Shepherd's Moon (40 page)

“Will you join us?” Gifford asked, motioning to a table. “Tristan, my good friend, we have so much to catch up on.”

I took a seat next to Gifford’s date — an extraordinarily beautiful woman with soft cocoa skin and long, black hair that was straight with just a tease of height on the top of her head resembling a tuft. She had deep green, almost yellow eyes and wore a sweeping gown with a long train that I had to be conscious not to step on, but which she handled with an easy elegance.

“Allow me to introduce my lovely date for the evening,” Gifford announced, as though she were royalty. “Alexandra, this is Nia.”

She looked at me — a friendly, open look that made me feel as if she were an ally. I liked her right away. Her light eyes met mine and seemed to immediately understand my discomfort. Taking a chance, I carefully lowered my shield and opened my mind just the tiniest bit. The image of a cheetah settled into my mind. I abruptly pulled my thoughts from hers, despite my interest in exploring them. I had never met a cheetah before.

“Hello,” she said in a haunting, lyrical voice. A slight African accent hinted at her heritage. She extended her delicate hand and met my eyes. “I believe that you and I will become the most excellent of friends, Alexandra.”

“I believe you are right, Nia.” I accepted her hand and smiled.

Suddenly, a familiar prickling sensation migrated through me — an odd, tingling buzz that hovered at the edge of my thoughts and signaled someone was attempting to access my mind.

I hadn’t felt it in years. While I accessed thoughts daily, there were very few who could access mine — and it was my belief that those who could lived thousands of miles from here. “Excuse me for one moment.” I set the drink down on the table and stood, taking a step away from our intimate group while I scanned the crowded room.

Not even sure what I should look for, I scanned anything, or anyone, that looked out of place. There had to be something that would give me a hint as to the identity of the person attempting to access my mind. Tristan followed and placed his arm on my mine. “Gifford is an old friend. He’ll be helpful. Are you enjoying the evening?”

I ignored him, distracted by the need to focus on the men and women nearest us. Someone was scanning me, seeking some unguarded region that they felt they could access. Glancing nervously at the shadows, I grabbed Tristan’s elbow and pulled him away with me. Whatever it was that he was supposed to be teaching me about accessing the minds of humans, well — he was doing a piss poor job.

Tristan placed a hand on the small of my back. “Everything all right?”

Feeling the buzzing subside, I hesitated — searching the crowd once more before finally giving him a brief nod. “Just nerves, I guess.”

Nia and Gifford stared at me, but kept their distance, letting Tristan handle his neurotic date.

Tristan pulled my hair back as though he was placing a soft kiss on my neck. “What’s wrong?” he murmured, sending a chill over my body and raising gooseflesh on my arms.

I leaned forward and whispered softly, a childish satisfaction roaring through me as I felt him shudder. “I felt something — someone is trying to access my thoughts.

“I’ll take a look around.” Frowning, he nodded towards Gifford. “Nia, would you be so kind as to show Alexandra the ladies room? I believe the Chardonnay may have been a bit too much for her this evening.”

“Of course!” Nia replied in a gentle, concerned voice. She threaded my arm through hers as if we were old friends and led me towards the exit as Tristan, Gifford and Leo split up, circling the room.

“Sorry,” I mumbled as we moved through the crowd. “I don’t attend many of these events. I’m sure it’s just nerves.”

“Nonsense,” she smiled and rested her hand on my arm. “I attend at least three of these functions a month. It’s sheer boredom that you’re experiencing.”

She flashed me a conspiring look and I immediately liked her. Her personality was similar to Aida’s, and I could sense a kind, nurturing persona that didn’t fit the typical werecat personality.

“How long have you been with Gifford?” I asked.

“Ages,” she sighed. “He’s my brother.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize…”

“We don’t allow it to become common knowledge. Could you imagine? A vampire and a werecat — brother and sister. Imagine the disgrace!”

“I’ll bet,” I murmured, thinking of Brock and Bren.

“Why are you here tonight?” I asked. Once the words came out, I realized how rude the question sounded. “I’m sorry, I meant, do you have a connection with the Parallax organization?”

“Quite a few connections, actually.” Her voice grew hard and I turned to look at her. “I would like to present you with an opportunity, Alexandra.”

The tone of her voice told me the opportunity wasn’t a Ponzi scheme. I slowed and looked at her, sensing her urgency. “What is it, Nia?”

“I would like for you to view my thoughts. No,” she said before I could even protest. “I know what you are. I know what you do. There are others here who know as well. We are all in more danger than you realize.”

Damn it. I knew this wouldn’t work!

She touched my arm and led me down the long empty hall. “Please,” she urged with a frantic look behind her. “Do it now, before it is too late.”

As we walked, I opened my mind to hers and felt my knees weaken. Nia reached out to steady me as I felt myself trip over the high heels I wore. “Slowly, Shepherd.”

Once again, I opened my mind, slower this time, and let myself absorb her thoughts that were more orderly than any I had viewed before. A set of images rushed over me as I watched the images she wanted to show me.

Test tubes lined up in long rows in a room that held two people dressed in starched white clean room uniforms. A long line of kennels, at least twelve of them filled with animals that ranged from a chimp to a bear who paced nervously back in forth. A cheetah curled up on the concrete floor in one of the cages, the black spots around her eyes looking like tears falling.

Nia appeared in front of the cheetah and reached through the heavy wires, comforting her… friend? No — sister. Gifford arrives in the hall, sees her and pulls her away from the cage, “I told you never to come here. It’s too late.” He was more than her brother — he was her friend, her soulmate, and he was saving her from the fate that had befallen their sister.

I pulled away from Nia, unable to take in anymore. “Nia…”

I didn’t have time to finish the thought.

