Chapter Eighteen

Ciudad Vaquero, capital city of Harp, aka “the city”

“You sure you’ll be all right?” Rhodry’s golden eyes were laughing as he rubbed Amanda’s swollen belly with one hand while the other was hooked around her neck to pull her closer. He kissed her gently, a very proper kiss, except for a quick swipe of his tongue to remind her of their recent “nap.” There’d been nothing proper going on there, and very little napping.

She swatted his chest, but let her hand linger to appreciate the solid muscle. Looking up, she met his smile. “You’re going a couple hundred yards to the Guild Hall, to meet with some shifters, not the other side of the planet. We’ll be fine.”

“Cullen will stay with you.”

“And don’t forget, Mom’s here. She’s vicious when riled.”

“I believe that,” he muttered. “All right,” he said, stripping off the pants he’d donned just in case her mother decided to join them in the living room. “I’ll be half an hour, no more.” He gave her a final hard, quick kiss, and then shifted. His cat was huge and sleek and pitch black, his cat eyes the same solid gold as in his human form, but with the enhanced vision of his animal. He wrapped himself around her legs, butting his head at her hand.

“Yes, you’re beautiful,” she crooned, stroking his thick, silky fur. She bent over and petted him thoroughly. “Go,” she whispered. “So you can come back sooner.”

He let out an animal groan that made her laugh, then licked her face—starting at her neck, over her cheek, and ending at her ear—and opened his jaw in a feline grin that displayed a mouth full of deadly teeth.

“Blech,” she protested, pretending to wipe her cheek before kissing his nose. “Go.”

He wound his body against her leg one last time and then ran through the open doors, going from the balcony to the trees with a soundless leap that belied the power behind his movement.

Amanda watched him go, admiring his graceful strength at the same time she longed for the ability to move through the trees as easily as he did. Someday, her sons would be jumping from tree to tree just like Rhodry, and she’d be the only one stuck on the ground. She sighed and heard the song of the trees trying to soothe her. It made her smile. She heard her mother’s footsteps coming down the hall and looked up. “Hi, Mom. Did you rest well?”

Elise came over and sat next to her. “It’s very quiet here. Almost too quiet. I’m so accustomed to the sub-audible hum of engines that I miss it when it’s gone. Like a lullaby.”

Amanda flicked her eyebrows up and down but didn’t comment. She’d never thought of the noise on a starship as a lullaby. She preferred the wind in the trees outside her window.

“Where’s Rhodry?” Elise asked, leaning back into the comfortable couch.

“There was some business at the Guild Hall. He won’t be gone long.”

“And Cullen?”

“Your favorite shifter is downstairs. Diligently on guard as always,” she said. She started to chuckle, but was almost instantly on her feet, all traces of humor gone. The trees’ song had turned abruptly discordant, like a symphony played in the wrong key, and with every instrument doing its own thing. It was a warning. Danger was lurking, but she didn’t know where.

She listened for Cullen’s footsteps on the stairs. He would have heard the same warnings she did, and being Cullen, his first reaction would be to check on her. “Cullen?” she called softly, knowing his shifter hearing would hear her easily if he was anywhere near. And with Rhodry gone, he’d definitely be near.

“Amanda?” her mom said, picking up on the heightened tension, but not knowing what was going on. “What is it?”

“Something’s wrong, and Cullen’s not answering.”

Elise started for the door, saying, “Are you sure he can hear—”

“Mom. He’s a shifter. He’d have heard me.”

Elise shot her a penetrating look, and Amanda could tell it was on her tongue to ask what the hell was going on. But her mother had lived most of her life in space, and out there you followed your instincts, or you died. She immediately turned around and headed for her room, saying, “I’ll get my gun.”

Amanda should have been shocked that her mother the doctor, a saver of lives, had a gun, but she wasn’t. Elise Sumner was a fleet officer.

