Authors: J. Rose Allister
With a start, her eyes popped open. Drew knelt outside the cage, staring down at her with wildly pulsing gold trying to push out the blue in his sorely missed gaze.
She blinked hard. “I’m not dreaming? You’re here?”
His smile shot straight through her. “In the flesh. And tryin’ to set you free.” He frowned and glanced at the lock on the cage door. “Don’t suppose that key is handy somewhere close?”
Shock and relief poured through her, and she sat up to clutch at the bars. “Drew! I can’t believe it’s you. I thought for certain I was dreaming again.”
His hands closed over her
s
around the bars. “Must have been some dream.” He leaned closer, and her heart began pounding like crazy when his lips touched hers. “Now, let’s get you out of this, and I can hear more about that dream later.”
She licked her lips, tasting
the
intoxicating maleness
his kiss left behind
. “How did you get here?”
“We’ve been trackin’ you.”
“You followed us all the way on foot? We’ve barely stopped for days!”
“In my
truck
. But let’s save explanations for later. The key?”
Folding her
legs
beneath her, she smoothed her dirtied, torn skirt and shook her head. “Father carries it with him. There’s no way out.”
She glanced around the clearing where the cage sat. Wherever they were, the location was nothing like the lush campground the clan had abandoned. This was a bare step up from a dirt lot in a dry, hot desert.
“Where’s Russell?”
she asked.
“He better be where I told him
,
for once,” he said, pulling off a weathered brown Stetson and wiping a forearm across his sweaty brow. He may not have ridden up on a horse to save her, but he looked every part the cowboy hero
,
with hat and boots coupled with a thin, white T-shirt and blessedly tight denims. The shirt stretched across his muscled chest, and though escape was foremost on her mind, Talaitha couldn’t help but feel the remnants of her dream arousal stir at the sight of him.
He stood up and brushed off his jeans as he eyed the large lock
.
“I was in such a damn hurry to chase after you that I left my tools behind. The lock ain’t enchanted, but magic won’t work. I already tried it before I woke you up.”
Her brow shot up. “Magic? What do you know of magic?”
He ignored her and bent to where her face was pressed close to the bars. He pushed his hat up enough so he could brush her lips with his, unleashing a fierce stab of lust that was compounded by her ability to feel his own. “I’ll be back. I trust you won’t run off on me this time while I’m gone.”
Time might have been of the essence, but she couldn’t fight off her blatant curiosity as he turned to leave.
“Mishto hom me dikava tute,”
she said.
He stiffened and shot a look over his shoulder. His mouth was open to reply, but then he snapped it shut and started off again.
Undaunted, she pressed on.
“Ne rakesa tu Romanes?”
Can you not speak Romany?
Then
,
in English, “I know you can. I’ve heard you.”
He sighed and spun around, looking oddly defeated as he nodded.
“Hai. Rake Romanes.”
He paused. “Though I haven’t in a long time. I guess you must bring it out in me.”
“How do you know so much about my kind? You never did say.”
“We kinda got bigger bulls to herd at the moment.”
“Just tell me.”
He rolled his eyes. “I was born into a Gypsy clan, back in the old country.”
She did a double take. “You?”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t look at me that way. My mother was Romani. But my father was both a gadje and a one-night stand. You can imagine how fond the clan was of me.”
“A blue-eyed Gypsy,” she murmured in awe. “I’ve never seen one.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I was a freak long before I became a werewolf.”
She frowned. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“That’s what my mother’s clan thought of me. I got sick of their close-minded bullshit and ran far and fast once I was old enough.”
“I can’t believe it,” was all she could think to say.
An unexpected grin cracked his narrow scowl. “Kind of ironic, me tearin’ full speed away from Romani and runnin’ smack into a Gypsy mate.” He glanced around. “Now can I please go get my tools so I can bust you out of there?”
She didn’t get a chance to answer because a scuffling sound nearby alerted them to approaching footsteps.
She sucked in a gasp. “Someone’s coming.”
“I’ll take care of ’em.”
“No! Please, no trouble. Just go get the tools and wait until the coast is clear.”
His jaw clenched, but he gave a curt nod and disappeared behind a tangle of scrub brush. He’d no sooner gone than Vanje appeared, carrying a bowl and a container of water.
“Vanje,” she said, trying to keep the nervous tension from her tone. “I’m surprised to see you. You haven’t been around since we left Shay Falls.”
He slid the bowl and water through the bars without looking at her. “Marko and Tomas are busy setting up camp. I was sent to bring you lunch.”
The scent of rice and vegetables hit her nostrils, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “So we’ll be staying here a while, then?”
“Not for long. Zakono thinks your animals can still follow us.”
Little did he know how quickly. She swallowed. “And you? Do you honestly think wolves can pursue a caravan across multiple states?”
That brought a narrowed glance her way. “Don’t get your hopes up. We won’t be staying in any one place for long.”
