Harlequin Nocturne March 2016 Box Set (26 page)

“I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. C'mon, you saw the will-o'-the-wisps last night with your own eyes. Remember?”

Annie rubbed her arms. He certainly had her there. “Okay,” she reluctantly conceded. “I admit there are things I know nothing of. I'd rather keep it that way, too.”

His brow furrowed. “Whether you ignore Nalusa or not, he still exists.”

“Yeah, well, I'd rather not make his acquaintance. I have enough problems as it is.”

Alarm flickered in his dark eyes. “But Bo spoke to you. You have to help us.”

Annie shrugged and took a step backward. The last thing she needed was to get caught up in his personal crusade for revenge. “Come, see my grandma one day. She'll do a protection spell if you like.” She plastered on a smile and waved. “Nice seeing you. Thanks again for helping me find my way home last night.”

Two steps and her shoulders tensed at the heavy pressure of his palms bearing down, barring an easy exit. Damn. He wasn't going to make retreat easy. Tombi guided her back around to face him.

“We need you, Annie.” He swallowed. “Please.”

She could tell the plea wasn't easy for Tombi. Pride and dignity announced their presence in the strong jaw and stiff posture.

“But I doubt I'll ever hear Bo again,” she protested. “I have no plans to be lured back into the woods by the wisps.”

“The wisps are controlled by Nalusa. But as long as you're with me, I'll protect you. I promise.”

His words were deep and solemn. No doubt he would do his best to protect those on his side.

“I believe you.”

“Good. Then come with me and—”

She shook her head and backed away. This wasn't her battle. “No. Sorry. I don't want to get involved.”

Tombi glared at her, and his full lips compressed to a tight line. Evidently, he was a man used to getting his own way.

Too bad.

* * *

Stubborn woman.

Tombi took a deep breath to calm his temper. Somehow, he had to convince this slip of a girl to help him. Maybe... His gaze dropped to her lips. Those lips that had unexpectedly kissed him last night. Annie felt the attraction between them. He could use that to his advantage. Tombi slid his palms down her arms and urged her forward. So close their bodies almost touched.

Her brown eyes widened and darkened into black pools of desire. She raised her hands and placed them against his chest. Yes, this might be so easy. So pleasurable.

Later, he couldn't say who moved first. All he knew was that their lips met and their hands explored one another. Her fingers traced the bulge of his biceps, then kneaded the muscles along his spine.

Tombi stroked the thin shoulder blades on her back, ran his calloused fingers through her soft curls. She was so petite, so delicate. Fragile enough he wondered if it might hurt her should he release his full passion.

A tiny, whimpering moan cut through his reservations. She wanted him. Tombi lowered his hands until they cupped her ass. That cute ass that he'd watched walk away last night and that he'd pictured ever since. He squeezed, letting Annie feel his desire press against her core.

She moaned again. Or was that him this time? It didn't matter.

“Stop.” Annie stepped out of his embrace and hugged her belly. “Sorry. It's just...this is too fast. I barely know you.”

He stared at her, willing his heartbeat to slow and his brain to catch up to her words. “It's okay,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “I understand.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, turning and making her way down the path.

Tombi shook his head to clear it. He was supposed to use their attraction to convince her to work with him. Somehow, he'd lost control, and Annie was slipping away from him once more. He couldn't let that happen. He—rather, his people—needed her skill in communicating with the
shilup
, the human spirits that wandered the land of the ghosts. Bo's spirit had been captured by the wisps, and remembering the plight of his trapped friend cooled his fever.

“Wait,” he called to Annie's retreating figure.

She turned and gazed at him expectantly.

What could he offer her? This was his fight. Not hers. She was right to not get involved. Yet, Nalusa grew stronger every day, and they were desperate to stop his spread of power in Bayou La Siryna. Just last week, Nalusa had gone farther away from the swamp and invaded the heart and mind of one of his hunters while he was asleep in his own bed. Marcus had even entertained thoughts of suicide but wisely had called Tombi for help, recognizing that Nalusa was at the root of his despair.

Tombi scrambled to recall the bits and pieces of conversation with Annie, searching for an angle. He remembered her troubled face as she mentioned hearing other people's auras.

