“Play with this.” Pulling a gun from a holster at his lower back, Van squeezed the trigger.
Sebastian easily dodged the bullet and stalked forward.
“Shit, do something,” the man rasped, emptying his magazine in an attempt to halt Sebastian’s relentless approach.
“Like it’s doing you any good?” Derek muttered, abruptly retreating toward a nearby storage room.
“Where are you going?” Van demanded as his companion fled, finally realizing that Lady Cerise had disappeared at the first sight of Sebastian. “Goddamn cowards.”
Sebastian allowed his smile to widen, breathing deeply of the man’s rising terror. These bastards had not only attacked helpless females, but they were deliberately trying to create trouble between Pantera and humans.
They deserved to be punished.
Still he forced himself to wait before he attacked the fool. Reny was still urging the stumbling female across the floor. Once he was sure she was safely out of the building, he would—
Concentrating on Reny, Sebastian failed to notice Derek stepping back out of the storage room with a small gun in his hand. Not that he would be worried even if he had.
A bullet would hurt like a bitch, but it couldn’t kill a Pantera.
But it wasn’t a bullet that he felt stab into his neck.
Instead, it was a tiny dart.
Baffled by the ridiculous weapon, Sebastian reached up to pluck the dart from his neck, instantly recognizing the toxic potion that the Pantera had recently discovered being used by Shakpi’s disciples.
A numbing sensation spread through his body with terrifying swiftness, cutting off his connection to his cat.
Shit. He couldn’t shift when he was away from the Wildlands, but his strength and superior senses were directly connected to the power of his animal.
Turning to charge the bastard, he felt his knees threaten to give away as the toxin pumped through his bloodstream.
“Damn.”
His last thought was relief that Reny was headed away from the warehouse, before Derek slammed a two-by-four against the side of his head.
***
“Do you have to be so rough?” Koni Handler whined, trying to pull away from the arm that Reny had wrapped around her waist to keep her upright. “My side hurts.
Reny resisted the urge to remove her arm and allow Koni to drop to the crumbling cement that had once been a parking lot.
“You want to get caught?” she muttered, continuing to half-drag the woman toward the pile of pylons as she texted her commander for backup.
All she wanted was to get the woman into the safety of her car so she could return to the warehouse.
Her last glimpse of Sebastian had been him confronting the two men with an arrogant confidence, but she was anxious to return to make sure he didn’t do something stupid.
She didn’t know much about the stubborn Pantera, but she suspected that he could very well underestimate the danger of humans when they were scared. The sooner she could get back to help him, the better.
“God, no. Why would they be so horrible?” Koni muttered, her tone petulant. “I did everything they asked.”
“Like lying to the police about who attacked you?”
“Are you a cop?”
Reny sent her an impatient glare. “I’m the person saving your ass.”
The woman hesitated, as if considering the possibility of pretending innocence, before she gave a reluctant nod.
“Yes, I lied.”
“Why?”
“One of my regulars at the bar where I work asked if I wanted to make some extra money,” she explained.
Reny’s gaze scanned the shadows for enemies, her weapon held in her hand. Her senses might tell her that they were alone in the darkness, but she’d devoted the past eight years to ignoring her instincts, preferring to depend on her training.
“What did you have to do?” she asked.
“Let them mark me up like I’d been attacked by an animal and then go to the police.”
Reny grimaced. “And you agreed?”
“They gave me five thousand dollars,” Koni said. “Of course I agreed.”
“How did you end up in the warehouse?”
“I—”
“The truth,” Reny interrupted as her companion hesitated. “Trust me, I’ll know if you lie.”
“When I first agreed, I didn’t know they were going to leave scars,” Koni complained, holding out her arm that was marred by what looked like four long claw marks. The wounds were certainly deep enough to leave lasting proof of her stupidity. “I can’t make tips looking like a freak-show.”
“You tried to blackmail them for more money?”
Her lower lip stuck out in a pout that had obviously been practiced in front of a mirror. “They owed me.”
“Yeah, and scumbags you meet in bars always pay their debts.”
“Okay, at first they said no,” she admitted, stumbling over a chunk of concrete. “Then last night they called and said they changed their minds. I didn’t know they were going to try to kill me.”
The woman burst into tears, but Reny ignored them.
It wasn’t just her lack of empathy for a woman who’d been ready to lie to the police and start an interspecies war just for money. But she’d caught a renewed whiff of that strange sour smell that had been in the warehouse, warning her that they were no longer alone.
Dragging her companion around the pylons, she opened the back door and shoved her inside.
“Stay here,” she ordered.
“No.” With unexpected speed, Koni reached up to grasp her arm. “Don’t leave me.”
Reny cursed, unable to struggle. Not when she was holding a loaded gun. “An ambulance is on its way.”
The woman gave a loud wail that made Reny wish she carried duct tape. “Please, they’re going to kill me.”
“Not if I kill you first. Let go,” Reny muttered, grabbing the woman’s fingers and peeling them away.
Then, slamming shut the door, she carefully eased her way around the pylons, not surprised to find the older woman standing just a few feet away.
