The scent grew stronger in seconds and they slowed to a wary stalk. Through the trees, Duke saw a small, old stone house that looked mostly deserted. There was no car in the rutted track that led to the house from the two-lane country road Duke and Nic had crossed almost a mile away. It closely resembled the streghe houses in New Tarquin but this was run-down, older and not as well-cared-for as the streghe’s homes.
But the guy was in there. And so was Kaine. In her pelt.
Beside him, he felt Nic’s energy brush against his as he shifted. In seconds, Nic was back in his skin and unfastening the pack from Duke’s back. He dressed in seconds. The temperature hovered around freezing and seemed to be dropping every minute. The snow had stopped falling but it covered the ground in a thin blanket of white.
Following Nic’s lead, Duke shifted and dressed as quickly as he could. He hated not having his boots but they were too heavy to carry and too bulky. The sneakers were unwieldy but not as heavy and took up less space in the pack.
After stuffing his knife sheath in the small of his back, Duke and Nic made their way around to the back of the house.
About five feet from the back door, Nic froze in his tracks, signaling for Duke to do the same. Nic scanned the ground in front of him then finally pointed in front of them.
Looking down, Duke searched for whatever had set off Nic. And saw a razor-thin wire running along the ground only inches from his feet.
He looked at Nic, who raised his brows then began to search the area more carefully.
Still out of sight of the windows, they made a more thorough perimeter check and found several other wires, probably connected to alarms in the house.
This guy either had a lot to hide or was very, very paranoid.
Since they already knew they’d have to expose themselves to get to either the front or the back door, they decided to head for the front. Back doors usually led into mudrooms or kitchens, smaller spaces, easier to defend from inside. Front door meant front room, more space, more room to move.
After a nod from Nic, Duke headed for the entrance, not trying to hide. Nic waited in the shadows, waited to see if Duke made it to the door without alerting the guy inside. Maybe they’d get lucky—
Or maybe the guy would open the front door and level a Sig Sauer at Duke’s chest.
Duke immediately put up his hands. “Hey, man. I’m not here to hurt you.” But he would if the guy didn’t put the gun down. Duke had no intention of getting shot or letting him shoot anyone else, for that matter. “Why would I do that considering I’m the one who pulled your ass out of that house a few days ago?”
Green eyes stared at him, no hint of confusion or anxiety. “Who the hell are you people and what do you want?”
“We’re friends. We didn’t save your ass just to put it back in a sling.”
“Then why’d you follow me and why wouldn’t you let me leave? Seems like I traded one prison for another.”
“Look, you wanna be out here on your own so whoever took you can get at you again? No skin off my nose. Just don’t take Kaine down with you.”
The guy’s eyes narrowed but the gun never wavered. “She followed me. I didn’t take her. Hell, I told her to stay but that damn dog doesn’t listen worth a damn.”
Duke nodded, breathing a silent sigh of relief that Kaine hadn’t revealed her true nature. “Yeah, she certainly does have a mind of her own. Let me get her and we’ll leave and you’ll never see us again.”
Duke meant what he said, even if Kyle would kick his ass. This guy was the only link they had to the woman who was kidnapping eteri. Still, Duke didn’t give a shit if he got himself killed but he wasn’t willing to risk Kaine.
The guy’s eyes narrowed. “Is the dog yours?”
Kaine would have his head for this one later. “Yeah, you could say that.”
The guy nodded. “She’s beautiful. What is she?”
Wouldn’t you really like to know. “She’s a wolf.”
The guy’s brows raised just the slightest bit. “If she’s yours, why’d she follow me?”
Duke sighed. “No idea. Look, man, I’m not here to jack you up. I’m here to get Kaine.”
After a second, the guy whistled, a short, sharp blast that made Duke cringe.
Duke looked into the room behind the guy, expecting to see Kaine’s small gray wolf trot out.
Instead, Kaine walked up behind him in her skin, wearing a hoodie three sizes too big for her and nothing else. She must have just shifted and grabbed the sweatshirt.
Duke never broke their stare but the guy realized someone had snuck up behind him. Someone who wasn’t a small gray wolf.
With unconscious ease and almost scary speed, the guy moved to put his back against the nearest wall, keeping both of them in sight.
Military training. The guy definitely had military training.
Kaine moved slowly, her hands held where he could see them. “John, please. No one will hurt you.”
“Who the hell are you? And how the fuck did you get in my house?”
Kaine never took her eyes off the man she’d called John. She kept her voice low and soft and stopped several feet away from him on the porch. “I’m a friend. We want to help. I know about your sister. I know you’re worried about her. We can help you get her back. You just have to trust us.”
Vaffanculo. Duke wanted to spit out curses and maybe bang his head against the nearest wall.
If the guy really was missing a sister, that changed everything.
Not one expression betrayed John’s surprise that Kaine knew about his sister, but Duke smelled it on him. He couldn’t hide that.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. You all need to leave right now.”
“Listen, man.” Duke continued to hold out his hands as he listened for any hint of where the hell Nic had gotten to. “Why don’t you tell us what’s going on and we’ll help you get your sister back?”
“I don’t need any help.”
“Yes, you do,” Kaine said. “You don’t have any idea what’s going on. You need us.” She held out her hand, palm up, silently asking for the gun. “Please.”
“I have no idea who you are or what the fuck you want—”
“We only want to help.”
“No.” His green eyes grew even colder. “Go now.”
Duke sighed. He didn’t like having a gun waved at him and he especially didn’t like eteri waving guns at him or his partners. Kaine made it obvious she didn’t want him hurt but he’d had enough.
He knew Nic was just waiting for a signal from him to pounce, probably from inside the house.
Time to end this now.
With a flick of his fingers, he signaled to Nic. And in his peripheral vision, he saw the shadows flicker inside the doorway.
He moved his gaze to Kaine, warning her to be prepared.
In the split second before Nic attacked, Kaine tensed.
And tipped off John.
And everything went to hell from there.
“You’re sure this is what you want?”
Nortia leaned against the counter in Margie’s kitchen, arms crossed over her chest. Her expression held absolutely no hint of what she was thinking.
Tira stared straight back, her gaze never wavering. Even though her heart pounded so loudly the Lady of the Hammer could probably hear it in the silence hanging over the house and she could barely breathe around the knot of fear in her chest.
“Yes. I know this is the right thing to do.”
“You know your Gift isn’t like any other.” Nortia continued to hold her in place with her intent gaze. “This isn’t merely agreeing to take your mother’s place in the boschetta. You need to be absolutely positive. Downloading centuries of memories and the bulk of your mother’s powers could cause your brain to overload if you’re not fully committed.”