Touch of Evil (34 page)

expand in size. Right now, we need to grow to survive."

I interrupted with an upraised finger. "Where does the term Acca originate?" I'd never heard it.

"So far as anyone has been able to learn, a preRoman peasant, Acca Laurentia, was the first werewolf to co-exist with the humans. It was she who organized the first Canis, and each of our leaders is named in her honor. Among the humans she's best known as a supposed mistress of

Hercules and then later the wife of a shepherd to King Numitor. She rescued a pair of infants from the river, eating herbs so that she could suckle them. The infants were Romulus and Remus." She sat in calm silence, waiting for my next question.

"What would Dusty's role be in the dyad? Would she get to continue her education, have a career, or would she just be some sort of . . . well, brood mare? "

Mary actually smiled; a flash of warmth and compassion directed at the girl. "The surrogate is probably the most important member of the Dyad, and she has a great deal of authority. Bearing our young and raising them will be a large part of her life, but she will have plenty of help. If she wishes, she will have time to pursue other interests." There was a thought that had been nagging at the back of my mind since I'd realized the plan. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the door so I could see everyone. "By whom? Will she be forced to accept any and all comers? Will all of your males try to get her pregnant?" More specifically, would Tom?

I couldn't help but glance at him. He took off his sunglasses for a moment, and met my eyes. Mary frowned.

"Naturally you'd be interested in that." I started to protest, but she waved it off. "No, you're right to be concerned. We offered Dusty her choice of any available male, all of whom had qualities worth breeding. Tom is one of the males that Dusty may choose from. As I said earlier, until she chooses, Tom is off-limits to you."

Tom showed no outward sign of emotion when

my eyes flicked to him, but he twitched his finger when I opened my mouth. I closed it again, but Mary took even that as a challenge. Her jaw was set firmly, and her eyes flashed angrily. "Our society has rules for a reason, Kate. The future of our entire race is at stake with the addition of each surrogate and the choosing of her mate. My people count on me to think of their future. While I try to be lenient, duty sometimes tramples over free will. The surrogate has the full authority of the Canis behind her. If you both continue to defy me, the punishments will continue—if not from me, then from other females in the dyad without my

knowledge. Tom will heal before he has to return to his job tomorrow, but please don't make him disobey our rules again."

What did she mean, Tom will heal? Again I looked to him for answers, but got none. What hadn't I noticed this morning, even with the lights on? Is that why they were on? Was I supposed to have noticed an injury and failed the exam?

Jeez Louise! What in the seven levels of hell had I gotten myself involved in? I opened my mouth to say . . . something. I'm not sure what, but she interrupted.

"It's only fair to tell you—there's a very good chance that Jake has found a second surrogate for us. If that's true and if both girls are young and healthy, the odds are very good that Tom will be free to be with whoever he chooses soon." I stood there blinking like an idiot. I looked from Mary to Tom to Dusty. I glanced from Tom again to the skinny kid with chains. Dusty caught the look and interpreted it correctly. She flashed me a dimpled grin, giving a quick shrug. "Yeah, I'm probably going to mate with Rob. Tom's cute, but he's too old. Not my type." She reached over and petted Rob's leg. He nuzzled into her contentedly.

"Ooookay then." I nodded to Mary, swallowing down the fury inside me. Tom is a big boy. If he can't defend himself, it wasn't my job. But we would have to talk about what role Mary would have in our lives if we continued to see each other. I took a deep breath and tried to think of the big picture. Dusty's life was at stake. My life was at stake. "If you can't keep her safe, nobody can." I knew what I needed to know about Dusty. She might be a little young to be tying herself permanently to the wolves but it was certainly better and safer than anything I could come up with. Truth be told, she might even be happy. She and Rob certainly seemed to be getting on well enough. With the Dusty situation in hand, I was left with only the Thrall, Dylan, and Tom to worry about. Of course, if I lost to the vampires, there would be no more mess with Dylan or Tom.

I turned toward the door, intending to leave things at that, but I saw a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye. I spun around to find that Rob had slid off his perch on the dresser and was crouched as though to spring. I was in a bad spot with no room to move, but I was pleased to see that Tom had instinctively started to rise.

