Slade Read online

  Better to focus on the task at hand. That phone call couldn’t have happened at a more opportune moment. She needed to get her mind off of his handsome, hard body and back on the mission. She’d promised to help find the murderers and she had already been able to help. She felt pride in the fact that her magic had enabled Slade to track them this far.

  Together, perhaps they could pick up the trail again and find those responsible for sending the entire shifter community in the Southwest into an uproar. The Redstone matriarch had been well loved.

  Kate had been impressed by the older woman. Grif’s mother had been the first one to extend the invitation to Kate to join the community. She’d taken Kate under her wing and helped her figure out her place in the group. Or at least, she’d begun to do that. And then she’d been brutally murdered.

  Kate had lost a champion among the were with whom she’d chosen to live. But much more importantly, she’d lost a friend. A tear came to her eye when she allowed herself to think of the kind woman who’d taken her in and made her feel welcome. So few times in her life had she felt that way, and Kate knew she was going to miss the matriarch of the Redstone Clan as much those who had known that brave lady much longer. She’d been that kind of woman. She’d made an indelible impression on the lives of everyone she knew.

  Slade ended the call, putting the phone away, and strode around to the driver’s side of the vehicle, a determined expression on his face. Would he now tell her their brief moment of passion had been a mistake? She didn’t want to hear it, even if she was beginning to believe that herself.

  “Matt picked up the scent,” he said instead, surprising her and deferring the dreaded post-kiss conversation to sometime in the future. Thank goodness.

  Slade slipped behind the wheel and closed the door, starting the SUV almost all in one motion. He moved fast. Shifters had incredible speed, agility and strength, she was coming to learn. Slade, perhaps, was even a bit sharper than the others she’d come to know.

  “Are you up for the hunt?” The look in his eyes dared her to join him.

  She felt her resolve firm as she thought again of the matriarch.

  “I’m up for it,” she replied in kind, already looking forward to helping Slade find out all he could from the trail. Whatever—or whoever—it led to.

  Chapter Four

  “What did Matt say on the phone?” Kate asked as they got back on the road.

  Slade had to get his head back in the game. For a moment there, all he’d wanted to do was ignore the phone—ignore his duty—and sink into Kate’s luscious body. She was dangerous to his peace of mind, never mind his work.

  “Actually, it was Valerie. She’s coordinating the messages. Matt called her first, but I don’t trust him not to call Grif next. Unless we get there fast, we’re going to have a family of irate cougars raining hell down on whoever owns that vehicle, whether or not they’re the ones we’re looking for.”

  This was a tricky part of their mission. Slade had been sent to defuse the Redstones. To run interference so they didn’t do something in their rage and grief to expose the entire shifter community to the human world. The secret must be kept. And Slade had to be the one to make certain of it. The Redstones weren’t clear headed enough at the moment to think before they acted.

  “I’m surprised Matt even bothered to call at all before rushing in where angels fear to tread,” Kate offered.

  “He’s pegged as the maverick of the family, from all accounts,” Slade agreed. “But he also seems more level headed than his years would indicate. Maybe he’s just used to following orders from having so many older, Alpha siblings.”

  “I thought only Grif was the Alpha. How can there be more than one?”

  The question, so innocent yet so blind, made Slade realize just how clueless Kate still was about his world, priestess or not. She may know about magic and the human world, but she didn’t seem to know the first thing about shifters.

  “Every male in that family has Alpha tendencies. Any one of them could make a bid to rule over their Clan and the extended, mixed group of shifters that work for Redstone Construction. But Griffon is the eldest. He was the one who built the business and attracted so many other shifters to work for him and follow his lead. He’s the clear leader of that family. The other brothers seem to accept that and curb their own Alpha tendencies somewhat, out of love and deference to their brother.” Slade turned the SUV onto the highway and sped up, hoping to get to Matt before the brothers gathered. “I’ve seen it go the other way too. Less kind Alphas with Alpha siblings have been torn apart by their younger family members in the worst cases. In other situations, the younger brothers are a thorn in the sides of their elders. A lot of times, the younger brothers go off and form their own small Packs or Clans.”