“I’m FBI. Don’t move.” Reny pointed her gun at the woman’s head. “Who are you?”
“Lady Cerise,” she said, her tense expression visible despite the darkness. “You’re too late.”
Reny frowned. “What do you mean?”
“They’ve taken the Pantera away.”
Sebastian? Fear thundered through her even as she desperately tried to hold on to her training.
She couldn’t afford to be rattled.
“Why would I believe you?”
Lady Cerise arched a brow. “You’re a Pantera as well, aren’t you? Can’t you sense he’s gone?”
Reny stiffened. She didn’t want to think about the whole Pantera thing, but the woman was right.
The faint awareness of Sebastian’s presence that unconsciously hummed through her entire body was absent.
Shit. Her fingers tightened on the gun. “Where did they take him?”
“I can show you.”
“Yeah, right,” Reny scoffed.
The woman held up her hand, the bracelets rattling around her wrist. “I swear.”
Reny narrowed her gaze, studying the thin face lined with age. “Why would you help me?”
“Because I am beginning to realize that I’ve made a terrible mistake. I thought—” She broke off her words with a shake of her head.
“What?” Reny prompted.
“It doesn’t matter.” The woman squared her shoulders. “Shakpi must be stopped.”
Shakpi. The goddess they were discussing in the warehouse?
“What does she have to do with Sebastian?”
“That’s where they’ll take him,” Lady Cerise muttered. “And I know where to find her.”
“Tell me.”
“No. You’ll need me to get you past the guards.”
Reny studied the woman’s stubborn expression,
easily sensing the woman was telling the truth.
“Fine. As soon as the backup arrives—”
“No, the minute they sense the authorities are near they will kill your man and scatter,” Lady Cerise insisted. “We will have to slip in unnoticed.”
Reny grimaced, but she didn’t hesitate. She didn’t have a damned clue how to fight a goddess. The FBI academy didn’t have classes on defeating crazed deities that walked the earth, but there was nothing that was going to keep her from getting to Sebastian.
Why she was willing to risk everything for a man she’d met only hours ago was a question she didn’t intend to waste time pondering.
“Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 7
Sebastian hadn’t actually expected to wake up. Pantera who were stupid enough to let themselves be outmaneuvered by mere humans usually ended up dead. And besides, he’d never received the same tactical training as the Hunters. He was supposed to flay his opponents with his tongue, not his fists.
Which meant that when he finally forced his eyes open, he was actually relieved to discover he was lying on the floor of a small room that had been stripped of furniture, with the windows boarded over.
And he didn’t even mind the aching muscles and tender bruises that revealed he’d been violently beaten while he was unconscious.
In fact, he was counting his blessings until the door was shoved open and a male with a lean face and glossy dark hair worn in a braid stepped into the room.
Chayton, the former Shaman, looked familiar in his traditional leather pants and a beaded vest. But it only took a glance into the eyes that glowed with a sickening power to prove that it wasn’t Chayton who was in command of this body.
“Shakpi,” he rasped in horror.
“Good. I thought you would never wake.” A humorless smile twisted Chayton’s lips. “What’s your name?”
Sebastian forced himself to a seated position, relieved to discover the toxin that had shut off his connection to his cat was beginning to wear off. He wasn’t at full strength, but he at least wasn’t completely helpless.
“Fuck you,” he muttered.
Chayton squatted down in front of him, drowning him in a sour stench that made Sebastian gag.
“That could be arranged, if you want.”
Sebastian shuddered, barely able to concentrate as the malevolent power pulsed through the room.
“Where am I?” he managed to rasp.
“At my temporary lair.” The Shaman cast a dismissive glance around the room. “It’s pathetic, but thankfully the Wildlands will soon be destroyed and I can create a setting worthy of a goddess.”
Sebastian shook his head, hiding his stab of fear. “Never.”
"Oh, it’s going to happen,” Chayton drawled, reaching out to run his finger down Sebastian’s cheek. “Soon.”
Sebastian jerked away from the cold finger, feeling as if he’d been tainted. “You don’t have the power to defeat us.”
Chayton chuckled. “I don’t need to.”
“What does that mean?”
“The humans might not have the strength or intelligence I would desire for my disciples, but they do have the numbers.”
Sebastian made a sound of disgust. They’d suspected that the cowardly attacks were being caused by the human disciples, while Shakpi plotted a more direct battle. Now it was obvious that Shakpi was personally responsible.
Obviously the goddess preferred to hide in the shadows and allow her followers to take the risks.
“You’re behind the supposed Pantera attacks,” he muttered.
“It’s so divinely simple.” Chayton shrugged. “A few dead bodies littered around the world and they’re foaming at the mouth to destroy something. The Pantera will be obliterated in a month.”
The cat inside him stirred, gaining strength with every passing second.
Not that he was stupid enough to think he could challenge a goddess.
For now, it was more important he gain any information possible and try to pass it on to Raphael.
“Why am I here?”
Chayton slowly straightened, folding his arms over his chest as he studied Sebastian with that unnervingly evil gaze.
“When my disciples called to say that they had an unconscious Pantera I told them I wanted to speak with you.”
