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This park would be a nice place to visit before sunset next time, but with her insane life there would likely be no next time.
Siofra stared in shock at the bird looking up at her with dead eyes and tried to find her voice. Was this Mother Cadellus of the stories she’d heard for so many years, the scary witch of her nightmares?
She cringed under the weight of Rory’s confused stare, but appreciated having him with her to face this. She’d been having a wonderful evening with Rory and had hoped the rodent following them from the restaurant had been just like the one on the parking deck where she’d slept ... a harmless natural creature.
But when Rory had asked, she feared putting him in danger more than looking crazy to him. She’d been telling him this might be related to Mother Cadellus when the pigeon walked up and spoke, shocking her into silence.
Rory asked, “Do you know who this is, Siofra?”
“Possibly.” She cleared her throat and asked the bird, “Are you, uh ... ”
“Yes. I am Mother Cadellus.”
Rory cursed and demanded, “What’s this all about?”
The pigeon turned its black gaze on Rory. “Who are you and what business is it of yours?”
“I’m her bodyguard, because people have been trying to kill her,” Rory said, sounding like hired help.
Siofra didn’t want to tell this bird, or Mother Cadellus, anything about Rory either. Instead she argued, “I don’t consider a place I was held captive and had a man forced on me as home.”
Swinging the black eyes back to Siofra, the pigeon said, “They were trying to give you value. Everyone must carry a load in this world.”
Rory’s grip on her shoulder tightened, but he was staying out of this, probably to keep Mother Cadellus talking.
Siofra should have taken a moment to think through her next words, but she was too pissed to think straight. A taste of freedom would do that to someone who’d lived her life.
She leaned forward and snapped, “Carry a load? I was held prisoner from the time I was a child. I had no family. I’ve lived in camps from one location to another with no—”
“Shh!” Rory hushed her as a couple strolled by.
Turning to the couple, the bird began moving around and pecking at the ground in a normal manner.
As soon as the couple walked out of hearing range, Siofra finished her tirade. “I was dragged everywhere and made to live with nothing and no hope for ever having a life. They put me through hideous experiments without my consent then a guard came to rape me to get me pregnant. That is not a life or a home.”
Appearing to ignore Siofra, the bird kept walking around.
Had Mother Cadellus been thinking and needed to keep the bird moving while she was distracted?
Returning to its original spot, the pigeon said, “You will understand more later, but for now you must come back and help us locate Baatar.”
Siofra froze.
Rory asked, “Who?”
This sent the bird’s empty stare to Rory again. “Shut up until I give you instructions.”
“Dream on, birdie.”
Cocking its head to one side, then the other, the pigeon said, “You are clearly not human. What are you?”
Rory shrugged. “I don’t answer questions put to me by rodents on the ground or in the air.”
Oh, shit. Siofra didn’t want Mother Cadellus focusing on Rory. She had no idea what kind of power this woman wielded. Before he could open his mouth and make it worse, Siofra asked Mother Cadellus, “Why should I help you find Baatar? He didn’t deserve to be captured any more than I did?”
Turning back to her, the possessed bird said, “You are part of a large family that takes care of each other. Baatar is not of our family. He has a purpose and has caused our family tremendous grief by running away, just as you have. It is your responsibility to find him so that he may serve his purpose.”
Siofra had never held a conversation with a truly insane person, but she’d know crazy when she heard it even if the mouthpiece didn’t belong to a dead bird.
She would help no one capture or hurt Baatar.
Leaning forward, Siofra waited as a young guy and his dog jogged near them, but he took a turn that sent him running in the opposite direction. When he was far enough away, she spoke softly to the bird.
“I will not help you find him and I will not go back to be abused again.”
Making a clicking sound at the back of its throat, which would seem unnatural had the bird been alive, it said, “That is unfortunate. If you had done this the easy way, our people would have brought Baatar back and shown him how he could be of great value. He would have been treated well.”
Siofra recalled when Baatar told her to run, he claimed they would not hurt him. He was the greater prize.
Of course, anything would be a prize above her, but why was he so important? She asked, “What do you plan to do with him?”
“You are not at a level to know these things.”
Stupid twit. Siofra said, “Then you won’t find Baatar. He’s vanished by now and not even I can find him.”
“That is unfortunate. I will be forced to recover the investment we’ve made in him since he was a child another way.”
