A sharp cracking sound filled the air and the body stopped thrashing underneath her just before she collapsed into a pool of her own blood.
CHAPTER Ten
“HOW IS SHE?”
Antoine turned his head as Margo entered the room. He was seated on the edge of the bed, watching her. Tahira’s ragged breaths told of more injuries than appeared on the surface. Giselle had done her best, but between the two of them, she had only been able to heal the worst of her wounds.
He looked down at her pale face and felt incredibly proud of her. “She’ll heal. But she was stabbed a number of times and will probably have scars.”
Margo walked closer and wrapped her arms around her body, smelling worried. “Are you going to tell her?”
He adjusted the blankets to cover Tahira’s shoulders and then stood. He looked down at Margo until her gaze rose to meet his. “Tell her what? That she killed a man? She knows. It’s not that the human side disappears when the animal takes over. We’re aware of our actions, but they don’t really … matter in the heat of the moment. Those men were trying to kill us, and she reacted as any animal would. I can’t fault her.”
He turned and walked toward the window, pulling them open to let in the bright sunshine. He had to flick his sensitive eyes away from the brilliant reflection off the snow. “There’s a point in each Sazi life where we have to deal with this, Margo. The Hayalet are no different. Animals don’t regret. Only humans do that, and each of us deals with it differently. I’ll talk to her if she wants to, but the truth is that there are occasions when even the best of us lose control of our humanity.”
Her whisper was warm and concerned. “Even you?”
He nodded. “Yes. As an alpha, I have more control over my thoughts. But the men last night were trained killers. They knew who … what we are, and were prepared to capture or kill us. I regret not saving any of them, because they might have had the answers we need.”
“So you found no trace of the third man?”
He shook his head, took a step, and winced at the pain still radiating from his hip. “He shifted to snake form. All I found were his empty clothes and a single bloody indentation that disappeared into the forest. I’m fairly certain he was a viper. The blood tasted very bitter.”
“So now what? Her parents e-mailed again, saying that someone from their tribe would arrive to collect her.”
“That will take a few days, but you already know the answer. For the moment, when she wakes, we’ll concentrate on finding her some proper clothing, and letting her get some rest. Ahmad said that Charles has a few volumes in the library with information about power wells, so we’ll start there.” He stepped back to the bed, pressed the back of his hand against her forehead, and was pleased that her fever was down. He ran a gentle finger down her cheek and smiled slightly.
“It’s obvious that she can control herself by instinct. She absolutely should not have been able to overpower that man. He was a lion—bigger and stronger and as close to an alpha as I’ve seen in a long time in that species. He should have been able to break free from her grasp. Somehow she must have been able to use his own power against him. But having the ability to use her gift doesn’t mean she has control. There has to be conscious intent behind true control.”
Margo quietly walked to the door and Antoine followed. She continued to keep her voice low, since Giselle didn’t have Amber’s abilities to keep Tahira in a magical sleep to heal. “Maybe you could take her into town? The plow drove by earlier, so the roads are probably clear. Fiona’s clothes don’t really fit her and she’s taller than Giselle. It might do her good to get away from the house and do something other than sit around and be reminded of last night.”
He pursed his lips and opened the door, holding it for her to precede him. “That’s not a bad idea. How is our food stock holding up? Should we do some grocery shopping?”
“The food’s okay. The pantry and freezer are stocked, but I know that Matty is hoping to buy some poster paint or black ink. He’s done carving both the boomerang and kylie, and is downstairs on the internet looking for appropriate symbols to decorate them.”
Antoine closed the door, turning the handle so that the sound didn’t wake Tahira. “He’ll want chocolate, too. The Tim Tams didn’t last long. But I’d prefer to keep the trip to just the two of us, in case she does want to talk. How’s Grand—I mean Giselle, by the way? I was surprised that she even helped us last night, consider her recent… decision.”
Margo put a light hand on his arm, stopping him from descending the staircase. “She doesn’t hate you, Antoine. Of course she’s going to help you when you come home bleeding from a dozen wounds. She’s upstairs in her room, resting. Healing takes a lot out of her. I don’t know what all has led her to believe that you’re not doing your job, but I disagree. I’ve been talking to her, trying to convince her to reconsider.”
