
ain’t gonna let it bug me.” His scowl deepened. “Much.”

“I don’t think aura colours are
supposed to be manly,” I comforted him. “And, anyway, she’s right.”
When he looked up, scowling as though he expected me to poke fun, I
cupped his face in my hands and reached up to kiss him. “On the
inside, you truly are beautiful.”

He flushed and his face softened.
“Thanks, darlin’.” He kissed me back. “You an’ her are the only
people that’d ever think so, but thanks anyway.” He blew out a
breath. “So what else do I need to see?”

“That’s about it.” I led him outside.
“There’s the garden and a bunch of paths and the main encampment,
but you saw the layout from Skidmark’s bench. All the other tents
are occupied so there’s no point in going down there. I think
there’s only one thing left for you to inspect.”

“What’s that?”

“My bed.”

He grinned. “Lead the way,
darlin’.”

As we strolled down the path hand in
hand, Hellhound glanced around before dropping his voice. “So what
d’ya think the deal is with Orion an’ the renters?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t seem to be
into any of that paramilitary stuff, and he doesn’t seem to hate
women the way Ratboy does.”

“Or he’s just smarter about hidin’
it.”

I refused to shudder at the chill that
chased itself down my spine. “Yeah. But I wonder what he’ll do when
they get their eviction notice. His tent is here, but he must be
part of their group or they’d be on him with bayonets the instant
he crossed the bridge.”

Hellhound walked in silence for a few
moments, frowning. “I dunno, darlin’; my gut says there’s somethin’
rotten here, but I can’t figure out what it’d be. If those
nutjobs’ve been there for a year, they were there before Stemp’s
cover breach so they shouldn’t be after his folks. If Orion’s part
a’ them, then he shouldn’t be a threat, either, but then why’s he
pretendin’ to be part a’ the commune? An’ I still got a bad feelin’
about Skidmark, too.”