Accidentally Catty (38 page)

She winked. “It’s true. But I certainly don’t ride a broom and I definitely don’t have warts. Though I have been known to exact small amounts of revenge on the old biddies from the garden club. Hair grows back,” she muttered with a roll of her eyes, making Darnell chuckle.

“Why were you at the animal park just before they moved the animals, Esmeralda?” Shaw asked.

“To recoup the antidote, of course! I’d hoped Nissa hadn’t found it, but I was sorely mistaken. Oh, the blood . . .” She shuddered, tears in her sharp eyes. Daniel smoothed a hand over her cheek she leaned into.

But Shaw was still suspicious. “When you brought Delray in to Katie, why didn’t you tell me, us, you knew my grandfather?”

Esmeralda shook her head. “If you only knew how many times I’ve kicked myself today for not knowing you were Spanky, young man. I’d never seen you in human form, dear. Knowing I was so close just makes me want to scream. I’m so sorry.”

“Which begs the question, have you shifted since you lost your memory, son?”

Shaw tensed, gripping the arms of the chair. “I don’t remember it, but I hear it was a pretty bad deal.”

Daniel nodded, his eyes alight with excitement. “Were you angry when it happened? Upset in any way?”

“I was infuriated by the way the people here in Piney Creek treated Katie and her aunt Teeny. So yes, I’d had enough.”

“As was the case when you shifted in England.You were mourning the loss of your father. Your fury over his brutal death left you bereft. However, there are only so many shifts like that your body can withstand before you suffer a fatal episode. Each shift becomes more violent.”

Fatal . . . He set that aside for the moment and continued to probe his grandfather. “And I was aware of this when I came to the States? I allowed you to put the collar on me?”

“Oh, indeed, son! You were a tortured soul when we finally met. And thank the gods you found me when you did. Had your father still been alive, and known about your trouble, he would have sent you to me posthaste. We were always very careful about communication. I never wanted Nissa to find you.”

“Is it because I’m the product of a human and a werecougar that this half shift is happening?”

“That I don’t know. There are so many factors I haven’t been able to draw any solid conclusions. Age, chemistry . . .”

Shaw’s mind went immediately to his unborn baby. “But it could be a possibility?”

“It could be a distinct possibility. I need time to research your DNA. Which was exactly what I was doing before that dreadful woman showed back up.”

“Nissa?”

He shivered. “She’s who did this to me. For the antidote, of course. Silly woman thought I’d be stupid enough to leave something like that on a computer.” Daniel barked a laugh and then his voice went low. He pointed to his now-healing head. “But I keep it all up here in the old noggin. I may be almost five hundred, but I’m not the doddering fool they think I am. I’ve never left a trace of the contents of the antidote anywhere. What Nissa does have is the batch I made. I imagine she’s experiencing shifts much like yours and she needs to control them.”

“They?”

“Nissa and her band of thugs. Government blokes who want to turn your abilities to their advantage.”

“A superrace? Soldiers?” How cliché.

“Something like that, I suppose. She’ll sell it to the highest bidder, if I know Nissa, and it won’t matter who that bidder is. Regardless, they want what I have. They think I have the key to creating more werecougars. They believe I gave something to Leticia to help her procreate, when, in fact, that’s nowhere near the truth of the matter. But Nissa needs my research to prevent eventual madness. She’s a manufactured werecougar much like your Katie. She wasn’t born. She was created—with the worst sort of malice. Nissa wanted power, and she garnered it. However, all power comes with a price. I hear through the grapevine, she’s experiencing half shifts. If I can keep her from getting her vile hands on my research, she’ll shift much in the horrid way you did, her organs won’t be able to stand the harsh change, and eventually she’ll die. A fitting end to a legacy of filth,” he spat.

But Shaw couldn’t hear anything other than the fact that Katie’s pregnancy was rare. “So no one in the werecougar community has been successful in breeding more werecougars?”

“No.”

“What do you suppose was the reason my mother became impregnated?”

“Dear God. If you only knew how much . . . Again, I have no answer for that. At first, we thought it was because your father was a human, but results from the brutalization of several young, human women via full werecougars show that not to be the case.”

“Which means Katie’s in danger.” He was already rising, but Daniel grabbed his hand and thwarted his effort to leave, his hand wrinkled.

