Zurlo, Michele - Torment [Daughters of Circe 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (28 page)

Pacing the interior perimeter of the circle around Torrey, Tiffany and two of her lieutenants kept the peace. The third lieutenant kept everyone away from Shade and Soren.

Messages communicated directly into Torrey’s head. They were understandings, not words.

They did not understand why Torrey attacked them. Soren presented the more logical target. Torrey won the battle fairly, and she would not be challenged again. However, she was not welcome as a wolf or as a member of the village.

Flashes of brown caught the corner of Torrey’s eye. The demons had purposely led her into the crowd, knowing Torrey’s actions would be interpreted as a challenge. Before she moved, she did her best to communicate back to the crowd.

Images of the demons and Soren flashed through her mind. Lastly, she sent the image of the demons standing, watching from the other side of the crowd. Hoping they got the message, she crouched on her powerful haunches, ignored the pain of the slashes and gashes from the villagers, and leapt.

The crowd parted, letting her go. The demons realized her intention too late. It appeared they only had the ability to communicate with Soren, just as he was the only one who could hear them. Otherwise, they would have known what she was doing.

One paw landed on the chest of each demon, pinning them both to the ground. The power of the moon and the earth and the falling rain surged through her. She called on the fire burning in each of her cells, the fire that allowed her to become a wolf.

Smoke poured from where she made contact with the fairylike creatures. Torrey channeled more power. Fire burst from her paws. The demons exploded in twin showers of sparks that singed her fur and burnt her nose and lips.

Wheeling, she projected the image toward the altar where Shade and Soren fought still. Shade was no longer weak from his illness. They were evenly matched, twins in so many ways. No true fight between them could be short or easy.

But she didn’t want them to kill each other. Neither of them could live having done that to his brother.

As one, the black wolf and the tan wolf fell away from one another. The space between them increased. Shade backed up until he was next to Torrey. With a brief jerk of his head, he indicated she should follow him.

They set off, running through the woods. The town wasn’t a safe place for either of them. Tiffany may have forced the werewolves of Lyton to fight fair, but even she couldn’t hold them off forever.

No matter what she had done to free Soren of his demons, the fact remained that, in the eyes of the townspeople, she was a witch with a shape-shifter’s power, and therefore unnatural.

Snow stung against the bottom of Torrey’s feet. It amazed her how the cold white powder didn’t faze her paws, but it killed her feet.

“Come on,” Shade called. The bottom half of his body was submerged in the water. Muscles rippled across his shoulder and down his stomach as he raised his arm to urge her closer. Steam lifted from the surface, but not in response to Shade’s sexiness. “The water is warm, Torrey.”

Their new house was nearly completed. In another month, they would be able to move out of the crude cabin that had been on the land Shade purchased, site unseen, from a real estate agent in Utah. There were no drawers anywhere in the house. Torrey had insisted on an open-shelf design and walk-in closets for storage. It didn’t solve the problem completely, but it alleviated the worst of Shade’s compulsion.

So far, Torrey hadn’t shown signs of one yet.

Shade had been out for a run when he discovered the hot spring. He had sprinted back to the house to drag Torrey there. The Rocky Mountains were new terrain for them both.

A brisk March wind blew across Torrey’s naked backside. She kept planning to make backpacks they could easily carry in their lupine forms. It was exasperating to find places where they could enjoy a nice picnic, spots only accessible when they were wolves, only to find they lacked a way to transport clothes and picnic supplies.

With one hand on her rounded stomach, she carefully picked her way through the rocky shore to the deeper water where Shade waited.

He watched her, pride and possessiveness lighting his blue eyes. “Are the babies okay?”

“Yeah,” she said. It had become habit to keep a hand there, to feel for movement. She could hear three heartbeats, thanks to the enhanced senses that came with her transformation. All three of her children were active. She often pictured a hamster wheel churning inside her with the three of them running wild around it instead of in it.

Indigestion was becoming a problem.

The water relieved much of the weight burden, and her back relaxed in relief. Changing forms was also helpful. Some nights, she shifted into her wolf form just so that she could be more comfortable. Those nights, Shade shifted form, too, and curled his body around hers.

By the time she reached him, the water was up to her breasts. Though she was now a werewolf, she was still only five-ten. Shade’s arms slid around her waist, lifting her against him as he waded into deeper water.

“Did you have a nice talk with Riley?”

Torrey smiled. Her sister had relocated as well. Torrey and Shade needed to get far away from Lyton. Tiffany had visited early the morning after the near-sacrifice as they packed up their belongings to inform them both she could only guarantee their safety if they never showed their faces on that side of the country again. Soren had disappeared, leaving Lyton in chaos. Tiffany assumed the role of leader of the pack.

Riley wanted to get far away from Soren. Besides trying to murder her sister, he had kidnapped her, lied to her, and prevented her from being at her mother’s funeral. Deep down, she had found him attractive. Part of her had actually liked him, which is why his charm had been so spectacularly effective. She nursed a broken heart for many reasons.

“She sounds happier than she has in a long time.”

Torrey didn’t have to say more. His wolf hearing would pick up subtleties in speech that simple human hearing couldn’t detect. She loved everything about being a wolf.

“Good,” he said, feathering a kiss across her lips. “What about you?”

Torrey wrapped her legs around Shade’s waist. Her stomach bumped into his. “I don’t know. This isn’t working out like I thought it would.”

He laughed. “Lie back. Float in the water. I’ve always wanted to make love to a mermaid.”

“I think that would be kinda hard,” she said, lowering her body back to do what he suggested. “That fishy tail might get in the way of a good time.”

One hand worked magic between her legs. “We can’t let that happen.”

Torrey gasped as he slid into her. “No, we can’t.”

THE END

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