The Catalyst (14 page)

He felt bad about how he’d left things with her.
Before he left town, he at least needed to know that she was okay
and try to smooth things over.

The phone would have rang into voicemail if Z had
ever bothered to set his voicemail up. He didn’t like to be
bothered. If he wasn’t answering his phone, there was a reason, and
leaving a message shouldn’t be an option to violate that
choice.

He called three more times, but each time it went to
an automated voice that said, “I’m sorry, but this wireless
customer has not set up a voice mailbox.” He could hear the
judgment coming from the robotic voice, as if he’d lapsed on his
moral duty to let people get in touch with him.

Z hopped on his motorcycle and headed for the
interstate, still not sure where he was going to search. The
obstacles in the way of finding the pup’s pack seemed
insurmountable. He could hit some truck stops, look for other
therians, ask around, but he wasn’t sure how far it would get
him.

He tried to ignore Fiona’s silence. Maybe she was mad
at him. Stranger shit had happened. It wasn’t like women didn’t
routinely get pissed at him. She wasn’t obligated to answer his
calls. But with her particular phobias, even if mad, she wouldn’t
shut out the opportunity to have a point of contact, and she
wouldn’t know how to get into his voicemail even if he’d had the
foresight to set it up.

He pulled into a gas station next to the interstate
and dialed his old cell again but still no answer. “Dammit, Fiona!
Answer the phone.”

His instincts sent warning bells and strobe lights
and buzzers. Something was wrong. She’d answer the phone. It was
too late for her to still be sleeping. She wouldn’t leave the cave.
He growled. He couldn’t start the search with this nagging feeling.
Even if everything was okay, he had to go back and check on her. He
wouldn’t allow himself to think why he just
had
to do such a
noble thing.

***

The further Fiona got from the cave, the more anxious
she became, as if her lifeline were fraying away and she was adrift
at sea, far from civilization. It was kind of true. Though she’d
lived most of her life in the forest, she didn’t know it well. Not
as well as she should, anyway.

She might be going in circles by this point. Even if
she found the pup, she was afraid they wouldn’t make it back home.
It was past lunchtime, and she was starting to get hungry. If she
didn’t find him soon and start making her way back to the cave, the
sun would set, leaving them at the mercy of whatever came out in
the forest at night. And besides that danger, she couldn’t imagine
it being easier to find her way back in the dark.

“Puppy! Here boy!” She let out a few short
whistles.

A hawk stopped in the tree above her.
You looking
for a wolf pup?

“Yes! Have you seen him?”
Of
course, Fiona. Use your freaking gift. Talk to an animal.
Duh.

He must be a therian if he could understand her as
well as she could understand him. The hawk looked to the west.
He’s wandering in a clearing about a mile west of here.

“Thank you!” Fiona hoped he’d be around to help her
find the cave, once she got to the pup.

She picked up her pace to get to the wolf before he
wandered off again. When she reached the clearing, he was eating a
rabbit. She made a gagging sound and his ears perked up.

“Puppy, I know this is what you eat, and I’m thrilled
you’re learning to hunt, but we have to get you home.”

The wolf growled around the rabbit leg he was gnawing
on, ignoring her. He wanted to hunt. It was his natural instinct.
Keeping him cooped up in the cave, treating him like a domesticated
dog breed, wasn’t good for him. She wondered if Z had taken him
hunting before he’d had to keep him inside.

How long would he be gone? How far would he search?
These were details they hadn’t ironed out because she’d been mad at
him when he’d left. His list of crimes was enormous and growing by
the minute:

Kidnapping her.

Being hot.

Wanting to sleep with her.

Not wanting to sleep with her.

Abandoning her with the pup with no idea of when he’d
be back.

Being hot.

Fiona sat on the ground nearby, but not so close the
pup would feel his meal was threatened. Cute or not, there was no
telling how he’d react if he thought she was competing for his
food, especially out here in the middle of nature where the animal
side of his instincts would be stronger.

“Was breakfast not enough for you?”

