Kitabı oxu: «Lying with Wolves»

I’d like to dedicate this book to my husband, Dale, who has taken this crazy journey with me, loving and laughing all the way.

Contents

Cover

Excerpt

About the Author

Title Page

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

As the first streaks of dawn lit the horizon, she ran. Her paws scraped along the fine red dust of the desert floor as she dashed through creosote bushes, snakeweed and prickly pear cacti, her nose filling with the honey scent of graythorn.

She paused, catching a different scent—the tangy musk of fear. Her sharp eyes scanned the area in the lingering darkness as she searched the desert floor for shadows, for movement, for something to chase. And there it was, frozen next to a sage bush, impossibly large ears twitching, its round eyes wide with fear. A jackrabbit.

She gave chase—the rabbit’s scent filling her nose, the rapid pounding of its small heart thumping in her ears. The rabbit jumped, launching itself at least ten feet, its long legs propelling it at impossibly fast speeds as it zigzagged through yucca and agave.

Exaltation urged Celia faster. She chased the little creature while the sun, cresting beyond the stark canyons, lit the sky in an explosion of color. Power pulsed through her body, with each step rejoicing in her freedom as she raced through the morning air. She wished she could run like this all day but knew it would be too risky here in the Arizona desert, where people rose with the sun.

Then she heard the sound she’d been so afraid would come.

Just a murmur at first, far in the distance, but then the sound grew louder. Closer.

Humans.

Warily she paused, letting the rabbit get away. Early-morning campers were up ahead in the canyon. She spun, racing away. Too late. Someone yelled a warning to the others. A commotion sounded. The parking lot was just ahead. Her legs, pumping hard, carried her quickly to her car. In the lightening sky, she deftly changed back to her human form, standing naked in the cool morning air until she could reach her clothes inside.

A wolf living among humans was a bad idea. And this was only one of the reasons why. Striking out on her own, leaving the safety of the Colony, was not going to be easy. But for her, freedom from the Colony was worth the price.

Freedom from seeing Malcolm every day, from hearing his voice or sensing him in the forest when she ran, knowing he’d be sleeping with her every night—a woman who would give him the control he so desperately craved. Freedom from that was worth any price she had to pay.

Even if she had to live each and every moment hiding her true self from humans and from the demons who were determined to hunt her down and kill her.

* * *

Celia Lawson’s nerves bunched as she gazed out the large picture window at the red rock mountains. It had been almost two weeks since she was able to transform, to stretch her legs and run. To feel the sweet night air against her face, to chase rabbits and run free. She was trapped in this shop of soaps, lotions and scented candles. Transforming here put her at risk of discovery. Humans were a concern, but the bigger threat were the Gauliacho. The demons in shadow form had hunted the shifters for a millennium. They wouldn’t overlook her.

She ran her finger across the large red crystal in front of her. The only protection she had from the demons were the crystals composed of dark energy that negated the shifter’s energy signature, effectively hiding them from the Gauliacho and the lost humans they possessed—the Abatu.

The irony wasn’t lost on Celia that even though she was free of the Colony, from Malcolm, by leaving the safety of the Colony’s borders, she was now trapped in a prison of the shop’s four walls, hiding behind the energy of the crystals. Energy only she as the Keeper of the crystals had the power to rejuvenate.

She looked longingly at the mountains one last time. She couldn’t take the chance, even if her skin felt as if it were on fire. She bounced up and down on her feet, anxiety growing within her by the minute. She had never gone this long without making the change to her natural state. Was it the need to run free that had her so wound up or something else?

Something coming.

Abatu? A lost human soul with no will of his own, who didn’t have the strength of character to keep the Gauliacho from latching on and hitching a ride. Abatu were rudderless and easily manipulated and gave the Gauliacho a physical form to track the shifters. To search them out and destroy them one by one. There were more of them around lately, almost as if they had her scent but couldn’t quite find her.

