Loving Lucius (Werescape) (3 page)

"Elise," Langston called.

She gulped so loud even the average Normal's hearing had to hear the pop.

"Come here, Elise." Langston's words slowed with warning.

Poor thing. Who could watch this drama unfold and not pity her? How old is she? No more than twenty-four. Too old never to have mated. Strange. A warlord's daughters are mated early for political or economic power. Maybe the redhead's unrestrained behavior kept suitors at a distance.

Elise managed to do as instructed, dragging the clinging girl along.

"Let go, Violet." Langston tugged at the younger girl's arm until she turned a petrified mask his direction.

"Don't send me away, Father."

"You'll be with Elise," he said more softly. "Everything will be fine. Now, let her go."

Elise stared at my horse's dark hooves.

Like she knew what was coming. What her sire would command. Who in the hell could bring himself to bite such a terrified female? Grant it, she's attractive even in the large clothes she'd chosen. But the marking was wrong. Gods-be-damned wrong.

Normals and their fears.

Violet's arms fell away from Elise's plaid shirt, pulled by Langston, over to Sherry, where Violet reattached herself to her other sibling and buried her nose in the redhead's chest.

Only then did Langston release Sherry's arm.

Probably because Violet's weight would prevent the hothead from moving. Running.

"What do you say, Lucius?" Langston asked again, carefully and rather quietly.

No. Not with my clan at risk. I could take them back. But I'm not about to make an enemy. Even of a terrified female. If I reveal the point, will he listen? The man is so desperate now that he doesn't care about his children's feelings. Hell, Elise looked one blink shy of fainting. And the young Violet begged to stay.

"Remove your jacket, Elise," Langston commanded.

Her eyes widened as big as the full moon.

Pale gray like it too.

She raised shaking fingers to the uppermost button holding her shirt closed at her chest and fumbled with the black disc.

Protect
, my Wolf snarled.

Undoubtedly as sick of this lunacy as much as I am. "She doesn't have--"

"Hurry," Langston barked.

Violet began to sob.

Trembling like Elise's fingers at her buttons. But the woman never looked us in the eye. Embarrassed. Ashamed. This had to end. "Enough!"

Elise and Langston flicked their gazes too me.

The things a Shifter is forced to endure in the company of Normals. "Bring the Gods-be-damned horses. I don't have time for this."

Langston didn't have to say anything for the lurking male Normals standing behind him to leap away and assist the first one sent to saddle two mares. They returned almost instantly with the mounts, both loaded with saddle bags and bedrolls. One male darted out of a lodge with two backpacks and handed them to the older sisters. All else was implied in the looming silence.

****

Father had lost his mind. Done the unforgiveable in whatever he offered the pack of Shifters. It didn't matter how much the Shifters were renowned as Guardians when my father wanted me to strip my clothing off for them. For whatever reason. For this Lucius. I had to go now. Simply to escape the man who no longer made rational choices. Who tried to have me barter with my body. I stared at Lucius' blue eyes.

Eyes that held an indefinable awareness.

A chill crept down my arms.

Whether a warning or a sign of my partial understanding of what just transpired, goose flesh didn't jar me into a newfound sense of security. Two mounts loaded with supplies and my father's decision to send us away, whatever the cost, meant we're leaving with strangers. Men altered genetically by the aliens. Men who know what symptoms a person exhibits when carrying alien DNA.

This is a foolish move for Langston. Even though he's the only person who knows my sisters and I are truly half alien--
more
alien than a Shifter--because he's the damned ass who told me. Shackled me with the knowledge about my heritage. How are we supposed to keep our ancestry a secret surrounded by strange Shifters? Shifters who sense things Normals can't. Their alien DNA might measure up to only ten percent, but they have heightened shape-shifter senses that my sisters and I don't possess.

Yet, Shifters protect women at all costs. For the greater good of humanity. Fearing them is suicidal. Something Sherry would do. But caution saved one's ass after extraterrestrial invasion, AEI. I can't hold Sherry's fears against her since the night she awoke in her bed and found aliens huddled around her bed. I understand her anxiety and can't hold her reaction against her. Hell, she's standing up for herself. I didn't. And, at least, Lucius spared me the embarrassment of a disrobing. Remembering that makes things not so bad.

"On the horse," Langston snarled at Sherry.

She didn't bitch. Didn't balk. Merely landed in the saddle. That's unusual for a fighter.

"No. No!" Violet squalled as Father eased her toward the horse.

Father ignored her howls and hefted the thin girl into the seat before Sherry. "Take care of her, Sherry. She's afraid."

"That's a mute point," Sherry spat but snaked her arms around Violet's waist.

Langston ignored the quip and grabbed the other mare's halter. "Up you go, Elise."

Just ignore him. Forget what's happening. I struggled not to scowl at him. I should punch the shit out of him. But a woman who maintained her dignity had the strength of twenty men. Women survived childbirth for God's sake! I stepped into the saddle as if it were an extension of my body.

Father patted the mare's red neck. "You'll understand soon enough, Elise."

The asshole. "How dare you speak to me as if you and I could ever think the same." Just to get away from the self-centered ass who sent us into danger. I yanked the reins, pulling the mare's head out of his hands, turning the horse toward the Shifters.