He watched her suspiciously, growling as he continued
eviscerating the poor rabbit that had crossed his path. When he was
finished, he chewed and played with the bones for a bit before
stretching out and rolling in the grass. He closed his eyes,
basking in the sunlight. It was nap time.

“We need to go home. It’s going to be dark in a few
hours and you’ve wandered pretty far.” Why was she reasoning with a
wolf pup? He couldn’t communicate clear ideas to her, just images
and basic needs. Right now he was communicating the desire to take
a nap in the sun and his appreciation of the warmth and brightness.
Though anyone could have puzzled that one out. It didn’t take a
magical animal communication ability.

Fiona sighed, unsure how she was supposed to convince
him to come home with her or how she could make him do so if he
couldn’t be reasoned with. He was small but squirmy and solid
muscle. If he didn’t want to go, she wouldn’t be able to make
him.

A shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see a
woman in jeans and a gray T-shirt. “Found him,” she called out. “I
knew I sensed some magic out this way. Weak magic, but still.”

What a bitch, Fiona thought.

Another woman and three men stepped out from the
forest from different sides, like they’d been canvassing the place.
They circled and closed in on Fiona and the pup. The pup, sensing
danger, opened his eyes and moved in front of her, growling at the
interlopers.

“Oh, that’s so cute!” the other woman said. “It’s
like he’s defending her!”

“Shut up, Sonya. I don’t know why we brought you.
You’re a liability,” the woman in the gray T-shirt said.

“The boss’s orders were to bring the whole coven, and
that includes me,” Sonya said.

“The boss can screw himself,” Gray T-shirt said. “I
don’t know why we’re doing a vampire’s dirty work anyway.”

“Girls! Would both of you kindly shut up so we can
concentrate over here?” the largest of the men said. He looked like
he might be the one in charge.

Fiona knew the women were witches. Even if her own
powers had atrophied from lack of regular use and training, she at
least could sense their power. The men were magic users as well.
Fiona hadn’t moved to stand because there was nowhere to go and she
didn’t want to make any sudden, threatening moves.

If she’d had any doubts before, she knew now that her
protection spell had fizzled out, leaving nothing but a weak magic
trail for others to find. The opposite of protection. This was why
she’d been afraid to start learning more magic. Aside from house
wards and a few basic healing spells, she’d avoided the craft to
stay off the radar of those with bad intentions.

One of the men pointed at the pup and began to chant
in Latin. A second man joined him in the chant, pointing at the
wolf as well. The leader stood to the side, doing nothing. It
seemed he was there in a supervisory capacity. A glowing bubble
surrounded the pup and caused him to rise in the air. He whimpered
and clawed at the bubble of magic, trying to free himself.

Fiona was torn between horror over the situation,
fear for the pup and herself, and anger that she hadn’t been a
responsible witch. Her grandmother had always told her she was a
steward of great powers and that she should take care to nurture
and grow her gifts. Whisking the pup home in a magic bubble the
second she’d seen him in the clearing would have kept them alive.
Being able to do a protection spell would have kept them alive.
There were a lot of things she could have bothered to learn along
the way that would have kept them alive.

“What are we doing with the weak witch?” Gray T-shirt
asked.

“He only wants the pup. She’s useless. Kill her.”

“W-wait!” Fiona said. If she couldn’t ensure her
survival with magic, she’d try to talk her way out of it. “I can
understand him. I can talk to animals. You might need me.”

The man sized her up. “Interesting and potent skill
for a witch who probably can’t pull a rabbit out of a hat.”

“I bet she’s lying,” Gray T-shirt said.

“This is so exciting!” Sonya said, like it was
reality TV and not somebody’s actual life on the line.

Fiona’s eyes widened as Z crept up behind the leader.
He was naked, which let Fiona know he’d been in panther form,
tracking her. She had no idea what had made him come back. Part of
her was grateful, and another part was scared for him. And then a
third part was thinking inappropriate thoughts for the situation.
She needed to learn to look at a man naked without having a
psychotic break.

He’d gone straight for the leader, intent on taking
out the strongest link.

