The Gathering (13 page)

Rayna sat back in her chair, crossed her arms
under her breasts and stared at him. “I get why you want this. You
gave me your reasons but have you ever thought about what they, the
humans, will do once they know? Do you honestly believe they’ll
just welcome you with open arms and embrace the monsters?”

He was silent for long moments before tilting
his head. “Everyone fears change. Once they’ve had time to get past
their fear, they’ll see the benefits of having us around.”

“Benefits? What benefits? Blood suckers who
will have free rein to walk the streets and snack on whomever they
want? Shifters who terrorize and chase everything that moves?”

“You’re one of us now, Ms. Ford. Do you not
want to live as you once did?”

“Not if I’m going to be seen as an outcast
and feared. And you will, Sabriel. No one is going to welcome you
with open arms. People will fear you. Me. All of us. And fear
causes people to act before thinking. Get enough scared people in
one place and you have nothing but trouble. What’s to keep them
from banding together and killing every preternatural creature they
find just because they can?”

“And why do you assume they won’t embrace
us?”

Rayna laughed. “You’re deluded if you think
people will love you for what you are, Sabriel. You may have a few
who think its ‘neat’ but the majority will think you an
abomination. They’ll want us all destroyed.”

He stared at her and looked as if he was
about to say something but Thaddeus rejoined them. “I’ll be taking
you to Victor.”

She sat up straight in her seat. “Who is
Victor?”

“Victor Carroll. Breed leader of the wolves
in this area.”

Rayna studied him for long moments. “Was
Malcolm a Breed leader?”

Thaddeus laughed. “Not hardly. Malcolm barely
had control over his own pack, let along the ability to control
hundreds.”

Malcolm wasn’t a breed leader? Then how did
he fit into all of this? “Why did he get the privilege of deciding
who would out you to the world?”

“He didn’t.” The confusion she felt must have
shown on her face. Thaddeus smiled. “Malcolm acted on his own. He’s
the one who contacted the others. Once we were told of his plan,
and that he already had someone bringing you in, the others decided
to let him continue. He assured us you were perfect for our
transition and after doing our own research on you, the majority
agreed.”

“So one crazy man speaks and the rest of you
follow along like good little puppies?” Her entire life had been
turned upside down because one man got a wild hair?

The anger that followed the thought brought
her to her feet. “Do what you think you must, Mr. Mears, but be
aware of this. I don’t do tricks and I’ll be damned if I’ll make
this easy for you. You want my wolf? You’ll have to force it out of
me.”

She turned and walked back to her room,
slamming the door behind her. She paced the floor and tried to
think of a way out. She needed a phone and quick. She had to call
Garrett and let him know where she was.

Running a hand through her hair, she sighed
in frustration. Before the night was out, she would be moved again.
What if they didn’t tell her where she was? How would she be able
to tell Garrett?

Tears of frustration burned her eyes and she
scrubbed them away before flopping down onto the bed. She stared at
the ceiling, trying to come up with a plan. Maybe she could just…
sneak away. Climb out the window and run for it.

Jumping from the bed, she reached for the
window, unlocked it, and lifted it. She only moved it a few inches
when an alarm went off, the noise cutting like daggers inside her
brain as the shrill screeching blasted through the house.

She covered her ears, screaming as pain laced
her brain at the sound, and jumped when someone grabbed her and
reached past her to slam the window shut.

The noise stopped a few moments later and
Rayna stared up at Sabriel. He was speaking but her ears were still
ringing. She couldn’t hear anything.

He sighed and just stood there staring at
her. When the ringing inside her head died, she pulled her hands
away from her ears. “I’ve gone deaf.”

He smiled. “I doubt it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me the place was
secured?”

“I thought you were smart enough to realize
it. I was almost certain you would have tried to leave once I left
you alone early this morning.”

Leave this morning? Rayna felt stupid then.
She hadn’t even thought of leaving once Sabriel went to bed. Why
hadn’t she? Escaping should have been her first thought but it
never even entered her mind. All she’d been worried about was a
bath and food, a few hours sleep, and a telephone.

