Tales Of The Sazi 05 - Moon's Fury (44 page)

A moment later, the sobs turned to screaming. She and Adam turned as one. A new man with olive skin was standing behind the girls, a machete held to their throats with one hand while the other held a fistful of hair. Their eyes were wide with panic, contrasting sharply with the slightly amused expression of the man. But they weren't so much as breathing. He was holding them magically so they would remain still and not struggle.

That expression …the way he holds himself
—

Cara took a step toward him, over the body of the other man. She searched the new man's slender bare arms for a tattoo similar to the one on the arm of the man under her, but they were clean of ink. She deliberately flared her nose, then huffed out air from her side nose slits to gather the purest scent possible, pushing away the warm copper that filled the air. Definitely Sazi, and another snake. A viper, too, but she couldn't figure out the species. "Do I know you? You seem familiar.”

He smiled now, patient and slightly pleased. His voice had a slight Middle Eastern flair that she couldn't place. "You know someone I
used
to be. But I'm not that man anymore.”

Adam came to stand by her side. "Who are you, and what do you want? You know we're not going to give up the girls. I can have the rest of my pack here before you could get away.”

The man shrugged fluidly. "Things aren't going so well for your pack right now. You know it as well as I do." And he was right. Several of the pack—Tommy, Sheila, and Carmen, were struggling desperately against horrifying injuries. Fortunately, they had released more birds …one of which was Ume, who was now battling on their side. Between she and Will, two more birds had gone down.

"Frankly, I think you should get back there to help them.”

Adam spoke up. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? But you're going to have to go through
all
of us if you expect to get out of here alive—because there's no
way
we're leaving without our family. You will not take our girls.”

Now the man's face went pleasantly blank. Only his eyes held a small amount of amusement. "I think we need to make one thing perfectly clear." A wave of magic began to flow from him. It roiled around them like hot steam, burning them enough to drop them both to the ground howling—screaming in pain that was everywhere at once. The pain began to flow through the pack connections and Cara desperately fought to close down the binding, separate themselves from the whole. They could all die if the pack leaders did.

The man left his spot behind the girls and was crouched down in front of Adam so quickly that even Cara's eyes couldn't follow it. He spoke quietly, with all the politeness of discussing politics at dinner while they thrashed on the ground in such intense pain that Cara felt as though her eyes were going to explode. "
I
can do whatever I want to.
If I wanted you dead, you already would be." He lifted Adam's muzzle so their eyes met, and she couldn't do a thing to stop him. "But I don't
want
you dead, Alpha Mueller." He flicked out his tongue to taste the scent of their surprise. "Oh yes, I know who you are. You just did me a favor by eliminating Manuel here. His taste for young American girls was becoming a nuisance. And your pack is destroying those abominations made by another traitor to the cause, saving me the trouble.”

With a breath of a thought, he released his magic and was standing by the girls again, twirling the sharp blade, before either of them could catch their breath. "You've probably already noticed that the three raptors who attacked you the other day haven't joined the fray. That's
my
contribution to the operation.”

Adam finally managed to struggle to a sitting position and shook his furred head. "Again …who in the hell
are
you and what do you want?”

He shrugged again, still spinning the blade, flashing moonlight into their eyes like a strobe. "Call me Roberto. That will do for now. As for what I want, I've already got it. You eliminated Manuel and the abominations and there's no hint I was involved. It's unfortunate that I need to shield my cards, but I can't afford for my partners to think me untrustworthy.”

"So you think we're just going to let you walk away with the girls, because you happened to have killed three birds?" Cara snorted and stepped to the side, while Adam moved one step in the opposite direction.

"Again, I don't
want
the girls. In fact, I want you to take them far away so nobody can ever find them again." He tapped Ziri on the head absently with the flat of the blade and another wave of panic rose in her scent, even though she couldn't move. "Especially
this
one. The council needs to hide the Mayan girl somewhere, put her and her family in the care of someone who can protect them.”

