Alex leaned close and kissed her, wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. Lily went with it, tasted his familiar flavors, and felt the same wonderful arousal that always built when she and Alex kissed.
But it wasn’t the same. Not even close.
He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. “I love you, Lily, but you’re right. We both deserve more. I just wish I could find the right woman.” He laughed. “One as smart and sexy as you who won’t beat the crap out of me.”
“Alex!”
“Teasing. Really!” He kissed her again. “I hope like hell you’ve found the right man. I don’t want you hurt.”
“Me either. But I wanted to tell you about him first, and I want you to let me know if you hear anything at all that can help me either exonerate him or prove he’s guilty. I need to know for sure if there’s a chance for us, or if he’s someone to stay far away from.”
“I promise.” He stood, held out his hand, and pulled her to her feet. “But for now, I need to get going. I’ve got a date in town and don’t want to be late.” He waggled his eyebrows. “She’s really hot, and she loves my body.”
Laughing, Lily covered her ears with both hands. Alex was never going to change. “I really don’t need to hear that, dear boy. And just because I can’t get pregnant by a human doesn’t mean you can’t impregnate a short-timer.”
Alex rolled his eyes in disgust. “Trust me. I’ve spent the last half hour hearing a detailed lesson in basic Chanku sex from both parents. Again. My head hurts.” He spun away, then glanced back. “We’ll talk later, okay?”
“Promise.”
He tipped her a quick salute. “Wish me luck. Maybe I’ll actually get laid tonight.”
“Alex, you are totally hopeless.”
“I know. And you love me for it.”
Lily watched him walk away. She did love him. She loved all kinds of things about Alex, from that sexy saunter in his walk to the way his jeans fit his perfectly shaped butt to the amazing man she knew him to be.
But she didn’t love Alex in the way of mates.
She never would.
The way she felt wasn’t even close.
And as that thought flitted through her mind, Sebastian’s dark features and teal blue eyes filled her thoughts.
Alex sauntered across the main street of old town Kalispell, thinking of Lily but checking out the girls. It was Friday night, and he knew just about every young woman in town. They were pretty interchangeable, as far as he was concerned, but tonight he was supposed to meet up with Jennifer Martin. She was hot, and she liked sex, but if it didn’t work out, he knew he could always go back and spend the night with Lily.
It really would make life so much simpler if he and Lily loved each other romantically, but it just wasn’t going to happen. Sex with Lily was always good, but it was more fun and laughs and the need to scratch the constant itch that was part of Chanku physiology than a love match. It worked for both of them, but it was going nowhere.
Just like his serial relationships with the human women he’d dated. As much as he hated it, he had to agree with his folks. A Chanku-human pairing wasn’t going to work.
Short-timers couldn’t offer what he needed, not when he wanted to run with his woman through the dark woods and hunt as a wolf, or fly when he took his eagle form. No can do when your date’s as earthbound as dirt.
“Hey, Alex.”
He glanced toward the front of the movie theater. Jenn was right where she’d said she’d be. “Hi, Jenn. Hope I’m not late. Ran into an old friend.”
She shrugged. “Nah. You’re okay. I’m early.”
“Good.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned close for the expected kiss, but before their lips met, voices from the alley around the side of the coffee shop intruded.
“Leave me alone.”
“What’s the matter, sweet thing? You think you’re too good for us?”
“I didn’t say that. I merely told you jerks to leave me alone. Get out of my way.”
“Jerks? Now, honey, you don’t mean that, do you?”
Alex tilted his head. Whoever those idiots were hassling was obviously outnumbered. “Jenn, stay here.”
She grabbed his arm. “Stay out of it, Alex. I know those guys. They won’t hurt her. They’re just teasing, but they’ll beat the crap out of you if you get in their way.”
“They’re scaring her. Wait here.”
Jenn hung on, but the sharp sound of a slap had him tearing free and racing around the building. Three huge men had a small, dark woman trapped against the side of the building. Her blouse was torn, but her eyes glittered. A palm print marred her left cheek. The sense of Chanku was strong, and from the fear in her amber eyes, he knew she was right on the edge of shifting.
Alex had to reach up to grab the closest man by the collar, and he hoped he wasn’t making the biggest mistake in his life. This idiot was massive. Jerking him back, Alex planted a fist in the guy’s face and he went down with blood spurting from his nose. The two others spun away from the girl with fists raised. Cursing, they both flew at Alex. He caught the larger of the two with a quick chop to the throat with his right hand and came up with his left fist to plant a solid punch in the second one’s belly. Both men folded, but then the one Alex had punched in the nose tried to stand. The girl he’d been hassling kicked him in the head, and he fell back, groaning.