Antoine smiled sadly. “Thank you for that. I’ve been starting to doubt myself, and I appreciate knowing that some people still believe in me. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the day to day events of life and not see the big picture, but I’ve been trying to do both. I thought I was succeeding. I’m not entirely convinced that I’m so far out of touch as to have unknowingly injured those I’m supposed to protect.”
“I hope you don’t believe that dig from Ahmad about us being servants, either.” When he raised his brows in suspicion, she shrugged. “Apparently, the guards were talking about it in the basement and Larry overheard.”
Antoine thought back to the end of their meeting last night, before he and Tahira decided to go outside and hunt. Yes, perhaps it had been petty to hold the guards against the ceiling for the full meeting, but he certainly did not equate his loyal employees such as Margo, Matty, and Bruce to the life-bound, unpaid slaves of Ahmad. When Ahmad had said that he needed his servants back to prepare him for dinner, maybe he shouldn’t have responded. But he took the bait and asked why Ahmad couldn’t survive without being surrounded by servants, when he could do just fine. Even now, the response made him furious.
“Putain! To say that I believed myself better than him, when in reality I had surrounded myself with servants and fooled myself into believing they were somehow different, and that perhaps hypocrisy was one of the reasons why Giselle had challenged me—” He shook his head angrily and placed his hand on the banister to ease the pressure on his hip.
Margo let out a light laugh. “We’re hardly servants, at least not as Ahmad defines the term. Yes, we’d probably stay with you even if you couldn’t pay us—” She waggled her head a bit. “Well, for a month or so anyway. But I’m fond of things like, oh, food and electricity. I think you’re a terrific boss, but I’d drop you in a second if the gravy train totally derailed. I’m allergic to weather with no roof over my head!”
Antoine chuckled. “And as much as Bruce loves the animals, Larry would say the same. He’s very protective of our keeper, and even as a three-day, I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side if I somehow made them lose that new condo they bought.”
“Oh yeah. That wouldn’t go over very well. Matty might stay. He couldn’t just leave the cats until you found someone to replace him or got the cats to good homes.”
At that moment, Matty raced into the front room, grabbed for the banister to take the stairs, and missed. He skidded on the stone and nearly lost his footing, but managed not to wind up in a heap against the far wall. He looked up with wide eyes, and the ammonia panic in his scent was nearly enough to make Antoine sneeze.
“Holy dooley! Did you hear the news?”
Margo and Antoine quickly descended the stairs until they were on the main level. “What are you talking about, Matty?” Antoine asked.
“The coppers caught the bloke! He’s in lock-up, and what’s going to happen if they find out? I mean, it’s a good pozzy for you and Tahira—he can’t hurt you from there, but Ahmad will be spewin’ mad.”
Antoine reached out and put a hand on each of Matty’s shoulders. “Who are you talking about? Who was arrested?”
“The one who got away! The snake in the woods. The coppers got a call about a rifle shot and drove out there just in time to find the bloke staggering from the woods. He was still carved up and the cops followed the blood trail back to the other two. The dead one at the scene had the same fingerprints as the ones where Simon was killed, and there was a dead lion at the scene. So he’s in lock-up. But what happens if he turns? Yeah, it’s not the third night anymore, but how much do you know about snakes?
Could he turn if he’s hurt? And what happens if he heals too fast?”
Antoine realized that his jaw had dropped and his fingers had frozen tight on Matty’s shoulders, causing the other man to wince. He released the vet mid shook his head in frustration. “Merde! This is a complication we didn’t need. Of course, you’re right that it’s good for our purposes that he was caught, but the issues that it raises. Pauvre con! We need to—”
“Do nothing. It is not your concern.” Ahmad appeared as though by magic at the bottom of the stairs, causing Margo to give a small startled yelp.
Antoine was accustomed to Ahmad’s lightning movements, but the others had little contact with the councilman. He did do a double-take when he noticed the Egyptian’s attire. Antoine couldn’t remember a time when Ahmad had been dressed in blue jeans, much less a polo shirt, but Ahmad appeared perfectly at home in both.