Before the man noticed him, Z’s hands were on either
side of his head, then a twist and a sharp crack. The magic user
fell to the ground. Z shifted to panther form and moved to stand in
front of Fiona, growling at the others.

Sonya screamed and ran off into the woods, leaving
Gray T-shirt and the other two men. Gray T-shirt produced a ball of
electricity in her hand, bouncing it in her palm like it was a
softball she was about to pitch.

The two men who were chanting started to retreat,
keeping the chant up as they went.

“Go after the pup!” Fiona shouted, unable to believe
Z wasn’t budging.

They won’t kill him now, but they’ll kill you. I’m
not having that.
Z growled in reply.

With the witch poised with the electricity ball, and
already doubting Fiona’s gift, Z was stuck shielding her while the
other two got away with the pup.

“How heroic,” Gray T-shirt said. “I can just kill you
first, then the witch.”

No she can’t.
Z said.
She’ll only wound me
and then I’ll pounce before she can conjure another one. She can’t
kill me with just one of those fancy firecrackers.

As he’d predicted, Gray T-shirt flung the ball of
electricity. He caught it in the shoulder, whimpered, stumbled a
bit, and then took a running leap at the remaining witch while she
tried to regroup to produce another one. He landed on her chest,
his heavy paws knocking the wind out of her, then he ripped out her
throat in one swipe.

He turned to Fiona, blood dripping, and she jumped up
and started backing away. He shifted and shouted at her. “Stop! You
know I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not wounding anything that’s
just going to rise up stronger and come back for us. Haven’t you
ever watched a horror movie?”

Fiona shook her head. “They scare me. I live out in
the middle of the woods trapped in my house. How is a horror movie
a good idea?”

“Well, trust me on this one. It’s kill or be killed
here.”

With the human side of him seeming to be back in
control, she stopped her retreat and looked around the clearing.
The airhead witch and the two men who had taken the pup were
nowhere to be found. Z was sporting a pretty serious bruise and
burn combination on his shoulder that looked like it hurt like
hell.

He went through the pockets of both the woman and the
man he’d killed. The woman’s pockets were empty, but the man had a
wallet.

“Nothing of interest in here,” Z said. “Whoever
they’re working for, they aren’t carrying his calling card around.
I didn’t expect them to, but it never hurts to check.”

“You killed them,” Fiona said, unnecessarily.

It was easier to take him twisting the guy’s neck,
but the witch… it seemed excessive and brutal.

“I don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Z said, without
apology. “Wild animal, here, remember?”

“Yeah, but… you ripped her throat out.”

“I’m sorry, is there an approved list of killing
methods I was supposed to run by you before I saved your life? Did
you not hear his order to kill you?”

“Thank you,” Fiona mumbled.

Z only nodded.

She hadn’t realized he’d been lurking that long,
waiting for his moment, no doubt. He’d probably planned to kill all
of them, given half a chance.

He took long strides to reach her. She tried not to
react to him being so naked and hot and dangerous mere inches from
her.

“I’d kiss you right now in some grand sweeping
gesture, except I’m covered in blood and I’m guessing humans don’t
find that sexy.”

“Good guess.”

“Your loss.”

Fiona rolled her eyes.

Chapter Eight

Z couldn’t get his heart to calm down. From the
second he’d seen Fiona surrounded by those magic users, he’d known
true terror.

He’d had the wolf for months, but it was a temporary
inconvenience. Having him around was half annoyance and half
entertainment. It didn’t stir any longings in Z for young of his
own. That was a Chinese finger trap he didn’t want to stick his
fingers into.

Fiona, on the other hand… she had an absurd level of
sweetness he shouldn’t be so damned attracted to. He’d only damage
her. She’d end up hexing him for it. And he’d deserve it when she
did.

She triggered a bizarre combination of predatory and
protective instincts. Half of him wanted to lock her away in a
convent with bars on the doors and magic spells everywhere, the
other half wanted to throw her down on the shag rug in front of the
fireplace in his cave and have his wicked way with her.