“What if I could help you?”

Her lips twisted with suspicion. “Help me with what?”

He approached Annie, confident of victory. “You want to control your sense of hearing. Correct?”

Her body and eyes lit up. “Really? You can help with that?”

“Really. You told me how surprised you were when we first met because you couldn't detect any sound from my aura.”

“I remember.”

“That's because I control my energy field most of the time. I can teach you to do the same.”

“And that will help me block unwanted sound?”

He had no idea. But it seemed logical. “Absolutely,” he said with conviction.

“And if I help you, you promise to protect me?”

“I do.”

Annie looked down to the ground, and Tombi held his breath, awaiting her answer.

“I'm in,” she said in a rush.

CHAPTER 3

W
hat had she gotten herself into? She wanted a normal life, but what good was that if she was killed in the process? But she had to try. She had to trust that Tombi would protect her.

Grandma Tia had been no help, and no matter how many spells and strips of paper she burned under the full moon, nothing changed. If anything, her hearing grew stronger, more disruptive.

Tombi nodded. “Great. We begin now.”

Hope bubbled through her like uncorked champagne on New Year's Eve. She was about to start a new life. Do all those things she'd longed to do: get a real job, be around people and relate normally. Simple acts most people took for granted.

He turned and beckoned her to follow.

“Where are we going?” she asked happily. No waiting for the full moon this time. Hope had arisen right here in the midafternoon sunshine. “Is there a special place for a spell? Like an energy vortex or something?” She hurried along the path.

He shot an incredulous look over his shoulder. “What are you babbling about?”

“I'm curious how you're going to do this. I think Grandma Tia never helped me because she didn't know how, though she would never admit it.”

“We aren't casting any spells.”

“Are you taking me to a special healer, then? Like a shaman?”

He sighed loudly and planted his feet so abruptly she plowed into his back.

He turned and steadied her. “We're going to my camp, so you can meet the other hunters. I want to know who that betrayer is. If there is one.”

Annie's eyes narrowed. “So, you won't help me until I help you first.”

“That's right.”

Worry quickly overcame her frustration. “But what if I can't pick up anything from them?”

“You will,” he said confidently. “I'm the best in the group at controlling my energy, yet you picked up the drumming.”

“But it was only a drumming sound. Nothing good or bad about it,” she protested.

“True, but it picked up something of my nature. A primitive beat passed down through my ancestry.”

“Don't get your hopes up,” she muttered, picking her way carefully through the prickly saw palmettos and dense underbrush. Tombi kept a slower pace today, albeit still a brisk one. “Tell me about these other hunters.”

The more she knew going in, the less nervous she would be. Annie hated meeting new people, especially in a group situation where each aura would jumble with the others into a confusing din.

“We're down to four in the inner circle since Bo died. Me, Chulah, Hanan and my sister, Tallulah.”

“So, what is it you actually
do
? How do you fight Nalusa and his shadow spirits?”

Tombi didn't answer right away. “It's something you would have to see and be a part of to really understand.”

Meaning he didn't want to say any more on the subject. Great. Fine by her. The less she knew, the fewer nightmares she'd dream. She'd help him find the betrayer, and he'd help her control hearing auras. Then she could have the normal life she craved, and he could...maybe win his battle. Get revenge for his friend's death. They could both move on.

They continued until the path widened, and she spotted over two dozen tents pitched in a field. They were arranged in a circle, and in the middle of it all was a thin stream of smoke that wafted upward from a modest fire. The acrid smell of burning oak stirred her with a sense of home and cozy evenings warming by the fireplace.

“You all must be great friends,” she said, picturing them telling stories in the evening by campfire, sharing a bond of fighting evil. They were all part of something bigger than themselves. For a moment, it made her own dream seem small and selfish.

And he wanted her to come into this...this tight group of friends and point the finger at one of them? Annie rubbed the unexpected chill on her arms. She wasn't sure what she feared most: being unable to recognize the betrayer, or singling out someone and facing their collective wrath.

Nobody would thank her for disrupting their alliance, that was for sure. She peeked at Tombi's stern profile, took in his long, slightly hooked nose, pronounced jaws and cheekbones, and heavy brows. What was his role in this band of hunters?

