Temptation Rising (41 page)

“The trees branch out at the very top, forming a canopy of sorts that allows a minimal amount of sunlight onto the forest floor. These are called buttress roots,” he said, stomping his booted foot on the root she’d tripped over.

“Guess I should watch where I’m going, huh?” She smiled, handing him back his bottle.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said seriously. “I know you’re worried about all this and still trying to figure out your place, but I need you to trust me.”

Looking up into his eyes, she couldn’t help but feel the love she had for this man swelling in her chest. “You’ve been telling me to trust you since the first time I met you.”

“You’d think you’d get the hint by now.” He smiled.

She loved his smile, loved the way it put a light in his dark brown eyes. She’d seen that light much more often in the days since the weight of finding his parents’ killer had been lifted from his shoulders. He still had other worries, she knew, as a leader of his people; that was justified. But he definitely seemed happier now. Kalina liked to think she’d played a part in that.

“I trust you, Rome. I trust you with my life.”

He kissed her hard and quick. “Good. Now let’s go before they get to the Gungi ahead of us.”

“We’re not in the Gungi yet?” she asked holding his hand and trying to keep up with his gait.

“No, this is the rain forest, but it’s not the Gungi. Our land is concealed deep within the recesses of the forest so that tourists and poachers can’t easily find us.”

She nodded. “It’s hidden well. I have absolutely no idea where I’m going.”

Rome chuckled. “Then I’ll have to bring you here more often so you can get to know your homeland.”

Her homeland. Kalina wasn’t so sure about that.

*   *   *

That night with the sounds of the jungle echoing around her, Kalina lay on a cot next to Rome. They were in a hut, one of the larger ones in the village with as many of the modern amenities as one could expect in the middle of a rain forest.

Sheer netting covered the cot to keep away the mosquitoes and other insects that shared this living space. She’d had a full night of meeting various Elders and speaking with the women of the Topètenia tribe.

Elisa, one of the younger jaguar shifters, had come to the table where Rome and Kalina sat with the Elder Alamar for dinner. They’d eaten on the Elders’ Grounds, which to Kalina’s shock was not Elder Alamar’s personal lodgings. The Elders’ Grounds was a huge hut divided into two halves. On the one side was the temple where the Elders met and prayed for guidance; that side was sacred. The other half was a large space with heavy tables made of cut and sanded wood and benches designed for special occasions. Apparently, announcing the joining ceremony for a stateside Faction Leader was a pretty big deal.

Elisa was garbed in what Kalina’d learned was the traditional outfit for female shifters—a soft leather top with intricate and colorful beadwork that looked like an elaborately decorated bikini top, and a matching skirt that put Kalina in mind of a rap video dancer. She noticed that this was the attire for younger female shifters, while the older women opted for more flowing cotton sarong-type dresses. None of them wore pants—which for Kalina was a huge issue.

“The joining will be tomorrow night when there is a full moon,” Elisa whispered as they made their way down the aisles of tables toward the front entrance.

“Can we see a full moon from here?” Kalina had asked and quickly felt like a colossal idiot for daring.

Elisa smiled, her skin the color of golden-brown leaves. Her eyes were an intricate mixture of orange and gold, which Kalina figured would transform easily to the eyes of a cat. Her dark hair had been cut viciously to her chin, but it worked for the female Kalina sensed might be just a bit unconventional, even by the forest standards.

“Full moons are beautiful in the Gungi. They are sacred times for commitment and renewal. That is why we have joinings at that time.”

She held Kalina’s hand and with her other hand pushed through the screened door of the hut so they both could walk through. Once outside Elisa led Kalina down a winding path to another hut. When she stepped inside, Kalina was greeted with a variety of different scents.

“It is purification,” Elisa said. “Breathe deeply, let them move throughout your body. It will prepare you.”

“Prepare me for what?” Kalina asked while inhaling once more.

“For taking your
companheiro
.” This new voice was deeper, raspier, and came from Kalina’s left.

Instantly she looked in that direction to see a wide woman with a long graying ponytail that stretched down her back. She was wrapped in dark red material from one shoulder down to her ankles. A thick dusky-tinted shoulder was bare, as well as beefy arms and fingers that folded in front of her generous midsection.

This was an older female, Kalina thought. Not because of her staunch build and webbed eyes, or even the graying hair. It was the look in her eyes, the knowledge stored there that gave her away. She was a woman learned in the ways of the Gungi, one of wisdom whom all females most likely went to for guidance. Kalina didn’t know whether to be fearful or thankful to Elisa for bringing her here.

“This is Magdalena. She is a Seer of the Topètenia.”

Kalina wanted to ask what a Seer was but something kept her from doing so. Maybe it was the stern way in which the lady, the Seer, was eyeing her. Instead she cleared her throat and said, “You have a lovely place.”

Once again she looked around the interior of the hut, which was a filled with candles and incense. There were several tables, some high and some low, all crudely built but sturdy looking. On each was at least one candle along with clay pot burners filled with heating oil. In the far corner of the room there was a fireplace with wood that crackled beneath glowing flames. Along the walls slim sticks jutted from invisible openings, all burning at the tips, filling the space with a spicy aroma.

Alongside another wall hung a dress of flowing white material that was as see-through as a layer of gauze. Along the neckline was more of the intricate beadwork she’d seen on Elisa’s top, except this was different. The beads, unlike Elisa’s, were not multicolored but gold and frosty white. They bordered the neckline and slim sleeves that grew wider at the bottom. They also sparkled from beneath two layers of wavy solid white material at the very bottom.

Elisa whispered in her ear. “This is the dress you will wear to the joining. It is made by the older women when a joining is announced.”

“But he just announced it,” she spoke to Elisa, her eyes never leaving the dress, as if the material were somehow calling to her.

