Steam

  She turned around and screamed as a hand clamped over her mouth.

  * * * *

  Brodey lapped the geyser basin, sticking to the boardwalk and paths, going for speed and not tracking. He wanted to wear himself out, collapse in bed, and hopefully not dream. He ran until after midnight, until his tongue lolled from his mouth. Cail and Micah weren’t back yet when he returned.

  Instead of making him feel better, he felt worse, antsy, edgy. Not being able to figure out why only exacerbated the feeling. He took a hot shower and lay in bed. Sleep wasn’t forthcoming. No good distractions like TV, either, because the room didn’t have one.

  He rolled over and buried his head under the pillow and tried to ignore Lina’s scent on the jacket hanging feet from his bed. She wasn’t in her room with her men, because he didn’t feel the sweet calm that lulled even him to sleep when she was around.

  * * * *

  A cloud drifted over the moon, dimming the light. Something hard and round jabbed her in the ribs.

  “If you don’t cooperate, I’ll kill your men,” the coarse male voice whispered.

  She nodded, terrified.

  The man pushed her in front of him down the boardwalk, heading back toward the lake as darkness cloaked their progress. She heard Jan and Rick still splashing and having fun as they grew closer. By the time they reached where the men’s clothes lay in a pile on the boardwalk, the moon reemerged.

  The leather-gloved hand didn’t leave her mouth.

  Fuck, now I really wish I knew how to blow things up! She felt too scared to try.

  The voice called out, “All right, boys. Everybody out of the pool.”

  “What the fuck?” Rick yelled.

  Jan was closer. She saw the murderous look on his face as he climbed out of the lake and made his way to the boardwalk. “Son of a bitch! Lina, you okay?”

  She tried to nod, but the arm attached to the hand over her mouth clamped down, preventing movement. “She’s fine,” the man said. “Fight me, and she won’t be.”

  * * * *

  Rick climbed out of Abyss Pool and raced to Jan’s side. Despite his hot body, his heart nearly froze when he spotted the gun pressed to Lina’s side.

  He held up his hands. “Dude, whoa. Calm down. If this is about the poker game—”

  “No, it’s not about the poker game, asshole. Shut the hell up. If you two try anything, I’ll kill her.”

  “Dude, can’t you do anything?” Rick silently, desperately asked Jan.

  “No, we’re too close to the hot springs. The steam’s fucking with me. I can’t get closer to the lake without him hurting her. Can’t you do something?”

  “There’s too much water in the air. I need to dry off before I can make fire.”

  Lenny removed his hand from Lina’s mouth and fished around in his pocket for something, then handed it to her. “Very slowly, walk forward. I want them cuffed together, around one of the hand rail posts.” He called out to the men. “You try something, anything, I guarantee you I can put a bullet in her back before you get me. Ask yourself if it’s worth it.”

  Jan and Rick slowly stepped forward. Lina’s eyes looked wide and terrified.

  “It’s okay, baby,” Jan whispered. “Stay calm.”

  She nodded.

  “I want you two assholes to sit, stick your arms through the railing, and let her cuff you around the post.”

  Jan glared at the guy, but both he and Rick did as ordered. With trembling hands, Lina hooked one side of the cuffs to Rick’s wrist, the other to Jan’s.

  “You realize we will rip your fucking head off if you hurt her, right asshole?” Jan asked.

  Lenny grinned. “You can try. I’m not as stupid or cocky as my brother.”

  Lina turned, stunned. “That’s who you are! You’re Edgar’s brother!” Now she remembered. She’d never met him, but she saw a picture of him once, years ago. He supposedly lived overseas and was older than Edgar.

  She had an idea what his plan might be. He must be a cockatrice, like his brother.

  “Close those cuffs tight, Lina. You leave them loose so they can get out, I’ll shoot you.”

  She clicked the cuffs firmly around her men’s wrists. They didn’t look like normal handcuffs. They appeared slightly tarnished, like silver instead of stainless steel, and bore intricate engravings all around them.

  “Good. Now back up and come here. Slowly,” Lenny warned.

