Thomas (12 page)

Hannah nodded and Linyah disappeared.
She looked over at her aunt, who looked like she’d been hit in the
back of the head. When Hannah touched her hand, she jerked back so
quickly that she spilled the water. She started talking as she
mopped up the water with her napkin. Her aunt was in for a huge
awakening.

“
I’m a leopard. Well, the
entire family is. And Linyah is…well, I’m not really sure what she
is, but she can do all these amazing things. She’s even shared one
of them with me. It’s how I knew that you were helping my
grandfather.” She finished with the water just as their salads were
being served. As soon as the man left, she continued. “Misha is the
leader of the family; it’s called a leap, a pack of cats is a leap.
Anyway, when I met him he converted me—”

“
She’s gone.” Hannah
nodded. “And you can read my mind, like she can. You said that, you
can read my mind and know everything about what I’ve done. You also
believe that you’re a cat, a leopard. And you can what, change into
it when you want?”

“
Yes.” Her aunt stood up,
and Hannah grabbed her arm. She let just enough of her cat go so
that she ran along her arm, and her claws extended. Aunt Wanda sat
down without taking her eyes off the paw that held her. Hannah let
her cat stay where she was as she spoke quietly.

“
I can do much more than
this, the shifting thing I mean. I just figured out the other day
that I can shift in mid-jump too. That’s an amazing feeling. And
leaping over fallen logs and bushes too.” Aunt Wanda shook her
head. “You can see right here that what I’m telling you is true.
I’m holding onto you with my cat. Would you like for me to shift
fully?”

“
No, please. This can’t be
happening.” Hannah told her it was. “Why are you doing this to me?
Why are you…are you trying to make me lose my mind? That’s it,
isn’t it? You think that if you can make me crazy, then you can…I
don’t know what. But you can do it.”

“
Shut up.” Hannah felt her
face heat a little when she spoke to her aunt. “Just shut up.
You’ve gotten me involved in your mess and I’m trying to help you.
But if you really think that I’d have you locked up somewhere, then
you aren’t paying attention to me. The reason I’m doing this is
because you’re family. And the one thing that Misha and his leap
have showed me is that family, a good family, is more priceless
than the biggest diamond in the world. My…what Bella did to me
makes my skin crawl when I think about it. How she’d locked me away
for no reason. If you’d just get your head out of your ass, you’d
see that I’m trying to help you. Tell me everything you know and we
can work this out.”

Hannah didn’t think she was going to
answer her, but she finally seemed to come to some decision. Her
aunt started talking almost nonstop.

“
He’s going to take you
and keep you under lock and key until you do what he wants. And
mostly all he really wants is you were he can control you. That’s
his thing, control. You should see the way he treats Carole. Like
she’s this pet and he has her on the tightest leash. When I spoke
to Daniel about what he was doing, he told me that he’d tried to
help his mom when he was younger and now…well, he thinks she’d
leave him now if she could, but believes she has nowhere to go.”
Hannah nodded, knowing that was what her granddad wanted. “He’s not
a nice man. I don’t think he has ever liked me, but once he figured
out that I was in trouble, he was all over it. I think…I don’t know
about your grandmother, but I would say she’s terrified of
him.”

“
She is.” They both looked
at Linyah when she reappeared. Aunt Wanda whimpered just a little
but didn’t try to leave. “The man you owe money to works for Mr.
Little. The two of them partnered up just after the place opened.
And he has a vested interest in the casino where you were. Did you
by chance get an invitation to the place with a free
marker?”

“
Yes. About five years
ago. It came in the mail, certified…are you saying I was set up?”
Linyah nodded. “Why, that bastard. He knew that I had a problem,
but years before, long before I met Daniel, I’d been to classes to
learn to say no. I even went to Gamblers Anonymous to get over the
addiction. And he sucked me back in? What a horrible thing to…he
used me.”

“
I would say that’s about
right.” Linyah smiled and Hannah thought it was the scariest thing
she’d ever seen. “And you know what? We’re going to take him
down.”

