Whatever It Takes (2 page)

Twenty minutes later found me back where I had left Sabine. It was five minutes more than I had planned to be gone, but it seemed that the damn mud was against me once more. My feet were now covered in it; several places on my arms, legs and left cheek were covered in scratches. I guess the marsh reeds didn’t like me tramping through them either. The feeling was definitely mutual.

After this trip I couldn’t wait to get back to New York. I didn’t want to see one more marsh, or tree. Forget fields of lavender and lush green countrysides. All I wanted were crazy cab drivers and sky high buildings. Maybe even a hot dog or two, since bangers and mash wasn’t my thing either. That’s exactly what I would do as soon as I got Sabine back to her dad. Whenever the next flight was I’d be on it.

“Sabine.” I whispered up to her hiding place.

A slight tug on my hand had me stifling a scream, “I’m right here, Dara.”

Turning, I prepared to yell at her for leaving her hiding place. How could I keep her safe if she refused to stay put? If the Nocturns had found her there was no telling what would have happened. I would have been too far away to have helped. The thought sent shivers of dread dancing a conga line down my spine.

My rebuke died on my lips when she held my ring out to me in her tiny palm. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t want you to lose it.”

Sliding it onto my finger, I smiled at her and took her hand. "Let’s get out of here. At least before the goon squad realizes we went this way.”

Silently, we moved off deeper into the Moors. I knew if we walked a little longer we would come to a road at some point. Hopefully someone would give us a ride, but you never knew. The Scotsmen that lived near the Moors were a superstitious bunch. It was possible they would assume we were some sort of specters. Or Banshees, the Scottish version of a death omen. Which meant we would be walking back to Edinburgh.

As we ran, my eyes kept darting toward the moon overhead, she was now round and full. Not a good sign especially if Kristoff had werewolves in his employ. Sabine and I could fool a vampire with a phony trail. Hell, we could even fool a hag or ghoul. But Weres were smart, crafty even. They had to be, when they had always been the hunted as well as the hunter. Being wily was in their D.N.A. That’s how they had survived the near extinction that threatened them three hundred years ago.

My thoughts were cut off by the howl of a lone wolf. My heart jumped into my throat and stuck there. The sound had me praying that the lone beast was the permanently furry kind, who was just singing to the moon. I hurried Sabine along urging her to go faster. There had been no answering call and that gave me pause. A werewolf out looking for its alpha mate could be just as dangerous as a mother bear protecting her cubs and as tenacious as a tiger shark.

“Only a little further.” Sabine nodded, needing to save her breath to keep up.

I wasn’t sure how much further we really had to go. But I knew one thing for sure I had to keep her hopes up. The Fae were fragile creatures, if she thought they were gaining on us I would have instant deer in the headlights on my hands. Sabine would freeze up faster than the Ice Queen could freeze a man’s heart.

I couldn’t blame her, not with all she had been through. The Nocturns hadn’t gone easy on her. There was no gentle way to bleed someone. Most who went through a bleeding didn’t make it out alive; those who did were never the same again. A survivor of a bleeding often lost any supernatural ability they once possessed, rendering them a castoff in the Mythos world. Which was even worse than being a lowly Inbetween like me.

My eyes left the path in front of us to look at her wrists. There on the underside were the blade marks and bruising from her bleeding. Sabine noticed where my eyes were and she rubbed the spot with her free hand. Her silver eyes had gone far off. I could feel her emotions and there was no way she wouldn’t be haunted by the memories of her abduction for a long time to come.

I tried sending her a wave of calm, but she pushed it back toward me. “I don’t want your pity.”

Her words shocked me. I didn’t pity her, pity was a useless emotion, because those who received it didn’t deserve it. Those who deserved it, well let’s just say they didn’t want it. Take it from one who knows, there is nothing worse than a bunch of people pitying you. I don’t even know why some people bother, don’t they know a crap emotion like that serves no purpose.

“I don’t pity you, Sabine. One small crack does not mean that you are broken. It means that you were put to the test and you didn’t fall apart. You’re strong.”

She tugged my hand to show me she wanted to move faster. Basically, Sabine had told me the topic was off the table. Something I understood better than she would ever know. Why talk about a problem when you can just internalize? The Lord knows I did that more often than most. After Kristoff had murdered my grandfather slowly for months while I watched, I withdrew from everyone.

Why bother trying to explain my pain when no one could ever understand. Not unless they were able to crawl inside my heart and carry the burden of my pain for me. Too often in my childhood I’d heard others tell me that time heals all wounds, in my humble opinion that was nothing more than a crock; pretty words that only covered their pity for my plight.

I learned many valuable lessons in the years following my grandfather’s murder. The most prominent one being, the only people who put a time limit on grief have never lost a piece of their heart. I would take all the time I needed to heal and that was that.

When I came out of my thoughts and looked up I realized the moon was now the only thing that lit our path
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my heart began to beat a furious rhythm. Every mile we ran was announced by the howl of a lone wolf. I had to wonder if it wasn’t a werewolf after all. A real wolf would have given us a wide berth. I was also picking up some odd thoughts. Ones like, mark her, claim her, make her mine.