  She stared at Rick and Jan. Would she ever see them again?

  Jan’s eyes bored into her. “We will get you back safe, sweetheart. I promise,” he whispered. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” Rick echoed.

  Shivering in the cold, she nodded and jammed her hands into her pockets. That’s when she realized she still had the car keys. She quickly dropped them onto the pile of clothes and hoped Lenny didn’t see her do it.

  He didn’t.

  He grabbed her again, the gun firmly pressed into her side. “Good luck getting out of those cuffs, assholes. Had them specially made.”

  Rick and Jan pulled on the cuffs. “Fuck!” Jan swore.

  Lenny laughed. “Yeah, charmed silver. You can’t shift while it’s on. Just one of the tricks up my sleeve. I did some homework, found out a few things my brother didn’t.” His fingers bit into Lina’s upper arm as he pulled her with him. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got me a goddess to bang.”

  Leaving Rick and Jan screaming, Lenny forced Lina up the boardwalk, across the empty parking area, and to his truck parked in front of their SUV. He’d already flattened two of their tires.

  He put a pair of similar cuffs on Lina and shoved her into the front passenger seat. “I will shoot you if you run. Then I will go back and shoot them. You play nice, all three of you will live.”

  “You’re not going to let me live. Why lie about it?”

  He grinned. “Honey, if this works and I end up with your powers and theirs? It’s the ultimate fuck you to let you three live.” He grabbed her chin and kissed her as she thrashed and pulled away from him. “Then I can show up anytime out of the clear blue sky, take you and screw your brains out whenever I want, and those two assholes can’t do a thing about it.” He slammed the truck door shut and walked around to get behind the wheel.

  * * * *

  The men struggled against the cuffs for almost an hour. They tried to shift and couldn’t. They tried to pull them apart, to at least break the chain, and nearly broke each other’s wrists in the process.

  “Fuck!” Jan screamed, kicking at the post.

  Rick went still and quiet. “Hold up.” He looked at the hand rail. “I think we can slip through.” He tried to press his way between the slats in the railing, finally made it through to the other side where he stood on the ground. “Okay, you do it.”

  Jan forced his body through, struggling, finally making it as Rick grabbed him under the armpits and hauled him through. They climbed the railing and grabbed their clothes, pulling on their pants and then running for the SUV, where they saw the flat tires.

  “Son of a bitch motherfucker!” Jan screamed as he kicked the side of the SUV, leaving a huge dent behind.

  * * * *

  Zack rolled over, eyes open, sleep draining from his system. Kael snuggled firmly against him, softly snoring.

  He listened, then carefully untangled himself from Kael, stood, and walked to the window. Nearly two in the morning, Jan, Rick, and Lina weren’t back yet.

  He felt nervous, edgy.

  Pulling on jeans, he walked outside and around the corner to Lina’s room and knocked to make sure they weren’t there, despite the SUV being gone.

  No answer.

  Toe-tapping jitters set in. What the fuck?

  He returned to his room, woke Kael, and pulled on the rest of his clothes. Then he walked around the other side of the cabin to Brodey’s door and knocked.

  After a moment, Brodey opened his door. “What?”

  “I’m sorry. I know it’s late
, but can I borrow your truck?”

  Brodey looked instantly awake. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. Lina and the guys aren’t back yet. Something’s not right.”

  “You sure they’re not just getting their freak on, or out hot potting?”

  “Please?”

  Brodey sighed. “Hold on.” He reappeared a moment later and handed Zack the keys. “Hope she’s okay.”

  “Thanks.”

  Zack and Kael piled into the truck. “Where are we going?” Kael asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  Zack stopped at the intersection to the main road. He closed his eyes and tried to feel, to sense, to hear.

  Nothing.

  “Did they say anything?” Zack asked Kael.

  “Jan mentioned something about Rick and him wanting to go swimming.”

  Zack turned east and floored it. Jan wouldn’t go hot potting, by the very definition of the term. Rick would.

