Secret Worlds (339 page)

The crowbar swung and connected with the beast’s shoulder, but it got a piece of Damian’s thigh with its teeth. Not enough to latch on, but enough to rip through jeans and flesh, drawing blood. With a roar, I launched. I hit the beast full on, my teeth clamping down on the underside of its throat, ripping through flesh and arteries in one powerful chomp. As we rolled, I raked my claws down its abdomen, tearing strips of flesh out and then I was on my feet, ready for more, but both hellhounds were down and Damian stood with the crowbar, waiting for another attack.

It took him a moment, but he looked between the two downed dogs and me.

“Holy shit,” he muttered and took a step toward the door.

A flash darted from the door and I moved just as quickly, launching at the same moment the mutt launched at Damian. I caught it in the air and took it the same way I had the other one, quickly, efficiently and bloodily. I didn’t let go until the beast’s heart stopped and Damian spoke my name.

“Naomi,” he said and I released, turning my attention to him. The taste of demon blood filled my mouth and the smell of death hung on the air.

I glanced toward the door and stepped away from the dead hellhound toward Damian. My paws were soaked red and I’m sure my white coat was sufficiently stained as well. After two paces, my view altered and I looked down at bloody hands.

“I guess the danger has passed,” I said brining my gaze back to Damian’s wide eyes.

“How’d you know?’

“I didn’t. One minute I was watching the news stories and the next I was the tiger. I thought I just changed because I got angry at the thinly veiled accusations on the television. They’ve even brought in some ex-FBI expert and you’ll never guess where the hell he’s from.” I shifted, trying to make the pants I was wearing more comfortable, but I couldn’t. Before Damian could venture a guess, I said, “I need a shower.” and headed toward the hatchway.

Damian didn’t follow me and I paused halfway down the tunnel, conflicted about going back until he was ready to come with me. The fact I was still human and not a carnivorous tiger clinched the decision. I continued to the downstairs bedroom and stripped when I stepped into the bathroom. The details in the marine mural still captivated me; stepping into the shower was like stepping into an underwater world of vibrant fish and coral reefs.

The water ran red for longer than I anticipated, even with scrubbing until my skin burned and my hair squeaked when I ran my fingers through it. When the water cleared, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the pummeling heat.

A breeze caressed my skin, creating goose flesh under the hot stream and I opened my eyes. Damian stood naked in the doorway to the shower stall. His gaze slowly scanned my form, lingering on my breasts before travelling lower. A crease appeared between his eyes and his gaze bounced from my stomach to my face, locking with mine.

The question in his eyes made me drop my gaze to the bump in my belly. I had been so consumed with cleaning off the blood that I hadn’t noticed the newly stretched skin. Bump was an understatement. Between the time I pulled on my pants this morning and now, I had popped and my gaze jumped back to his.

“Holy shit,” he said and stepped under the spray with me, his hands finding the soft skin stretched over my abdomen. My gaze dropped to the red water running down his thigh and I turned him so I could inspect his wound.

“It’s just superficial. Leave it be,” he said studying my belly with the same intensity that I gave the cut on his leg. When he lifted his gaze, there were a hundred unasked questions swirling in his vibrant irises, but I had no answer for him. I looked like someone who was at least six months pregnant and that explained why my pants were so damned uncomfortable when I transitioned back to human form.

“I know how long human incubation is, but how long is a tiger’s?” he asked and I stared at him.

“You don’t think...” I trailed off and the candor in his expression brought forth an unwelcomed shiver.

“It’s not normal to grow this big overnight,” he said, running his hands over my stomach. “And you did just change into a tigress.” He smiled like he was not at all unsettled by this. “You know, you kicked ass like I’ve never seen,” he added and drew me into a kiss.

I pushed him away, still too preoccupied with the tiger conclusion to get into a romantic tryst with him. “Damian,” I said and his eyes widened into that innocent look followed by the brief appearance of his dimples.

“What?” He didn’t suppress the smirk fast enough.

“This isn’t funny,” I said. “Do you think I did something bad to our child by changing?”