“Your name's unusual. What does it mean?” she asked abruptly, hoping to learn more about him.

“Ray of light.”

Annie snorted, and he raised a brow. “What?”

She couldn't help but giggle. “You're no ray of sunshine.”

He stared at her blankly before a rusty rumble of laughter escaped his mouth, as if it had been years since one last escaped. “At one time, my people worshiped the sun, so to be named after its ray is a great honor.”

“What about your friend Bo? Is that a good ole Southern name as in
B-e-a-u
, short for Beauregard?”

“No. It's
B-o
, short for Bohpoli. That's Choctaw for ‘thrower.'”

Would she ever hear Bo again? She shivered, remembering his plaintive pleas for help.

Although their movements were quiet and their voices low, they had attracted attention. A woman and three men solemnly filed out of the tent circle and stood in the center, awaiting their approach with unsmiling faces.

Holy hoodoo, this was going to be even tougher than she imagined.

Annie tugged the back of Tombi's T-shirt, and he frowned down at her. “What?”

“Have you told them anything about me?”

“We tell each other everything.”

She groaned. “Terrific. Bet they can't wait to meet me. I wish you hadn't told them.”

“There should be no secrets among my hunters. No doubts or suspicions about the man—or woman—you have to depend on for your life.”

Her shoulders slumped. She couldn't argue with his logic, although she resented the situation he'd put her in. They walked onward several minutes, not speaking.

Tombi abruptly halted and frowned her way. “You care so much what others think?”

“Of course I care.” She thought of all the times people had skirted around her in school hallways or outright laughed in her face. She'd watched from the sidelines in the purgatory that was high school, unsure which she craved more—the huddling conspiracy of a group of girlfriends to share secrets and fun times with, or some cute guy to take her to dinner and a movie and whisper sweet seductions in the back of a car. “Everyone cares.”

He shrugged. “Not me.”

Easy for him to say—with his looks he probably had any woman he wanted. And he had a tribe of like-minded friends and family. Why should he give any thought to what was so easily granted to him?

Annie reluctantly walked beside him, trying to emulate his mask of calm. They came to a halt six feet in front of the group.

“This is Annie Matthews.” Tombi gestured to the left with his hand. “This is Tallulah, Hanan and Chula.”

The silence roared in her, air compressing and as stifling as a sealed coffin. They formed a firewall of mistrust and resentment, shutting her out of their circle. Annie sucked in her breath at the glittering hostility in Tallulah's obsidian eyes. Nearly as tall as her brother, she bore the same long face, chiseled features and strong chin. It shouldn't have worked for a female, and while she wasn't beautiful in a Miss America or girl-next-door kind of way, Tallulah was striking and commanded attention. Annie barely took in the stoic features of the other three men.

Tallulah put her hands on her hips. “Well?”

“W-well what?” Annie stammered. She glanced at Tombi in a silent plea for help.

“Go ahead,” Tallulah challenged. “I dare you to point a finger at any one of us. You don't know—”

“Enough,” Tombi cut in.

The man next to her—Chula—lightly touched Tallulah's forearm, and a whisper as tender as a lullaby brushed over Annie at the gesture.

“We already debated this last night and agreed to meet Annie. Let's get this over with.” Hanan pinned Annie with a hard stare, and the whisper of sound vanished. “The sooner, the better.”

Annie swallowed hard at their collective stare. Talk about being on the spot.

“It's not that easy. I have to be around you for a bit.” She cast another look at Tombi. “Can we all sit together by the fire?”

Tombi nodded, and she followed him to the middle of the pitched tents, the others following in silence behind them.

In the center was a stack of firewood coated in ash. Colorful wool blankets were spread in a circle around the campfire. They each went to a blanket and sat, except Tombi. “You can have my blanket,” he said, pointing to one. “I'll stand.”

She sank down and crossed her feet beneath her. Annie tried to relax and open her senses, but it was difficult as the others stared at her expectantly. As if she was some kind of circus performer. She closed her eyes, more to shut out their stares than out of necessity.

