Snarling at the Moon (4 page)

“Do you think he knows?”

“He knows. He doesn’t know why he knows, but he knows.”

Teal sighed. “This used to be easier.”

“I know, but this is a lot more fun for me to watch.”

Teal cracked into a giggle, and Teebie snickered with her. It was true. Having the fey on board made the entire ancient tradition of meeting a mate take on new aspects that they had never considered.

Her body was hot and fighting sleep. Sera clawed at her neck and fought the collar that was still there in her dreams.

She tried to scream, but a strangled snarl was all that came out, just as it had when she was trapped. With shaking hands, she dug through the closet where her new clothing was hanging and she grabbed a robe.

Tying it around her, she left her room and ran down the steps, aiming for the front door. It opened as she approached, and the solemn figure of Teebie let her out into the fresh night air.

Sera ran as if her life depended on it; her sanity certainly did. The field behind the Bright Soul beckoned her, and she sprinted through the grass and into the forest beyond.

When she stumbled to her knees, she dug a hole in the ground with her claws, and when she could dig no further, she leaned in and screamed until her throat ached and her voice broke.

With shaking hands, she pushed the dirt in over her scream, patting the moss back into place.

Her manicure was surprisingly intact. The enamel was most likely embedded with more fey magic, but while it was interesting, she needed to get to bed and get some sleep.

She rose to her feet and stumbled out of the woods and across the meadow toward the back of the Bright Soul. Teebie was waiting for her in an open doorway with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate.

“Come in and tell me about it.”

“There isn’t much to tell. Every few months, I have an attack. I am guessing that this one was stress related.” She shivered spasmodically and let Teebie lead her to a small sitting room.

She settled in a puffy chair with the blanket around her, and Teebie handed her the hot chocolate. A basin, pitcher and towels floated in and settled around her on the floor.

Teebie soaked a cloth and took Sera’s left hand. “Where did you find that technique?”

“I read about it in a fairy tale when I was young. The queen who couldn’t speak a word for seven years to save her brothers from becoming ravens. It works. I literally bury my pain, but it does weird things to the plant life afterward. Every plant turns into a bleeding heart.”

She paused. “Thank you, by the way. It is nice to be able to talk to someone right after an episode.”

“What will you do when you have a mate?”

“Hope that he likes bleeding hearts?” With her left hand clean, she juggled the cup over into her clean fingers so Teebie could work on the other.

The warm cup of cocoa relaxed her, and while she was sipping, Teebie slid her feet into the basin, pouring warm water over them and soaking out the greenery and earth.

Teebie finished her right hand and went to work on her feet. She hissed softly. “You cut yourself.”

“It happens. I water the earth with my tears and sow the soil with my blood.”

Teebie cocked her head. “Do you write poetry?”

“No. My brother is the poet. My sister sings, my parents write children’s books. I came from a family of the creative, and here I sit, digging holes at false dawn.”

“You also tore your robe.”

Sera looked down. “Damn it. This was new.”

“I can fix it if you like.”

“Could you? I don’t want to ask, you are doing so much.”

“It is my job to be a good hostess, which means seeing to your health and comfort.” Teebie’s hands were gentle, but she shook her head. “I can’t get the bleeding to stop. I am going to have to call Spike in.”

“Spike?”

“She is our resident medic.” Teebie smiled softly. “She is on her way.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

“I rang a chime next to her bed, and when she pressed it, it sent a signal to me that she was on her way.”

“Nice. Efficient.”

“We do try.” Teebie wrapped the still-bleeding foot in a towel and removed the basin and grubby water.

Spike arrived about ten minutes later with a medic kit and a sleepy face.

Sera became superfluous to the process.

Her foot was elevated and slathered with disinfectant. Spike used a pair of forceps to pull a large shard of stone from the arch of her foot. “Damn. I will have to suture it. Even a shift would leave a portion open.”

“Why?”

“The stone had a chunk of mixed magic in it. It would hold your flesh open. You will need a day or two of natural healing before you can shift.” Spike threaded a curved needle. “It is one of the down sides to the new inclusion.”