“They wouldn’t want her, son. She’s no different than any other accident that’s occurred, though accidents are rare.”

“Would they want her if she was pregnant?”

“Dear God! Katie’s pregnant?”

“She is.” He still couldn’t stop the deep sense of pride that he was going to be a father from seeping into his words.

“Oh, Shaw! It’s imperative you find her! Nissa wanted nothing other than to stop her half shifts, but if she’s aware that not only can you reproduce but Katie’s with child, she and her team of researchers will brutalize her, and hunt you down!”

He was on his feet when the final warning from Daniel came—ominous and ugly. “Son! Wait.You must be very careful when confronting Nissa. Do not allow your rage to consume you. It’s what’s been triggering your shifts. She’ll taunt you, Shaw. With Alistair’s death—with the hateful things she wants to do to Katie and your child. Do not take the bait. At all costs. If you do, this could be your last shift before death!”

So what was the hullabaloo about world domination anyway? It seemed like a lot of work, all that ruling a world. Katie was happy to just drift. Right here on the cold metal table. Even if restraints and bright, fluorescent lights were involved. Not to mention, they’d taken her clothes and put her in an itchy hospital gown.

But so far, there’d been no probe—so that was good, right?

“He’ll come for her, you do know that, Dr. Lithgow, don’t you?” a male voice said.

Nissa’s chuckle was thin to Katie’s ears. “I do know Shaw will come. Redemption is far sweeter when doled out in twos, don’t you think? First, we’ll find out exactly what Dr. Woods and that whore Leticia had in common, and then, we’ll replicate it, using Shaw as our stud, so to speak. Until we’re done with him, of course. Then he, too, can be disposed of.”

Now hang on. Shaw was
her
stud, thank you very much. No one was using his studness without her consent. And that was never going to happen. So no studs and mares today. Yet Katie said none of those things. Instead, she weakly wondered out loud. “Ingrid. Where . . .” Jesus, whatever they’d given her was certainly an efficient way to keep her mouth shut. Shaw would probably dole out some hefty cash for it, in fact.

There was a pinch to her arm in sharp reprimand. “Oh, Ingrid’s fine. In fact, we’ll bring her to you. It might bring you comfort. Something you’ll need when you begin the crying and begging.”

Katie’s stomach heaved while her senses reeled. She had to get to Ingrid. To Shaw. To warn them. Aware she was nearly immobilized, Katie struggled against the restraints with unsuccessful, weak twists of her arms. She felt the silver of the handcuffs, now on either hand instead of behind her.

Vaguely, she remembered her strength. As a cougar, shouldn’t she be able to bust out of them like Superman? Again, she writhed but to no avail.

“Don’t fight it, Katie,” Nissa chided. “I told you, we’ve stripped you of every last one of your new abilities with those handcuffs, and we’ll do the same to Shaw just as soon as he shows up. Shouldn’t be long now, dear. According to my sources, he’s been to see Daniel—who’s awake, by the way. I thought I’d finished him off. Who knew the old curmudgeon was so bloody tough?”

Daniel was okay? Oh, that was good news. The not-so-good news? Daniel would tell Shaw everything and he’d storm the castle. If luck were on her side, he’d storm it with Nina and Wanda.

A roll of metal wheels on the cement floor brought another bed crashing against hers, the movement making her stomach heave violently. A door closed and then there was more silence.

“Dr. Woods?”

Katie felt a tear drip from her eye. Oh, Ingrid. She’d never survive this if Katie didn’t find a way to help her. “Ingrid . . .” She drifted back off until she felt the sharp sting of another pinch on her hand.

“Dr. Woods! It’s Ingrid. I’m right next to you. Stay awake, damn you! You need to stay awake.”

Awake, awake, awake. “You okay?”

“Hell to the no, I’m not okay. I’m tied to a bed. You’re tied to a bed. They want to hack you up so they can figure out why you can make babies. That is not okay, but listen to me. We can get out of this, but you have to pay attention.”

Who was this woman? So strong and determined? Not at all the mild-mannered, meek mouse of a few weeks ago. Go, Ingrid. Yay her. “I’m trying, honey. I am . . . but I can’t . . .”

“I know you can’t, but you have to. You will. Look, my tongue ring—you remember it?”

How could she forget it? The very thought of piercing her tongue made Katie cringe. But Ingrid had been so proud when she’d come home from the mall with it, she didn’t have the heart to balk at her. “I remember.”

