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"So, who is the woman who captured your heart and left you unable to love?"

Surprise rippled through him. Had she read his mind, or did she know a lot more about werewolf lore than he'd presumed? "It doesn't really matter, does it?"

"It does to me, especially if she's still around."

"I didn't lie to you, Kat." His voice was grim as he stared out into the star-bright night and tried not to remember.

But pain rose regardless. The pain of betrayal. Hurt. "And she's definitely not still around."

"Did she die?"

He snorted softly. "No." She was living in Denver with her very normal husband and three kids, and probably didn't even remember the lives she'd destroyed when they were both still teenagers.

"Then why — " Gwen groaned, and he'd never been so grateful for an interruption in his life. He didn't want to relive that moment of his past, not even briefly. Whoever it was that said time heals all wounds was wrong. Time only made them more unforgivable.

He turned and watched Kat tend to her grandmother. The older woman was pale and shaking, her hands locked into a claw-like position. He grabbed the oil off the coffee table and sat down next to her.

"Let me massage these for you." He poured the oil into his hands and began to rub hers gently.

Gwen's smile was tremulous. "Thanks."

He nodded. "Did you see anything of use?"

Kat sat down opposite him. He was aware of her gaze but didn't meet it, keeping his focus on easing the tension from Gwen's knotted hands. Right now, he didn't have the energy or desire to answer Kat's questions.

"I saw a couple of things," Gwen said. "First off, your boss is chasing a wild goose. That murder has nothing to do with this case. It's a custody battle gone wrong."

Just as well he hadn't followed instinct and gone after them, then. "You sure of that?"

She nodded. "It doesn't follow the pattern. They'll discover that as soon as they get there."

"Do we need to rescue the kid anyway?"

Gwen shook her head. "No. The cops will get the father soon enough, and the little boy is safe. But there is another kid you have to worry about."

His gut clenched. Not Janie, he thought. Not this soon.

Please…

"The soul sucker?" Kat rose and moved over to the phone table.

"Yes," Gwen said, rubbing her temple with her free hand.

"Here, in this town, sometime tonight."

Kat retrieved the local street directory and plopped it down on the table. "Where?"

"Forest Road. Some place called The Pines."

"Out of town," Kat said after a few minutes. "And not all that far from where the soul sucker killed the old man."

"I found a cabin full of zombies up that way," he said, suddenly remembering them. "About a twenty minute run north from the old farm."

Kat gave him a long look. "And you didn't think to mention it before now? Or were you simply planning to do a little solo exploring later on tonight?"

"Neither," he said, ignoring the sarcasm in her voice. "I didn't remember because I had more important things to worry about."

He held her gaze. After a few seconds, heat touched her cheeks, and she dropped her gaze to the directory again.

Gwen pulled her hand free of his and flexed it lightly.

"You have a nice touch, wolf. And you didn't tell us you were empathic."

He put the lid back on the oil bottle. "I'm not."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then why do you seem to be catching Kat's emotions?"

He kept his face expressionless and raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think I'm catching Kat's emotions?"

Her cheeks dimpled. "Because I'm a nosy old witch who can sense these things."

"Well, in this case, the nosy old witch is way off course."

He rose to put the oil back on the coffee table. "We going to call in the sheriff on this one?"

Gwen studied him a second longer, her expression a mix of amusement and concern. Still trying to figure him out, obviously. He had a feeling he'd better be long gone before she did.

"No," she answered. "We won't need to if we can stop the Mara before it gets to the kid." She looked at Kat and added, "Did you manage to make those charms earlier?"

Kat nodded and disappeared into the bedroom. Gwen grabbed his hand, her strength surprising him. "Be honest with her, wolf," she whispered, her voice as fierce as her expression, "or I'll make damn sure you regret it."

She was half his size and half his weight, but he had a sudden feeling this fierce old woman could take on a hundred men his size and still come out on top. "I've been nothing but honest with her."

"Then be honest with yourself, or it's going to cause problems."

"I have no idea — " "You have every idea," she said angrily. "Don't you lie to me."

Anger rose, a tide so strong the effort to control it left him shaking. "I haven't lied to anyone," he said, his voice surprisingly calm. "And she's a big girl who doesn't need her grandmother's protection."

Gwen snorted and released his hand. He resisted the urge to flex his fingers as she leaned back in the chair.

"Who says I'm trying to protect her? You're the one who's going to regret it if you don't wake up to yourself."

"You can't hurt what you haven't got," he said bitterly.

"Oh, you have it, wolf. You're just too blinded by the perceived hurts of the past to realize it."

He clenched his fists and took a step toward her, then realized what he was doing and walked across to the window. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't I?"

Gwen's voice, though soft, still reached him easily. And though his hearing was naturally better than any human's, he had a vague suspicion there was something supernatural — or magical — in the fact that he was hearing her now. And that Kat obviously wasn't.

"In the meantime," she continued in that same soft but angry tone. "I'll just leave you with a warning. If what is freely given is rejected, it is never offered again. We Tanners tend not to forgive nor forget."

"What the hell is going on in here?"

Ethan glanced around sharply. Kat stood in the doorway, her gaze jumping between him and Gwen.

He took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Nothing.

We were just talking."

"Yeah. Right. Tell that to someone who can't feel the tension."

His gaze slid to Gwen's. The older woman only raised her eyebrows, as if daring him to deny the possibility. He turned away from them both and stared out the window again. He couldn't explain why the old woman seemed to be catching his emotions any more than he could explain him catching hers.

"Are we going to go save this kid or not?" he said without looking around.

"We will as soon as you put this on." He heard the air stir and raised his hand, instinctively catching what she'd thrown. It turned out to be a leather thong threaded with three stones. He looked around. "What's this?"

"It's a necklace. You put it around your neck." She didn't even glance at him as she began tying an identical strip around hers.

Two of the stones felt warm against his palm. One felt colder than the aortic. "I mean, what is it meant to do?"

"Protect you."

"How are three stones supposed to do that?" He tied it on regardless, then grabbed his shoulder harness and strapped it on. He'd left it in here earlier, and it was just as well. If the captain had realized he still had his gun, he would have been in real trouble.

"The red stone will stop the Mara from sensing your presence unless she's in your face. The green stone provides a shield that'll help stop her from entering your mind to take control."

"And the blue stone?" he asked when she hesitated.

Heat touched her cheeks, but her gaze met his defiantly.

"It's a last minute warning that the Mara is about to steal your soul."

Anger stirred through him again. "She's never going to get that close."