Elisa shook her head. “Elder Alamar knew before he left for the States this would be needed.”

So he’d known a hell of a lot longer than Kalina had.

“You are Topètenia,” Magdalena interrupted. “We believe in loyalty and commitment. Your parents believed and were forever joined.”

At the mention of her parents Kalina’s heart thumped louder. “Did you know them?” she asked, her voice sounding eager to her own ears. She didn’t care. All her life she’d wondered about the people who’d had her and given her up. Wondered why she hadn’t been good enough for them and continued to not be good enough for anybody to keep. If this woman and her scent-filled hut had an answer, Kalina wanted to know.

For a moment Magdalena looked as if she wouldn’t speak, wouldn’t dare tell her about the people who’d created her. Kalina was more than prepared to yell. They’d known about her all along, this tribe of people who’d left her out there alone all her life. They’d known she existed and that someday she’d come back. That’s why they’d designed that dress. She’d bet her life savings the dress fit perfectly. It was beautiful and had almost brought tears to her eyes if she weren’t still full of so much doubt about belonging here.

Magdalena continued, “They were good and honest. It was not their fault that you could not stay.”

“Were they forced to give me up?”

“The choice was never their own. Their lives were soon ending. It was a sacrifice they make to save you, to keep you safe.”

“Safe from who? From what?” Rome had told her the Rogue Sabar wanted her, but Kalina wanted to know why.

“You are of natural power, they knew this. They knew others would want that power. In the Gungi they cannot protect you, so you go away.” She stood a little straighter, her gaze grabbing hold of Kalina’s and refusing to waver. “Now you are back to claim your rightful place as a leader of our people. A leader to walk and fight beside her
companheiro
forevermore.”

Something about those words, about the way she spoke them, created a shift inside Kalina. Not the weird kind of shift she’d felt when her cat had taken over, but a welcoming revelation. Words couldn’t quite explain it, but her eyes felt brighter; what she could see through them clearer.

“This belonged to her,” Magdalena said gruffly, reaching into one of the deep folds of her dress and pulling out a necklace.

She handed the necklace to Elisa, who quickly snapped it around Kalina’s neck. Kalina’s fingers went instantly to the shiny piece of onyx that hung from the corded string.

“It is the symbol of the Topètenia,” Elisa informed her. “The mark of the jaguar.”

Inside the circle it did look like the paw of an animal, but it wasn’t just the look of it that struck Kalina. It was the feel of it against her fingers, a simmering heat that the cat inside her immediately responded to with a leap.

“I wish I could have known them,” she said in a low voice.

Elisa smiled wanly. Magdalena cleared her throat loudly.

Elisa took a step back from Kalina and gave her a more serious look. “As part of the purification, she will cleanse you for the ceremony.”

Kalina wasn’t sure, but she didn’t think she wanted to be cleansed by another woman. At that precise moment a smooth almond-like scent wafted through her nostrils and Kalina’s shoulders relaxed.

“It will open your mind,” Magdalena said. “You are a shadow but you do not know the Gungi. You do not know our ways or our thinking. I will show you,” she finished, moving her body with an agility that shocked Kalina.

When she pulled out a stool and turned to grab one of those clay pots, Elisa came to Kalina’s side and guided her to the chair.

Elisa’s voice was soft as she spoke. “Do not be afraid, it is customary for the mother to cleanse and prepare her daughter. Your mother is not here, so Magdalena will do it.”

When she was in the chair Magdalena pushed the thin straps of the tank top Kalina wore off her shoulders and down to her waist. Kalina’s top half was naked, all but the necklace that connected her to these people, to this place. With both her hands Magdalena reached into the clay pot, cupping the liquid inside in her palms.

“Bow your head. Close your eyes,” she instructed Kalina. “Think only of your
companheiro
.”

Kalina did as she was told, a picture of Rome’s face instantly filling her mind as she closed her eyes. The liquid that splashed against her back was hot, but it didn’t scorch; it touched her skin and seeped into the pores, into her system.

As Magdalena worked she talked.

“You will hunger for him like no other male in your lifetime. Your body—human and cat—will need him always. This will not go away. He will become yours and you his. No other will ever compare and will most assuredly die for trying to come between you.”

Kalina inhaled and exhaled deeply, letting the scents and the feel of Magdalena’s hands rubbing up and down her back sink in. Never before had Kalina felt this relaxed, this at ease. And by the end of the session when she’d been stripped naked and completely marinated in the warm oil, she’d thought her languid body would never move again.

Yet now, as she lay in bed with Rome beside her, she was hot and unsettled.

She slipped out of the bed, bare feet padding across the matted ground that served as a floor. She went to a window and looked out into the dark night. Tiny beads of light showed here and there, and she assumed they were eyes of the natives, going about their normal lives. There were several nocturnal species here in the rain forest; Kalina didn’t know all of them, but felt an eerie connection to just the same. There were some in the tribe who had homes high up in the trees, but since they were only visiting they’d taken the ground huts, which were guarded like the White House. She didn’t see all the shifters that were guarding the circle of about six huts, but she knew they were there, felt their eyes deep in the foliage as she looked out into the night.

“Can’t sleep?” Rome asked from behind.

“No. I feel like … like I need to do something,” she tried to explain but words were failing her. “I want to move, to get out of here, to feel the breeze on my skin. I want…” She trailed off, her arms wrapping around her, hands moving up and down over skin that rippled with anticipation.

“She wants to run,” he said, coming to stand beside her. “Your cat knows that she’s home and she wants to run.”

“But I haven’t done that since that night. I thought maybe it was a onetime thing for me.”

Rome shook his head, running his fingers through her hair then letting them slip down to the nape of her neck. “You’re a jaguar shifter, Kalina. Now and forever. She was just giving you time to acquaint yourself with that fact. But now she wants to be free.”