The unnatural quiet unnerved her. How did they do it? They each had some type of guard up, some way of blocking their music. Her palms gripped her knees. Very well. She'd try to wait them out, see if any sound escaped.

The vibrations of a deep rumbling laugh iced down her spine.
Witch
. The word was an accusation, underlain with mirth.
Be gone, little girl
.

Annie opened her eyes and met their curious, blank stares. “Did you hear that laugh? That voice?”

No one spoke.

Tombi uncrossed his arms and sat beside her on the blanket. “What did you hear?”

She bit her lip. Had the laugh and the words come from one of the hunters, or was there something else out there? Something just beyond the ring of trees and the safety of the fire where shadows lengthened and danced?

Annie shook her head slightly and closed her eyes again. Silence blanketed her as thick and unrelenting as a stone wall. It was hopeless. Nothing else was coming through that wall.

She opened her eyes. “I don't know how y'all do it, but I'm impressed.”

“Do what?” Chula asked.

“Close off your energy.” Annie turned to Tombi. “Isn't that how you described it? Keeping everything closed in?”

Tallulah made an impatient
tsk
sound. “Why did you tell this girl our secrets? For all we know, she could be one of them.”

“One of who?” Annie asked.

“Don't act so innocent,” Tallulah snapped. “If there's someone controlled by the dark side, my guess is that it's you.”

Annie rose to her feet and took in their hostile stares. “I didn't have to tell Tombi what I heard last night. I didn't ask Bo to seek me out. And I certainly don't have to take your attitude.”

She stalked off. Screw them. She'd tried. Not her fault if they had some special power to resist her hearing.

Dry grass crunched in the parched soil behind her. Tombi stepped to her side and walked, matching her pace.

“I'm not going back there,” she spat, “so don't try to talk me into it.”

He said nothing but walked in front of her as they reentered the narrow path. He held back branches to keep them from slapping her in the face. A snapping, crackling sound simmered in the air swirling around him, like dry brush catching fire.

“You're angry with me,” Annie said. “I really did try. But your sister...” She tried to collect her temper. She still needed his help and insulting Tallulah wouldn't serve her cause. “You are going to help me. Right?”

* * *

She looked desperate, but Tombi hardened his heart. He wasn't about to give up. Not as long as Bo was trapped and not as long as Nalusa and the other shadow spirits grew and trespassed the ancient boundaries.

“Eventually,” he promised. “What did you hear back there?”

“Nothing that can help you.”

Tombi stopped in his tracks and folded his arms against his chest. “Might as well spit it out. I'll be out in these woods through the night anyhow.”

“Do you live out here all the time?”

“Only one week out of the month, around the full moon.”

Her dark eyes widened. “We believe in the power of the full moon, too.”

“We?”

“My grandmother and I.” She swallowed. “And others like us.”

“Other witches?”

“Why must you put labels on people?” she countered. “We're known by many names, and we all have different practices—root workers, healers, pagans and, okay, witches.”

“Do they all hear as you do?”

Her full lips twisted in a scowl. “No. I'm the lucky one.”

Tombi shook off his fascination with Annie and her kind. “You neatly skirted my question. What did you hear back there?”

She sighed, realizing he would interrogate until she answered his question. “A laugh. Not a funny one, but the laugh of the evil or crazy or demented. And then...the voice called me a witch and told me to go away.”

Tombi considered her words. He hated knowing Nalusa knew of Annie and her gift and their connection, but Nalusa must be worried to warn her off. That was, if Annie wasn't in league with him to start with.

“So, just like that, you're giving up?”

She winced at the sharp edge of his tone. “The attitude of your sister and your friends didn't make me want to stay and try harder.”

He grew hot thinking of Tallulah's antagonism. Annie didn't deserve to be treated that way. Even if he had his own suspicions, nothing would be gained by hostility.

“They can't help but be suspicious of strangers. Time and again, Nalusa has gained a foothold over people, even if only temporarily. Made them say and do things they wouldn't normally do.”

Annie lifted her chin. “I can assure you that I'm in complete command of my own thoughts and actions.”

“I'll help you, but you have to help me, too.”

“Can't you just say some words and cure me?”

“Nothing's that easy. It's a process. It takes time to learn to control your energy.”