Twelfth Moon (35 page)

Ba'cho’s eyes had burned with dark fire, his generous lips flattening in a straight line. It was clear from the stiff set of his wide shoulders, and the clenching of his jaw that he disapproved of her plans. But then he’d held his hands up, palms facing forward in surrender. He made no effort to hide his attraction to Jaelene, but for some reason, when it came to Kara, the usually good-natured man instantly became annoyed. And Kara seemed to completely despise him.

There was something going on between those two, and Cadence was sure it had nothing to do with dislike for each other.

A noise in the hall outside the bedroom door snapped her attention back to the present. She turned, intending to investigate, but before she could take a step, a man barreled into the room, the pistol in his hand pointed in her direction.

“Just you hold it right there,
missy
.” The scarf over his face covered his features and muffled his voice, but there was no mistaking who it was. “And you know I know you ain’t no boy, neither.” He snickered.

Ned Furley.

Stupid man. She was wearing a dress. Would he never give up?

Cadence swallowed the lump of fear that had lodged in her throat. “What do you want, Furley?” He was an imbecile, but he was an imbecile with a loaded gun. At least she would assume it was loaded. With Furley, there was no telling.

He yanked the handkerchief down with a sigh of frustration. His next words came out as a whine. “You know I want that treasure, damn it!”

His thick lips turned up in a sneer. “’Course there’s somethin’ else I want. Me and you are gonna finish what we started before that dumb Marshal interrupted us.”

Cadence shivered with revulsion. “I’ll have you know that that ‘dumb Marshal’ is my husband and he’s the jealous sort.” A bit of an understatement.

“Well, I had my eye on you first,” he said defensively. “That means I had first dibs.” He actually pouted. “Yer Marshal was supposed to wait his turn.”

Wait his turn?
She wasn’t some child’s toy, for God sake! If Furley didn’t have a gun, and she didn’t fear that he’d actually succeed with what he intended, this would be amusing.

Cadence fought hard not to stamp her own foot in frustration. “Listen, Furley. It was just a made up story. There is no treasure. I didn’t find it and hide it anywhere. Why won’t you believe me?”

His fleshy face mottled in anger. “I heard about that treasure all my life! I know it’s true!”

Time to put a stop to this once and for all.

But when Cadence reached deep inside, into that inner place, calling for the panther…nothing happened. No! She sucked in her breath at what that had to mean.

Furley stepped closer, pointing the gun at her chest. His face was hard, his eyes mean. “Take yer clothes off.
Now!
” The last was a shout that made her jerk.

What was she going to do? She was all alone here. He had a gun. She couldn’t change into the panther.

Jonah!

She shouted his name in her mind, over and over.
Jonah, help me!
They could communicate with each other while in panther form. Maybe…oh, please God…maybe they could do it while they were human. She hoped and prayed it was so.

Furley reached out with his other hand, his beefy fingers clawing at her dress. “Come on, now, hurry it up.”

Jonah!
It was a scream of desperation. She was not going to let this happen. Not to her, and not to her unborn child. That was why she wasn’t able to shift. A pregnancy was the only thing that prevented them from changing, to protect the baby.

She fought Furley off, pushing his hand away. “I’m married! And you killed a blind old woman for a treasure that doesn’t exist.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I did kill old Mamma Reba. Got you blamed for it, too. That just shows how dumb them townsfolk are and how smart Ned Furley is.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

Cadence nearly fainted at the sound of Jonah’s deep-voiced drawl. Had he heard her thoughts, instantly transporting himself here, or had he arrived by normal means? Her answers would have to wait.

“Ned Furley, you’re under arrest for the murder of Mamma Reba, of Devil’s Spur, Texas.” The sound of a hammer clicking into place preceded Jonah’s next words. “Lay down your weapon nice and slow.”

Maybe she should be offended by Jonah’s claim of ownership, as though she were a piece of property. Hadn’t Furley just treated her like an inanimate object? But Cadence couldn’t summon a shred of indignation. Instead, she felt the intensity of Jonah’s concern, the force of his possessiveness, the absolute certainty that he would do whatever was necessary to keep her safe.

It filled her with warmth, her love for Jonah expanding until it encompassed her entire being. This was her man. She was safe with him. He would always be there to protect her.

Jonah’s voice was low as he spoke near Furley’s ear. “I’m taking you in. But, if by some chance, you escape the hangman’s noose, you’d better keep on running. If you come within a hundred miles of me and mine, I’ll be your worst nightmare…and you won’t be waking up from it.” Jonah gave him a forceful shake. “Do you understand?”

Furley nodded his head with quick jerks.

“Good.” Cadence watched as Jonah squeezed tighter, pulling Furley up on his toes. Within seconds, Furley was slumped in unconsciousness. Jonah let him fall in a heap on the floor, then turned and rushed over to her, wrapping his arms around her. “Are you all right, sweetheart?”