Alex flashed her a grin, but he kept his eye on the three men. As big as they were, if they came after him together, he was toast, but instead, as soon as they rallied enough to get to their feet, they slunk around the back of the building. Alex watched them leave to make sure they were definitely gone before he turned his attention to the young woman.
“Thank you, Alex.” She pulled her torn blouse up to better cover herself, shivered, and wrapped her hands around her waist.
Frowning, Alex stared at her a moment before recognition finally dawned. “Annie? Annie McClintock? Damn. I didn’t even recognize you. You’ve cut off all your hair. You look totally different with it short.” Stepping closer, he said, “I like it.”
He took his jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders as he talked, hoping his aimless chatter would help calm her down. The poor kid looked rattled, but she had every right to be upset. “I haven’t seen you in years,” he said, as if nothing had happened here, as if she wouldn’t have a huge bruise on her face by morning. “I thought you were still in England.”
He smoothed his jacket over her arms, patted her shoulders. When he felt her trembling beneath his coat, his heart clenched. He wished he could chase down the bastards who’d hurt her and hit them again. Instead, he took a deep breath and looked directly into her beautiful amber eyes. “Are you okay, Annie? Did they hurt you?”
She shook her head and touched her fingertips to her bruised cheek. “I’m okay now.” She let out a deep breath. “The big guy grabbed my arm and dragged me into the alley. The other two were already here, waiting. I didn’t know what to do. I was afraid to shift.” She grimaced. “Not with public sentiment so against us.”
Alex chuckled. “Yeah. Ripping out their throats probably wouldn’t make good press, but I bet it would have made you feel a hell of a lot better.”
She flashed him a quick, shy smile that hit him right in the gut. Damn, she was absolutely beautiful. He didn’t remember Annie as anything special. She’d been a tiny, shy little sprite with too much hair and not enough chest, but it wasn’t just growing boobs and getting a haircut that had worked wonders. He certainly didn’t remember thinking she was at all sexy, but damn. There was no denying the impact she had on him.
“Alex? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
Jenn stood close beside him with her arms folded tightly across her chest. He’d completely forgotten her.
“Uh, yeah. Jennifer Martin, this is Annie McClintock. Annie’s folks are good friends of my parents’. We’ve known each other forever, but Annie’s been studying in England for, what? About four years now?”
Annie nodded. “Six. I graduated from Oxford a couple of years ago, but I stayed on to finish up my masters in interspecies social dynamics.”
“I’m glad you’re back.” Alex glanced at Jenn. She glared at Annie. In fact, jealousy poured off her in waves. That made no sense at all. It wasn’t like he and Jenn were in a relationship or anything. They’d gone out a few times, but nothing serious. Even the sex had been her idea.
Even so, there was no way Alex wanted to deal with her now. Didn’t she care those guys had just scared the crap out of Annie? Had assaulted her? He returned his attention to the one who needed him.
“Annie, do you have a car nearby?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t been home long enough to renew my American license. I’m supposed to call Mom to come get me when I’m through. I had some errands to run and then wanted to see a movie, but I think I’d rather just go home.”
“I’ll take you.” He glanced at Jenn. “After what happened, I don’t feel comfortable leaving Annie here alone.”
Annie shook her head. “Alex, you don’t have to—”
Jenn interrupted. “I thought you wanted to go to the movie.” “Considering the circumstances, Jenn, I think getting Annie home safely is more important than a movie.” He turned to Annie. “And no, Annie. No arguing. Your dad would have my head if he knew I’d left you alone after what happened.”
“If that’s how you want it, Alex.” Jennifer swept a dismissive look over Annie and turned away. “Another time, maybe.”
“Yeah. Right.” Alex watched her as she stalked out of the alley and disappeared around the corner. It felt as if a huge weight lifted off his chest.
“I’m sorry, Alex.” Annie was looking at the ground, shaking her head. “I don’t want to come between you and your girlfriend.”
He slung an arm over Annie’s narrow shoulders. “She’s not my girlfriend. Just a friend, and obviously not a very good one. It’s really not a problem, squirt,” he said. “C’mon. I’m parked at the end of the block.”
Annie’s soft laugh stopped him. “I don’t know that the name still fits. You used to drive me nuts, calling me squirt. I’m hoping I’ve outgrown it by now.”