“Once again,” Ahmad continued, “you forget your place. Perhaps it’s because so many in your family have been involved in law enforcement that you feel the need to think in those terms. Perhaps you should consider a change in careers, because we are administrators, Antoine. Nothing more. We will contact Wolven. They will handle the situation. If the prisoner is indeed a snake with ties to a crime scene, he will be eliminated before any harm is done. It would certainly not make me, as your servant’s colorful phrasing would indicate, ‘spewin’ mad.’ ”
Antoine took a step forward until he was within inches of the cobra. He refused to get into another debate about whether Matty was a servant, but there were other problems. “There is nobody in Europe right now, Ahmad. With Fiona and Raven on forced leave, and Bobby training his replacement, there are no agents in this part of the world.” Antoine’s voice was growing louder and his movements more broad as his temper rose. “We have a duty—”
Ahmad narrowed his eyes and used one finger to wipe a tiny droplet of spittle from his nose. He glanced at his finger with disdain and took one step closer to Antoine, until their noses nearly touched. “First, if you ever spit on me again, you will learn that cobras spit back. Second, once again, we have no duty other than to advise the authorities. However, I overheard that you will be traveling to town with the girl. If you feel compelled to verify your concerns, then please do stop by the police station. If you confirm his identity by scent, let headquarters know. But be warned,” he said, lowering his voice to a deep rumble that rose and fell with dangerous hisses, “if you de-ssside to become persssonally involved, it might not jussst be Gissselle who feels the need to challenge you.”
Antoine felt Ahmad’s power sear over his skin and the hot scent of anger fill the air. He knew full well what would happen if the snake actually decided to spit at him from such a short distance. If he wasn’t fast enough, he could go blind, or even permanently lose the patch of skin that the venom landed on. But he stood his ground and didn’t flinch at the hissing and power show, and didn’t allow himself to smell of fear.
Backing down was the ultimate sign of weakness to the snakes, which was primarily why he had held Ahmad’s guards on the ceiling as long as he did.
His voice was calm but hard when he replied. “Very well. I will go to the police and verify the identity of the prisoner. Then I’ll contact Wolven. But if they can’t have someone in Stuttgart before nightfall tomorrow, we will have another discussion about the duty of a councilman when it involves the primary rule of all of our kind.”
Ahmad’s smile was a dangerous baring of teeth as he stepped back a pace. “I sincerely hope we have that opportunity. We haven’t had a vigorous discussion since I petitioned to have your sister put down. I would be very interested to see how you fare against me now that my powers have reached their peak. Perhaps Giselle will be spared making the choice to fight.”
He turned away with a low chuckle, deliberately slamming his shoulder against Antoine’s as he walked into the great room. Antoine felt his head drop into a defensive position and a low growl rise from his chest. He turned to follow, intending to finish this rivalry once and for all, but Margo and Matty each grabbed on to an arm.
“Don’t let him rile you, mate,” Matty said quietly. “You might win, but what if you don’t? What would happen to Tahira, and… well, us, if Ahmad does you in? He’s up himself but was acting too bloody confident just now. He’s got something up his sleeve. With you gone, Giselle and Larry and the rest of us will just be mozzies for the squashing.”
“Please, Antoine,” Margo pleaded. “Let it go. Matty’s right—Ahmad will always be an ass, but there’s more to consider right now.”
Antoine glared at the doorway for a moment. They were right. Ahmad’s scent had been sweet and cloying, a clear sign he was hiding something. This was just like Ahmad to deliberately provoke him into a trap. Usually he ignored the attempts, taking his frustrations out on furniture, but even that was becoming a liability, perpetuating the image that he was unstable.
No, I’m better than that. This time, I’m going to just walk away.
He relaxed his muscles and took a deep breath. “Merci, mon amis. You’re quite right. Ahmad is a minor annoyance and I shouldn’t let him get the best of me. I’ll go upstairs and wake Tahira, and then we’ll go into town. Are there, by chance, any vehicles that were spared the storm, or will we have to dig out first?”
“Bruce and Larry went out earlier to do just that and get the rest of their bags,” Margo said. “The second van is in the garage, but with any luck, they’ll get the SUV started and beat down a path all the way from the road so we don’t have to shovel.”