But as frightening as the Abatu could be, it was the Gauliacho themselves in their shadow form that struck terror into Celia’s heart. She’d dreamed about them as a child, their insidious whispering, the way they’d get inside her mind and stop her cold, turning her muscles to water.

Throngs of people crowded the busy Sedona Street. She should open the door and welcome them into Desert Winds. Thanks to her cousin’s recipes of organic soaps and lotions, they were doing a quick and steady business. And she would invite the shoppers in. She just needed...a minute. Pressure built inside her chest, squeezed her lungs and made it difficult to breathe. She needed to run, to escape the walls of the shop, if only for an hour.

Tonight, she promised herself, when the moon was high in the sky, she would drive deep into the desert where only the coyotes dared roam. She stretched her arms high above her head and turned her shoulders, left, then right until the bones in her back popped. It was times like this that she missed the redwood forests of home, the wide-open meadows and majestic peaks of the jagged, soaring mountains. But when she thought of home, a deep ache settled within her, a longing that twisted and pulled with a sharpness that shredded her insides. Longing for what should have been, and pain for what wasn’t.

Pain caused by Malcolm.

Malcolm. His name whispered across her mind, conjured eyes of forest-green and a smile that could melt the coldest ice-covered peaks that surrounded her home at the Colony. She pushed his image away. She would not think of him. She deserved better. Here in this red desert so far from the lush green forests of home was her chance to start over.

The tinkling of the Kokopelli chimes rang as her twin cousins, Ruby and Jade James, burst into the shop. Celia had come to Sedona specifically to find them. She’d grown up hearing about her crazy aunt who’d left the Colony to find adventure and had fallen in love with a human. Together they’d had twin baby girls. She wondered for years what her human cousins were like and if they would they make the change, too.

“You like them?” Ruby asked, pointing to the peacock feathers in her hair. “I loved your eagle feather so much I had to get a feather for myself. Not too many eagle feathers lying around on the ground here, though. But I thought this was real pretty.”

Celia smiled and ran her fingertips along the smooth feather twined in her hair. “My mother said this feather would be perfect for me, since I’ve always wanted to fly away from home and be free.”

Ruby laughed. “Really? I can’t imagine why. How beautiful your home in the mountains must be. You have to take me there sometime to see it. Plus, I’m dying to meet my aunt Jaya.”

“Absolutely,” Celia enthused, but she knew she wouldn’t. Humans were not allowed into the Colony. Not even if they were married to a shifter, or were a shifter’s offspring. Unless those offspring made the change. But with half-breeds, no one ever knew if they would or even when. Ruby and Jade hadn’t, and because their mother had died when they were so young, they were completely unaware that the possibility for them to transform into shifters even existed. Which, she supposed, was for the best.

But the reminder of her mother sent a pang of homesickness echoing through her. Celia wished she could see her again or even talk to her. But her mother refused to use modern contraptions, referring to them as the downfall of humanity. Celia sighed. Malcolm believed the exact opposite and filled the village with as many computers and telephones and televisions as he could.

“You are going to love this new concoction we came up with for our lotions,” Ruby said, dropping her natural hemp bag on a nearby table with a loud thud. “Not only does it feel incredible, but we’ve added sandalwood oil, a natural aphrodisiac. Now not only will the wearer feel silky smooth—”

“And relaxed,” Jade interceded.

“But it will make them in the mood for love,” Ruby said in a singsong voice while holding the lotion under Celia’s nose. “Smell.”

Celia took a whiff and smiled. “It does smell good.” She pulled away. “But since love is not something I’m looking for, I don’t think I’ll put any on.”

“Smart move,” Jade said. “Especially after the incantation she put on it.”

Celia smiled. She didn’t doubt it. She might be able to wield the energy in the crystals, but her cousins could work magic with herbs, oils and spells.

Jade opened a box and handed the bottles to her sister, who strategically arranged them in the window. “Ruby was up half the night practicing—”

Celia flinched as Ruby picked up the dark red crystal Celia had placed in the center of the windowsill facing due north, and moved toward the counter.

