Mated to the enemy, p.7
Mated to the Enemy, page 7
part #3 of High House Ursa Series
“Exactly.”
“Unfortunately I haven’t heard anything,” she said regretfully. “Ever since they killed Laurent and his wife for going after Kincaid—well, for getting caught going after him, I should say—but ever since that, it’s been silence. Nothing of note has happened that we’ve heard about, at least.”
“Nothing? No more deaths? No fires, explosions, poisonings?”
Kaelyn shook her head. “The only news, is that there hasn’t been any news.”
“That’s weird. Why would they come after her then? They wanted her badly. Whatever it was, I feel like we would have heard about it, don’t you think?”
The Queen nodded. “Yes, if she’d done something.”
“Huh?” Klaue was confused.
“Well, what if she found something out. Learned something that she shouldn’t have. Knowledge can be just as powerful in the right set of hands.”
Klaue considered that. “It’s entirely possible,” he agreed.
“Why don’t you ask her that?” Kaelyn suggested. “See if she’ll give you an answer about whether she did something or knows something?”
He nodded. It wouldn’t give them much, but then again, they had nothing so far, so it would be an improvement.
“Speaking of which, where is Jessica?”
“She decided to leave. Felt bad about putting us on the spot like she did.”
“And you…let her?” Kaelyn didn’t sound happy.
“She’s walking. It’s a long way to the gate,” he said lamely, realizing how pathetic that sounded now he was forced to say it out loud.
“Go after her already,” Kaelyn commanded, assuming the mantle of Queen in the space of half a heartbeat. “If she does know something, we need that information, Klaue. Whatever it is, Canis is desperate enough to work with a mage to ensure we don’t get it. Think about what that means. Whatever it takes, get it.”
Despite the change in her persona, Klaue’s spine straightened at the blunt command. “I’m not going to manipulate my mate,” he said formally, making it clear he was standing his ground.
“She’s your mate?” Kaelyn sounded surprised.
“Yes?” Klaue frowned. “Didn’t Kincaid tell you that the other night?”
“No. Neither did you.” She crossed her arms.
“Ahhhhh,” Klaue stammered. “Oops?”
“Yeah. Big oops, Klaue. That’s kind of important information, don’t you think?”
He shrugged. “I guess. It’s not like it’s going anywhere right now though. Assuming Kincaid is right. He is rather new at this, it’s possible he got it wrong.”
“No it’s not. His visions don’t lie. If he saw the connection between you two, it’s there, trust me.”
Klaue started to protest, to ask how they could possibly know, but Kaelyn shook her head, cutting him off.
“You’re not thinking this through, Klaue.”
“I’m…not?” He frowned. “I was pretty sure I’d given it lots of thought about whether or not she could be my mate.”
The Queen sighed. “Not that. Think! You let her go. She’s currently walking to the gates. To where she’ll be unprotected. Vulnerable to Canis.”
“Yeah, I knew all that. I wasn’t going to let her get that far. I’m not completely stupid.”
“You’re overlooking one key thing, Klaue.”
“I am?”
The Queen sighed, shaking her head. “You men. Sometimes you’re blind. Ask yourself this, Klaue. What if Canis finds out she’s your mate?”
He jerked upright. “Oh shit. That’s, umm.” He started stepping backward. “That’s a good point.”
Kaelyn smiled tightly. “I thought it might.”
Klaue was still walking back toward the door. “I, um. I’m gonna go now.”
The Queen waved imperiously at him. “Begone,” she commanded with a smile.
He didn’t wait for more. Klaue turned and bolted from the room, running breakneck speed for the garage. It hadn’t been too long since Jessica had left. He could still intercept her before she reached the gates.
But somehow, he knew it wouldn’t be as easy as catching up to her. He would still have to convince Jess to turn around. To come back to the House. To come back to him…
12
“Maybe not your smartest of moments there, Hanes,” she muttered, berating herself over the genius idea to leave without asking for a lift.
Of course, if I’d had any idea their driveway was longer than most city streets, I would have approached it differently.
Her journey from the gates to the House itself when she’d arrived was mostly a nondescript blur filled with nothing but images of Klaue’s head as she’d looked up at him. It was impossible for her to judge time or distance then. Now, however, she was learning first hand that the Ursas loved their privacy.
Even the drive up to Moonshadow Manor wasn’t this long, though it wasn’t exactly short either. Not that driving was an option. Klaue had never come out and said it, but she was fairly positive the Hummer she’d stolen from Canis was either destroyed, or left behind for the werewolves to take back with them.
You should have just asked Klaue for a ride, the situation be damned.
It was too late for should have or would have, and Jessica knew that Klaue might have denied her request anyway. It was easy in hindsight to look back and say she would have had the courage to ask him, but in the moment, it was very different indeed. Besides, the whole point of her leaving was to stop putting anyone else in harm’s way to protect her. Zoe had already done that for her, and that was one person too many. It was time Jessica started taking responsibility for her own actions.
Zoe was the first step. After she’d cleared the property and found a ride away from Plymouth Falls, she would need to search out a payphone and find out if Zoe was still alive. From there, she would have to stay one step ahead of whoever Lorran sent after her, including the mage, all while figuring out a way to rescue Zoe.