This had me leaning toward the two legged variety of wolf. Which only left two options, neither in my opinion was very good and both could cause us a world of trouble
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A Were belonging to the Nocturns would mean we were screwed; there was no way we would be able to outdistance him. We could also forget about hiding, because once they got your scent, you’d never lose them.

Although if the mutt chasing us was Josef we stood a chance, albeit it was a small one. It would really only be Sabine who stood that chance, because it appeared that Josef only wanted to throw me off with his mate crap so he could steal my run. So while that meant that Sabine would be safe, I would be beyond pissed off. Sometimes you had to take the good with the bad. So long as it was Josef chasing us, I would deal with an unfinished mission. Sabine’s life was worth more than my pride.

My musings were cut short when Sabine stood still beside me, I stopped as well. My eyes darted from left to right, trying to ferret out why she had stopped so suddenly. To somehow pinpoint whatever danger she had sensed.

“What’s the matter?”

She looked up at me, her silver eyes serious. “You shouldn’t lie to people.”

Ok, what? I wasn’t sure what she was talking about and it must have showed. “You weren’t lying? You think I’m strong?”

She pointed to herself in disbelief; as if she wanted to be sure I knew who she meant. Not some other little girl that had just been through the ninth ring of hell and survived, but this fragile creature before me who would no longer know innocence. God, how I wanted to end Kristoff myself for crap like this.

I knelt down on the grass so that we were eye level. Sabine looked so fragile standing before me, I just wanted to hug her and make everything go away. But there were some things you couldn’t stop from happening. Some people you couldn’t save, no matter how much you wished you could. It was an awful truth I had learned the hard way a long time ago.

“You’ve been initiated into an elite club. The pain is there, I know it is. But pain doesn’t make you weak.”

Sabine turned her eyes away and I lifted her chin. “Listen now, you must draw on the pain and not become bitter. It will strengthen you and one day you will rise from the ashes of your past like the phoenix.” Tears were trailing down her cheeks, I brushed them away.

I remembered when I was told that same thing, just the memory had pain lancing through my heart. I thought then that all those pretty words were a crock and nothing more. Now I knew different. I have come to embrace the pain and allow it to fuel my quest to eradicate evil from the world.

Sabine threw herself into my arms, a sob escaping her. “It hurts, Dara.”

I stroked her long raven hair, “I know sweetheart.” I put her at arm’s length, “But I promise you, I won’t stop until Kristoff is brought to justice.”

Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand she nodded. I rose, hoping that I had quieted her fears enough for us to move on. We needed to get out of the Moors, to put distance between us and whoever was giving chase. I wouldn’t be satisfied until I delivered Sabine safely to her father.

We hadn’t even taken a step when the reeds beside us parted and two men with their beasts hovering over them came crashing through. Josef and whoever the hell his crony was. Wonderful! Now I knew this night couldn’t get any worse. I’d have to find a way to lose two Weres and a few Nocturn goons. This was no simple task when running with a child.

Hitting the clearing they stood stock still, Josef looked from me to Sabine and back again. His pupils were dilated and a low rumbling growl was coming from his chest. Was he trying to mark his run or something? Because this wasn’t Animal Planet and that kinda crap wouldn’t fly with me.

I pushed Sabine behind me, taking a defensive stance. “What the hell can I do for you?”

His eyes moved up and down my body, I must have been some sight to see. Bare feet covered in drops of mud, a once floor length evening gown now torn to mid-thigh. Yep, a regular contestant for Miss America, if the category was wild woman.

Although Josef wasn’t fairing any better, he no longer had his tailcoat on. The once white dress shirt was open to the waist and covered in little brown spots of mud. His shaggy, sand colored hair flew wild about his face. My Lord, he was gorgeous. Josef was the type of man who could make a woman forget her name. Good thing for me he couldn’t make me forget that I had Sabine to protect.

He moved forward and every muscle seemed to come to life. Rippling in sync. “Give Priest the girl.”

Priest, was that his job title or another one of those silly names all these guys seemed to have? The Cruel, the Architect, and now Priest. Really, what were their mothers thinking when they named them? It definitely wasn’t about winning baby name of the year, that was for sure.

I looked over at the other Were that Josef had indicated and almost lost my nerve. He was all of 6’8” and every ounce of it was menacing muscle. He was covered in priestly vestments and the only skin on him that was visible was that of his hands and head. But almost every inch of his head was covered in tattoos. The black garment he wore bulged over his muscles.

I rolled my eyes trying to act for all the world as if Priest wasn’t intimidating to behold. “Not happening.”

Placing my hand on my hip I was hoping for a look of defiance, one that said I wasn’t screwing around. But that’s not why I did it. Oh no, I did it to be closer to my thigh sheath. It was my security blanket or at least the only one this gown would allow. I couldn’t very well hide a Glock in silk and lace. Not an easy feat let me tell you. Neither was the knife, but there was no way I was going into that mill without a weapon.

“Please Dara.” Sabine whispered behind me.