He smiled at her. Damn, she was something, but he wasn’t going to let her know what he was thinking. No way. “I don’t know about that. You’re not very big. As huge as your dad is, I’m amazed at how tiny you are. I think you still qualify as a squirt.” Annie fit perfectly beneath his arm. He held her closer than he probably needed to, but it felt right. She felt right, and he wondered why he’d never noticed before just how cute she really was. Cute and sexy and so feminine she made his chest feel tight. Not to mention his jeans.
“Please, not when we’re at the compound.” She poked him in the side. “I was hoping everyone had forgotten that horrible nickname.”
“I promise.” He leaned close and sealed his promise with a kiss. Her lips were full and soft against his, and he found himself lingering longer than he’d intended. When Alex raised his head, Annie stared at him with her brows wrinkled in a tight, confused little frown.
He hugged her close and took off walking. Annie fell into step beside him. His heart thundered in his chest, and his sensitive nostrils picked up the scent of her arousal.
He’d had sex with most of the other young Chanku women of his generation at one time or another, but never with Annie. She’d been so shy and quiet, he’d pretty much ignored her when they were kids, and everyone held her father in such total awe, that it hadn’t been worth the risk of making Tinker mad.
Alex was sorry, now, that he’d been such a coward, because, well, damn. Who’d have thought little Annie McClintock would grow up to look like this? To smell like this. To have a killer smile and perfect breasts and a body he wanted to taste. All over.
But damn it all, he’d have to tell Lily, and she was going to give him hell. He’d totally forgotten what she’d said years ago, that Annie was his perfect match. All he’d seen was the bratty little kid with the flat chest and frizzy hair who always had her nose stuck in a book.
Goddess, how he hated it when Lily was right. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just most of the time.
It was all of the time.
He grinned. For some reason, this time he actually looked forward to telling her she’d won another one.
8
C
ounting her blessings and thankful she’d managed to duck her father’s inevitable interrogation, Lily walked quickly through her parents’ huge kitchen, down the stairs into the pantry, and from there through the narrow tunnel to the massive cavern beneath the house.
She really owed her mom on this one. Keisha had managed to interrupt Anton before he really had a chance to get started, and the moment Lily realized she’d had an escape handed to her, she’d taken it. Damn. What she wouldn’t give for a mate like her mom—one who understood the way she worked and loved her enough to put up with all her idiosyncrasies.
The way her mother managed her father’s. Laughter spilled out as she stepped into the cavern and paused. Moist, warm air washed over her. This had always been one of her favorite places, this massive cave that had provided sanctuary to the entire pack during the terrible fire so many years ago. All of them had remained safe down here while the entire house above them burned to the ground.
It had been a favorite place to play when she was a kid. Where she’d experienced her first sexual exploration with Alex when they were little more than children. Where she’d realized he wasn’t meant to be her mate, but someone just as important.
He was her friend. He would always be the man she could count on for complete honesty, the one to let her know when she was wrong, to encourage her when she was right.
Now, if only there were a man with all of Alex’s attributes—and more. A man who would love her in spite of herself, who would always be at her side. One with the strength of character to be alpha male to her alpha bitch.
Sebastian could be that man. She’d felt it from the beginning, but she had to know more about him. Had to know if he was as good as she wanted to believe, or if he were somehow tainted by his father’s darkness.
There was only one way to find out. Eve should have the answers she needed. Eve always had the answers.
Taking a deep breath, Lily cut to the left and walked around the large pool that filled part of the cavern floor. Low lights powered by solar panels high on the surface of the mountain illuminated the walls, the water, and the various tunnels leading away from this centrally located cave. The caverns were an important safety feature known only to members of the pack, with the extensive system of caves and tunnels spreading for miles beneath the rugged mountains. Solar panels provided power, the many artesian springs meant drinking water was always available, and her father maintained a huge stash of emergency supplies that could keep the entire pack fed for as long as might be needed.
Over the years they’d explored much of the system, but even more of the network remained untouched. However, it wasn’t the miles of tunnels and caverns that called to Lily on most of her trips home. No, it was the series of hieroglyphics carved into the wall beyond the pool—specifically a pair of handprints that were this cavern’s most intriguing feature—the key to a portal leading directly to the astral plane.
She still remembered the first time she’d discovered the doorway and scared the crap out of her parents. What felt like a long, busy day to her six-year-old self had actually been weeks for her mother and father. Weeks when they knew she was safely in the hands of first the goddess and then a small surviving group of ancient Chanku elders who taught Lily the history of their kind—but much too long for parents worried about their child.