His smirk faded and the first shadow passed over his gaze. He looked down at the symmetry under his hands. “No. I don’t think you did something bad,” he said meeting my gaze. “We aren’t normal, Naomi. To expect a normal pregnancy is asking for a lot, especially since this little bundle is a trinity.” He patted my stomach and I felt more than just a flutter. He pulled his hand away and then placed it back on my belly, awe painted on his features.

“The baby just kicked,” he glanced up at me and grinned. “Did you feel it?”

Dumb question. I felt more than just a kick; I felt rotation, as if the child was moving. The sudden appearance of motion meant my child was alive and I matched Damian’s grin, nodding.

The worry was still present, but it dulled in comparison to the joy I felt. This time when he pulled me into a kiss, I did not resist.

I lay in bed, staring at the cloud-covered ceiling as Damian rested his ear on my stomach. He giggled a couple of times as a foot or hand passed over, connecting with his cheek.

“What if I give birth to some sort of hybrid?” I asked, voicing my growing concern.

He propped himself up on his elbow and offered a shrug. “We’ll deal with it,” he said.

“Aren’t you the least bit worried?”

Damian sighed and shook his head. “No. Maybe I should be, but I’m not. It’s...” He looked at the ceiling, his eyes moving around the room as he searched for the correct word. “Right,” he finally said when his gaze locked on mine. “I know it’s strange, but I can feel the rightness of this in my soul. Can’t you?”

For the first time since I got the news, a strange calmness settled over me and I nodded. I felt the perfection of this situation just as much as he did. He smiled and studied me for a moment, his features adopting a more serious expression.

“Do you know what prompted you to change today?”

“No, at first I thought it was because I was frustrated by the speculation on the news. But then I couldn’t just will myself back into human form, that’s when I thought there might be an issue in the garage.”

He huffed at me and pressed his lips to my stomach. “You’ve never had that issue before.”

“No, but maybe the hormones are messing me up.” That sounded like the most viable theory, it actually made sense, but who knows, it could be some divine intervention for all I knew.

“Do you think the hormones are giving you some level of precognitive ability? Sensing danger and forcing the tiger out?”

I laughed at his flawed logic. “I don’t think so,” I answered and his eyebrow rose in a silent challenge. “Then where the hell was the tiger when we were at the doctor’s office or at the hospital for that matter?” I asked. While I’d love to believe that, there were just too many holes in the theory. “I think it has to do with getting angry and my not being able to switch back was just a lucky coincidence.”

“You only transitioned back when there was no more danger.”

“I’m aware of that,” I snapped and rolled out of bed. “I need some clothes,” I said with my back to him. The bed creaked and a moment later, he wrapped a bathrobe around my shoulders.

“This is all that’s down here,” he said, crossing into my field of vision and tying the sash to his bathrobe. “Everything else is upstairs and based on what happened today, I think we should get the hell out of here as soon as possible. I already moved the car. It’s in the garage here for now and I didn’t lock the workshop, so anyone can get in.”

“What about the hatch?”

“The truck is sitting over it and surrounded by boxes. I still need to weld it shut along with the door at the end of the tunnel. But, that should take less than an hour. Then we should bolt.”

I wasn’t ready to leave yet, but we really had no choice, not when Lucifer’s hellhounds found us so easily. It stood to reason that he’d soon follow and we didn’t want to be anywhere near here when he arrived.

“What about Ted and Valerie?”

“She isn’t out of danger and he doesn’t have any idea when she’ll be ready to be released,” Damian said. “And I told Ted to find somewhere else to stay until she was good to come home.”

“We might have a problem,” I said, shifting and meeting his gaze.

He tensed and crossed his arms. “What?”

“The ex-FBI agent lives in York.”

Damian’s expression hardened but before he could balk, I added, “He’s the only one on the news who didn’t jump to the conclusion that you killed those people. He said he spoke to a witness, a cafeteria worker who saw what happened. He said you weren’t responsible for the officer’s death despite the evidence stacked against you. The cops disagree, in light of the surveillance video, they severed the agent’s connection to the case. That’s when I got pissed. Lucifer is doing a hell of a job setting you up.”