She’d encountered no one when she explored
the house but not once had she tried one of the doors. Why hadn’t
the thought occurred to her? Seeing Sabriel standing there smiling
at her, she knew why. “You did something, didn’t you?”

“Not at first,” he said. “I was almost asleep
before I remembered.”

“What did you do? Some Jedi mind trick to
make me forget about leaving?”

Sabriel laughed and Rayna sucked in a breath
as the noise trickled over her. The man was handsome when he did
nothing but stand still but when he laughed, the effect was almost
criminal. He should be locked away to save every woman who looked
at him from falling at his feet like a lovesick fool. She shook her
head and looked away.

“I’ll assure you it was nothing as
spectacular as Jedi mind tricks. It was but a simple persuasion,
Ms. Ford. Nothing nefarious involved.”

Rayna stared at the floor, trying to think
her way out of her current situation when Thaddeus appeared at the
door. “The car is ready, Ms. Ford. We’ll leave whenever you’re
ready.”

“Oh well, in that case,” she said. “The sun
will burn out before we leave. Should Sabriel set you up in one of
his other guestrooms or are you going to wait in the car?”

Thaddeus didn’t look amused, not that she
thought he would be. He scowled at her before turning his head to
Sabriel. “Victor wishes to see you as well, Sabriel. I’ll await you
both.”

When he turned to leave, Rayna looked up at
Sabriel. “How can you be a puppet for them? I didn’t figure you for
a man who took orders from others.”

He gave her an odd look. “I have no choice.”
He turned and walked across the room. “Grab the things I left for
you and meet me outside. Thaddeus isn’t very pleasant when
provoked.”

Garrett was cranky and he knew the others
were avoiding him because of it. He’d stalked the house, ran the
woods until his legs ached, cleaned out one of the larger bedrooms
and transferred his things into it, and spent endless hours staring
out the window at nothing. He was getting twitchy, restless, and
down right pissed. Why hadn’t Rayna called him yet? He was sure she
would have once she’d settled in to where it was she was headed,
but she hadn’t. Not even a simple call to say, “Hey. I’m all
right.” What did he get instead? Nothing.

Spending a restless night alone caused the
wolf to drive him near mad. It prowled just beneath the surface and
demanded they go after his mate. He was almost tempted to do it if
it weren’t for the fact he didn’t have a clue where to begin
looking. He thought Rayna may have gone back to Bluff’s Point but
she’d put her apartment up for sale when they went back to grab
their belongings the month before. There was nothing in Bluff’s
Point for her now. Nothing but friends, he thought. She could be
staying with one of them. If so, why hadn’t she called!

He slapped the windowsill and turned, walking
back across the living room. Jacob hadn’t come back and he would
have enjoyed the distraction. He could only imagine what Carmen was
up to by now. He didn’t trust the woman and he was sure she knew
Rayna was gone. Surely she had someone watching the house.

Thinking of Carmen, he wished the woman would
show up. He had more than a few things to say to her. A few things
he was sure would piss her off. He could hardly wait for the
confrontation. It would distract him enough to stop thinking about
Rayna every three seconds.

The sound of the front door slamming,
followed by the rapid beat of someone running, drew his attention.
Gavin ran through the doorway and Garrett knew by the look on his
face, whatever he was about to say, wasn’t good. “What is it?”

Gavin took several deep breaths, his chest
heaving. “Up on the high ridge,” he gasped. “Saw tire tracks.” He
leaned over, put his hands on his knees and held up one hand,
motioning for him to give him a second.

Garrett’s wolf grew restless then. Gavin must
have run like the devil himself was after him to be that winded. He
waited impatiently and crossed the room when the man just stood
there panting. “What the hell is it, Gavin?”

He stood, took another deep breath, and
exhaled. “I was up on the high ridge. There were a few small
saplings broken near the road and I saw tire tracks in the mud so I
followed them.” He looked away and ran his hand through his hair
before meeting his gaze again. “The tracks disappeared over the
side of the cliff. When I looked… I saw Mitch’s car about half way
down.”