That had certainly been a wild summer. Nick Barden, one of the younger members of the pack, had managed to out the Chanku to the world at large when he got caught shifting in front of cameras at a gathering in Washington DC, a forest fire burned her mom and dad’s house to the ground while the entire pack huddled here in the caverns for safety, and Adam’s mate, Liana, had given birth to tiny Phoenix Olivia while the fire raged overhead.
The pack had merely grown stronger, more united than ever after all that happened. But now, the attacks on young women threatened all they held dear. Threatened their peaceful relationship with the human population. Threatened everything.
Lily had sensed Eve for most of the afternoon, and the goddess filled her thoughts as she traced her fingers over the ancient marks carved in stone. She remembered when she’d looked at them the very first time and realized they weren’t just pretty pictures—they were words she understood.
What everyone had thought of as artful carvings, six-year-old Lily had been able to read. And what she read were directions to enter the astral. The markings hadn’t been left by Native Americans as the grown-ups had believed, but by some of the earliest Chanku.
Had they known what was to come? Was Eve expecting her now? Placing her hands on the palm prints she’d once had to stretch to reach, Lily pictured the goddess. She’d thought of her as Sparkly Eve when she was little, but over the years, as Lily grew up and their friendship grew stronger, she’d become just Eve.
Friend, confidant, sister of her heart.
The stone shimmered as Lily held her hands against the prints and visualized Eve’s perfect
where
and
when.
A patch of brilliant light poured through the portal, growing broader and brighter, filling the dark cavern with a shimmering glow. Without any hesitation, Lily stepped from the cavern in northern Montana through what had been solid stone and into the perfect dimension that contained Eve’s world on the astral plane.
There was no sense of the portal or the caverns behind her. Lily gazed in all directions, surrounded by Eve’s world. She’d always wondered if her blood pressure really dropped, if her heart rate slowed when she was here, though today, for some reason, there was an edge to the usual sense of peace she felt.
A mist hovered just ahead, a small cloud glimmering with its own inner light, filled with tiny sparkles that seemed to dance like dust motes in sunlight. Misgivings slipped away as Lily held out her arms. “Eve! It’s been too long. I’ve missed you.”
Forming fully from mist and sparkles to corporeal woman, the goddess shook her head slowly and sighed. Instead of the brilliant smile Lily expected from her friend, Eve hung her head.
Lily’s arms fell to her side. “Eve? Is something wrong?”
“Oh, Lily. Yes. I fear something is terribly wrong.” Then the goddess stepped close and enveloped Lily in a warm and very human hug.
Lily smoothed the soft white robe around her ankles as she and Eve sat together in the bright glow of what passed for day on the astral. They’d gone for a soothing dip in the magical waters of the pond that had fascinated Lily as a child.
It had bubbles. Lots of sparkly bubbles, and when they’d climbed out of the water, she’d wrapped herself in the soft robe Eve had conjured out of the air.
The grass might be a little too green, the trees much too perfectly formed, and the sky a robin’s egg blue that existed only in fairy tales—or here in what was truly Eve’s very own here and now—but it was familiar and comforting to Lily.
Most of the time.
Not so much right now. Eve, always so calm, was obviously anxious. All was not right in what should be paradise. Lily took Eve’s hand and felt the tension in her slim fingers. “Eve? Enough small talk. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Instead of answering, Eve stretched out her hand and pulled a glass of sparkling white wine out of thin air. She handed the chilled goblet to Lily and then grabbed one for herself. Any other time, Lily would have teased her about such a blatant display of power, but Eve seemed so disconnected from the process, Lily kept her mouth shut.
Once they both had their glasses, Eve took a sip of her wine and sighed. “Over the years, I’ve learned to sense when you’re troubled, Lily, and I know you are tonight, but I have a selfish reason for wanting you here. I’m so glad you’ve come. I need your help.”
Lily stared at her friend over the lip of the glass. “Anything, Eve. You don’t even have to ask. I am troubled, but obviously so are you.” She smiled. “Your turn. I’m listening.”
Eve stared beyond Lily. Her eyes swirled in their familiar but disconcerting pattern from green, to gold, to blue. Finally, she seemed to shake herself out of whatever thoughts held her, and focused on Lily.
“When I became the goddess, I knew such unbelievable power. For the first time in my life, I could choose my own way. I could help those I loved, experience the love each of you felt for one another. There was very little beyond my abilities. Nothing, I believed, could ever hurt me again. Or hurt the ones I love.”
She turned her swirling gaze on Lily and sighed. “I was wrong, Lily. So terribly wrong.”