“I’m aware of what that bastard is doing, and now we have a garage smeared with blood. I’d bet my left arm there will be a missing person reported and he’ll make sure the blood in the garage is matched to the victim.”

“But the dogs?”

Damian pointed toward the tunnel. “You missed the coup d'état. The hellhounds disintegrated, so it’s just a bloody mess.”

“Jesus,” I whispered, my mind turning this new fact over. It was like Lucifer intentionally sent those beasts into the slaughterhouse. “It would have been better if the carcasses were found, even though they would have been a real bizarre find.”

Damian sent a sarcastic smile. “That would have made things eons better,” he said and ran his hand through his tussled hair. “Should we change our plans and head to Greece?”

I blew a stream of air from my lips, considering his offer, but I knew damn well both cops and Lucifer’s henchmen would pack the airports. “No. I think we need to look up that agent. He’s the only one who believed you weren’t responsible and both the cops and reporters made him look like a fool.”

“He’d hand us over in a heartbeat,” Damian said.

“Well, if he tries, I can always turn tiger,” I said and forced a smile, but the prospect of hurting a human made me feel sick to my stomach. I swallowed the burn in the back of my throat. “But I don’t think he will. Before he got into his car, he said if we wanted someone on our side, to look him up.”

Damian rolled his eyes. “It’s a bullshit ploy,” he said, raising my irritation level.

“I know bullshit when I see it,” I said. “This wasn’t. Besides, I’d rather take my chances with him than the cops, because you know damn well if we end up in a jail cell neither one of us will walk out alive.” The memory of the roadblock in New York City crossed my mind, the sheer number of police officers Lucifer commanded had chilled my blood and even the memory made me shiver.

“How do you know this guy isn’t in Lucifer’s pocket?” Damian asked as if he got a whiff of my memory.

I focused on him. “I don’t.”

“Then why the hell do we even chance it?”

We stared at each other and I sighed. “It’s just one of those things, Damian. I trusted him. I don’t know how to explain it better than that.”

“What’s his name?”

“Special Agent Steve Williams.”

“As soon as I finish welding the doors, I’ll find his address. While I’m doing that, do you mind packing things upstairs?”

I didn’t mind, especially with him safeguarding the house from demons and other preternatural creatures. My gaze dropped to his leg. “Do you have any bandages down here?” I pointed to his still oozing wound.

“I don’t think so,” he said and turned, disappearing into the bathroom. The creak of a door drifted on the quiet followed by the crinkle of a package being opened. When he stepped out, a six-inch bandage covered the cut. “I guess Michael stocked us up,” he added and pressed his lips together.

Damian’s hands found his waist and his head dropped to his chest. It wasn’t until I saw the shake of his shoulders that I realized he was crying. I crossed and lifted his chin. His crystal-blue eyes swam with tears and more clear drops traced lines in his face.

“I guess grief hits at the damnedest times,” he said and laughed, swiping the tears from his face like they were an unforgiveable offense.

My heart squeezed in my chest and I wrapped my arms around him. He returned the hug for a minute and then planted a kiss on my cheek.

“I don’t have time for this right now,” he mumbled and stepped away, heading back into the bathroom. This time, when he came out, he wore the clothes he had on when we were attacked and I started to speak, but he held up his hand.

“I’ll change after I’m done.” He pointed toward the tunnel and then stepped out of the bedroom, leaving me with my own sense of loss.

I dropped the duffel bags into the trunk of the Aston Martin and retreated to the living room, irritated that the only comfortable thing I found to wear was a pair of Damian’s sweat pants. My cell buzzed and I picked it up from the table, glancing at the caller ID. It wasn’t Valerie, so I answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Mrs. Andreas?”

“Yes,” I said, trying to place the vaguely familiar voice.

He cleared his throat. “Mrs. Andreas, this is Dr. Wolk,” he said and his tone set off a wealth of alarms through my form, jolting my heart into a pounding rhythm and my grip on my phone tightened.

I swallowed the dry fear from my mouth. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, there seems to be an issue with your blood sample.”

“Diabetes?”

“No, at least not in this sample. It looks like someone introduced feline DNA with yours. I’m sorry for the mix up, but we need you to come back in for another blood test.”