“Wonderful.”

She finished her cocoa, and Teebie took the cup away while the fourth stitch was set in place. “Now a little wrapping and you will be ready to hobble up the stairs.”

“Oh yay. I can grab ninety seconds of sleep.”

Teebie chuckled. “Sleep as long as you can. I will keep your windows dark. When you wake, the light will increase.”

“You can do that?” Sera was hopeful as Spike wrapped her foot with gauze and a stretchy wrap.

“I can.”

“You really are a wonderful hostess.” Sera smiled. “And Spike is an excellent bartender and medic.”

“Are you asking for help to get to bed?”

Sera grimaced. “Actually, no. I was practicing social skills. You compliment people on their kindness, do you not?”

Teebie blushed. “Yes, you do. I apologize. I have only recently caught up on your file. You are out of practice. Feel free to practice on us.”

Spike smiled. “You did an excellent job at the Crossed Star. I enjoyed watching you dance, but that is off the table for tonight. You might want to plan a quiet evening.”

Sera nodded. “Right.”

Spike finished and patted the top of her foot. “Come on, I will help you up.”

Teebie moved to her other side, and the two women got her up and walking without putting weight on her wounded foot.

Teebie sighed. “Oh, let me just do this.”

Sera yelped when she was tilted back and floated up the stairs without anyone touching her. While she was floating, Teebie upgraded her robe from thin to heavy, dark silk. Sera was instantly warmer.

Spike nodded, whispered good night and slipped out the front door with her medical bag clutched in one hand.

Sera waved at her as she was carried in magical arms up the stairs and down the hall to her room.

“I will send a tray up in the morning, but you shouldn’t be able to smell it until you sit up. Same with the light. When you get up, the light will come on.”

“Thank you, Teebie.”

“You know, someone is going to call you on that overcorrection.”

Sera wrinkled her nose. “I know. I will deal with that when it happens. Overly polite is better than not covering my bases.”

Teebie settled her in the bed, and she tucked her in without using her hands. When the blue fingers caressed her forehead, Sera felt the push of fey magic.

“I am sleeping. You don’t need to shove.” She chuckled softly and drifted off.

* * * *

Teebie sighed as she smoothed Sera’s hair away from her face. The cruelly shining ring around her neck bore the marks of scars that were much fresher. Even with the collar off, Sera still tried to free herself.

Teebie held her tears in as she left the room and silently sealed the door.

When she reached the landing, she stopped and stared at the man who was waiting. “Did you require something, Atter?”

He looked past her. “What is wrong?”

“A slight accident. She will be fine in a day or two.”

“She?”

“Yes, the lovely young lady you carried in earlier.”

His white brows snapped together. “What happened?”

“She went for a walk in the woods and got injured.”

“What was Serapha doing walking in the middle of the night?”

Teebie scowled at him. “Keep your voice down. Her walk was her business. Now, let me pass.”

He stepped to one side, and she could feel him staring after her. She didn’t care what he did as long as he didn’t try to get into Sera’s room.

She was cleaning up the blood two minutes later when the sharp zap on her senses let her know he had tried to get into Sera’s room. She reinforced the protection and finished disposing of the medical scene.

Teebie heard the door open and close. Snuffling near the back door got her attention. She walked to the window and a huge white lion was examining Sera’s blood trail. With his muzzle to the ground, he followed her path back into the woods.

Teebie smiled softly. If he wanted to look into the pain, he had better be prepared when it blinded him.

* * * *

Atter kept his nose to the ground and followed the scent of Serapha’s blood. It took him several minutes to work his way through the brambles and undergrowth, but eventually, he saw where she had been.

The earth was freshly turned and finger marks were clear in the surface. Atter pawed at the mound, and it came away in easy clumps.

He could feel magic under his paw, and he kept digging until it was pushing against the thick skin. He pulled away the final coating of earth and a shriek of agony soared up and out. It echoed in his ears and went on and on, an undulation of pain and suffering.