“Why?”
“I intend to savor the death of my sister’s creations, but I will need a few loyal servants.” Chayton’s face remained impassive, but Sebastian could sense the goddess’s smug arrogance.
“I’m offering you the opportunity to serve me.”
Serve the goddess responsible for the death of Pantera? With an effort, Sebastian pushed himself to his feet, the air heating with the force of his fury.
“You can take your offer and—”
“Careful,” the Shaman snapped. “You get one chance before I allow my disciples to play with you.” Chayton glanced toward the door, watching as Derek and Van stepped into the room. “They can be a little…rough.”
Sebastian curled his lips in a disdainful smile. “I’ll walk through the fires of hell before I’d bow to you.”
“Fine.” The power surged through the room, but even as Sebastian prepared for a killing blow, Chayton was heading out the door. “Have fun, boys.”
Momentarily baffled, it took Sebastian a few seconds to understand Shakpi’s abrupt retreat. She might be a goddess, but she was in a mortal body.
She was afraid of a physical confrontation.
That’s why she was hiding behind her disciples.
The realization had barely formed when Van pulled his hand from behind his back to reveal a baseball bat.
“Ready to play, kitty cat?” the thug demanded, strolling forward.
Sebastian shrugged, well aware the idiots didn’t realize his body was swiftly ridding itself of the toxin.
“Do I have a choice?” He made his voice sound as if it was an effort to even speak.
The goons smiled as they rushed forward.
With a fluid speed that no human could hope to match, Sebastian had the baseball bat yanked from Van’s hands and whirling to his left in time to bust Derek’s skull open with one negligent swing. The traitor fell to the floor, his blood pooling on the wooden planks.
Van squeaked in terror, turning to flee.
He managed two steps before Sebastian grabbed him by the neck, dangling him off the ground as he whispered in his ear.
“Where are you going?” he snarled. “We’ve just started to have fun.”
***
Reny kept her head lowered as Lady Cerise led them past the two armed men who stood at high, wrought iron gates and up the seemingly endless driveway. The older woman hadn’t been lying when she said that Reny would never have gotten through the tight security without her.
Still, Reny kept her hand on the trigger of her pistol hidden in the pocket of her jacket as they climbed up the stairs to the columned terrace where even more men were standing guard. She was well aware that she was quite likely walking into a trap.
The only thing that kept her moving forward was the unmistakable awareness that sparked to life deep inside her.
Sebastian was near.
And he was alive.
The knowledge compelled her to remain just steps behind Lady Cerise as they entered the mansion and moved through the foyer into a formal drawing room. And gave her the courage not to flee in panic when she was hit by a pungent, sour stench that assaulted her senses.
With a muttered curse, she stepped around the edge of a large bookcase, hoping to avoid the notice of the slender man with a long, black braid and distinctly Native American features who stepped into the room.
She didn’t have to be told that this wasn’t just a man.
That there was some massive…spirit…contained within the body that she very much feared was the goddess, Shakpi.
She grimaced as a fierce power beat against her, barely resisting the urge to pull out her gun and start fi
ring.
Thankfully the unnerving creature’s attention was locked on Reny’s companion, the narrow face clenched with disapproval.
“Cerise.” The name was said as a curse. “Did I invite you?”
Astonishingly, the older woman managed a dignified bow. Reny was fairly certain she would have peed her pants.
“I wanted to make sure the Pantera arrived.”
“He did.” A cruel smile touched the man’s lips. “My pets are playing with him.”
Reny bit her lip, fear piercing her heart. She didn’t know what they were doing to Sebastian, but she knew it couldn’t be good.
She had to get to him.
“He’s alive?” Lady Cerise asked.
“For now.” The dark eyes that burned with a strange light narrowed. “What do you care? Your attention should be on causing panic among the humans.”
“We have dumped the first body near the police station. It’s already stirring outrage in the media.”
“It’s not fast enough. I…” Reny watched in confusion as the male abruptly dropped to his knees, his hands clutched to his chest. “No.”
Lady Cerise stepped back, her eyes wide with alarm. Obviously this wasn’t a usual occurrence.
“What’s happening?” the voodoo priestess demanded.
Chayton grabbed his head, ignoring Lady Cerise as he tumbled onto his back, the odd power seeming to ebb and flow as he gave a cry of sheer frustration.
“This isn’t possible. I escaped,” he wailed. Then his back arched and he gave another earsplitting cry. “No.”
***
Sebastian was stepping over Van’s motionless body when he caught an unmistakable scent.
Reny.
Oh god, had she been captured?
Still holding the baseball bat, Sebastian raced through the maze of rooms, avoiding the guards who were focused on protecting the house from an outside attack.
Entering the formal drawing room, he easily spotted her standing next to Lady Cerise.
The tightness in his chest eased as his frantic gaze confirmed that she was uninjured. Dropping the bat he rushed forward, wrapping her in his arms as he sucked in a deep breath of her spicy scent.
“Sebastian,” she sighed, pressing her lips to his throat before she pulled back to study his face with a frown. “You’re hurt.”