Matt: Tales of the Were (Redstone Clan Book 5) (11 page)

“Are you all right, sweetheart?” he asked in a low voice that wouldn’t carry beyond them. “Anything hurt?” She shook her head, making a tiny cough that meant she was fine. Relief hit him hard.

To hide his reaction, he looked around the site. A very large snake had been killed and laid out a few feet away. He moved a little closer to investigate.

Everything about this kill wasn’t right.

For one thing, this species of snake didn’t naturally live in this area. And he could see from what was left of the body—which Morgan hadn’t disturbed, thankfully—that it had been cut with a blade. Gutted. And the entrails spread in a particular pattern. It was arranged on the side of the hill, and its blood had poured downward to pool where Morgan had discovered it.

“This was done at least a day or two ago, and the forest scavengers haven’t disturbed it.” Matt frowned as he whispered his observations to Morgan. “That points toward enchantment,” he thought aloud. “But why here?”

He looked around and spotted something just over Morgan’s hunched shoulders. She turned her head, following the direction of his gaze.

“Son of a bitch,” he whispered. “I didn’t see that the last time I prowled through here.” He crawled over to the opening in the rock that was almost totally covered with brush.

Sure enough, it was another entrance to the mine. One that everyone who had surveyed the area had missed, apparently.
Dammit.

“This has to be where they’re getting into the mine,” he thought aloud. “Shit.” He rested his elbows on his knees and thought.

Exercising caution, Matt looked over the site and wiped away any evidence that they’d come through. He even tried to doctor the area where Morgan had landed in the blood, turning over leaves and moving them to hide the evidence of her presence.

When all was as clear as he could make it, he looked at poor, blood-covered Morgan. “Let’s get you cleaned up, sweetheart. We’ll go to the pond, and you can take a dip to rid yourself of the blood, okay?”

Her eyes lit with approval of his idea, and he quickly shifted back to cougar form, motioning with his head for her to precede him. He followed after, making sure they left no evidence of their trail behind.

He caught up to her and nudged her toward the pond they had visited the day before with the human tour group. It was deep enough that she could submerge herself and swim around a bit. It also was fed by a small stream that kept the water fresh and flowing. A few fish and a turtle or two completed the idyllic spot. And it was in a safe area that wasn’t easily seen from anywhere else on the property. They would be secure, for the moment, even if Irma and her friends returned.

He smelled the water ahead, and apparently, so did Morgan. She sped up, rushing into the pond as soon as she was close enough. Matt stood guard while she splashed around.

After a few minutes, the splashing sounds changed. Matt looked back to realize
she
had changed. Much to his surprise, she had shifted shape to her human form and was currently up to her neck in the pond, scrubbing at her hair and face.

“I don’t want you to think I’m wimping out on you,” Morgan said when she caught him watching her. “I’m a cat, you know. And I work with a bunch of vampires. I’m not usually skeeved out by a little blood.” She paused to dunk her head again. “But there’s something about the feel of this…” She trailed off as she scrubbed at her face. “It makes my skin crawl.”

Matt shifted shape, so he could talk to her. He crouched down by the edge of the pond to rinse his hands. His paws had touched a bit of the blood, and he knew exactly what she meant.

“Blood magic,” he said in a clipped voice, angry that someone would defile the land in such a way. Blood magic was the lowest of the low. The evilest of the evil.

Morgan paused in her splashing. He looked up to meet her gaze, and time stood still, for a moment.

“Are you sure?” It seemed like the entire forest held its breath, waiting for his answer.

“What else could it be? As far as I know there are no Burmese pythons roaming around Northern California on their own. The only way it could’ve gotten up here is if somebody brought it with them. And, judging by the amount of blood, they killed it right there.” He paused, rinsing his hands again. “Did you see the pattern in the way it was laid out? It was very deliberate. Like a sacrifice or some kind of blood magic working. We should get the priestess to come up here and have a look, but I don’t want to take the risk. It’s obvious whoever killed the snake has been coming and going rather freely through here.”