“If I can get the stupid back off of it, we can use the stud on the back of it to maybe unhook these restraints. I can lean pretty far forward. If I can spit the tongue ring into my hand, I can probably unlock these. Our hands are close enough together, and the handcuffs have just enough leeway around the bars.”

Katie felt a warm finger latch onto hers. “Feel that? That’s me. Ingrid. I’m going to try and do this, of all things, left-handed. So just hold tight, okay? Please, Dr. Woods. I need you to say a prayer. Throw it out there in the universe that I can get this one thing right. Just once.”

Her heart swelled. All Ingrid needed was approval. Just a little. Katie cursed the bastards who’d dumped her in home after home instead of just accepting her for who she was. “Oh, Ingrid . . . you’re a goo . . . girl. I’m prou . . . proud.You’ve come a long . . . place. A long place. No. Way. You’ve come a long way since I met you—”

“Doc! I said throw a prayer out to the universe, not yak me to death.”

“Sorry, honey. Quiet. I’m like a . . . a . . . statue.Yep. Statue.”

“Good. You be a statue. I’m going to get us the hell out of here, but I can’t do it while I’m talking. Even I’m not that good. Man, I sure hope all those lessons my friend Gwendolyn gave me in juvie when it was Monday Sundaes pans out. She was a whiz with a cherry stem.”

Cherries were lovely. Big, fat red ones. Katie chuckled to herself. Whatever this drug was—it made everything better. Even captivity in a hospital gown.

Katie heard someone spit and then her bed jolted again.

“Doc! I got it! Oh, thank the gods!”

Indeed. Thank them all. Generosity abound.

“Okay, Dr. Woods, you’re going to have to help me here, which requires opening your eyes. Please, please open your eyes. I know you’re drugged, but if you want to get out of this, you’ve got to open your eyes and look at your hand.”

Speaking of her hand. It was damned difficult to scratch your nose when your hand was tied up.

“Dr. Woods? If you don’t open your eyes now, and we get out of this alive, I’m going to take all of your frilly shirts and give them to the Salvation Army! I bet that old hobo Jonas Wiggs would love that creamy confection from Anne Klein. Remember it? It’s the one with the silk ties in the front. Don’t you think he’d do it proud when he pukes all over it because he talked Wilmer Ford into buying him more booze at the Beer Bin?”

Katie’s eyes popped open. Now, hang on. That Anne Klein shirt had cost a fortune. Ingrid’s face was distorted, almost comically so. Her eyes were wide set like an alien’s, and her forehead was elongated to conical proportions. Katie giggled.

“Oh, that’s gooood, Doc! Now keep them open and focus on your right hand. You have some mobility; just turn your wrist up so I can see the keyhole, and pray this stud is long enough to crack this puppy open.
Do not move.
If I drop this, we’re meat.”

Do. Not. Move.

“Dr. Woods! Turn your wrist.”

“You said don’t . . . don’t something. Oh! Move. I’m not moving. Statue and stuff.”

Voices from outside the door made Ingrid hiss. “Don’t move after you turn your wrist upward. Look, if we don’t do this ASAP, they’re going to kill you, and Shaw, and the baby. Oh, God! I know you’d do whatever it takes for that not to happen. Please, we have to hurry!”

Every last nerve in Katie’s body protested movement. Yet, she gritted her teeth as her mind whirred with the horrible things Ingrid had ticked off. No one was getting their hands on this baby. Maybe she hadn’t realized it before—maybe because she’d been so caught off guard, but she wanted this baby.

Wanted.

And no one was going to take that away from her.

Sweat broke out on her forehead, her muscles tensed and wound tight as she moved just a fraction of an inch. Katie gasped, “Can you get it now?” Her head fell back on the hard imitation of a pillow in exhaustion.

Ingrid grunted, her breath’s coming shallow and harsh.

And then miracle of miracles, she was free. The silver handcuff banging against the railing on the bed with a tinkle of joy.

Voices, gruff and authoritative, grew closer.

Katie moved her wrist, bending it back and forth to get the blood to circulate. Warmth rushed through her veins, making her eyes pop open. She turned to Ingrid, who smiled and lifted her hand the inch or so the handcuffs allowed. “I just lost an expensive tongue ring, Doc. Least you could do is hook me up.”