It was ambitious, and she understood the odds of success were slim. She was just a normal human after all, without any special powers or abilities. But this was her baby sister, and she wasn’t going to fail her. This was the best way. Nobody else would be hurt doing this. Jessica would risk her own life. She wasn’t about to risk anyone else’s. Not again.
Of course, if you just told Klaue what was going on, then he might be inclined to help you.
“Which would bring him into harm’s way, which is exactly what I’m trying to avoid,” she growled, irritated that she couldn’t keep herself in line with the plan. Why did Klaue have to keep popping back up into her brain? If it wasn’t his hard muscles, it was his laugh, or his smile. It was always something.
If you go back, Klaue risks being seen with you, being targeted because of you. They might hurt him. Because of you.
She didn’t like the idea of him being hurt. It bothered her a lot more than she anticipated, helping Jessica to firmly put the idea of going back there in the rear view mirror. She was done with House Ursa and ready to head out on her own.
The distant drone of a car engine reached her ears. A few moments later, she was able to pinpoint the location as coming from behind her. Jessica smiled, turned around and started walking backward toward the gate, thumb stuck out to the side. Hopefully, whoever it was, they would help her out with a ride.
The black SUV slowed down as it approached, then went past her before coming to a halt. The windows were tinted, but she could see a large figure at the wheel.
“Yes!” she said with a little fist pump, hurrying toward the passenger door.
Before she could get there though, she heard the driver’s door open and close, and a second later, Klaue came walking around the front of the vehicle.
“What do you want?” she asked, realizing her odds of getting a lift had just vanished. Sighing in frustration, she started walking again, forcing him to walk as well if he wanted to talk.
“I want to help.”
Jessica blinked. “What? You want to help? How are you going to do that?”
Klaue’s longer steps brought him to her side with ease. He was walking a little closer to her than she wanted, but Jessica was already at the side of the road. If she moved over any more, she’d be walking on the uneven grass.
“I don’t know yet,” he confessed, answering her question. “But I’m going to help, I know that much.”
“That’s very descriptive,” she said drily, still looking straight ahead, not slowing. “But do you have a plan?”
“No,” he admitted. “Not a complete one.”
“How complete is it?”
“I have the first step?” he said sheepishly.
Jessica sighed. ‘Okay, well, let’s hear that at least.”
“Step one is convincing you to come back,” he said immediately, without hesitating or needing to think.
“Can’t do that,” she told him as the road curved slightly to the left, forcing her to turn into him to keep from walking off the paved surface.
“Why the heck not?” he ground out.
Good. The sooner he grew frustrated, the sooner he would turn back. To safety.
“I told you already. I’m not putting you, or your friends, in danger for any longer. Besides, this way it’ll be easier for you as well. They want me gone.”
The manicured lawns on either side of the road gave way as they left them behind and entered the covered canopy of the forest that encircled the property like a moat. For a second, Jessica wondered if they kept the equivalent of land alligators in the forest.
Land alligators? Really?
“That’s not really fair,” Klaue said after the silence had grown nice and thick. “They would be more inclined to trust you if you should just tell us more about you.”
Jessica finally spun to face him. “You need to stop prying at my secrets, Klaue,” she snapped. “Haven’t I made that clear already?”
She looked up at him with as much force behind her glare as she could muster. It was tough, because she didn’t enjoy being mad at him, no matter how valid the reasoning in her mind. He was just trying to help.
“I’m not talking about your secret,” he said softly, showing no sign that he was affected in the slightest by her outburst or impolite looks.
“Huh? What are you talking about then?” she asked, continuing to walk, but intrigued now.
“Little details.”
“Like?”
“I don’t know. Your last name. What brought you to Plymouth Falls? Things like that. Things that will help the others feel more comfortable trusting you.
Jessica wanted to tell him to piss off. To either drive her to the gates or leave her alone, one or the other. It’s what she should have done, the smart move. But she couldn’t. He was too earnest, too damned cute in his persistence. It was infuriating!
What harm can come by telling him some of your backstory? He already knows your sister is mated to someone in Canis, after all. It’s why they all suspect you of being a spy.
“I got laid off,” she admitted finally. “The factory I worked for is closing, and they were paying people to start leaving. I took the early severance package after a bit of negotiating. Then I decided to take some time off before looking for the next job. I’ve got a bit of a nest-egg saved up, so I would be fine, I decided.”
Klaue was hanging off her every word as she continued to walk into the forest, not yet decided about whether or not she was going to return to the House. That would bear more thought first.
“I came out here. I’ve been to Plymouth Falls before, but not in several years. I missed my sister. We were really close as kids and growing up, but once we started living in different cities, that faded.”
She didn’t mention her own feelings, that she felt Lorran was trying to cut her off from her old life, to rid himself of the Hanes family entirely.
“My last name is Hanes, by the way,” she added, remembering his other question. “Not that it will help you in any way, but there you have it. Any other questions?” She’d meant it to come out cheery, but her current mood twisted the knob on her voice to extreme sarcasm instead.
