Woods didn’t say a word, just saluted her with tears in his eyes and bolted for the door. Fisher almost fell over the table getting out of the front door.
“Umm, sir,” Winters said carefully, standing slowly. “Uh, about that meeting. See… McGill and Bradley are, uh, doing some research and aren’t available right now. But if you want me to go into the databases and look stuff up for you, I’ll be glad to, but-”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Doc said, closing his eyes and tilting his head. “I’m going to have some dinner and to get my mind right, after…” He shook his head and let out a hard breath. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Hopefully they’ll be finished researching by then. I’m leaving.”
Sasha and Winters watched Doc huff out the door, allowing the screen to slam with a bang. Sasha tilted her head and looked up at the ceiling.
“Good for them,” she said quietly. “ ’Bout time.”
He sat with Silver Hawk in front of the fire in the shadow lands as the elderly shaman added more water to the hot rocks. Hissing steam filled the small sweat lodge, blanketing their nude bodies with thick, humid vapors that leached moisture from their pores. He watched Silver Hawk’s ancient eyes through the opaque haze, waiting for the moment that the flames would tell him when to become Silver Shadow, when it would be time to chase the spirits beneath the blue-white moon.
His grandfather drew a labored breath and began a low, murmuring chant in their native tongue to call the ancestors. The heat and the sound slowly began to fuse into a low buzzing resonance inside his head. Almost as though his vision was doubling, he saw Sasha lying on the cavern floor, and then an opaque version of her stood-leaving her body on the ground-to walk off into the mist. Then one by one he saw them all… his spirit stood and then walked away from his body… Bear’s, Crow’s, Doc’s, Ethan’s-Silver Hawk opened his eyes when Shogun’s father’s wolf came.
Silver Hawk nodded. “Yes, even you, son.”
“Grandfather, help me understand,” Hunter said in a quiet rush.
His grandfather closed his eyes and put a finger to his lips. “Ssssh… Let them show me more.” With his eyes still closed, Silver Hawk used his index finger to scratch out strange symbols in the dirt beside him. “Learn these and take them to her. This is part of the sorcery that calls spirits to make doubles and walk in the darkness. We must claim them back once they’ve been cleaned.”
Silver Hawk opened his eyes with a start and sucked in a deep breath. “We must go back and warn the others. Tonight is just the beginning.”
He couldn’t stay in the back of the ambulance for a second longer. When Sasha had stopped to get out of the cab and bring him the cell phone so that he could talk to his men, he had needed to get away from her, lest he be tempted to bodily carry her with him. whatever shred of rational thought was left made him bolt. The only reason he took the call was to avert a war. If Seung Kwon thought there was foul play, her team would have been slaughtered in retribution, and he couldn’t have that on his head-not loving her the way he did.
On foot, he was free; he could feel the air caress his face, imagining it was still her. He could run hard and fast, even if in human form, to exercise his body, feel his limbs come back to life again. The exertion was necessary. Being pulled away from her body… her willing, supple body… was no less than a silver bullet in his skull. His men, no doubt, saw the insanity in his eyes as he entered Finnegan’s Wake. He let them see that he was all right, and they followed him where he swore he’d never go… to his enemy’s house-the New Orleans’s Werewolves’ Bayou House. It was still owned by the Buchanan Broussard family, the very clan that had tried to assassinate his brother and trick him into marrying their twisted alpha daughter. Rest both their sick souls in peace.
But there was nowhere else to go; supernaturals were in hiding, except the ones that had Vampire protection down here.
He hated himself as he entered the pulsing red lights that sent music through his veins, his men flanking him. It was a weakness to be this out of control, but if he took on a human female in this condition, under a nearly full moon, he’d possibly kill her from internal injuries. Accident or not, a human fatality would be on his head.
Smug smiles of recognition greeted him and his men-they wouldn’t be attacked; they were clients tonight. Ones that would have their pockets turned out and be laughed at the next day for having to patronize this establishment after all. They would know that meant he’d lost his battle for Sasha. Everything about this carved at his pride.
Music strummed through his body, the wolf in him noting every male’s position, size, and threat level. None visible could best him and his men. The stage commanded his focus as agile females made the poles slick with their sweat. Music throbbed in his groin, reminding him of Sasha. Just end the torture.
Yet, it was the principle of the thing; to pay for companionship at the house of one’s enemy was the height of humiliation. Right now, after Sasha, he had no pride left.
“I didn’t think we’d see you in these parts again, sugah,” a tall, thick-thighed brown beauty said, caressing his back suggestively.
He stared at her full mouth, remembering Sasha. She flashed him a little canine to let him know he could play as rough as he wanted to, as rough as he obviously needed it right now. He slid his hand up her throat and she smiled. She bent her knee and pressed her calf to his ass, balancing on a four-inch black stiletto.
“Neither did I. How much for the entire party, to cover me and my men?”
“A thousand dollars a throw… since you boys have a reputation as not being overly friendly with our family. We’re still feeling some losses-Dana was my friend, and her daddy was good people.” She moved her plump mound against his groin in a slow, sultry grind, holding on to his shoulders. “But when it comes to business, we don’t hold a grudge here at Bayou House.”
Shogun stared at the woman who’d dropped her voice to a sensual murmur. Pro or not, she was exquisite. The black velvet bustier was killer, holding up double-Ds and leaving little to the imagination. “I’ve never had to pay four thousand dollars for entertainment in my life.” He looked up from her over-exposed cleavage and smiled at her, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a knot. “But, under the circumstances, you drive a hard bargain.”
“See, now, that’s why there’s that saying: Never say never, sugah.”
Shogun released a sad chuckle as he watched his men summarily get picked up and led away. She folded his bills into her cleavage and ran her hand across his crotch.
“Darlin’, I might have to give you a discount… because I can truly tell you I’ve never felt anything like this.”
“They’re human, Bear,” Crow said, looking over the rim of his beer. “I don’t care what Woods and Fisher can get away with-they’re way more human than we are and can’t even shift. I don’t think it’s a good idea, man.”
“Why…”
Crow Shadow took a huge gulp of his beer. “Because what if you lose your mind and shift on them mid-”
“That won’t happen,” Bear said in a low rumble, studying the two women that had been flirting with them all night. “You’ve never been with a human female before, have you?”
“Yeah, of course,” Crow Shadow said, hailing the bartender.
“You can’t allow your canines to crest and their skin can’t handle a rake; you’ll seriously injure them,” Bear said with a smile.
“Yeah, yeah, I know, man.”
“Cannot hard roll a human female onto the floor from the height of a bed. You could break a bone, or snap her back… Gotta take your time, understand.” Bear Shadow looked at Crow Shadow hard. “Dab the corners of your mouth. You’re starting to slobber on yourself.”