She glanced about, as if searching for something just out of sight. “There’s trouble on the astral plane. I sense it, but I’m unable to determine its source. All I know for certain is that it’s based on magic, but not a magic I’ve ever experienced. I’m afraid it’s dark magic. You’re sensitive to magic in its many forms. I’m hoping you’ll be able to trace the dissonance to its source, find out who or what is causing the rift in my world.”
“Have you gone to the Mother? Asked her?” Lily sipped her wine, but her mind was spinning. Eve could do anything. She knew everything. How could Lily know something Eve didn’t?
“I’ve tried, but she doesn’t answer me, and that’s part of my worry. Something is disturbing the normal flow here. It’s interrupting my ability to communicate with the Mother.” Her chin dropped; she bowed her head. “I’m unable, at times, to connect with any of you. When I knew you were coming to me, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to meet. It’s as if the dimensions are sliding along beside one another, not linked as they should be, as if the fibers of time are disrupted.”
Staring into her glass of wine, she sighed. “I can’t watch over you when that happens. I worry, especially now, when humans are growing concerned about your place in the world. I don’t want any of you to come to harm.”
Lily tossed back the last swallow of her wine and handed the glass to the goddess. Eve threw it into the air, and the glass winked and disappeared.
Lily blinked and squeezed Eve’s hand. “Now that beats washing dishes all to hell.”
Eve smiled, stood, and tugged Lily to her feet. “It would have been handy when I was still part of the pack. I washed a lot of dishes.”
She’d once been as mortal as Lily, mated to the pack’s healer. But because their first goddess had screwed up, Eve died before her time. As punishment, the goddess Liana was sentenced to life on earth while Eve took on the role of goddess and protector of the Chanku.
Liana’s punishment had worked beautifully for everyone. She was now happily bound to Eve’s mate and mother to Adam’s children, while Eve had blossomed as the perfect goddess for a growing group of shapeshifters.
She’d also taken on the job as Lily’s guardian angel long ago, something that gave Lily the courage now to follow Eve across the meadow and take a seat beneath an impossibly huge tree with gnarled branches and thick moss growing over the thick trunk. Protected beneath its branches, Lily opened her senses to the ebb and flow of power within the astral plane. No matter what she found, she knew Eve would watch over her.
Sitting with legs akimbo, Lily searched for any anomaly, for the slightest touch of magic that could be causing trouble.
She loved taking mental journeys while on the astral plane. She’d traveled it in reality when she’d been nothing but a child, and now, as an adult, relished the rich sense of power, the ebb and flow of life and time, of energy linked to forces both negative and positive.
There was balance on the astral—for every light, a shadow, for every spike, a depression. Floating, her mind moving free of her body, Lily spread her questing thoughts wider, opened her heart to the bits of consciousness caught within the flowing bands of energy and life.
She had no idea how long she sat, arms spread wide to capture the slightest sensation, when a ripple passed through her. The fragile wave of energy was slightly out of sync, not part of the ethereal rhythm of the astral plane. The anomaly was so slight that Lily had to consciously reach for it. She concentrated all her senses on the dissonance, that tiny bulge of energy moving across the astral bands, rather than with the flow.
The bulge paused, almost as if it were aware of Lily’s perusal. Without any defined form, it still managed to project a sense of curiosity, as if it wondered who or what she was, why she was here, what she searched for. Then, as Lily opened to the energy, something changed. She sensed darker emotions, hate and malevolence growing and expanding, taking shape as the bulge of energy slowly spun. Caught in the swirling strands of power, Lily stared at the thing, at the way the energy swirled and clumped and slowly morphed into . . .
oh, shit.
A pair of shimmering teal blue eyes—familiar teal blue eyes—blinked slowly and locked on Lily. Sebastian? But how? Why?
She gasped, covered her lips with icy fingertips. It had to be him, and yet she saw only the eyes. The color was magical, as true as the brightest tropical lagoon with dark, liquid pupils, perfectly human-looking eyes framed in thick lashes, staring at her out of swirling darkness. No face, no sense of gender, though she had no doubt she looked into the eyes of the man who had been her lover just last night.
Only now, there was a sense of evil surrounding him, an ugly nature the beauty of his eyes couldn’t disguise. Not merely the darkness she’d felt in him, but a truly evil nature that was every bit as wrong as his father’s.
Yet even so, Lily’s body reacted in pulsing need, a tightening of womb and nipples alike, a flowering of moisture between her legs—sensual heat unlike anything she’d experienced with any other man. Only with him.
Physically captured in a power she couldn’t explain—something as sensual as it was terrifying—Lily struggled, but her muscles wouldn’t obey. She tried to scream a warning, but her lips formed only the sound of his name.