she reached the stairs, she raised her hand. A little magic could slow him down enough to give her a head-start.
“Don’t even think about it. It doesn’t work well on us, and you know it. You don’t have that much energy to spare right now anyway,” Landon warned. But, he wasn’t too sure about that. Her heart was beating rapidly, her cheeks were flushed. He smelled her arousal but also a hint of fear.
Landon’s cell phone rang, shattering the moment. That particular ringtone could only mean one thing…trouble.
Landon dropped the rope and reached for his cell.
“You win this time, Joanna. Go to the office at the marina; they will call a cab for you. I’m sorry, but I have to go…now.”
#
“Where?” Landon barked as he answered the call. He had cleared the stairs in one leap, landed on the pier with the second, and was currently unlocking his truck. He couldn’t risk shifting here. People would notice a Wolf. He had to get away from the crowd.
“Kurt’s.” His second in command confirmed what his gut had already told him.
“Are the girls home?” Landon asked. Dread settled in his stomach like a cement block. He slammed the truck in gear and sped out of the parking lot.
“Yes. Becki’s there as well. They are all locked in the house at this point. But I’ve got to tell you; it’s shaping up to be a real bitch out there, Landon. I know you don’t want the girls to know, but things are about to get loud and ugly.”
“Protect them at all costs. If anything happens to those girls, I’ll kill who ever let it happen without a second thought. I’m on my way!”
Landon loved Kurt’s girls as if they were his own pups. He did not want them to know about the darkness in the world. He didn’t want them to know that things really did go “bump” in the night.
After ending the call, Landon threw the phone into the passenger seat. Fear, frustration, and rage combined making it nearly impossible to keep his Wolf restrained.
“Ouch!” Joanna complained as the phone landed forcefully in her lap.
“What the hell do you think you are doing here?” Landon was already furious and rapidly losing ground to an increasingly agitated Wolf. This is just what he needed-- an overly-tired, stubborn (not to mention smart-mouthed) Witch to worry about.
“I’m going, too. I can help,” Joanna announced as she settled in for the ride.
“No... You’re not.” Landon swore as he turned the vehicle sharply and skidded onto an abandoned service road. “I’m shifting so I can travel faster. Joanna, I don’t have time for this. Stay put... I’ll be back for you when I get this situation handled,” he ordered.
Mistaking her silence for agreement, he leapt from the truck shifting mid-flight.
Joanna’s breath caught in her throat as an enormous Wolf shrouded in thick silver fur landed on all fours. He was beautiful! His coat practically shimmered like spun silver in the sunlight, and then in an instant he had disappeared from view.
Fortunately, Joanna had placed a tracking spell on him earlier this afternoon. She had spelled all of the divers temporarily… just as a precaution. But she hadn’t seen the need to share that bit of information as Royce tended to get pissy about those things. She had wanted to be able to locate them if something unforeseen happened during their dive.
She closed her eyes and “saw” Landon as he ran like the wind. His movements were gracefully fluid. Joanna smiled, thinking he reminded her of liquid silver. As he reached his destination, what Joanna saw made her blood run cold. Vampires were surrounded by a pack of Werewolves; in a neighborhood subdivision no less! And the icing on the cake? Royce stood smack-dab in the midst of the fight….
#
As Becki glanced out the window, her heart practically stopped beating. Royce was surrounded by both men and beasts. When did he get here? What the hell were those things? What does he think he’s doing out there? She physically stuffed the girls in the panic room, a converted closet under the stairs, and swung the door closed with a thud!
“I’ll be fine.” She spoke to them through the locked door over their loud protests. “I love you all and will get you out of there when things calm down,” she promised. Becki prayed she would live through whatever was unfolding in the front yard.
Kurt had been so insistent that they all know how to access the panic room