Beneath a Darkening Moon (37 page)

S
AVANNAH EASED THE
motel room door open and peered out. No car stood in the parking space in front of the next room, yet she could still hear movement inside. Whoever it was, they obviously thought they weren’t going to be caught, as they were making no attempt to be quiet.

Maybe Candy’s attack
was
planned. Maybe it was meant to be a diversion of some kind.

The thought sent another chill down her spine, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. She eased past the door and padded quietly to the next room. The curtains had been drawn, so there was no chance to peer inside. She’d have to go in.

She drew her gun, wishing it was the real thing rather than just a dart gun. Ripple Creek didn’t get a whole lot of nasty criminals, and the council’s ruling that only tranquilizer weapons be used by rangers generally made sense. Except in situations like this where they were dealing with nutcases who had little more than murder on their minds. She’d have to talk to her dad and get him to insert some type of clause giving them the option to use real firearms if needed.
Not that the station actually had any at the moment, but she and Ronan did. She’d never used hers and hoped she never had to, but it was there just in case.

She clicked the dart’s safety off. The soft sound seemed to ricochet like thunder and, inside the room, the movement stopped.

Savannah waited, tension winding through her limbs, until every muscle felt so tightly wound it surely had to snap. For several seconds, she didn’t even dare breathe.

Inside, the footsteps retreated. A second later came the sound of a window sliding open.

Savannah took a step forward, then stopped. If the intruder had heard the sound of the safety clicking off, then she’d surely have realized that the sound of a window sliding open would also carry. And maybe Savannah was
meant
to react to it.

She pressed back against the wall and waited. For too many minutes, nothing happened. Her knuckles ached with the fierceness of her grip on the gun, and sweat began to trickle down her spine.

Then the curtain moved. Not much, just enough for someone to peer out. Savannah pressed herself harder against the wall and hoped like hell the angle would prevent her from being seen.

Then, movement resumed inside the room. She breathed a silent sigh of relief, stepped back, and aimed a kick at the door.

The flimsy lock gave way with little resistance, and the door crashed back. Inside, someone cursed, and there was a blur of movement as someone ran. Not at her, but away.

“Ripple Creek ranger,” Savannah said, even as she
aimed the weapon at the fleeing woman—Lonny. “Stop or I’ll shoot.”

She didn’t stop, so Savannah followed through with her threat. The dart hissed through the air just as the woman was retreating into the bathroom, striking her in the rump. There was a yelp, a hiss of anger, and then Lonny ran screaming out of the bathroom and straight at Savannah.

She managed to fire another shot, and then the woman was on her, all fury and muscle accompanied by a sickly-sweet smell. The momentum of her attack hit with the force of a truck, and the two of them went down in a tangle of arms and legs. Savannah grunted as her back caught the door frame, but it was Lonny who took the brunt of their weight as they crashed to the floor. But she didn’t react, just kept on punching, her breath short and sharp, her eyes wide and her pupils dilated.

High on something, Savannah thought, as she tried to grab the other woman’s arm and, simultaneously, tried to avoid most of her blows, which was all but impossible. Whatever the hell it was, it was interfering with the dart and slowing its effects. She caught one wrist, holding it tight and half-noting the bandages, until a blow to her cheek had her senses reeling. Lonny chuckled, her voice low but filled with a coldness that sent a chill down Savannah’s spine. She blinked away the pain, felt the breeze of a follow-up blow coming, and leaned back as far as she could without losing her grip on Lonny’s wrist. Something sharp skimmed her chin, drawing blood, and out of nowhere anger surged. Or maybe it had always been there, and she’d merely controlled it up until now. Either
way, enough was enough. She might be a ranger, but she was also the target of these madwomen. It was about time she started fighting back. To hell with the rules and her own personal restrictions. These women had to be stopped any damn way they could, or someone she loved might end up paying the price.

She gathered her psychic forces and punched into Lonny’s mind. She hit a shield—a strong shield—but Savannah was pissed off and she doubted there was any shield capable of keeping her out right now. Lonny’s eyes widened, and fear replaced the cunning contempt that had been so evident until now. Even though Lonny tried to shore up her defenses, it was far too late. Savannah wrapped a psychic hand around the other woman’s mind and squeezed.