Garrett’s blood ran cold moments before his
wolf slammed against his bones. He was walking to the door before
he realized Gavin was still talking.

“It’s wedged between some trees. I couldn’t
get down to the car by myself.” Gavin grabbed his arm when he
reached the door and Garrett growled before turning to him. He
stared at Gavin’s hand before looking up.

“You’re going to need help getting down that
cliff, Garrett. Just hang on a second, let me round up a few of the
others and we’ll go back up there.”

Gavin didn’t wait for an answer. Garrett
watched him race through the house, yelling for Bryce and Ethan
before he opened the door and walked out, heading across the yard.
Ten steps away from the house and he was running.

He didn’t stop until he’d reached the ridge,
walking along the road searching for the tire tracks. When he found
them, he thought his heart would break from his chest. He tore
through the trees lining the road and skidded to a stop at the
cliff edge. A glance over the side and his stomach rolled over
itself.

The front of the car was wedged between two
trees, the nose pointing toward the ravine below. It was several
feet down and just as Gavin had said, there was no way over the
side of the cliff. Unless you wanted to break your neck and he
didn’t.

“Rayna!” He waited, listening for any sign of
movement and heard nothing. “Rayna!”

He yelled her name until his throat was raw.
Paced the edge of the cliff looking for a way down and decided to
just risk the broken neck and head down when he heard voices.

Bryce, Gavin and Ethan ran through the trees,
panting for breath. Several lengths of rope were thrown to the
ground and Gavin was tying one to a nearby tree when Bryce walked
to the edge and looked over. “Have you heard anything?”

“Nothing. I’ve been yelling her name but no
response.”

Garrett’s gut reaction told him she was fine
but a niggling thread of doubt kept creeping in. She wasn’t
answering him and he didn’t want to speculate why. The doors were
still closed on the car but he couldn’t see the front windshield to
see if it were still intact. The thought of her flying through it,
and falling down the side of the mountain, made his stomach revolt
again.

He walked to Gavin and grabbed the end of the
rope.

Gavin didn’t let go. “Let me do it, Garrett.
We can afford to lose me if something bad happens. I’ll let you
know what I see the moment I get down there.”

He shook his head, no, and walked to the edge
of the cliff, looking over the side. “Hold the rope incase it comes
loose from the tree.” He wrapped the other end around his waist and
hoped like hell it would hold. Climbing equipment would be nice
about now. He’d have to see that they invested in some for the
future. One never knew when it would be needed.

The other three men each grabbed the rope and
he gave them a nod of his head before sitting on the edge of the
cliff and sliding over the side. His arms ached as he held on,
trying to find a foothold, and he glanced up once he found one. “If
anything happens to me, Bryce, you’re in charge of the pack. Watch
your back with Carmen. She’ll be trouble once she knows I’m not
here.”

“I don’t have to worry about Carmen because
nothing’s going to happen,” Bryce said. “Now get down there and get
Rayna. We’ll pull you up when you have her.”

Garrett looked over his shoulder at the car.
He hoped like hell Rayna was in there and just unable to answer him
because the alternative wasn’t acceptable. He’d join her if she
were at the bottom of the ravine.

* * * *

Sabriel’s whitewashed world was a stark
contrast to Victor Carroll’s house. Where Sabriel’s home had been
bright and open, Victor’s was dark and rather foreboding.

The three-story house was covered in dark
brick and was surrounded by a dense forest of pine trees. It
reminded her a lot of the house in Wolf’s Creek. Well, except for
the interior of the house. Victor’s home was dark. Too dark. The
paneling on the walls, the hardwood floors, even the drapes over
the windows were dark. It looked like a tomb.

And Victor Carroll looked like he belonged in
one.

The man was old. His appearance alone told
Rayna that much. If she had to guess, she’d place his age at ninety
or better. He was a werewolf, and since the aging process slowed
down once infected, it was hard to tell how old this particular
wolf was.

His face was tanned and wrinkled; white bushy
eyebrows slanted down toward his eyes and made him appear to be
scowling. His lips were thin and cracked and he moved as if every
step was painful, his back hunched as he used a cane to help him
walk.