Celia lurched forward to stop her. “That can’t be moved,” she said, and snatched the crystal out of her hand.

Ruby looked up at her, startled. “Why not?” she asked, sounding surprised and a touch confused. She took a step back from the crystal, rubbing her hands across her jeans.

Celia cringed at her too-sharp tone. “I’m sorry.” She smiled and tried to soften her words. “I have four of them placed at each compass point of the room for protection. They can’t be moved.”

“Protection from what?” Jade asked, her icicle-blue eyes narrowing as she studied her.

From the Gauliacho, who want to kill me. But Celia couldn’t tell them that. She could never reveal the truth of who and what she was. Not even to them. It was better they didn’t know the horrific details of how their mother died, or how easily she could just disappear one day. Even though her aunt, like Celia and her mother, had been a Keeper, the crystals’ power hadn’t been able to protect her from the demons.

As Keepers, they alone had the gift to rejuvenate the dark energy of the stones and keep the protective force field strong. But as her mother had warned, she couldn’t stay away from the Colony for too long. Keeper or not, she would be safe only in the Colony. Aunt Sue’s death had been proof of that.

“I’m sorry. Old Native American folklore.” Celia forced a smile and spun to place the crystal back in the window.

“No problem,” Ruby said, continuing to rub her hands across her jeans. She began rearranging her bottles again. But the happy mood had been broken.

Celia glanced out the window again as an uncomfortable skittering raced once more along her nerves.

Something was definitely coming. Something or someone.

* * *

Malcolm Daniels sped along the winding desert road through mountains unlike any he’d seen before. And completely unlike the towering ragged granite peaks he’d left behind at the Colony. The deep red of the rocks of the Arizona desert were stunning against the backdrop of blue sky, but the sparse trees and wide-openness of the land left little room for cover against prying eyes. Here there was nowhere to run without being seen. No way to hide.

How could Celia stand it?

He was getting closer to her now. He could feel her—a wave of warmth in the pit of his stomach that spread out to encompass him. Their connection was strong. She might think she could run away from him, but there was no running from the bond they shared. He would find her and he’d make her come back to the Colony. She had to return to rejuvenate the boundary stones. If she didn’t, if he couldn’t bring her back to the Colony in time, the shifters would die.

He would find her.

Even if she hated him for it.

He touched the string of stones on his wrist, running his finger over the black-and-red crystals that offered protection for three days. Day three was here, and if he didn’t find Celia soon, his presence would become known to every demon out there. In physical form and in shadow.

He slowed his truck as he turned the bend on 89A and the town came into view. Small eclectic shops and restaurants lined either side of the highway displaying woodcarvings, paintings, crystals, beads and palm readings in this metaphysical mecca.

He crawled past several stores, each quaint and unique with outdoor tables and pots overflowing with bright flowers. His gaze shot to a storefront displaying an abundance of beauty products. Copper vortexes spun outside the large picture window, but his eyes fixated on the large red crystal sitting on the sill.

A crystal from the Colony.

This was it. Finally!

A quarter mile down the street, he found a parking place and pulled into it. His heart was pounding. He rubbed his damp palm on his jeans. He’d wanted to see her. Had thought of nothing else during his three-day journey, but now that he’d found her... How was he going to tell her what had happened to Jaya?

He walked slowly toward the shop, trying to think of words that should never have to be said or heard. What was the best way to break someone’s heart?

“I’m sorry...I don’t know where to start,” he said, practicing, not paying attention when a large man stepped out of a restaurant directly in front of him. Almost plowing into him, Malcolm sidestepped the man, stiffening, his eyes widening. Malevolence, thick and rancid, rolled off the man. An Abatu.

Dammit! Malcolm kept his head down and kept going, adrenaline surging through him, kicking up his heartbeat. The Abatu hesitated on the curb. Malcolm continued forward, hoping there was still enough energy in the stones on his wrist to keep him shielded.

