Page 21 of Taken By Raider Kings
And Lucy was dead.A little voice inside Sophie’s head tried to tell her she was forgetting something, that she was the responsible one, and that it should have been her gasping and choking in that alleyway instead of beautiful, burning-bright Lucy Cavanaugh.
She was rubbing her hands against the flannel shirt they’d given her, Soph realized.Scrubbing and scrubbing, like some mad Lady Macbeth.
With a short sob, she tore the flannel off, stripped herself out of the jeans, and pulled the thermal shirt over her head.Her own bra and panties followed.She left everything crumpled in a stinking pile right next her bedroom door, took three steps to the floor-bound, neatly made mattress she called her own bed, and managed to crawl under the covers.
At least these sheets and blankets didn’t scrape her skin like sandpaper.And they smelled like comfort.
Like home.
She sobbed for a long while, curled around the one lonely pillow that had seen her tears in the women’s shelter and later as well, during the endless rounds of divorce hearings.When she fell asleep, it was a slumber so dark and dreamless the fluttering at her bedroom window, under the pale grey sky threatening snow, went unnoticed.She woke only once, as the sky shaded into cold flat darkness of early winter night, and fumbled for her alarm clock.With it turned on, she had no more responsibility for the rest of the day, and she immediately fled back into welcome unconsciousness.
ten
Brenn whimperedfrom the bench seat as Julia held his hand, the wet towel in her free fingers clamped to the side of her twin’s face.
“Oh, Jesus,” Eric whispered, dully.“Did they take her?”
“They couldn’t have.”Zach’s shoulder ground with pain.One of the goddamnupirhad bitten him, and its venom burned as his body neutralized it.Focus, goddammit.“I told her to stay down.She was between the beds?—”
“I tripped over her,” Julia piped up, calmly enough.“She was by the door.”
His pulse was pounding so hard it threatened to push the top of his head off.“The door?”She can’t have gotten far on her own.“We’d’ve smelled it if she was brought down.She was triggered, it would have called us.”Any serious blood she shed would have been like a jet taking off—we would have dropped everything and clustered her.
“You’re sure she was triggered?”Eric wasn’t challenging his leader; the question was pure worry, wanting to be told everything would be all right.
“I’m sure.”I damn well should be, I made it happen.And she’d spent enough time in enclosed spaces, breathing their pheromones, to make her a Carcajou shaman.He was sure about that.
Mostly sure, anyway.
Well, not as sure as he wanted to be.But he couldn’t tell them that.It would only worry everyone, and he couldn’t have that.“Maybe she ran.”God, please tell me she’s still alive.Shehasto be.
The smell of their missing shaman, fading but still present, lingered in the van.Soothing enough, sure, but nothing like the real thing.
Who had vanished into thin air.
He smacked the steering wheel once—but gently.The very last thing he needed was to make their transportation unusable.Be logical, Zach.Think it through.“They didn’t leave a guard.They expected whatever they were looking for to beinsidethe room.If there wereupiroutside we’d’ve smelled them.”
“So she ran.”Eric nodded, shifting uneasily in the front passenger seat.He turned to gaze unseeing out the window, but at least he wasn’t chewing on his sleeve at the moment.“Smart, very smart.Where would she go?”
Jesus.“We’rethis closeto losing our shaman.If another Family finds her—” Zach stopped, aware of saying what he shouldn’t.
He’d told them she wastheirs.They had to believe it.
Silence crackled through the van, broken only by the low hum of the engine.Brenn made another small, helpless noise, and Julia went back to soothing him.For once, she was in a giving mood—and her twin seemed to be the only person who could spark that gentleness in her anymore.
Let it be.That’s not your problem right now.Your problem is making sure she’s safe.“Where would she go?”
It wasn’t hard to guess, really.He just needed a few minutes to reason it out.And to calm the bubbling, blood-tinted fury burning behind his breastbone.
But he was so very far from anything resembling calm, he doubted he’d arrive there anytime soon.
Eric sighed, fingertips worrying at his cuff.“I don’t know if she has any money.Maybe she has friends around here?”
She said the only person who would pay a ransom is dead.There’s something to do with her husband, and…
A blooming bright-red rose of rage threatened to block his vision; Zach had to concentrate on the fading scent of ice and moonlight.Come on, you dumb bastard.Just fucking buckle down.
“Is it just me,” Julia said, “or are we seeing a lot of bloodsuckers lately?”