"Why?
Why are you helping us, Roberto?" She might as well try to get as much information as possible. She adjusted her feet again, as though restless and stepped another pace from Adam. Maybe if they flanked him—

He chuckled. She and Adam were both just suddenly frozen …caught in a wave of magic that exploded with the same speed as the snake could move. "What is it about wolves that you feel the need to martyr yourselves to the greater good?" With an abrupt movement, he threw the machete toward her face, then stopped it, mere inches from her nose. The moon, half covered by clouds, was reflected in the polished blade. "Would you
prefer
to die, Alpha? That's all attacking me would accomplish." He released them a split second before he released the blade. She barely had time to move before it cut through the air where her head used to be. "Now, I'm helping you because you're helping
me.
This operation was started— without my input, I might add—in a time when it might have done some good. But that time is gone. Those in power here couldn't see the futility of continuing a course that had no goal.”

"And what
is
the goal?" Adam came to stand by her side and she could feel his frustration and rage at their inability to act.

Now Roberto went deadly serious. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at each one in turn. "A new age is coming and this pack will be on the front lines of the battle as it surges north. You need to prepare yourselves. I'd suggest learning to master sword fighting. You'll stand a better chance.”

"What is this new age?
What
is coming? Can't we stop this before it starts?" Cara felt as confused as if she were talking with Ten Bears, hearing prophecies that said everything and nothing. He shook his head, to her immense frustration. "There's no stopping this, any more than you can stop the movement of the stars or the shifting of the poles. She—the greatest snake of all eternity—will be born again, and the predators will become prey once more. But it's her
allies
that will be in the first wave and those are what you'll need to prepare for." He paused and then smiled. "Think of the
Two
Towers
for potential scope—with no annoying Elvish poetry." He turned his back on them and started for the Hummer, releasing the girls so they dropped to the ground, coughing. The girls limped to them, and Cara could smell that her niece's leg was probably broken. Gloria wrapped her arms around her and wept into her fur. "Remember, Alphas— protect the Mayan girl and her progeny…or the snake that is to come could wind up a
goddess."
He blew away the covering on the Hummer with a flare of magic that moved like a wind and put his hand on the handle. "Sane people don't bring something into the world that is beyond control. And I am most definitely
sane.”

He picked up a duffel bag that smelled of bird, got into the Hummer, and started it, while Adam and Cara tried to figure out what to do. They couldn't just let him
leave,
could they? They could still stop him. The pack had eliminated the birds and were headed this way, slowly rebuilding their strength from the whole. Roberto rolled down the window as they started toward the vehicle, apparently noticing that Adam was looking into the distance, watching for them to arrive. "Oh, and before you decide to order your pack to attack me, you should know that I've already bitten the wolf inside the cavern—the pretty blue-haired girl. She'll die if you chase me. But you might be able to bring her back…
completely,
if you hurry. Venom can be a powerful stimulant, with the right magic to bend it.
Healing
magic, for example.”

They looked at each other frantically and Gloria nodded, her eyes filled with hot tears. "He did!

That's why we were screaming when the other snake was dragging us out. We have to go back for Jenny!
¡Por favor…
please, Tia Cara! She's my amiga.”

Roberto turned on the headlights while they were distracted and locked both doors before rolling up the window, leaving just a crack for his voice to escape. "I'd suggest you hurry. She doesn't have much time left."

33

The lovely black and silver timber wolf inside the cavern was barely breathing. As they heard the Hummer roar into the distance, Adam raced over to her still form and mentally ordered Will and Ume to follow Roberto— keeping a safe distance so he couldn't hurt them. Adam knew Will could easily see for nearly a mile and he presumed Ume had excellent night vision. The girls didn't need to see this. They'd have nightmares enough for weeks to come. "Tommy, watch the girls.”

"Call us back if you need us." Will's voice sounded tired, and he hated to push his old partner this hard. But they didn't have many options. The big sable wolf, his best friend, nodded and guided Gloria and Ziri to a small room near the entrance.