Betrayed, by the man claiming to be my own flesh and blood to save my life. Simply betrayed. And he'd saved us all these years for something. From everything. Why the change of plan now? There'd be no forgiving Langston for this. I kicked the mare into a trot past the Guardians toward the open gate and headed into an unknowable future. Mine.

Chapter Two

"Let's go," Lucius yelled behind me.

He sounded like the Shifters employed by Father. Bossy. Demanding. A man you shouldn't cross. Even looked like those Father employed with their shaved heads, camouflage clothing, and combat boots. Hopefully, we could expect the same kind of treatment from them as the Shifters I dealt with back home. Guardians. I had to remember they serve Normals as Guardians. By their own choice. Not because Normals pay them to do so. To fear them because of this terrifying situation would by foolish. Something Sherry would do. I have to be stronger. For Violet. If fear consumed me, I'd risk Violet's safety. Without Father, I have to take care of Violet.

One warrior's drumming hooves raced past and ahead of me.

Sherry better be coming. Cooperating. That's a lot to hope for. But possible. I peered over my shoulder to find Father watching us cross the long meadow from the safety of his open gate until our horses merged with the forest's edge. Sherry rode a few feet behind me.

We'd ridden into another world. And Father had to be breathing easier now with three less thorns in his side. Maybe we should feel safer too. With the aliens suddenly determined to kill all the warlords they'd used for so long, we're better off with strangers who know nothing about our lives back in New Boston and who know nothing about my sisters' and my isolation from most people. Well, the partial isolation in Sherry's case. She was prone to sneaking out whenever the need pushed her to. Hopefully, she'd lay low and cooperate. For our sake. So I need to study our party and learn what I can about the Shifters before Sherry loses her patience. I scanned the group.

All were standard in shaved heads and clean-shaven faces. East Coast clansmen. Like from packs east of the Mississippi. And they'd reacted honorably when faced with whatever Father offered them to take us into hiding. Didn't rape me on the spot that is. But Shifters should behave this way. They aren't our enemies. Besides, Shifters protect females. But just what will they do with us? I glanced around me.

One large Guardian rode on each flank of our party and the fourth behind my sisters. The one named Lucius, the one Father wanted me to strip for, rode to my right.

His stern mask turned to me.

As if he detected my gaze.

He studied me with patience.

I hope because after what just transpired, we can't be certain what Father had arranged. Sherry was already with the Guardians when I chanced upon the scene. She knows more. I need to drill her for information. I pulled up on the reins until the mare stopped.

Sherry caught up with me and shot me a glare that could melt ice.

Lucius pulled his painted gelding's white head toward us.

Undoubtedly because we'd stopped. Forget chatting with the stranger. Or being told to remove my shirt again. And we can't chance him insisting on touching one of us on learning our secret. "Come on." I kicked the mare back into a walk.

After years I spent hiding beneath long sleeves, preventing the accidental touch of my skin by anyone who chanced too close in passing, my actions revolved around preventing people from learning about our psychic healing ability of touch. From setting off another wave of our being labeled witches. Abominations. Freaks. And both Normals and Shifters blamed alien DNA for psychic gifts.

So, where would we be if one of us accidentally healed someone? Interrogated as alien spies? Prisoners? Did that even matter in where we stand now? Unfortunately, my fear didn't keep Sherry covered no matter how often I scolded her. But she didn't let just anyone touch her. She had enough sense to hide what needed to be hidden and fight back to protect herself. Hopefully, she won't fight the wrong people if these Shifters prove to be allies. It'd be just our luck to have her anger them into dumping us with the first people we encounter. I kicked my mare into following the lead Shifter.

We rode onward, entering an endless forest of shade broken by brutal sunlight, bobbing limbs laden with leaves, and the urgent calls of birds twittering their alarms to their comrades with our rude penetration of their territory.

Lucius returned to his flank position.

Far enough for me to whisper. "Tell me what happened before my arrival back there." I tried not to look at Violet's twisted mask. Tried not to feed her dread.

"He said we were going with these animals," Sherry hissed.

Interesting choice of foolish words. "Mark your words, sister." I kept my voice as low as possible. "These men now protect us. We don't want to point fingers. Especially after our Father just ordered me to undress before them."

Sherry snorted. "That father of ours is a fool. He's run so long and so far that he's lost his mind."

Maybe. "Something else drove Father to this extreme. For now, say nothing. Do not fight these men, Sherry. Do not cause problems. Violet will suffer for your actions."

Violet. Now she's as much a problem as Sherry. Violet's heightened alien intelligence would endanger us even more than Sherry's behavior. My youngest sister grows more and more social with every year. Now that she approaches her coming of age, she'll yearn for the opposite sex. Sherry and I had. It's inevitable. The day will come when Violet will want to befriend males for obvious reasons. Possibly even sneaking away to do so among strangers who are normally kept at a distance like Sherry had even though Langston had paid a Shifter to prevent that very thing. What will happen when Violet faces the same decision, out here, in the middle of nowhere? Will we be abandoned in The Wild with nothing for protection against Bounders, the alien creatures extraterrestrials left on Earth to dine upon human flesh after nightfall? I can't worry about that now. No. Better to worry about the problem at hand.