“Irma,” Morgan said, her eyes narrowed. “I can’t believe she would betray us.”

“And, yet, there’s no doubt it was her scent we both followed. Somehow, she’s involved in all of this,” Matt growled. “We should ask some of the Brotherhood to come up here and check it out, too. If anyone knows the different flavors of blood magic, it’s a vampire.”

“I’ll call Marc when we get back to civilization,” Morgan agreed. “The Master needs to know about this, first. He’ll probably call a council once we report this.”

“How does that work?” Matt asked, curious about her life and working arrangements. “I mean, when we first met, you were Marc’s lawyer, but now, you’re working for Atticus. Do you work for all of them, depending on their business needs?”

She tilted her head, rinsing her hair one more time. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it. I go where they need me, and I keep an eye on most of the Brotherhood’s business interests. Atticus needed me for this land deal, and he wants close supervision on the housing development, so I’ve been working out of his office at the vineyard, for a while now. This project is very important to him.”

“To us, too. If I haven’t said it before, I’m glad you’re on the project. Your input has helped things move along a lot more smoothly than I expected.”

She looked up at him, a pleased smile on her face. “Thanks.”

Matt splashed his hands in the water some more, scrubbing at the remnants of blood that felt vile. Now that he thought about it, Morgan was right. This stuff wasn’t normal blood. It was tainted. Even he could feel it with only a small amount on his skin.

He was looking down at his hands when a wave of water hit him. Surprised, he looked up to find Morgan laughing and scooting away.

“Counselor, did you just splash me?” he asked in a mocking tone.

She giggled. “Now, would I do something like that?”

So, the kitty wanted to play. Matt grinned at her. This was the first truly playful impulse he’d seen from Morgan, and he liked it. She was far too serious all the time. He liked it when she laughed.

Hell, he just liked
her
. Period. She pushed all his buttons and then some. And he wanted to keep that smile on her face. Forever, if he could. He liked seeing her happy.

And he wanted more than anything to see her in pleasure, screaming his name. Moaning as he brought her to orgasm and made her his. For all time.

Whoa
.

But, somehow, the thought didn’t really stop the freight train of desire running through his system. No, it only pushed him forward. Egging him on until he dove, shallowly, headfirst into the pond.

He heard Morgan shriek with laughter a moment before the pure mountain water closed over his head. He swam underwater until he found her, grasping her around the waist as he broke the surface, her back to his front. He kept his hands around her waist, holding her in place.

“I’ve got you, now, counselor. There’s no escaping my revenge,” he teased.

She stilled against him, and he wished he could read the expression on her face. He felt the import of the moment. Something was going to happen here—and it was up to her which way this encounter would go.

“What if I don’t want to escape?” she whispered, making his heart race with excitement.

He pulled her back against him tightly, so she could feel his rising cock against her buttocks. When she didn’t squirm away, his pulse began to pound. Was she giving him the go ahead? Was she willing to give them a chance?

He slid his hands over her torso under the water, walking them a little closer to shore where he could dig his feet more firmly into the slippery bottom of the rocky pond. He wouldn’t take any chances with this special lady.

There was no need for words as she let him run his hands over her skin. When he moved to cup her breast, she moved into his touch, clearly welcoming it—welcoming him. He hadn’t expected her to allow him any liberties this early in their relationship. Hell, he wasn’t even sure she’d realized they were going to have a relationship, though he wanted her almost desperately, at this point.

But, now, things had changed. Thank the Goddess.

Matt turned her in his arms and dipped his head, lifting her up so he could kiss her. And she let him. No, more than that, she kissed him back. With interest.

He ran his hands over her body, then lifted her, moving her out of the water and up toward the bank. He set her on a large, flat rock, and she reclined, allowing him to do as he wished. And what he wished for most, at the moment, was to taste her…all over.

He lapped at her lips, leaving them only to trail kisses down her neck and over her chest, pausing at her nipples, licking and sucking until she moaned. And there it was, the sound he’d been dying to hear. It was one of many pleasure sounds he wanted to hear from her. He smiled, ticking that one off his mental list.