  “They can just do that? Move away and start over?”

  “Yeah. Sometimes it’s the only choice. Starting a Clan from scratch isn’t easy, but there are always loners out there, looking for a home or a leader—or both. It’s a bit easier for cats than wolves. Wolves need tighter community bonds, in general. Cats often go their own way and tend to need their space and time alone every once in a while. We need to prowl.”

  “I get that. Humans do too, sometimes,” she said softly, almost contemplatively. Slade spared her a glance and she was looking out the window with such a forlorn expression that he wanted to reach out and touch her, to bring her focus back to him and away from whatever brought such sorrow to her beautiful face.

  “Is that why you’re out here, roughing it among shifters?” He asked his question in a low, gentle, coaxing voice. If she wanted to talk, he wanted her to know he was more than willing to listen.

  Her gaze met his as her head turned. She gave him a puzzled smile that was faint, but much better than the melancholy she’d been displaying.

  “I’d hardly call that luxurious house they gave me roughing it.” She chuckled softly. “But yeah, in a way, I guess you could say I’ve always been a loner, as you put it. The odd man out, so to speak. You see, my parents died when I was very little. I was raised in foster care for the most part.” The admission seemed a big one for her, so he didn’t reply, just let her say what she wanted to say. He wouldn’t push her. He wanted her to open up on her own—or not. The choice had to be hers. “My foster parents didn’t really understand me. I always saw the world a little differently than everyone else, and when the magic began to emerge…” she trailed off, her gaze dropping to her lap, drawing inward.

  “They didn’t know a damn thing about magic, did they? Probably didn’t believe in it and couldn’t sense the energy patterns in the world around them. Am I right?”

  The highway stretched and they were moving as fast as Slade dared push the vehicle without running afoul of law enforcement. But inside the rented SUV, the moment was quiet… intense. Emotions ran high from the little woman sitting at his side. He wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her with his touch, but maybe it was better he couldn’t. Like a lost little kitten, he had to let her come to him—verbally, emotionally, and ultimately, physically. If they got that far.

  And the Goddess knew, he wanted to get that far—as far as Kate would let him go. He wanted her, and if fate was kind, he’d have her in his bed before he left Nevada.

  “They weren’t bad people. They just didn’t understand me. I can’t blame them, really. I don’t understand myself half the time.” She smiled faintly, ruefully. “I searched for a long time before finding someone who knew what magic was and was willing to help me. It didn’t turn out the way I expected, but at least it set me on the path.”

  Slade sensed turmoil from her as she thought about her past. He had to reach out this time, placing one hand over hers on the console between them. That simple action drew her gaze as their energies met and twined together the tiniest bit, as if offering comfort.

  “The first magic user I met tried to trick me. Actually, he did trick me. I’m not too proud to admit it. I was a fool. I
got used and abused and it almost destroyed me both emotionally and magically.” She pulled her hand out from under Slade’s and turned to look out the window again.

  If she could have, he imagined she would have rolled up into a fetal ball. As it was, both hands clutched her stomach as if pain lingered. The guy, whoever he was, must have really hurt her.

  Slade wanted to kill him. Plain. Simple. Black and white. Slade wanted the bastard dead, his blood pooling out under Slade’s claws.

  Whoa, boy.

  Slade wasn’t entirely successful in suppressing his growl. It rumbled through the small cab of the SUV, low and deadly before he could stop himself.

  Kate looked over at him, surprise in her gaze, but no fear. “It’s really okay, Slade. He’s long gone and I learned a valuable lesson from him. Nobody ever took advantage of my naiveté like that again. And they never will.” Her mood switched from victim to victor in that moment and Slade calmed.

  She had become stronger as a result of her life experience. He would have spared her the bad times if he could, but at least she had learned from them. Not everyone was so lucky. Many people had to repeat the mistakes over and over before they evolved—if they ever did.