Baatar had been captured as a child, too? “Oh, really? How will you do that?” Siofra asked, equally curious and worried, but trying to sound unimpressed.
“There’s only one group who can locate Baatar quickly and that’s the Black River pack.”
Scoffing, Siofra said, “I just saw one of their divisions and they didn’t have a clue how to find him.”
“That’s because they don’t have my help. Once I negotiate a compensation for the money and time we’ve spent, I’ll make a deal to join forces with them to track down Baatar, but I would rather have him back in the fold on his own.”
Siofra’s heart drummed like a metronome wound too tightly. Could this bitch and that wolf pack find Baatar?
The woman’s cold voice poured from the dead pigeon once more. “Just remember that you are responsible for what happens to him. He would have been treated very well had he returned to us first. That wolf pack will not take such good care of him. And you will return to where you belong, but you will not enjoy life as much this time. Do not think this bodyguard can protect you.”
With that, the pigeon shuddered once and fell over, now a stiff corpse.
~*~*~
Rory had to lean on his training as a sniper to sit as still as possible while that bitch bird spewed vile garbage and threats at Siofra.
The minute the pigeon returned to its dead state, he let out a long breath. “Okay, we need to talk. So you know the person who manipulated that bird?”
“No, not exactly. I grew up hearing about Mother Cadellus using dead animals to do her bidding, but ... I thought it was folklore. I’ve never witnessed that before today. I thought she was more myth than anything.” Siofra grabbed her head. “This is awful. I have to find Baatar.”
An expected surge of fury rushed through him and Ferrell roared to get out.
What the hell was going on?
He could come up with only one explanation. Jealousy. He’d never reacted to a woman talking about another man. Still, neither he nor his animal wanted another man around Siofra.
He asked Ferrell to settle down so he could help Siofra and damn if his jaguar didn’t quiet immediately.
Turning her to meet his gaze, Rory held her face in his hands. “Who is Baatar?”
“Someone important to me. He was brought into my camp six months ago. He told me they’d captured him a long time ago, but he never said they’d taken him as a child, too.”
“What do you mean by important?” Rory asked, struggling not to growl and wanting to kick himself for having this reaction. He had never reacted this way to any woman.
That had clearly just changed and he didn’t like this feeling one bit.
Siofra stopped fidgeting with her hands and squinted her eyes, studying him. “Why are you asking me that?”
What was he supposed to do? Ask if this guy was someone she’d been involved with—or still was—and humiliate himself?
“Were you two an item?” popped out of his mouth all on its own. Evidently he had no trouble embarrassing himself when it came to Siofra.
“What?” She pulled back in horror. “No. Eww. Baatar is like a brother to me.”
“Good.” Rory released a breath, at peace over that answer.
Ferrell rumbled a peaceful purr.
Siofra sat up and crossed her arms. “Why?”
Shit, he did not want to get into this conversation. So he hijacked the topic. “What do you think they’ll do with Baatar?”
With just that little incentive, Siofra forgot about her last question. “If you mean the Cadells, I have no idea what they have in mind. He said they brought him here from China, but he does not look Asian or speak Chinese. He hasn’t told me his entire story yet. We avoided speaking much in the camps, keeping our conversation about escaping.”
She was clearly scared for her friend. Rory kept silent so she’d continue talking.
“Baatar has been my only true friend, someone I adopted as a brother. He’s watched over me like I’m his little sister. When he found me with the jackal shifter who tried to rape me, Baatar pushed me to run right then. I didn’t want to run without him, because we’d been talking about how we would escape together, but he said he’d keep the jackal shifters busy so I could get away. He believed they would not harm him or come after me because he was more important to the Cadells. That was the only reason I finally ran.”
Rory tried to put this all together. “Sounds odd for the Cadells to work with anyone to get a captive back.”
“Mother Cadellus said they spent a lot of money on Baatar and the Cadells probably don’t want to screw up their deal with the Black River pack.”
She was telling the truth. While she had her guard down, Rory wanted all he could get. “What makes Baatar a prize?”
“The Cadells can’t figure out Baatar.” She sighed heavily. “He’s a big guy with some kind of power, but he can’t make it manifest in any useful way. He’s just abnormally strong and fast.” She shook her head at some hidden thought. “He has bad moments where he walks around banging his head and chest, talking to himself. It’s getting worse. I watched his back in the camp and he watched mine. Now he has no one.”