Klaue glanced at her before she could respond, his eyebrows raised at the caustic tone.
“Sorry,” she said, hunching over slightly. “I meant that to sound normal. Seriously, any other little questions?”
It felt somewhat cathartic to talk to him about her life, she realized, as long as they danced around the events of the past few days.
“Who is your sister mated to? Can you tell me that?”
Jessica almost said no, but realized that if he truly wanted to he could find out, due to Lorran’s position as a Title Holder. “Lorran,” she said slowly. “He’s some sort of bigwig I guess, I don’t really know, I never bothered to care.”
“Lorran?” Klaue said, coming to a halt. “Like, Captain of House Canis, Lorran? That Lorran?”
“I guess?” she said, feeling kind of silly. Maybe she should have made a bigger deal of finding out what it was her sister’s mate did for his House. “Is he a big deal?”
“In a way,” Klaue said, choking over his words.
“Oh. Well I mean, I only ever knew him as Lorran. Even after my sister was mated to him, we never really talked about what he did. I knew he was some sort of high-up but, well, I didn’t like him and…Klaue? Are you even paying attention to me?”
The shifter had gone quiet, but even more unnerving than that, his body had gone still. He was looking out past her, into the forest ahead.
“Klaue?” she asked again, receiving nothing but a hand across her mouth.
“Shh,” he said quietly.
Jessica snatched his hand away. “What is it?” she asked in a faint whisper, following his gaze but seeing nothing.
“Trouble,” he said just as softly, looking around for a few moments. “Run for the car. The keys are in it. Take it and head back to the house.”
“What? Klaue I don’t under—”
“Now. Go!” he hissed.
“But why?” she asked, stepping backward and obeying his commands.
In response, a blast of red energy came screaming out of the forest straight toward her.
13
Klaue cursed as he tackled Jessica out of the way.
Red magic, or elemental magic, was the most commonly used form. It revolved around earth, wind, water, fire, and was found across the globe in all manner of creatures, though only humans had learned how to harness it for their own uses.
He couldn’t use magic himself, but one thing the soldiers of his House trained for, was how to defend themselves from a magic user, in case they were ever set upon by one. The old war between shifters and mages might be over, but it would take a lot longer than a century for the habits to fade away.
Even as Klaue rolled to a halt, shielding Jessica from the worst of their tumble, he was snatching up objects from the grass and nearby forest. He rose to his feet and fired a chunk of asphalt. The black lump whizzed through the air on a direct return route from where the energy attack had come.
He didn’t expect it to hit anything or anyone, and he wasn’t disappointed when it sailed into the forest before bouncing across the ground. The mage was skilled, and he knew to move after every attack.
Another attack came, more red energy, this time from another angle. Jessica was still on the ground, staring up at him with horror written across her beautiful features. Seeing his possible mate like that ignited flames of protective desires within him. Klaue started ripping up the edge of the asphalt, fingers like steel as they dug into the tough material and snapped it with ease.
A veritable barrage of the chunks whizzed into the forest, whipping through the air like a buzzsaw as he moved back and forth in a half-circle.
Mages didn’t need to read spells from a book to cast their energy, but they did need to focus for a second or two before unleashing it. Taking a three-inch section of asphalt to the body would more than serve to distract the attacker long enough to delay their next attack. If Klaue could find his target.
“Get out of here!” he shouted, risking a moment to glance down at Jessica. “I’ll cover you. Go!”
He ripped up another section of asphalt and threw it as fast as he could snap it apart.
She got to her feet and took two steps before the pair of them were hit by a sonic wave erupting out of the forest to his left, an area Klaue hadn’t pelted with his makeshift missiles yet.
The green cone tumbled him through the air until it used up its energy. It faded and he bounced and rolled across the driveway, scraping his elbows and forearms fiercely. He came to a halt, took quick stock of his injuries and, realizing he was essentially unharmed, got to his feet, enraged.
Looking back at Jessica, he saw that she’d actually escaped the worst of the blast, only being spun to the ground near where she’d been standing. She was coughing and hunched over on all fours, but otherwise seemed unharmed, thank the gods.
Klaue reached deep inside him for the energy that would start his transformation into his alter ego, and forced it first into his head, ducking to the side as the hidden mage struck again. A cackling bolt of green energy whipped past his face, burying itself deep into the huge trunk of one of the mighty oaks that dotted the property, centuries old and massive in size.
Throwing his head back, Klaue bellowed loudly, his half-human, half-bear head creating the eerie sound that echoed out into the forest and back toward the house as well. Grinning, he turned his fearsome visage to the area of forest in which he suspected the mage of hiding.
Deep in the forest, the calls of the guards who patrolled the perimeter echoed his roar, a symphony of anger as the House came to understand they were under attack.
“You’re screwed now,” he chuckled as the calls died away, the voice twisted and deep, the half-bear half-human vocal chords making his threat extra intimidating.
He charged toward the mage’s hiding spot, passing a stunned-looking Jessica. Klaue didn’t look at her. Right now, he needed to focus on putting the mage on the defensive. That way, his energy would be directed at Klaue, not her. He didn’t have to defeat him, just distract him until help arrived.