  “So what’s the story? Did you fall for a guy who only wanted you for your power?” He didn’t want to know, but perversely needed to know the details.

  This little priestess was beguiling him. Making him want things he’d never really wanted before. He wanted to know what made her tick, and all about her past. That wasn’t something he generally cared about when he was attracted to a woman. Usually, the less he knew about a bed partner, the better. But not so with Kate.

  She fascinated him in many different ways. The taste of her magic, the strength of her power, the beauty of her spirit and the lovely package that wrapped all of it—those things only hinted at the core of the woman beneath. And he wanted to know all about her. What made her the way she was and where she’d come from. The paths she’d walked before meeting him and what they had done to her.

  Slade almost shook his head at his own thoughts. Was he becoming sentimental in his old age? Probably not, but this reaction was definitely a change for him. Something about this priestess brought out more than just his protective side. She inspired feelings he’d never really experienced before in conjunction with a woman he wanted to fuck so bad, his eyes nearly crossed.

  And the need for her was only growing stronger as they talked, not weaker. In the past, when a woman started unloading the baggage of her past on him, Slade’s interest would quickly wane. Not with this woman. No, the more she revealed, the more he wanted to know.

  It was something to ponder. Later. First he wanted to hear more about the man who’d almost broken her. And he wanted most especially to know the bastard’s name so he could hunt him down and…

  “Wayne was older than me. Not a lot older, just enough to make him seem more worldly and interesting to a twenty year old who had little experience with men. He was charming and urbane and within six months of meeting him, I’d moved in with him.”

  “How did you meet?” Slade ruthlessly suppressed his desire to growl in both anger and triumph. He’d learned the man’s first name. He only needed a little more to track him down.

  “He was a research assistant at the university I attended. He was working on his Ph.D. while I was a shy undergrad. He knew about magic. He was the first person I’d ever met who understood the energies I’d been seeing and manipulating all my life.”

  “So he became your mentor in magic as well as your lover?” Slade wanted to claw something, but held the anger in. It wouldn’t do to scare her. Not when she was just opening up to him.

  “Something like that. I didn’t realize until about six months later that he was slowly siphoning off my power. He was a magical parasite. He was growing stronger while I was getting weaker.”

  “A magical vampire?” Slade asked, surprised. He’d never really heard of such a thing, but he supposed it was possible.

  “Yeah. A vampire. That’s a good word for him, though not the bloodletting kind. This guy was more like the old horror movie bad guys.” She sounded bitter and more than a little angry. Good for her. She still had some spirit after what had been done to her.

  “You thought he loved you?” Slade asked in a quiet voice.

  “Oh, yeah. I bought his act hook, line and sinker. All he really wanted was to drain my power and make himself even stronger.”

  “How’d you make the break?”

  “I didn’t let on that I realized what he was doing. I’d been suspicious, but I didn’t really know for sure until I had a little magical breakdown one day. It was as if I was blind to the magical world. I couldn’t sense anything. Not the green light and song of the trees or the golden pulse of the earth. All my magical senses were gone. That’s when I finally realized the extent of what he’d done to me. I packed my stuff when he was working and took off.”

  “You lost your ability to sense magic?” He was shocked she’d been through so much. “How did you evade him if you couldn’t sense him coming? I assume he tracked you?”

  “Yeah, he tracked me. But during our relationship, there was one place he refused to allow me to go. There was a little spot up in the woods above campus. It was a stone circle. It was sort of infamous among certain student groups. It was rumored some of the goth kids would go up there on the full moon and party, though I never really saw any evidence of it. I’d wanted to investigate it, but Wayne refused to let me go near the site. He told me it was an evil place and that I’d die if I went up there. When I ran for it, I figured if he’d been lying to me about everything else, that had to be wrong too. So I hiked up there with my little knapsack full of all my worldly possessions, sat down in the center of the stone circle and cried my eyes out.”