“Stop,” she said.

Lonny stilled instantly, but the fear in her eyes blossomed. “You can’t do this.”

“Says who?” Savannah rose and scrubbed a hand across her bleeding chin as she looked around the room. What had Lonny been doing here?

Lonny didn’t say anything, and Savannah looked down at her. “Answer the question.”

“Jina says.”

“Why? Because I’m a ranger?”

“Because you don’t have any psychic strength.”

Savannah raised her eyebrows as she knelt near the bed. No psychic strength? When she came from the golden pack? “And you won’t tell her that I have, will you?” She made it an order and enforced it—not only blocking the knowledge from anyone who might make psychic contact with Lonny, but also preventing her from talking to anyone else about it.

“Why on earth would you think something like that?” she asked, once she was done.

Lonny didn’t answer immediately, so Savannah applied a little more psychic pressure. Lonny cursed, and sweat broke out across her brow. “Jontee told Jina. And she checked herself.”

Jontee had told Jina—Anni—that she wasn’t a powerful telepathic? Why would he believe that? Then she remembered that Cade had believed the very same thing. Maybe it had something to do with never having come across someone from the golden pack before. Unless you were familiar with how pack shields worked, it could be very easy to believe a lack of telepathic strength.

Although she’d never felt Anni trying to probe her, and she would have. “Anni never tested me. She lied.”

“She didn’t have to—not when she could read your day-to-day thoughts with ease.”

Savannah snorted. Obviously, Anni didn’t know much about the golden pack, or she would have realized that most of them didn’t bother keeping full shields up unless they were actually with another wolf from the pack.

She pulled up the bedsheets, looked underneath, and discovered what Lonny had been doing—planting another bomb. It didn’t look as if it had been set, but then again, she knew next to nothing about bombs. Nor did she trust Lonny enough to compel her to defuse it. Any woman that attacked rather than run was mad enough to set off the bomb to kill them both.

She let the cover drop back down. “Why blow up the IIS officers? That’ll only bring down the wrath of the whole organization.”

Lonny shrugged. “No witnesses, no tales, no trails.”

Her words came out slightly slurred, and Savannah glanced around. Lonny was struggling to keep her eyes open. Obviously the two darts were finally taking effect. She’d better get her to the car, or she’d end up having to carry her.

“Get up,” she ordered.

As Lonny struggled upright, Savannah placed a quick call to Anton to warn him about the bomb.

“Bastards,” he said, voice edged with a mix of exhaustion and anger. “We’re just about finished here, so we’ll come over and defuse it.” He hesitated. “Have you heard from the boss?”

“No.” And the reminder caused panic to spear through her heart again. Something was very wrong.

“I’ll call him.” He hesitated again, then added, “It might be best if you keep someone with you until Cade returns. I don’t like the feel of things right now.”

That made two of them. “I will.”

She hung up and marched Lonny to her truck. The blonde was all but asleep on her feet by the time they’d gotten there, forcing Savannah to lift her up and buckle her in. But at least it meant she could release her grip on Lonny’s mind.

Or most of it, anyway. She still kept a mental finger on the pulse, so to speak, just in case Anni or Candy tried to make contact with Lonny. She jumped into the driver’s seat and headed for the ranger station. Ronan pulled up as she did. He looked as bad as she’d ever seen him, his clothes disheveled and face drawn.

“You look like shit,” she said softly as she climbed out of her truck.

He scrubbed a hand through his damp, dirt-caked
hair. “That’s because I feel like shit.” He shook his head, and his gaze, when it met hers, was haunted. “I never, ever, want to see something like that again. Never want to feel anything like that again.”

Oh God
. She’d forgotten he could sometimes sense lingering emotions in the air, even though he wasn’t actually empathic.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and hugged him.

He held her so tightly it felt as if he was squeezing the breath from her lungs, but there was nothing sexual in it. Just one close friend taking much needed comfort from another.

After a few minutes, he blew out a breath and pulled back. “Thanks,” he said softly, then his gaze went past her. “Who’s that in the truck?”