“
How? He’s got all the
money in the world. Connections everywhere. And I’m not sure, but I
think he might have connections with the mob family that has been
in the paper lately. The man has his fingers into everything, legal
or not.” Linyah said that she thought so too. “How are you going to
take care of him? I’m willing, but…I’ve decided that I have to talk
to Daniel. I have to tell him.”

“
You do. Because I won’t
help you if you don’t.” Linyah winked at her and Hannah knew that
she’d made the right decision in telling her aunt that. “You want
mine and Linyah’s help, then you tell the truth not just to us but
to Uncle Daniel as well. They’re his parents. As much as I hate
confrontations of any kind, I think this needs to be out in the
open.”

The rest of the lunch was pleasant if
a little tense. Hannah even told her aunt about the baby, and also
had to explain to her more about being a cat. Linyah for the most
part was very quiet, but Hannah felt it was more her nature than
her not enjoying the luncheon. As they left the restaurant, hugging
at the door, Linyah asked her if she’d like to go back to the
mall.

“
The mall?” Linyah nodded
and flushed brightly. “Do I even want to know what you want at the
mall? Or did you want to go and get another cinnamon roll? Those
things are just wonderful, don’t you think?”

“
I can’t do any more sugar
today. I’m buzzing now. But Thomas said there was this naughty shop
there. He said…he asked me to get something he could tear from me.
I think today I might have pissed him off. When I left you, I think
I might have made him mad at me again.” Linyah turned redder as she
continued. “I don’t have a clue why he finds that so sexy, but I
kind of like it too.”

They were there for perhaps ten
minutes when they found what they wanted. Linyah went to the
dressing room while she looked at some of the other things they
had. The lady that had been helping them came up behind Hannah and
spoke.

“
You’re the leap bitch.”
Hannah turned and tried to hide the fact that she really hated that
title but smiled at her all the same. “I’m in your leap. Misha is a
great leader.”

“
He’s a great husband
too.” The woman nodded and smiled. “My sister-in-law is trying on
some of the sets you have. She’s Thomas’s mate. Do you know who he
is?”

“
I do. And this is my
shop. I’ve never…I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of the Lanning
men in here, however. But I know of him. I wonder where…?” She
flushed a little when she laughed. “I’ll be quiet now. I’m glad you
came in. I have toys too if you’re interested.”

Two hours later they were both
overloaded with bags. Linyah had not just gotten several of the
pantie and bra sets, but she’d also gotten a few of the more
revealing sets as well. Hannah had gotten herself one as well, and
was excited about Misha seeing it. But it was the thing in the big
bag that she was most happy with. Misha was going to have a cow
when he saw that thing.

“
Do you know what playing
is?” Hannah shook her head as they both sat in the back of the big
limo that Misha had insisted that they use. “Thomas said he uses
clamps on my nipples, ties me up. Things like that. More sometimes,
but it depends on the degree in which you want to play. Does…you
don’t have to answer me, but does Misha play? Not that it’s any of
my business. I just don’t have a clue what I’m supposed to
do.”

“
No. And it’s okay. Misha
and I do things and all…I mean, we have a lot of fun in the bed.”
She blushed, feeling her face heat up. “But he’s very gentle with
me. Why do you ask?”

“
As I said, I don’t know
anything about it either, but I think that Thomas enjoys it. And I
want to please him.” That was news to her and almost bordered on
too much information. “I don’t mean to embarrass you. It’s just
that I don’t…I’m not sure what to do to please him.”

Hannah nodded and tried to think what
to tell her. “I don’t either. Maybe you could look it up on the
Internet. I’ve never not found something that I’ve been looking
for.”

Linyah nodded but looked out the
window. Hannah had no idea why, but she thought she was depressed.
And since she’d met her, she realized that she’d never heard her
laugh or even smile all that much that didn’t sort of look like she
was going to hurt you too. She thought about talking to Misha about
it, but decided that maybe she’d talk to one of the other brothers.
Maybe she’d talk to Rider. He was very serious like Linyah was, so
maybe he’d have something to tell her about bringing Linyah out of
her funk.