  Jan would, however, enjoy a cold swim. To the best of Zack’s knowledge, only one place close by offered easy access to both pleasures, where the men could safely have Lina with them without worry for her safety.

  * * * *

  Lenny headed north on the main road. He seemed perfectly comfortable driving like an insane person at a high rate of speed in the dark on the narrow park roads.

  “Took me weeks to get everything ready,” he crowed. “Just had to wait for you to show up.” He slowed and took a turn onto a dirt park fire road that quickly climbed and wound through the woods. She braced herself against the dash to keep from being bounced around.

  After what felt like hours of cross-country driving, Lenny finally stopped the truck and walked around the back. He shouldered a large backpack, then yanked Lina from the cab. “Come on, Goddess. We’ve got a hike.”

  He shoved her in front of him, up a rough trail.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Walk, don’t talk.” He shoved her again.

  She tried to summon anger, but fear controlled her. Fuck! Right about now would be a good time for Baba Yaga to appear with some helpful advice.

  Nothing.

  She lost track of time but knew they hiked for a couple of hours just from the position of the moon. In the cold and high altitude, she felt winded, exhausted. She stumbled at one point and was slow to stand.

  “Walk, or I’ll fucking drag you.”

  Slowly climbing to her feet, she glared at him. “I’ll enjoy watching them kill you.”

  “You can shut your mouth, or I can shove my cock in it to shut you up.”

  “I’ll bite it off.”

  The gun reappeared. “Oh, really?”

  Her face reddened. She turned back to the trail. With the cuffs on her wrists, she couldn’t shove her hands in her pockets to warm them. Maybe whatever the cuffs were made of stopped her from using her powers, too.

  Then again, maybe having no fucking clue how to use her powers stopped her from using them.

  At one point he pulled her off the path and took the lead. As dawn broke, they entered a tiny clearing where a tent had been set up in the lee of a rocky outcropping near a drop off.

  “Inside.”

  She crawled through the flap. He had a small altar set up. Statues and unlit candles, bundles of herbs, and a small syringe of clear fluid.

  She curled up in the far corner. He might rape her, but she’d fight him tooth and nail. “What’s that for?”

  He smiled and grabbed the syringe. “To keep you quiet until tonight, Goddess. I need the full moon.” He plunged the needle into the side of her neck.

  Lina’s world dissolved into darkness.

  Chapter Five

  Even cuffed together, Rick and Jan managed to change the flat front tire, although it took them half an hour to do it. They’d drive on the rear rim to return to the cabin for help. Their cell phones were useless.

  When they spotted headlights, they charged into the middle of the road to flag the vehicle down. It pulled in behind them. Zack and Kael jumped out.

  “What the fuck?” Zack screamed. “Where’s Lina?”

  The brothers talked over each other. “Stop! Jan, what the hell happened?”

  He quickly told the short version. Zack’s terror grew. “Fuck! We’ve got to find her!”

  “Don’t you think we know that?” Rick screamed back.

  “Can’t you tell where she is? Can’t you track her? She’s your mate for chrissake!”

  Kael grabbed the tire iron from Brodey’s truck. With Zack using the tire iron from the SUV, the men managed to break the chain between the cuffs, separating the brothers.

  “You’re her Watcher!” Jan yelled. “Can’t you track her? What do we look like? We’re dragons, not fucking bloodhounds!”

  The four men froze and looked at each other. As one, they all yelled, “Brodey!”

  * * * *

  Both Ford vehicles used the same tires, one thing in their favor. They threw the spare from Brodey’s truck on the SUV and raced back to the cabins. As early dawn caressed the sky, the men tumbled from the vehicles. They charged up the steps to Brodey’s door, pounding on it and calling for him.

  “What the hell!” Brodey threw the door open and looked at the men standing there. They looked terrified. They looked…

  He didn’t feel at all calm. “Where’s Lina?”

  As one, the men tried to tell the tale. He spotted the broken cuffs on the brothers’ wrists and held up his hands. “All right, guys, stop. Zack, what happened?”