"I don't trust her. There's something she's not telling us."

Mary rose in a blur of speed to stand next to him in the small space. "You will not insult an honored guest of this pack. It is for me to decide whether Kate can be trusted or not." Her words were a throaty growl that sent shivers down my spine. He was taller, bigger than she was, but it meant nothing. The air around her nearly crackled with power and the one eye I could see blazed with anger. "You agreed to accept my authority in all things when you joined our pack, Rob. Or would you perhaps prefer to return to the detention facility? It can be arranged."

Detention facility? I was definitely missing something in this conversation. But Rob dropped to the ground, cramming his skinny body into the small space between the foot of the bed and the dresser to grovel. First at her feet, then mine. It was uncomfortable as hell. I fought down the urge to squirm and said a silent prayer for help.

"Please forgive me, Acca. I meant no disrespect. Forgive me, honored guest." Rob was laying sprawled with his belly on the ratty carpet, legs under the rickety bed. I tried to act calm. It wasn't easy. He was licking my boots. I was obviously expected to do something. Trick was, I had no idea what. I looked over at Tom. He made a motion with his hand like he was petting a dog. I squatted down and, God help me, patted his spiked blond head. He whimpered, leaning into the caress. I patted him again, and rose in one smooth

movement. "No insult taken." I said it out loud to Mary.

"Thank you. As Not Prey, you're my equal. I wouldn't want to insult you."

"Ah." When in doubt, make neutral noises. Her eyes started sparkling, and little crinkles of amusement appeared at their corners but she didn't say anything to ruin the effect.

"Tell Dylan the girl's all right, but no more. We'll make sure it's the truth."

"Works for me." I glanced into the bathroom. Tom's expression was inscrutable. I wanted to say something . . . but not here, not in front of an audience.

"We'll talk later." The look that accompanied the words said that talking might be second, or third, on the list, but it was carefully neutral enough that Mary couldn't know anything for certain.

"Right." There was nothing more to say, so I turned to walk away. Dusty's voice stopped me with my hand on the knob.

"You're actually okay with my being a

surrogate?" Her voice was timid when she asked and she looked nervously at Mary, as if afraid she'd be punished for asking.

"You're underage—but it's not like I could stop you. Besides," I was being completely frank, "I trust everyone in this room one hell of a lot more than I do Matt Quinn, and I wouldn't give my worst enemy to the Thrall."

Her blue eyes went wide and her mouth formed a silent "O" of surprise. Rob had risen to his knees so I had to reach around him to extend my hand to Mary. "Good luck keeping the kid safe. I wouldn't trust the stepfather as far as I can throw him. He was waving an awful lot of money around. My guess is I'm not the only one looking for her."

"Thanks for the warning." She took my hand and shook it. I nodded farewell and walked out of the room and back into the bright afternoon sunshine.

19

Tom sprinted to catch up with me in the short distance to where I'd parked Edna. He touched my shoulder and I felt a shudder pass through me. Mary stood at the entrance to the motel room, but didn't make any motion to approach or stop Tom from talking with me.

His voice was low, nearly a whisper, making me wonder just how good wolves' hearing was "Kate, I'm sorry about that. Normally, Mary's a terrific Acca, but she's under a lot of pressure right now from others in the dyad. Dusty is a very

controversial choice for surrogate because of her background. She's drawing too much attention to the wolves."

He slipped his hands around my waist and pulled me against him. "I need to stay here. I'll get a ride back home. I didn't want you to know about the ribs, but I don't care if I have to take a beating every day for the rest of my life, Kate. They can't change how I feel about you. I—oh, to hell with it!" He pulled me tight against him and gave me a kiss that left me breathless and speechless. It was a fierce joining of lips and limbs that made me feel both comforted and possessed, and turned my stomach to butter. It was as if he was trying to fill me up with his power like he had filled me with his body only hours ago.

It took me a few seconds to recover enough to whisper, "We're going to make it through this. I swear it to you. No Romeo and Juliet. And when it's all over we are definitely going to talk." He smiled and drew back from me. My knees were jelly as he sprinted back up the stairs to disappear back inside the room, past a very annoyed Acca. I could still feel the phantom tingling from where his lips had pressed.