A set of heavy arms wrapped around me and I felt the sharp sting of a needle against my neck. Turning to Nia, I watched as she turned to bolt — a standard cheetah response. But they were faster and grabbed hold of her before she could move.

“Ursidae,” I managed to choke out before the enormous paw of a bear slammed me against the side of my head.

And then — the world went black.

When I awoke, I was tied and bound. Opening my eyes, I took a quick inventory of my situation. Thick, plastic zip ties restrained me, each wrist secured to each arm of the chair. The pressure on my ankles told me I was also bound at the legs, and that meant they had likely found my pistol.

None of these things could result in a favorable outcome.

Reaching out with my mind, I prodded the dry air, seeking any forms of life. There was one man in a corner — the Ursidae, a bear shifter — from his scent; the same animal that had attacked Nia and I in the hall. I could not enter his mind.

The lack of control was exasperating, defeating, and I struggled against a frustrated growl.

I studied the chains that held me in place. Zip ties were tricky — but possible to escape from if you had anything the size of a pin to pop the lock with. Rope was nearly impossible to escape from unless the captor did a shoddy job of tying me. Chains were usually pretty easy when you were chained by someone who didn’t know what they were doing — that was very apparently
not
the case this time. Some deep part of me said I should be more disturbed by the fact I knew the best way to escape being bound, but the fact of the matter was I’d been arrested or restrained enough times over the years to know how to escape, and I could tell that whoever bound me knew what the hell they were doing.

I evaluated my surroundings, discovering I was in what appeared to be someone’s living room. A baby grand piano sat in the corner; an overstuffed couch sat nearby – its comfort frustratingly out of reach. The walls were painted a calming pale eggshell. The relaxing colors would have been encouraging to any normal person. But I wasn’t normal. Despite my inability to read this Ursidae’s mind, surprisingly I was still able to access his senses. Through him, the rooms pungent scent of death was sharpened, awareness tingling over my skin like the touch of a desert cactus. The layers of pale paint did not disguise the fact that this room had seen more than its share of blood.

A lot of blood.

The good news, and the only good news that I could see, was that the chair I was tied too was not centered on a thick layer of plastic. Normally that would calm me down, but there was too much past evidence of blood on the walls.

Tristan was noticeably absent from the scene and there was no sign of Nia — nor any sign of her brother. I wasn’t sure if I should be angry or relieved. After all, I had just met the family and within minutes, had been knocked unconscious and taken captive by an Ursidae.

The soft notes of the piano suddenly rang out in the stillness of the night. I lifted my eyes to meet my guard.

A chill raced through me as he sat quietly staring. Stalking.

His dark eyes gleamed with a ferocity I had only seen in the wildest of animals. The feral animals. The ones that could be called, but could never be controlled. Never be tamed…

A second man stood in the opposite corner. A familiar man.

Unable to believe my senses, I refocused on him. He wore the same boots, the same designer dress pants — he always did prefer Armani’s progressive style. The cologne he wore was applied heavily enough to be uncomfortable.

“Adolfo…”

He removed his Oakley titanium iridium sunglasses. The same ones I had bought for him as a gift last year in a gesture of good will.
How ironic…

“Alex.” Adolfo leaned forward, lowering the glasses to reveal his amber eyes. “You survived. Your team will be pleased.”

He was quite obviously unrestrained and I, quite obviously, was not amused. Swallowing heavily, I tried to ignore the panic that rushed upon me.

Adolfo…My fellow Shepherd — the Shepherd of the Southern Territory, and now my captor.

Never in a million years had I thought of this occurring. Not once. The betrayal breached something primitive in me.

“Finally, she is silent,” he laughed, his eyes shifting to the far edge of the room where I noticed a figure in a chair, taped as I was. “And ironically, this is one time you will be expected to speak.”

“Fuck you,” I spat, lunging forward before the ties around my wrists snapped me back tight to the chair.

“How’s that?” He laughed, a deep arrogant laugh that carried through the air. “Not so respectful, my friend, but I’m confident our associate will work that out soon enough.”

I felt defeated. Completely and utterly deflated. Taking a deep breath, I expelled the air in my lungs in one heavy sigh. To have one of my mentors turn on me, one I had worked with for so many years and relied on. It was too much…

It was too much...

“What are you doing, Adolfo?” I asked, half-whining. He didn’t answer as I stared at him in a struggle to find something good. Something pure, redeeming.

But there was nothing.

I don’t require a lot from my team, but loyalty should be a given. Particularly when it was a fellow Shepherd. We were expected to set an example.

When it was obvious he wouldn’t give me an answer, I just shook my head and stated the obvious. “You’re working with Keenan…”

I felt like a complete idiot, and I was way out of my league to think I could play games with these guys. I was just a throwaway of a society who happened to be able to pick up on the thoughts of animals. It was ridiculous to think I would ever be more than that. And yet, some small part of me was fighting to stay alive. I could feel it like a tiny voice in my head saying,
don’t quit before the miracle.
I wanted to focus in on that ember. Fan it into a flame before I let myself get killed by a fellow Shepherd or watched my pack get torn apart…

Adolfo stood and walked over to kneel in front of me and took my hand in his.

“Alejandra. There is so much that you will never be able to understand. So much training that Joseph neglected. So much you will never know.”

“I’m sorry I was such a disappointment,” I replied, my voice filled with anger. “But remember — the chances of me learning anything more decrease exponentially if you kill me.”

He smiled, an evil smile that chilled me. His actions baffled me. Exactly what game was he playing? He obviously wasn’t here to help me, so that meant he was here to hurt me. Not a good scenario for either of us.

And the chance that I would be able to return the favor grew slimmer by the moment. He knelt in front of me, gently kissing my hand. It was as good a time as any to make my appeal — because it became eminently clear to me that if I were going to die, it would be by his hand.