He went lower, his fingers leading the way, delving between her thighs. She spread for him, cooperating fully, stretching like a happy kitten beneath his touch. He touched her clit, circling gently, rubbing and stroking in the slick heat he found there, then he went lower, slipping inside with one finger, then two. He began a rhythm when she started moving her hips in what felt like a plea for action.

Kissing his way over her bellybutton and down lower, he licked her clit while his fingers slid in and out until she finally climaxed in spasms of pleasure. She called his name as she came.
Oh yeah
. That’s another sound to check off on his list, though he wanted to hear her little sighs and moans as often as possible.

He moved back up her curvy form slowly, covering her softness with his own body until he could join their lips, once more. He kissed her with a lazy deliberateness, hoping to warm her up to going even farther.

And then, the earth moved.

No. Literally. It moved.

Matt drew away as Morgan sat up in alarm.

“Earthquake?” she asked, clearly still a little fuzzy from pleasure.

“A small tremor, at least,” Matt confirmed as the earth stilled.

The forest had gone completely quiet around them. If they hadn’t been so distracted a few minutes ago, they probably would have realized the quake was coming by the silence of the forest creatures.

“We’d better go,” Matt said reluctantly. The romantic mood had been broken by the very real and disturbing evidence of seismic activity that could mean something simple…or much more sinister. They didn’t really have time to pursue their passion, right now. It was becoming clear that there was a real problem in this forest and, especially, underground.

They shapeshifted and loped quickly back to where they’d left their clothes, keeping alert to the possibility of intruders. Dressing with little discussion, Matt sent off a quick text message to Sebastian, outlining what they’d found.

Morgan finished dressing and turned to him. “So, what do you think?”

“I texted what we know to Sebastian. He won’t get the message ‘til tonight when he rises, but at least someone will know what we’re up to.”

Morgan nodded. “Good idea. I’ll do the same with Atticus and Marc.” She was already reaching for her cell phone, beginning to tick away at the touch screen.

“I think we’d better go into the mine and see what we can find out from the inside. It’s clear someone’s been getting in there. Irma and a few friends, at least.” He gave a snort of annoyance. “I want to see if we can track their path down below and figure out what they’ve been up to. The tremor we just felt is a bit too much of a coincidence for me not to look into it.”

“You think they caused it, somehow?” She was giving voice to what they both were thinking. She didn’t really wait for an answer. “Do you think it’s safe? They wouldn’t collapse the mine, would they?”

Matt thought about that, for a moment. “If they’re working magic down there, they won’t want to be caught in it. Stands to reason, they wouldn’t be trying to deliberately collapse the mine. They probably have some larger goal in mind.” He didn’t like the bigger possibilities. “The real question in my mind is whether the tremor was a byproduct of whatever they were doing, or are they actually trying to call an earthquake?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Morgan was shocked by the idea that someone would deliberately try to trigger an earthquake. In this part of the world, where small tremors were common, medium ones frequent, and big ones not unheard of, there was every possibility that magic could call forth something truly devastating from the earth.

“Why would they want to do that?” she asked, aghast as the possibilities presented themselves in her mind.

“At least two separate
Venifucus
mages—in Iceland and again, in Washington state—tried to harness the power of a volcano in recent months to fracture the veil between our mortal realm and the place where Elspeth is. They want to bring her back. We know that. Perhaps, there’s some way to use the energy released in a catastrophic earthquake for the same ends?”

“Sweet Mother of All,” she whispered.

“Which is why I need to get in there and see what I can find out before that little tremor we felt possibly turns into something much bigger.” Matt looked determined, but Morgan felt the same.

“I’m going with you,” she announced, knowing he would argue but not willing to let him leave her behind.

“Morgan—” Whatever he would have said was interrupted by another tremor, this one a little bit stronger.

She swayed on her feet, reaching out to take Matt’s hand as he offered it to her. They clung to each other’s arms as the earth beneath them moved uncontrollably, for a few moments.