Through the reflection in the restaurant’s large picture window, Malcolm saw the Abatu turn toward him, confusion tightening his face for a long moment before he finally spun around and walked away. Malcolm let out a relieved breath. He got by him. This time.

If he was going to find Celia and get his crystals regenerated, he’d better do it soon.

Chapter 2

The pressure in Celia’s chest was unbearable. Malcolm was here. She could feel him. Close. The shop’s walls closed in on her as she circled the room. She couldn’t face him. Not yet. Damn, why was he here?

Concern widened Jade’s all-seeing blue eyes as she watched her pacing from behind the counter. “What is it?” she asked.

“I—” Celia didn’t know what to say. How she could explain? The man who broke my heart into a million pieces is here, and I’m too much of a coward to face him? Yep, that would sit well. Hell, she wasn’t a baby; it was high time she stopped acting like one.

And then she saw him through the window, and her heart leaped into her throat and strangled her.

Jade followed her gaze, then turned back to her, a smile twisting her lips. “Is that Malcolm?”

Malcolm. The one Celia could barely think about, let alone talk about. The man who had carelessly ripped out her heart and fed it to the buzzards. How could he still affect her so deeply? She backed away from the window. “Tell him I’m not here.”

“What?” Jade blurted, astonished.

“I know, I’m the biggest kind of coward. And I will deal with him. Just...not...yet. Tell him I’m gone. Anywhere. The store. The moon. Please.”

“But, Celia, he came all this way. Don’t you at least want to know why?”

“No. Not really.” Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Not for her. She shook her head as she backed through the door at the rear of the shop that led into a storage room.

“You can’t keep running,” Jade said, her voice annoyingly maternal. “One of these days you’re going to have to face—” Her words broke off as the bells chimed above the door.

Maybe, but not today. Celia shrank back into the darkness behind the door.

“Hi,” Malcolm said to Jade, the warm timbre of his voice reaching inside Celia, twisting and turning, and slicing her heart to shreds.

What was wrong with her? Why was she hiding in the closet like a coward after everything he’d done to her? She’d given him her heart, given him everything she’d had, and he’d tossed it away to marry another woman in his pursuit of power and greed. An arranged marriage in name only, he’d said. As if she’d be okay with that? As if she’d be his “plaything” on the side after all their years together? Anger fueled her once more, reminding her why she fled, why it had been so important to rebuild her life in Sedona. So she could discover who she was, alone, without him, without the influence of the other shifters.

She should go out there. Face him.

“She’s hiking,” Jade said to him. “In the canyon. She goes there to collect wild herbs for our products. Would you like to try—”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I could have sworn—”

Celia took a step forward, her hand on the knob ready to pull it open.

“Positive! Really. Here—” Jade picked up the notepad and quickly wrote something down. “Here’s a map to where she likes to hike, but I’ll be happy to tell her you stopped by. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to try—”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Impatience rang thick in his voice. “Tell her it’s Malcolm and tell her it’s important. Critical, in fact. Now, if you could give me directions to this canyon...?”

Celia opened the door enough to peer through and sucked in her breath. How could just the sight of him, his thick dark hair, his muscular frame, that tight butt, still do things to her? It wasn’t fair. The universe was testing her, that was all. Jade pointed out the window toward the canyons in the distance and Celia pushed out a relieved breath. He was leaving.

The canyons should keep him busy for at least a few hours. She leaned her head against the doorjamb. She had only a few hours to pull herself together before he came back. And he would come back. The crystals’ dark energy in his bracelet was no longer forming a protective field around him.

* * *

Heat seeped into Malcolm’s skin and red dirt filled his nose. He’d been walking around this dry dust bowl for more than an hour and had seen no sign of Celia, nor had he felt her anywhere. The longer he looked, the more miserable he’d become. He hated the scruffy bushes and sparse trees of the desert. The mountains, if you could call them that, looked more like deformed fingers pushing up through the earth than actual mountains.