“Lonny.” She studied him for a moment, seeing tension in the set of his shoulders. The muscle ticking near his jaw. He was controlling the horror, but only just. “You going to be all right tonight?”

“Yeah. After a drink or two.” He shrugged. “You want a hand getting her inside?”

“Yes.” She hesitated. “You sure you don’t want me to fudge your memories enough for you to sleep?”

He smiled and lightly touched her cheek. “Thanks, but I’m okay. Really,” he added, when she lifted a disbelieving eyebrow. “Let’s get that woman into a cell.”

They carried Lonny inside, but the minute they were through the door, Savannah knew something had happened. There was a coldness, a stillness, to the air that wasn’t usually there, and it sent a chill of apprehension running through her limbs.

“She’s been here,” Ronan said, voice sharp.

She glanced at him. “Anni?”

He nodded. “Recently.”

Her gaze went to Kel. “Has Anni Hawkins been—” She stopped, noticing for the first time the curious blankness in their assistant’s eyes.

“Fuck,” Ronan said softly. “What do you want to bet that Candy is no longer our prisoner?”

“Odds on, I’d say,” Savannah replied softly. “You all right to take Lonny to the cells?”

He nodded and shifted his grip to take the woman’s full weight. Savannah walked around the desk and squatted in front of their admin assistant.

“Kel?” she said, touching the other woman’s knee lightly.

Kel blinked, but her eyes were still curiously blank as she said, “I have a message.”

It was Kel’s voice, and yet it wasn’t. She reached out psychically, gently probing Kel’s mind. It was being held by another, and though she dare not probe any deeper for fear of being detected, it didn’t take a genius to guess who that other person might be.

“What was the message, Kel?”

“Be here by seven, or else your not-so-charming lover or your sister’s brother-in-law will be the next victim.”

Fear erupted in her heart, and for several seconds she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Then the anger rose again, and the force of it swept the fear away. How
dare
Anni threaten
her
family,
her
man, and attempt to make them pay for something that had happened so long ago? Something that was always going to end badly for the people involved in the true madness of Rosehall?

She glanced at the clock on the wall. “That only
gives me twenty-five minutes, and I don’t even know where the fuck you are.”

“Then find us. You have twenty minutes, ranger. Don’t waste it chatting to me.”

“Cade and René had better be alive when I get there, Jina.”

There was a beat of silence, then, “So you know.”

“Yes. I also know now what Jontee really did. He deserved the death he got.”

“It was Nelle who believed half-breeds were tainted, not him. But she controlled him and he wasn’t strong enough to fight her.”

“He could have if he’d wanted to enough, Jina. You underestimate his strength.”

“I underestimate nothing.” Kel blinked, and the light of awareness seemed to shine briefly in her eyes. Then the blankness returned. “Time’s slipping by, ranger. If you are not here by seven, one of them dies.”

She glanced around as the front door opened and almost groaned aloud when she saw the two dark-haired, powerful men walking in. Zeke and Tye Sinclair—René’s father and oldest brother. Just what she needed.

She motioned them to be quiet and returned her attention to Kel. The reality was, she had enough psychic strength to attack Jina right now, and either freeze her mind or fry it. But it would also hurt Kel in the process, and Candy would probably kill both Cade and René in revenge. Meaning she only had one option.

“I’ll be there, Jina.”

“Be sure you are. Candy is extremely hungry.”

Kel blinked before Savannah could reply, awareness and horror surging into her eyes.

“Oh God, oh God,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stop—”

“I know,” Savannah interrupted. “But I need to make sure it can’t happen again, which means I need to place a block in your mind.”

“Go right ahead. The thought of that woman in my mind again—” She stopped and shivered. “She’s mad, you know.”

Savannah’s smile felt tight. “I know.” She raised a hand to Kel’s temple. “Close your eyes.”

Kel obeyed. Savannah reached out psychically and gently encased Kel’s mind in a shield of power. It wouldn’t actually stop a concerted attack, but it would at least break the line of communication between Kel and Jina. Savannah pulled back and took a shuddering breath. She’d never used her telepathy so much, and with such precision, in one night, and an ache was beginning to form behind her eyes. Too much more, and she’d get a killer headache.