As her mother disappeared down the hallway, someone knocked on the upstairs door, which only confirmed that something was seriously wrong. Cullen would never have knocked, and he never would have let someone climb those stairs without warning her.

Walking to a side cabinet, she slipped a small knife into the pocket of her oversize shirt then crossed to the stairway door. Without opening it—she wasn’t a total idiot—she called through the heavy wood, “Who is it?”

“It’s Guy Wolfrum, Amanda. I heard Elise was visiting and came to say hello.”

She recoiled in surprise. Guy Wolfrum should have been dead by now. Or, if not dead, then at least taken prisoner along with any of his surviving crew. How had he managed to evade capture and get back to the city before any of the others? And did Rhodry know?

She answered her own question. No, of course, he didn’t know. He’d never have left her alone if he did. There were limits to the information that could be passed through the trees. They conveyed emotion, not words. And even if Wolfrum had somehow escaped capture in the chaos between fighting the fire and dealing with the invaders, the threat would have been drowned out by the danger already presented by the fires.

“Amanda?” Wolfrum knocked again. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” she called. “Sorry. Just pulling on some clothes. I was taking a nap.” She glanced over and saw her mom standing in the opening to the hallway. Elise’s expression reflected her confusion. She hadn’t been briefed on the Wolfrum situation. There hadn’t been time. But taking her cues from Amanda, she gave a slight nod and stepped back into the hall so she couldn’t be seen.

Amanda opened the door slowly, intending to say just enough to send Wolfrum on his way, so she could let Rhodry know his whereabouts. But Wolfrum didn’t wait. He pushed the door open, forcing her to stumble backward to avoid being knocked over. Staring at his back, she took a moment to scan the stairwell, but it was empty. No sign of Cullen. She was worried about him, but right now she was more worried about what Wolfrum wanted from her. Maybe he knew Elise was on-planet and simply hoped for a free ride off-planet. But that didn’t explain why the trees were continuing to scream of danger. Was it Wolfrum? What could he want with her or… Understanding struck, and she felt a rush of such intense rage that it stole her breath away.

“Where’s Elise?” he demanded, searching the room.

She turned to study him carefully. He looked awful. He was a big man, but he looked as though he’d lost weight recently. His clothes were loose and disheveled, as if he’d been sleeping in them for days. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and the hand he raised to wipe his forehead trembled.

He lowered that same hand to his pocket and pulled out a tranquilizer gun which he pointed at Amanda. “I said where’s Elise?” His voice was scratchy, his eyes continuing to dart around the empty room.

Amanda pointedly ignored the gun. “She’s resting. Would you like to leave a message? Or you can come back later. Maybe without the tranq.”

“You think you’re so special,” he sneered. “Living with one of those animals, fucking it,” he spat, gesturing at her belly. “What about me?” he shouted suddenly. “Two years and these people still treat me like an outsider, an Earther.” He said the word as if it was a curse. And maybe it was on Harp. “But you know the worst of it? The very worst?” He didn’t wait for her response, just kept up his whining. “Shifters,” he snarled. “I know they exist. I’m a xenobiologist, for fuck’s sake. Did they think I wouldn’t notice? I’ve seen them in the forest. I’ve seen them shift.” His bark of laughter had a hysterical quality that had her taking a step away, edging toward the big chair near the fireplace. She wanted something besides skin between her babies and that tranq gun.

“Don’t move,” he snapped. “You think I’m stupid?”

“Well,” she hedged, as she kept moving, putting more distance between them, buying more time for Rhodry to return. Because he would have heard the danger in the trees just as she did. He was on his way. “I’m not sure, Guy. I mean, you did barge into my home with a gun, even though you’ve just admitted you know my husband’s true nature, so…”

“You smug bitch. You won’t be laughing when I’m through with you. You and your brats. I’m not returning to Earth with nothing. I told them we needed real soldiers, not rejects who couldn’t cut it in fleet. But they didn’t listen. And now it’s all gone to hell. Well, fuck that. I didn’t give up my commission, my job, my fucking reputation, for nothing,” he screamed the last word at her, jaw straining and eyes crazed.