How could Celia stand it here? This dry, barren land couldn’t compare to the lushness of their forests back home. Towering cedars and redwoods laced the air with the scent of pinecones and the richness of evergreen. Here all he could smell was dry, dusty dirt.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so hard to convince her to come home after all. Once he found her. If only he could transform and run free. He’d be able to use his wolf senses and cover more ground. But there was nowhere to hide in this large expanse of open land void of thick bushes or large trees. Out here in the open, he could be seen by anyone passing by.

He continued walking down the trail, searching the canyon for another twenty minutes, but still no sign of her. He stared down at the crudely drawn map the girl from the shop had made him. He was where he was supposed to be. Celia wasn’t here.

As he looked at the barren land around him, he realized she probably never had been here. He’d been duped. Anger tightened his fists, crumpling the paper clutched in his hand. Time was running out for the shifters at the Colony, and for him. The crystals protecting the Colony needed to be rejuvenated, and she was the only one who could do it. He didn’t have time for lies and games. He spun round and stormed back down the path toward his truck. They couldn’t waste time like this. He had to get her back to the Colony. He started to run, down one path after another, skirting around a large boulder. He almost plowed into another Abatu.

Damn. They were everywhere.

He hurried past, aware of the black shadows surrounding the man’s head and what was moving within them. A beefy hand clamped down on his shoulder. Malcolm’s eyes squeezed shut. He didn’t have time for this. He had to find Celia. He had to tell her the truth about her mother, and about what was happening back home. If he didn’t, none of them stood a chance. He jerked out of the man’s grasp, turned and crouched down just as the man swung at him. And missed. The second swing didn’t. Malcolm felt the blow to his head, like a hammer pounding against a nail. The ping echoed through his brain, sending a spray of white dots behind his eyes.

Malcolm wasn’t a big man, but he was agile and quick on his feet. He managed to avert the third blow and the fourth, jumping to one side and then the next. The man swung again, this time landing the blow, knocking Malcolm flat on his back.

The Abatu fell on top of Malcolm, pushing the air from his chest in a painful whoosh. He hit him again, a series of blows, pummeling his face. A burning pain stitched his face as his eyebrow split and blood poured into his eyes. He had to get away. He reached forward blindly, searching for the man’s eyes, hoping if he could just grab hold, push his fingers deep enough, he could get the beast off him.

The pressure on his chest from the man’s knees was becoming unbearable. He felt a rib snap as the man pushed down, leaning forward, using his bulk, his weight, as a weapon. Pain screaming through his system, Malcolm jerked up, snapping his head forward, smacking it into the man’s cheekbone and nose with a dull, squishy thud.

The sound of crunching bone was immensely satisfying. He rolled quickly, jumped to his feet, then attacked the Abatu viciously with his feet, kicking him over and over until finally he had the upper hand. The demon lay on the ground, groaning in pain and clutching his middle. Knowing he wouldn’t be down for long, Malcolm turned and ran back down the hill and toward his truck. He glanced over his shoulder and couldn’t believe the Abatu was back on his feet, chasing after him. What the hell?

Malcolm reached his truck and unlocked the door, the Abatu almost on him. He could practically feel the big man’s hot breath rushing down his neck. Without looking, Malcolm jumped inside his truck, slammed and locked the door and turned over the engine. The Abatu slapped a meaty hand against the side of the truck with a loud thunk as Malcolm peeled off down the road.

He’d made it maybe a mile when he caught sight of his wrist. Staring in disbelief, he hit the brakes and the truck screeched to a stop. The string of crystals, his protection against the Gauliacho, was gone. Should he go back and try to find it? Would the Abatu still be there? Could he make it all the way home without it? No! Every Abatu for miles around would be coming for him, and if they didn’t get him, the Gauliacho would.

He would have to go back.

* * *

Like a bug trapped in a jar, Celia paced the small shop. She had to run. But where? This was her home. Her shop. Her new life. She wasn’t going to let Malcolm chase her out of it. Besides, she couldn’t disappear without rejuvenating his crystals. If she did...well, that was more than she wanted to be responsible for. She didn’t want anything to happen to him. She just wanted never to have to see him again. Why couldn’t he have just stayed where he was?