There was something in her voice that caused alarm bells to go off in my head. I turned to make sure she was alright and her big pale eyes searched my own. Sabine was trying to see if I would keep her safe. She wanted a promise; I could see it on her face as clear as I could read it in her emotions. But I wouldn’t give her such false hope.

Not knowing if Josef was a friend or foe made that kind of promise hard to keep. If he tried to take her I would fight him, there was no doubt about it. That didn’t mean I’d win though, he was a werewolf after all. Besides, I wasn’t too keen on this Priest guy. Sabine seemed to be frightened of him. Not a good sign, especially if he was hanging out with Josef. I had to wonder if Josef had turned traitor.

Sabine chose that moment to force her fear into me. Whatever her issue was with Priest, it was enough to make her quake in fear. I was getting ready to ask Sabine what was wrong when Josef spoke up again.

“The child, Dara.”

I turned back just in time to take the impact of Josef’s body from the front. The force of which had thrown me too far from Sabine to protect her. I should never have taken my attention away from an opportunist like him. I’d left my charge unprotected, not a very good way to win new clients or get stellar reviews.

“Grab the girl and get her to the Council.”

What the hell, he really had wanted to steal my run. So all that crap at the gala tonight was a farce! A dangerous one I might add, as it almost got me killed. It was bad enough I would have to nurse a few bruised ribs, now he’d only made them ache more.

I was going to kill him. Not because he was looking to get the reward for saving her, but because all his smooth talking had nothing to do with him being into me. God, how I hated to be played for a fool. Fine, whatever, I’ll just date myself. Most men just didn’t seem to know how to treat a lady, nowadays anyway.

“Dara! Help, please help!”

Priest grabbed Sabine and her startled cry propelled me into action. Bucking underneath Josef, I tried to get free. All I succeeded in doing was making mud fly in every direction. Proving once again that werewolf trumped Indigo Child every time.

Through gritted teeth I said, “Let me up! Or I swear I’ll use your pelt as a rug before my fireplace.”

Josef’s arms tightened around me, his larger frame pushing me further into the ground. Crap he was a big boy. How the hell was I going to get out from under him? Maybe he was ticklish. Yeah right, I doubt that.

“Priest was right. You would make a perfect alpha female.”

Oh boy, it had been his thoughts I had tapped into earlier. At the realization I redoubled my efforts to get free. There was no way in hell I was going to let Josef think I wanted to start a pack or clan or whatever the hell they called it. I didn’t even want to start a bridge club with him. So whatever he was thinking he needed to stop it right now.

Uncoiling his arms from around me Josef now fisted my curls. He applied just enough pressure to bring my head back. Exposing my throat he ran his nose over my pulse. I tried to loosen his grip. Tried to think of anything other than what his odd attention was doing to my treacherous body. Please Lord, don’t let this be happening.

“Please, I promised Sabine I’d keep her safe.” My voice was soft, my plea weak.

I figured perhaps his beast would heed my fragile female ploy. Weres were very into protecting their women and their young. I was hoping to play upon his softer side, knowing full well it might not work. As a matter of fact it might send his beast into overdrive and he might mate with me here in the mud. I should really think my plans through better before I go off willy-nilly. Oh well, it was too late now.

Josef pulled back from my neck and looked me in the eye. “The girl is safe. Priest is her father’s most trusted guard.”

His most trusted guard, yeah and the butler was never the murderer in all those old movies. Or maybe it had been Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with a candlestick all along? No, something wasn’t right. If Priest was Vicktor’s most trusted man, than how had the Nocturns taken Sabine from her bed? It would stand to reason that one would assign their best to care for their children.

No wonder she’d been so afraid at the sight of Priest. I’d hoped it was because he was a werewolf and his beast had been hovering close to the surface, but I guess not. Because if I had any doubt that Priest was in league with the baddies before, I didn’t now.

My thoughts were cut short when I noticed the shift in Josef’s eyes. They had gone from electric blue to an eerie hellfire color. Shit, he was going wolfy on me. The creatures of the Mythos called it ‘Bad Moon Rising’. It was said that it made Weres even more unpredictable. So when the Bad Moon was rising you needed to get out quick.

But his beast wasn’t rising to fight. Oh no, this was much worse for me. It was rising to claim a mate. Since I was the only one around I had to assume he intended to claim me. That was so not going to happen. First of all I didn’t intend on being barefoot and pregnant the rest of my days. Secondly, grandpa had raised a lady and ladies don’t do it in the mud like a common pig.

So knowing he would be distracted, I bucked and rolled, shifting my weight so that Josef was now flat on his back. Without a second’s thought I was up and running; not even stopping to pull my knife out just in case.

The air around me was rent with a heart stopping howl. Josef, who I was sure, was now more beast than man was frustrated. Most females would have come crawling to him. Rumor had it that they gave off pheromones to a potential mate. It made getting laid for a werewolf a no brainer. Pheromones or no pheromones, I was out of there. There was no way I needed an obsessed werewolf on my case. Let him go find someone with the same values he had.