Once they were home—at Misha and
Hannah’s home—they sat down and went over what Linyah had planned
for her grandfather. An hour into their planning, not only did
Rider show up but also Misha and Carter. Thomas was working on some
security things for the house, and the other brothers were getting
their gear ready for when the next call came in. They told them
what had happened and what was going on with her aunt.

“
This is all true? I mean,
I have no reason to not believe you, but this is as far out there
as I’ve seen.” Linyah nodded at Rider’s question. “Then why don’t
you just call in the police? Let them handle it. We don’t do this
sort of work. It’s out of our league.”

“
You don’t, but I do.”
Linyah continued working on a list as she spoke to Rider. “You can
go on all the rescue missions you want, but this is my project. And
frankly, I don’t want you helping me anyway. You’ll just get your
nose out of joint on something I need to do, and I don’t want you
fucking around getting me into trouble.” Linyah didn’t lift her
head from her list and missed the look on Rider’s face. It was so
comical that Hannah had to put her hand over her mouth.

“
I do not get people in
trouble. I keep them from it.” Hannah looked at Misha as Rider
argued. He was laughing and having a hard time keeping it to
himself. “I am the one that plans things to make sure that no one
gets hurt or killed. Just call the police and let them take over
for now. Why do you want to even get involved anyway?”

“
Because I said I would.”
Linyah stood up and stretched her long, lean body. “You are not to
interfere, understand me? I do this my way or you get
hurt.”

“
You’re threatening me?”
Linyah looked like she was considering it by putting her finger
over her lips and thinking. Then she looked at Rider and nodded.
“I’ll have you know that I’m very good at keeping this family safe.
And that includes you.”

Linyah didn’t take her eyes off Rider
as she pulled a long switchblade from her boot. Hannah was
impressed at how easily she got it opened and handed it to Rider.
He didn’t take it but stepped back. With a shrug, Linyah slid it
over the length of her arm. The blood, what very little there was,
trailed along the cut that disappeared almost as soon as the slice
was made. No one said a word as she closed the knife and put it
back into her boot.

“
Christ.” No one disagreed
with Rider, and when he sat down, so did Linyah. “Does anything
hurt you? I’m assuming that Thomas is the same way.”

“
Yes. So are Hannah and
Misha. Nic is the one that shared with Misha, I with Hannah. I like
her.” She looked at the woman but said nothing. It scared her that
she had this sort of magic in her, but was glad too, for the baby.
“Would you like it as well?”

Rider said nothing but stared at her.
Carter put out his hand and Linyah took it. As soon as he dropped
to his knees, Rider stood up again. But Carter was
laughing.

“
It didn’t hurt. Christ,
anything but. It was like…I don’t know. Sexual release, I guess.
And I feel good.” He stood up and looked at them all. “I think we
can all benefit from this. I know that when we go out, I for one
would like to know that I can heal fast enough to keep
working.”

Rider sat there and stared at her.
Even with all that was going on, neither of them seemed to notice.
It was like they were having a staring contest and no one was the
winner as yet. But when Rider put out his hand, Linyah
hesitated.

“
When I share, you will
get more. More than Carter or the others will get if they want it
too.” He nodded. “Do you want to know what you might get from me
when we share? You’re stronger than the other brothers. Not Misha
strong, but close.”

“
I’ll take it.” She nodded
and put her hand into his. Rider winced but said nothing until she
let him go. He sat there squeezing his hand open and closed for
several seconds. “What do you get out of this? You can’t just share
and not take, right?”

“
You’re mine. Someone that
I will trust above all others. You will be at my beck and call at
all times.” Her grin made him slightly uneasy, but she continued.
“Rider, think of yourself as my bitch, and I’m going to ride you
like a pony in a carousel.”