Adam looked at Cara, who had turned and was running her hands over the young wolf. "What do you think? Is there any hope?”

She smiled quietly. "There's
always
hope, Adam. It's the one thing that truly separates us from the animals.”

The rest of the pack arrived and the lesser wolves fanned out to guard the entrances and search the rest of the cavern for anyone still hiding, picking their way past the headless bodies of three massive birds. That bag Roberto had put in the Hummer…did he take—

Jill turned human and hurried to Cara's side, then looked down at her daughter and let out a little sob at the horribly swollen, bluish tongue and seeping fang holes in her shoulder. She picked up the girl's muzzle to unstick the dry tongue from the dusty rock floor, gently closed the mouth and checked her eyes. "There's faith, too." She looked at Cara with tears welling and touched the other woman's hand. "I have faith in you, my Alpha." Then she turned her eyes up to meet his. "I have faith in you
both.
Bring back my little girl.”

Cara patted Jill's hand and then turned her lightly glowing eyes to look into his. There was something deep inside that golden power that he couldn't place, but it made him feel warm and safe. She held out her hand to him. "I've always been the strong one—always been the one who people could count on. But this time…I need you, Adam. Please help me bring her back.”

He went to her. How could he
not?
Jill backed away with head bowed. She knelt at Jenny's feet, and put a light hand on the fevered paw—still needing to touch that small bit that was her daughter. Adam snuggled in next to Cara's nude body, wrapped warm fur around her shivering body. Even as hot as it was outside, the cave was cool and damp and smelled strongly of bird feces and something fainter, in the background— perhaps bats had used this cave before the others moved in. The instant they touched, he felt a roar of power race through them both, born of both mating and binding. Cara called on the web of them all, turned the magic in on itself, until they
were
the power—

all of them. They were a single unit of energy and she was the focus. He felt her power touch the girl, the wolf, the
Sazi
at their feet. She placed her hands over the sticky, oozing bite marks and pushed warm energy into them. Jenny's body lurched, as though an electric shock ran through her. Jill began to weep when the girl's legs started to convulse as the poison raced through her body, sped up by the magic. Her lips drew back to bare fangs and Adam had to press his forehead to her temple with brute force to keep it from slamming against the stone during the spasms. There was no other way to heal her except to let the venom run its course through the rest of Jenny's body and protect her heart and head. Cara attached her power to the heart, and Adam pushed pure energy into her mind to make a magical barrier, shielding her brain from the toxins.

The venom was the most virulent Adam had ever encountered. It chewed at his magic like acid, burning through his mind and pulling whimpers from the lesser wolves by the cave entrances. But they were already so beaten down…so very tired. Despite Adam's better judgment, Cara began to pull from farther away. Will's and Ume's wings began to slow and it became a struggle to stay in flight. Soon even Paco and Rosa and little Raul were called on in the desperate attempt to help Jenny pull through. The shield was shrinking and it was all he could do to keep the venom from reaching her mind.

"Wait!" Cara's voice startled him out of his concentration. "We're doing this wrong!”

"What?" His voice sounded thick, like he'd had too much to drink. "Wrong, how?”

"He said we have to
use
the venom. We're forcing it out of her system.”

He struggled to sit up on his haunches, but was growing more alert as he caught the scent of excitement. He looked down at Jenny. Her tongue was back to a normal color and the wounds were nearly sealed. But she was still a wild animal. He couldn't feel any spark of human inside. "Why should we believe him? What if he wants to kill us all by making us think there's a chance to save her?”

Her eyes were bright and she shook her head. "It feels like acid, doesn't it? Some acids are good things—can be bent to our will to benefit us. What if we can use the acid to cut through the scar tissue from the turning? What if we can use it to—”

"Bring her back?" Jill caught the excitement and nodded her head. "Maybe it's like Alzheimer's. Maybe there's some sort of magical build-up that turns some shifters feral, while others not." She reached forward and grasped his paw. "It's at least worth a try, Adam.”