  He reached out to her again, placing one hand on her arm. She didn’t move away and he stroked her skin gently, offering what comfort he could while still driving safely down the highway. They were getting close to their objective, but he wanted to hear the rest of her tale. He was feeling more than a little torn between duty and his desire to comfort the incredible woman he’d discovered.

  “How did you get away from him? He must have found you up there, right?” Slade could guess how the story went, but he wanted to hear it from her.

  “He came to the circle, but he couldn’t enter. He prowled around the perimeter alternately whining and shouting, berating me. Calling me a stupid cow. Then he’d be cajoling, trying to get me to come back to him. Fat chance.” She made a rude sound and Slade felt a smile coming on. She had spirit and he discovered he’d like that in a woman. “Night fell and I didn’t realize it then, but it was the sabbat of Imbolc.”

  “February,” Slade realized. “I hope you went to school in the south.”

  His attempt at levity seemed successful. She turned to him and smiled. “Texas A&M,” she replied. “It was chilly, but not freezing.”

  “And since you were in a stone circle on Saint Brighid’s Day, I’m guessing at some point somebody showed up. Shifters? A priestess or two? A coven of witches?” he teased.

  “Remember those goth kids I mentioned? Well, they weren’t just goth. They were werewolves. And one of the philosophy professors was a priestess. She was an older lady, gray haired and sort of sturdy, of German background. She huffed and puffed her way up that hill and found Wayne there, berating me. I was still in tears, a mess from what he’d done and the things he’d been saying since he showed up at the stone circle. She was having none of it. She tapped her walking stick on the ground and that’s when Wayne got his first taste of real power. Me too, actually. The magic came flooding back as the pathways inside me that had been starved were suddenly filled. I stopped crying and watched her take Wayne down a peg or two while the wolves ranged around her protectively. He was totally outclassed and outnumbered, but he still didn’t leave.”

  “He didn’t want to give up his juicy prize,” Slade said, disgu
sted with the other man.

  “Too right,” Kate agreed. Her voice was stronger now as she remembered the moment she had broken free of Wayne’s hold over her. “I stood up and began speaking. I told him off at first and then, it was like something took me over, and I cursed him, dispersing his power and sending it back to Mother Earth. I had no idea where that came from. I’d never done such a thing before, but I think the Goddess spoke through me on that special night, while I was standing in that sacred place. She worked through me to stop Wayne’s evil.”

  “You became a priestess that night, didn’t you?” Slade asked, intrigued by the idea. He’d never heard of such a unique experience. Kate was proving herself to be special in many different ways.

  “Yeah, by accident, I guess, but it was the best accident I’ve ever been in. It changed my life. It impressed the heck out of Hilda and the wolves. They took me in, though I think they were always a little afraid of me after that. I spent the next two years with them as I finished my degree and learned about being a priestess from old Hilda. The wolves were friendly after that, but not gushingly so. They protected me. And Wayne was run out of the university—out of the state, even. They hustled him out of there so fast, I think his head is still spinning.” She laughed for the first time since starting her sad tale. “The wolves keep tabs on him, just in case. For my part, I’ll be happy if I never see his sorry face ever again.”

  Slade felt satisfaction rumble through him at her words. Good. She was over the other man and didn’t want anything to do with him. She’d had her closure and was content to let others handle the follow up. To him, that was a good sign.

  “Where did you go after that?” Slade wanted her to keep talking. He wanted to know everything she was willing to tell him about her past.

  “Hilda had some friends up north. I apprenticed with two priestesses in Indiana for a few years, then moved to Missouri to learn more from a solo priestess who needed some help. She was being overrun by magic users who wanted control of the stone circle she guarded. They weren’t evil, just misguided, and there was a bit of a turf war going on until I showed up as reinforcement. I’ve always been pretty good at offensive magic—ever since what happened with Wayne, at least—so Allie and Betina send me in where there’s a problem. This is the first peaceful assignment I’ve been given, actually,” she reflected.