“They’re all dead now,” he continued conversationally, suddenly as calm as if they were discussing the weather, as if he hadn’t been bulging-eyes crazy only a moment before. “But I’m not, and I started thinking—where else could I get the specimens I’d promised to deliver? And how could I do it alone? And then, it hit me. There are two of them right here in the city. Perfect specimens that don’t require a small army to capture, and that come with a live incubator who’s already adapted to space travel.” He grinned, so very pleased with himself. “Those twins of yours are going to make me a fucking fortune.”

“Over my dead body,” Amanda said calmly, although there was nothing calm about the fury burning in her gut. She was going to kill this motherfucker.

“You always were an asshole.” Elise’s quiet words had Wolfrum spinning in surprise to see her standing in the hall with an ancient pistol pointed his way.

He cast a hate-filled glance at Amanda. “Bitch,” he snarled. And then, moving faster than she would have thought possible, he reached out and grabbed her arm, slamming her into the hard corner of the chair as he yanked her past it and against his chest, placing her body between him and Elise.

“If I’m killed, the babies die, too,” she said reasonably, belying the sheer terror squeezing her heart.

“Not if I keep you alive long enough to cut them out of you. Besides, she won’t shoot.”

Amanda knew that was true. Her mom would never risk her or the twins. But was Elise a good enough shot to do anything else? Could she shoot Wolfrum in the kneecap, for example? Or, hell, just pop the asshole in the brainpan and get rid of him. He deserved to die. He would die for this. He’d threatened her children. She fingered the knife in her pocket, waiting for an opportunity.

“So what’s the—” Her words were cut off as a spasm tore through her body, rippling through her abdomen like a wave. She staggered, yanking away from Wolfrum as she fell to her knees. “Mom,” she cried, her terrified gaze on Elise.

Her mother rushed forward, just as Wolfrum grabbed Amanda’s arm, trying to drag her back to her feet. “Let’s go. I want those little bastards born off-planet.”

“It’s too soon,” she gasped.

“All the better. Stay back, Elise. I don’t need—”

The furious roar of a hunting beast filled the air, making the entire house tremble and bringing a smile to Amanda’s face.

…

Rhodry landed silently in the tree next to their balcony just in time to see Wolfrum, gun in one hand and yanking at Amanda with the other, trying to drag her to her feet while she knelt on the floor, curled around her stomach.

And he lost all reason.

Launching himself through the open window, he roared with a fury that had every shifter in the city jolting up in alarm.

The coward screamed and ran for the door to the stairs, dropping the gun in his terror, his cries reaching a fever pitch when Rhodry’s paw caught the back of his leg, ripping into muscle and tendon. The man went down, and a rumbling cough sounded from Rhodry’s throat, the satisfied growl of a hunter. The cat liked nothing better than to toy with its prey before the kill. He pounced again as Wolfrum crawled to the door, the man sobbing in relief when he managed to drag it open, only to shriek in agony as Rhodry’s claws raked down his back and buttocks, digging into flesh. He prowled closer, ignoring Wolfrum’s pleas, bunching his muscles for a final attack, and… Amanda’s soft cry had him spinning in mid-leap, the need to respond to her pain more powerful than any instinct he possessed. This was his mate, his sons. Nothing was more important than that.

He shifted to human, aware of Wolfrum falling down the stairs in a bid to escape, but he didn’t care. Wolfrum could wait. He wouldn’t make it off the block, much less the planet. Every shifter in the city was closing on his location. Harp held no sanctuary for Guy Wolfrum.

Rhodry spun in an instant, then raced over and skidded to his knees next to Amanda, wrapping her in his arms. “What do I do?” he asked, fear tinging the question with the growl of a cat.