“Do we ever? We’re Gypsies.”
He shrugged. “How are you?”
She snorted. “How do you think I’m doing? I’m locked in a cage and let out only twice a day to relieve myself—with Marko standing nearby, practically watching.”
A shadow crossed Vanje’s features. “It’s for your own good, Talaitha. We don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Words parroted nicely from my father’s mouth. But what part of imprisoning me against my will strikes you as either good or not hurting me?”
He scowled. “You shouldn’t be with them. It isn’t natural.”
“No, it’s fate.” She took hold of the bars. “You have to know that this is wrong, Vanje. I’m not a criminal.”
He folded his arms, still refusing to look at her. “I admit I have my own thoughts about your father’s approach on this. But he is our leader. It is not my place to question him.”
“So don’t question. Just help me.” He shook his head and stared at the ground. “Look at me, Vanje. Vanje? Dik mandi
.
”
That finally brought his eyes her way, and she saw the uncertainty clouding the dark irises. They didn’t speak for a moment, her pleading gaze holding his.
“Let me go,” she said.
He heaved a sigh. “I asked your father for your hand when you were declared
vuzhyardò
after the failed marriage to Yoska.”
Her mouth fell open. “You did?”
“He said I wasn’t ready for marriage. Said he wanted me to make a man’s mark on this clan to prove I could handle the daughter of Zakono Koppel. I thought for sure he considered that time had come when he called me a hero for finding you. Then I discovered I was too late yet again to vie for your affections.”
A pang coursed through her at the tone of remorse. “I had no affection for Yoska. I’ve always cared for you, Vanje. You’ve never been anything but kind. You are a good and decent man, one any woman would be fortunate to call husband.”
He stepped closer, sliding his hands over hers as they gripped the bars just as Drew had done earlier. “Would you be such a woman, Talaitha? Could the love of a humble
lom
burn thoughts of those dark creatures from your memory?”
She was acutely aware of the foreign feel of his rough, cool skin, but his touch lacked the urgent tingle of Russell’s or Drew’s. Nevertheless, she did experience a strong jolt at the contact by way of a surge of boiling irritation coming from the direction of the nearby brush. It was Drew’s, and it was unpleasant. He was jealous.
With a kind smile, she dropped her hands away. “I’m sorry, but there is nothing on heaven or earth that could change the way I feel.”
She saw his Adam’s apple bob. “You have known them for such a brief time. How can you feel so strongly?”
“I can’t explain it. I know it sounds impossible, but it’s real. And more powerful than anything I’ve ever felt. They may only have showed up a short time ago, but I’ve known that Russell would come for me for many years. I’ve dreamed of him since I was a girl.”
She felt the tension ease from Drew, though Vanje’s expression tightened.
“Please, Vanje. Do this for me. Give me the only chance I’ll ever have to find happiness.”
He slid a hand into his vest pocket and pulled out the key.
“Thank you,” she said, getting to her feet. “I’ll be forever grateful for your kindness.”
He grunted as he stuck the key in the lock. “I fear that your gratitude will not be enough to spare me when my treachery to your father is discovered.”
“And you would be right,” Zakono said, coming out from behind one of the nearby trailers.
She and Vanje whipped toward him. Marko and two of the others surrounded her father, who wore a look of mixed triumph and disdain as he approached. Vanje yanked the key away from the cage, and her father held out his hand.
“You are the last man I would suspect of crossing me,” he said. “I am very disappointed in you, Vanje. I consider you a son, and was planning to grant your request to wed my daughter. Instead, you join with her in conspiring against me.”
The key dropped in his outstretched hand. “I only wish for her happiness. I love her.”
“Not enough to fight for her, obviously. You would give her to dogs. You are less than worthy.
Bipachivalò
.”
“It doesn’t matter who tries to fight for me,” she said through the bars. “Or how worthy you deem them. I will never want any man other than my mates.”
His eyes narrowed. “Is that so?” He nodded to Tomas, who held the rifle she’d seen in Vanje’s truck. He pointed it at Vanje and motioned him away.
“Take him to the fire circle and watch him.” Zakono moved forward, and to her surprise used the key to unlock the cage. “I would speak to my daughter alone. Bring her out and bind her to the cage. Then leave us. You know my further orders.”
Marko was rougher than necessary when he pulled her out of the cage. A rope circled her waist, cinching her to the outside of the bars. Yet she was more fearful for Vanje as he disappeared into the camp, still at the point of a gun.
“What will they do to him?” she insisted, her heart pounding. She couldn’t let him face punishment because of her. “It wasn’t his fault. I appealed to him knowing how he felt about me. He only did it in hopes I might change my mind about him.”
“Don’t lie to me.” Her father’s face darkened. “I have been listening in since shortly after he arrived to deliver your food. I suspected he might give in to his soft spot for you, you see. But as I told Yoska, a man is no man if he cannot master his urges and do what needs to be done.”