“It’s going to be all right,” Ruby said, patting Celia’s back.

“I know,” she whispered. But she didn’t know.

“You want us to stay?” Jade asked.

Celia shook her head, though part of her wanted to say yes. To have them as a buffer. But she had to face Malcolm on her own. They couldn’t hear that conversation. “No, thanks.” Celia watched her cousins walk out the door and was sorely tempted to call them back. But she didn’t. Instead she squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and sat back down behind the counter to wait for Malcolm to arrive.

* * *

By the time Malcolm pulled to a stop in front of the shop, he was furious and hurt everywhere. He was still bleeding, and worse, he’d never found the stones. He was working on borrowed time. Time he couldn’t afford to lose. He jumped out of the truck, wincing at the arc of pain slicing through his ribs, and hurried toward the shop.

He pulled open the door, cringing as the bells pierced his throbbing brain. “Celia!” he bellowed.

Silence greeted him. He was about to call her again when the door to the back room opened and she stepped into the doorway. His breath caught in this throat, strangling the yell that had been perched on his tongue.

“Hello, Malcolm,” she said, her warm, brandy-laced voice washing over him. She walked into the room. As if nothing had happened. As if he weren’t covered in red dirt and blood.

“Celia,” he said, not trusting himself to say more.

She walked forward, her long, gorgeous legs hidden beneath a gauzy dark blue skirt. Graceful. Elegant. And yet, as her chocolate-brown eyes caught his, they were filled with wariness. He’d done that to her. Her eyes used to be wide-open and filled with joy. Now they were guarded and hard.

“It’s good to see you,” he said. She looked beautiful, her copper hair a wild mane bouncing around her shoulders. How he’d missed that hair tickling his skin. How he missed her.

“What are you doing here, Malcolm?” A note of coldness entered her voice, and she clasped her hands tightly in front of her.

“I needed to see you—”

“That’s not a good enough reason to intrude on my life. I don’t want to see you. To have anything to do with you. Not now. Not ever.” Fire flashed amber in her dark eyes as they took in the cut on his brow, the blood on his face. “I would have thought your little field trip into the canyons had made that clear.”

Anger fired like a .22 bullet ricocheting off his insides, bouncing within him. “You sent me there on purpose?”

“Of course.”

What had happened to her? The Celia he knew never... “You could have got me killed,” he said evenly.

“Oh, please, men like you don’t die, Malcolm. They live on to make everyone else suffer.”

Her sharp words cut him deep. “My protection is gone. I lost the bracelet of crystals in the canyon when I was attacked by an Abatu.”

“Then you’re in a helluva lot of trouble, aren’t you?”

He sucked in a quick breath, disbelief thick in his throat. “What are you saying?”

“Get out, Malcolm. And don’t ever come back.”

He stared at the hard, cold fury in her eyes and wondered what had happened to the soft, caring woman he loved.

He was what happened. He’d made her like this. “Do you really hate me that much?” he asked, his voice breaking over the words.

“Yes,” she said without missing a beat.

He didn’t believe it. He couldn’t. She was being absurd. Childish. “I made some mistakes...some misjudgments—”

“Don’t kid yourself, Malcolm. You are a coldhearted, self-absorbed, power-hungry ass, and as far as I’m concerned, I don’t ever want to see you again. So I’ll tell you what. I will find your bracelet. I will rejuvenate your crystals. I will do whatever it takes to get you out of here. To go back to the Colony and never return. Is that clear?”

He took in the stiffness in her spine, the hardness in her jaw, the white knuckles of her clenched fingers, and knew there would be nothing he could say or do that would get through to her. And right then, he wished he could leave. Wished he could turn around and not have to face her, not have to break her heart any further. But he couldn’t. The Colony needed her. And they needed him to bring her to them.