“Yes.” Settling into his embrace, Cadence held tightly, running her hands lovingly over the muscles in his back. She rested her head on his shoulder. “You heard me call for you?”

He laughed. “I heard you. I don’t know how, but I did.”

Jonah had been in his study, going over the pile of paperwork that had accumulated since his return. Usually, his solicitor took care of estate business, but now that he and Cadence would be living at Willowmere from now on, he’d decided it was time to take the reins.

It had been startling to suddenly hear Cadence’s frantic voice in his head. Her call for help had set his heart racing, his blood heating to a boil, every muscle tensing with the need to act. Her fear had been a palpable thing, filling him with rage at whatever, or whoever, had caused it.

The thing that had puzzled him was the fact that he’d heard her voice while in human form. What he didn’t know was if she was also in human form, or had she changed into the panther?

There’d been no time to ponder the why of it as he’d raced from the study, taking the stairs two at a time, up to the bedroom they now shared. No separate rooms for them. He’d insisted upon it. To his delight, Cadence had agreed whole heartedly. His gun belt was right where he’d left it, draped over a chair. With quick efficiency, he’d strapped it on.

And then he’d simply thought of her – honed in on her voice – and was instantly transported to her location. Just in time to hear Furley’s confession. Jonah was still an officer of the law, and would use his power to its fullest extent.

He cupped the back of her head, now, running his fingers through her dark, curly locks. His heart thumped, beating itself into his throat at the thought of Furley putting his filthy hands on her – or worse, that the fool could have killed her, either intentionally, or through his bumbling ignorance.

“Our connection must be incredibly strong for us to be able to communicate with our thoughts even in human form,” she said without lifting her head.

That brought up something that had perplexed him. “You could have changed into the panther. Why didn’t you?” He thought of her experience with his brother, and had to wonder if that was the reason she’d hesitated. “It would have been self-defense. No one would have blamed you.”

Cadence pulled back, her arms still locked around him, her gaze meeting his. She smiled. “Oh, I tried. But something stopped me.”

“What stopped you?”

She placed a hand on her lower belly, rubbing it in slow circles. “There’s only one thing I know of that would prevent me from shifting.”

Jonah was watching her movements with avid interest. Suddenly it struck him what she was getting at. “You – you’re pregnant?”

She nodded vigorously, grinning. “Yes! It must have happened in the forest when we—” She dipped her head shyly. “—when we made love.”

His grin outmatched hers. “I remember.”

Suddenly, he whooped loudly, picking her up and twirling her around. He set her back on her feet, concern for his actions washing over him. “Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you or the baby?”

Cadence laughed, the sound light and exuberant, filling Jonah with warmth. “I’m fine. The baby’s fine. In fact I can already hear his faint thoughts. They’re just emotions, really, but there all the same.”

“I think we broke the mold when it comes to that particular part of the legend, don’t you think? With both of us shape-shifting panthers, it goes without thinking that our children, be they boys or girls, would be panthers as well.”

“We’re all born human. It’s not until we reach the age of four or five that we’re able to shift. Does that relieve some of your anxiety?”

“A little.” His smile was wry. “But I’m not looking forward to chasing after them.”

Cadence chuckled. “It will be fun.”

“Hmmm.” He indicated Furley, who was still unconscious, with a jerk of his chin. Now, let me get rid of this rubbish, and then we can go home and tell everyone the good news.”

“I love you, Jonah.”

He gave her a deep, hard kiss. “I love you too, Hellcat.”

* * * * *

Next in the Legend of the Pantera series:

Coming soon…

KARA’S STORY

Read on for an excerpt of

Kissing Mr. Bellamy, available now

Emily Templeton’s uncle is dead, and a valuable Egyptian relic is missing. The story centers on the murder investigation, delving into Miss Templeton’s expertise in the area of antiquities, tombs, mummies, and metaphysical phenomena, as well as Roger Bellamy’s skills as an investigator, and his gift of psychic cognizance.

As the investigation progresses, so does the attraction between them. For the prim and proper Miss Emily Templeton, kissing Mr. Bellamy has become a most
un
-prim-like,
im
proper obsession. You see, she’s gotten into the habit of naming each instance they’ve kissed! But Mr. Bellamy is not who he seems, and when Emily finds out the truth, she must decide if loving him is worth the risk. A series of clues lead them to a list of suspects, a secret society, and a mysterious sacred order.

Could an ancient Egyptian curse be responsible for her uncle’s death?

Chapter One

London, April 1826

“MY NAME IS Emily Templeton, and I wish to hire your services as an investigator.”

The man facing Emily from behind the desk was uncommonly handsome, despite the long scar on the left side of his face. It started from the outer edge of his full bottom lip, continuing all the way up across his cheekbone to his temple. It made her wonder what could have happened to have caused such a permanently visual memento.