But then everything changed. I was removing the truck keys from my pocket when all of the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end in unison. Someone was watching me. I was guessing that Mary had posted more guards than Jake for our meeting, but considering everything I'd learned today I didn't want to take any chances. As I slid the key into the door lock I used the window reflection to check behind me. Upstairs, a curtain twitched.

Time slowed; became surreal. So many things happened at once that I could only catch flashes of action—glimpses of still photographs. The door to room 150 opened again. Mary stood framed in the doorway. Dusty was a full head taller, and a halfstep behind. A flash of light glinted from the drawn curtain. It reflected off my truck door.

"MARY! Look out!" She glanced at me and then to where I pointed in a fluid movement as quick as a hummingbird in mid-flight. She shoved Dusty backward with one hand and transformed in a blast of pure power just as a gunshot crack sounded. Half a dozen wolves bounded from various

directions, all converging on the shooter's room. One of the wolves came from Room 150, sailing over the head of the Acca. The first werewolf to arrive leapt onto the hood of the car beside me then jumped onto the second floor balcony. The wolf's chest exploded in a rain of blood and bone as a second shot rang out. The furred body fell

backward with a lifeless thud that dented the roof of the parked car. My psychic sense told me that the wolf wasn't Tom—thank God." His lifeblood flowed in thick rivulets over the white paint and down the cracked windshield.

A high-pitched scream from the shooter's room chased me as I ran to where Dusty lay. Blood pooled beneath her and her eyes were open and startled. The scream behind me ended in an abrupt gurgle as I dropped to my knees beside her, heedless of the blood soaking into my jeans. She whimpered, her eyes wide with panic and shock.

Her shoulder was shattered. I could see shards of white bone protruding through the ruptured skin. Blood flowed steadily, but wasn't spurting, thank God. If Mary hadn't shoved her out of the way . . . I didn't want to think about that. I had too much to do. I rose and sprinted into the bathroom to grab what I hoped were relatively clean towels. By the time I was back at her side, Mary was there. She was calm and cool as the other wolves slavered and howled around the shooter, many of them wet with fresh blood. She knelt naked beside me. Without a word, I handed her towels and she began applying direct pressure to the wound despite Dusty's screaming protests. I ran down to the truck, to my cell phone. It was time to call 911. Someone probably already had but in this

neighborhood it was better to be sure.

The wolves were back. They stood guard in a semi-circle around their companions in the

doorway, their thick neck ruffs bristling, bloodied fangs bared. Was one of them Tom? I didn't think I wanted to know.

Events returned to normal time. I reached into the truck cab and grabbed my cell phone. Just that small movement hurt enough to make me wince, which made me wonder just how bad the damage to my shoulder was becoming. I stifled the thought, and made my way carefully over to the gathered werewolves. I stopped bare inches from the

guarded perimeter.

"The police and an ambulance are on their way." I announced. "You probably better get

dressed—and they'd better change back." I pulled my laundry bag from behind the seat. Tossing it onto the ground caused another shooting pain to radiate from my shoulder into my neck. My breath caught in an involuntary gasp. All of the wolves immediately raised their noses to the air. I'd assumed they'd heard me, but could they smell pain? I made my way very tentatively between the snarling animals to the fallen girl. They moved smoothly; parted and allowed me to pass and then closed ranks once more. I nudged Mary aside, taking her place applying pressure to the wound. It hurt my shoulder. A lot. But I did it anyway. Mary stared at me for a long moment over the wounded girl. Her gaze tried to extract information but I wasn't giving any. I just kept my eyes and attention on the wounded girl. Dusty's blood was still flowing, but more slowly. I hoped the ambulance would get here soon.

Mary disappeared into the room with the bag, reappearing just as the police and the first ambulance arrived.

The black sports bra was loose on her small chest, while the matching shorts were stretched uncomfortably tight over her ample hips. The rest of the wolves had vanished. I wasn't sure where. I hoped they'd reappear. There were bodies on the ground and Tom was a paramedic. I wasn't. But most of all, involved parties at a shooting don't just get to walk away—on two legs or four.