  Zack quickly spilled the tale. By this time, Cail and Micah had appeared. Brodey pointed at them. “We need horses or ATVs or something. And two-way radios. Cell phones are iffy at best around here. Go get Doug and Oscar. Don’t tell anyone else, because we don’t know if Lenny had help. I know we can trust those two.” Cail and Micah nodded and set off at a run.

  He looked at the brothers. “You need to get those damn cuffs off.”

  “We tried.” Rick held up his arm. “This was the best we could do.”

  Brodey pushed past them and got the tire iron from the truck, then walked back to the concrete steps. “Give me your arm. Don’t move.” He positioned Rick’s arm so the cuff lock lay flat on the step. With one swift, sure strike, Brodey drove the pointed end of the tire iron into the cuff lock, breaking the mechanism. He pried it open and Rick pulled his hand out.

  Rick rubbed his wrist. “Thanks, man.”

  Brodey repeated it with Jan. With the brothers free and Cail on his way to wrangle off-road transportation, Brodey pointed at Kael. “Wait here for my brother. All of you meet up with us at West Thumb when they get back.”

  “Do you think you can track her?” Zack asked.

  Brodey glared at him. “I’m a fucking wolf. If he didn’t fly somewhere with her, believe me, I’ll track her.”

  “Do you like, need a piece of her clothing or something?”

  “No. Start the car. I’ll be right there.” He stepped inside his room and grabbed his jacket. Closing his eyes and fighting his anger, he deeply inhaled. Lina’s face immediately appeared in his mind, her red hair, her beautiful green eyes.

  Hang on, sweetie, he thought as he locked the room door behind him. I’m coming.

  * * * *

  Lenny watched the unconscious goddess. It was tempting to do something to her sooner than tonight, but he’d been warned that for the ritual to work he had to wait for moonrise.

  Meanwhile, he needed to move the truck. By the time the dragon boys managed to get free—and he had no doubts they would, the cuffs would only slow them down for a few hours at most—it would be too late for them.

  He wrapped duct tape around her ankles and slapped another piece over her mouth.

  That’ll hold her.

  He walked over to the steep drop off, his shortcut back to the truck. Closing his eyes, he jumped, partially shifting before he landed, taking the brunt of the impact in his legs. Returning to human form, he stood and walked the short
distance to where he’d parked.

  * * * *

  At West Thumb, Brodey instructed them to park exactly where they had been. Then he made them walk him down the boardwalk to where Lenny stood with Lina.

  He closed his eyes and inhaled. There was Lina’s scent, sweet and clear. The overlying scent of Lenny’s funk strengthened once he pinged on it. He slowly followed their trail through the parking lot to the gate.

  Brodey unbuttoned his shirt. Now he knew where Lina’s scent disappeared, the scent of Lenny’s truck. He closed his eyes and tried to sense Cail. He wasn’t close, but Brodey didn’t dare wait on him to return. Lina’s life depended on it.

  Brodey tossed his shirt into the back of the SUV. “They headed north. You guys wait here for Cail, then follow me.” He kicked off his boots and tossed them in, followed by his jeans. He stretched, preparing to run. Zack, Jan, and Rick looked desperate.

  “How will we know where you are?” Zack asked. “Shouldn’t we go with you?”

  “You’ll slow me down. Tell my brother and Micah I’ll scent mark when he changes direction. They’ll find it. Micah can track me. Cail shouldn’t shift, because once he’s close enough to me to sense my thoughts, he can relay directions to you guys. Stay with them, they’ll get you to me.”

  He closed his eyes, then thought of one more thing. “Be careful how close you get. We don’t want the asshole spooking and killing her if he hears you all. Might have to go in on foot. Can you guys fly or something?”

  The brothers nodded.

  “Stay with my brother. He’ll tell you what’s going on. It’ll only waste time and resources if you guys get separated. I promise, I will find her.” He shifted and took off down the road at a full run and prayed it was a promise he could keep.

  * * * *

  Brodey kept his nose low to the asphalt and ran fast. As the sun climbed, he ignored his hunger and the lure of stray scents to keep following the truck’s scent.