When the scream finally faded in the air, he shook as he put the dirt back over the hole and made it seem that nothing had come to dig up her sorrow.

He had heard of such things but never experienced hidden pain like that which he had dug up.

What had she gone through to make a sound like that come from her soul? He wanted to know, but only if she was willing to tell him. Secrets like that were not to be handed about easily. That kind of pain carried magic in its wake, and he knew deadly magic when he heard it.

Atter turned back to the Bright Soul and looked up to Serapha’s window. It was shrouded in magic, but he could understand it now. Her hostess was making sure she got enough sleep.

He was not going to wake her until she was ready, but his enthusiasm for this courtship had gone from a pleasant hum in his bloodstream to a burning necessity to help his mate get justice for whatever was done to her.

His desires were slumbering, and the needs of a woman he didn’t know were taking over his thoughts. He shook his leonine head and tried to clear it. With a shift back to his fey form, his mind ceased to be fixated on protecting his mate, but he could now understand what Tony had tried to tell them when they arrived. Shifters were driven by instinct, and when those instincts were thwarted, the beast rose to the surface to take action.

One day in the presence of his lady had brought his inner beast out, and he honestly didn’t think that he had one...until now.

When Sera sat up and ran a hand through her hair, she felt better. Light slowly increased in her room and the smell of coffee and a full breakfast filled the air.

Sera stood and walked to the window, her foot twinged as she stepped on it, but the pain was minimal.

The light outside was bright and the sun was high. It had to be noon or so.

“Damn. Ah well.” She headed for the bathroom, filled the tub and worked herself around for a nice soak with her bandage elevated.

Her hair was pinned up on her head, and she pulled out the bits of leaf and bark as she let herself relax.

When her muscles had unwound, she drained the tub and worked on getting out of the slick porcelain without falling on her face. She wrapped a towel around herself and hopped into the bedroom for breakfast.

Sera was halfway through the meal when there was a knock on her door. “Come in.”

Teebie and Spike came in, and they sighed in relieved unison.

“Was I that bad last night?”

Teebie rocked her hand. “You were a little too pale for my liking.”

“You were corpse grey. Does that happen a lot?”

Sera sighed. “It is becoming less frequent, but I guess all the fey magic around here brought it back with a rush.”

Spike looked at her neck. “Do you claw at yourself often?”

Sera touched her neck and collarbone. “I guess it happens more than it should.”

Spike leaned in and checked the scars. “They will fade if you let them, but you are not letting them, are you?”

Sera got to the heart of it. “They never caught her. She is still out there, and she might have another menagerie right now.”

Teebie nodded. “Ah. I thought that might be it.”

Spike pressed her lips together. “Have you seen a therapist?”

Sera’s lips tightened. “Four of them. Each one said that I needed to release my frustration, but no one could tell me how.”

Spike exhaled sharply. “Right. I am guessing you were the first of her collection?”

Sera nodded. “How did you know?”

“Your injuries are usually associated with what is considered a jewel of a collection. She kept you at her side.”

“She did.” The insight that Spike had was surprising.

“I did some work with the Guild and councils to retrieve kidnapped shifters like you. I was not involved in your case, but I am aware of the kind of mental trauma shifters such as yourself experienced in the collars. I am amazed you are still sane.”

Sera chuckled weakly and finished her breakfast quickly, mumbling, “I still howl at the moon.”

Spike smiled, “Wolverines don’t howl.”

“Snarl then.”

“That is more like it. I would like to check your foot.”

Sera stuck her foot out, and Spike knelt at her feet, unwrapping the work she had done the night or, perhaps, hours before.

Teebie went to her closet and pulled out some clothing and a pair of comfy shoes. “You are going casual today.”

Spike whistled softly. “You don’t have to go that far. There is no damage left. If she is feeling anything, it is because of the stitches, which I am going to remove.”

As Spike swabbed her foot with sterilizing solution, Sera giggled and her leg twitched.