It was Elise who answered. “Can you carry her to”—Rhodry gathered Amanda in his arms and stood—“the bedroom, please. I’ll get my bag.”

“It’s the babies,” Amanda said softly.

His lungs seized up as every breath in his body fled. It was too soon. Shifter babies matured early, but not this early. If she went into labor now… He held her closer, willing his body to lend her some of his strength, to take the pain. And he forced himself to keep moving, to carry her into their bedroom with the big bed where they’d made love just a few hours earlier because Amanda had joked that sex was good for her.

Rhodry knew about birthing. He’d waited plenty of times while cousins or cousins’ wives gave birth, standing down the hall or in the garden while the woman cried in pain. But those were nothing compared to this. This was Amanda, the woman who made his heart beat, who put the breath in his lungs.

“I’m okay,” she reassured him, touching his cheek as he laid her down on the bed. “Don’t cry.” He stared as her fingers came away wet, aware for the first time that he’d been crying. “We’re okay. Your sons were just angry.”

Rhodry froze, then placed a hand over her abdomen and listened. The rush of relief was so strong that he nearly started crying again. He looked up and met Amanda’s smile with a grin of his own. “They’re pissed as hell.”

She nodded. “They knew you were coming and wanted you to hurry.” She laughed just as Elise rushed into the room.

“I’ll examine her,” Elise was saying briskly. “You go…” Her voice trailed off as she registered her daughter’s laughter and the smiles all around.

“It’s okay, Mom,” Amanda said, sounding tired but nothing else. “It was my back, not the babies.”

Elise stared then seemed to sag in place. But only for an instant. Her head came up, and she said, “We need to get your doctor over here. You,” she said, pointing at Rhodry, “put on some damn clothes.”

Rhodry bit back a grin. He was naked, but then, shifters were always naked. He glanced down and met his wife’s laughing eyes. The laughter disappeared a moment later. “You need to check on Cullen,” she said urgently. “Wolfrum must have tranqed him. You know he’d never have let that bastard up here, otherwise.”

Rhodry stood at once. “I’ll be right back, acushla.” Striding to the closet, he yanked on a pair of pants. Chances were he’d be shifting in the next few minutes, but if Cullen was injured, he might be concealed on a side street, and nudity was frowned on in the city. He’d no sooner hit the street below the stairs than a familiar scent hit his awareness, his nostrils flaring to take it in and “taste” it. He relaxed minutely, recognizing Cullen, but then he frowned. His cousin’s scent wasn’t quite right. He rolled it over the back of his throat. Amanda was right. Cullen had been dosed with something.

A moment later, he found him, just beginning to sit up, one hand to his head. Rhodry felt Cullen’s energy change and knew he was about to shift. He knelt next to him quickly.

“Amanda’s fine,” he said immediately, knowing what was driving his cousin. “And Wolfrum’s got every shifter in the city on his tail by now.”

“I’m sorry, Rhodi. No excuse. But that bastard came around the corner shooting two guns at once. He hit me with a half dozen tranqs. You’re sure about Amanda and the twins?”

Rhodry grinned. “Amanda’s pissed and my sons want to join the hunt.”

“Tell the bairns the hunt is on, and they’ve got company,” a third voice chimed in.

Rhodry didn’t even turn around at the sound of his cousin Gabriel’s voice.

“The Devlins are here now,” Gabe said. “We’ll trap the bastard, don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t,” Rhodry said, turning. “I’ll be staying here with Amanda.”

“Understood. What do we do with the coward when we catch him?”

“Keep him alive. After today, he belongs to the clans, but I’ll let Cristobal reach that decision on his own.”

Gabriel snorted a harsh laugh. “He damn well will. I’ll keep you informed.”

Rhodry scented the change in the air as Cullen shifted, heard the nearly silent slide of giant paws as his cousin stood. He looked up and met Rhodry’s eyes, then raced to follow Gabe down the street. The hunt was well and truly on.