Rory wasn’t seeing the prize aspect of this guy Baatar. Sounded like a nutcase, but in fairness to someone born with a power they had no clue how to manage or use, Baatar was okay in Rory’s book because he had protected Siofra. The Black River pack lived for getting their hands on shifters, but they would get really excited about someone with untapped power.
Wait until the Guardian heard about the dead critters and Mother Cadellus.
Hell, Rory had suspected it might be that witch when he’d seen the dead pigeon eyes, but he’d only heard snippets about the crazy witch who cursed the Gallize shifters. He’d been told to always be on the lookout for any strange situation with a dead animal. He’d never encountered any, which was why it had taken a moment to realize he’d been in the presence of true evil.
Then a new thought hit him. If Siofra knew so much about the Cadells, could she know about the Gallize?
He doubted it. When she asked about him having two human parents, she’d sounded sincerely dumbfounded and let the topic drop as soon as he brushed it off. Also, she hadn’t seemed particularly frightened or wary of the Gallize shifters, as a Cadell would be, just shifters in general.
She grabbed Rory’s hand. “Now you can understand why Baatar needs me. I’m begging you. Please let me go now. I have to find Baatar and help him before these people get their hands on him.”
Oh, hell no. She was not leaving his sight. “I can’t do that, Siofra. My boss allowed you a break from questioning, because he expects me to deliver you in the morning to talk to him.”
She snatched her hand back. “I’m worried about a man’s life and all that matters is me talking to your boss?”
“No, I want you to be safe first.”
“Then help me find Baatar.”
In that moment, he wanted to throw duty to the wind and be the man she needed, but he could just see the Guardian’s face if he agreed. Rory was already hanging by a thread and one more wrong move would break it.
His boss expected all of the Gallize to put duty first and Rory couldn’t face himself in the mirror if he let down the Guardian and his team.
He tried to reason with Siofra. “I understand what you’re saying, but I can’t just go off on my own.” Her disappointment hit him so hard it physically hurt. “Let me talk to my boss in the morning and see what we can do.” He intended to contact Justin tonight, who would decide if this called for an emergency meeting.
If Mother Cadellus was after one of the Gallize, Rory would drag everyone in, but this was just some guy Siofra knew. Once the boss talked to her tomorrow, Rory would lobby to help her find her brother even though it could push the Guardian over the edge. He’d do that for her.
Siofra jumped up. “That bitch and the wolf pack may have Baatar by tomorrow.”
Rory glanced around as he stood.
Two people who had been laughing as they strolled now paused to stare at them.
He cupped Siofra’s arm and pleaded, “Don’t do this here. Please. We need to go.”
She yanked her arm back. “I have done nothing to deserve being held against my will. In fact, I helped you with those bounty hunters, then saved your leg. I need you to let me go.”
This sucked so much. He did owe her and one thing he didn’t want to do was die owing anyone, not for something that important. He might be three years from facing death by mating curse, but his animal still didn’t feel right.
He might not have three more years.
Herding her to the curb, Rory hailed another cab.
The minute she got inside the car, she said, “Call your boss.”
That would be a double hell no until he ran this past Justin. The driver had some Middle Eastern music turned up and wouldn’t hear them, so Rory asked, “Why?”
“If he wants answers on the Cadells, he’ll have to meet me now to get them, or he gets nothing. This deal is good for one hour.”
He didn’t know if she had anything worth disturbing the Guardian for unnecessarily, but he could see no way around making that call.
Not when he couldn’t guarantee she’d answer anyone’s questions tomorrow.
He didn’t want to push her after all she’d been through and he doubted he could at this point. She was clearly terrified for Baatar, someone she considered a brother. Apparently her duty to him topped everything else in her world.
His animal wanted Siofra as their mate and Rory had crossed a line in the hotel. One he shouldn’t have crossed. Hell, he was fighting possessive thoughts that he had no right to think.
Rory had to do the right thing and hand Siofra off to someone else before he couldn’t walk away.
But he would allow only someone he trusted to take over guarding her, which had to be Justin or Cole. Neither of those two would make a move on her. They were happily mated.
Rory now understood the magnetic pull of a potential mate and the idea of not seeing her again hurt worse than any wound he’d suffered. Hurt as bad as losing his brother.
He couldn’t understand that, because he wasn’t trying to mate her, but he wanted her just the same.
