“What?”
“How the Hell did you, of all people, manage to land an angel like Clytie? My theory is psycedelic drugs but Logan thinks a blind fold was involved.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Demon hung up while Eli was still laughing.
Chapter 9
No matter how many times Clytie told herself worrying would serve no purpose, she still felt like a symphony of moths performed in her belly. She had picked out her outfit a week ago, and she still managed to agonize over the choice. She went with an evening dress in siren red that fluttered directly above her knees. The rounded neck showed a small amount of cleavage Eli and Logan both approved of in heated glances and exaggerated compliments. Her heels were also red and high with straps crisscrossing over her feet. They made her wonder what Demon would do when he saw them. With her wrap around her shoulders to keep her warm she wished fervently for Demons distracting presence, then felt selfish. His mother had recently died. That trumped the girlfriends’ art show any day of the week.
“Och Darlin’” Eli said in an exaggerated Scotch accent as he helped her into the limo. “You make the moon jealous.”
It made Clytie smile despite her nerves. Logan took the drivers seat and winked at her through the rearview mirror.
“A limo? I don’t think I’ve ever been in one before.” She said as they left the compound behind and headed for the front gates.
“Only the best for you, darlin’.” Eli said his accent heading south. “You being a big ar-teest and all.”
One minute Clytie was laughing and the next a loud explosion rocked the car. The sound of crunching metal and splintered glass was overwhelming as the car veered off the road. The metal roof ripped as if the car was a giant can someone was peeling open around them. By the time the limo came to a screeching halt folded against a tree Clytie knew she was going to suffer bruises where her seatbelt dug in.
Eli was suddenly there snapping off the seatbelt as if it consisted of paper and kicking the door into origami until he made enough space to drag her out with him.
“Are you hurt?”
“I... don’t think so.” Clytie searched for Logan, happy to see that despite a gash across his forehead, he was unharmed.
Looking at the twisted carcass of what had been a stretch limo, she was amazed they all walked away from it. Especially Logan, since the front took the most damage.
“What do you think?” Eli asked it in a hard voice Clytie had never heard before. He pulled out a gun to match the one that appeared in Logan’s hand.
“Half a dozen Wolves, probably armed if the rocket that took out the car is any hint.”
“Wolves?” She asked, “How can wolves be armed?”
Eli and Logan moved so fast they were pushing her down against the rear wheel before she could glimpse what came charging out of the dark. The guns were loud in the night, dropping two shapes mid leap. Then it all jumbled into a nightmare as a half dozen wolves attacked. Clytie screamed, sure she would witness the men shredded by wild animals. Instead, one minute Eli was ripping off his clothes and the next he was a great jungle cat. Logan changed into a black wolf. Clytie blinked, doubting her eyesight, but the animals still fought two feet away. If she had anywhere to go she’d run screaming, instead she tried to make herself as small possible against the rear tire.
Eli and Logan were werewolves or shape shifters or whatever they called themselves and they were fighting other shifters to protect her. Once she made that jump, it wasn’t so far to the realization that she had just moved in with three more of them. That she had fallen in love with one. It was hard to wrap her brain around, but many things about Demon now made sense. The growling, the sniffing, she placed her hand over the mark on her shoulder, the biting. So intent on her brain numbing thoughts Clytie missed the shifter coming over the car until he landed on her.
When Logan in wolf form finally looked around, he was bloody and bruised but still standing. He saw Eli’s jaguar form in the same abused shape, and all the attacking wolves that could still walk had long since run off. He shifted back to two legs and watched Eli do the same. They turned to get Clytie, wondering what the hell they were going to say. But Clytie was gone and from the marks on the ground, she had not walked away on her own two feet. He shifted back to his wolf needing the superior senses. He caught Clyties scent and with a bark at Eli headed into the forest surrounding the compound.
Eli cursed his missing cell phone. He hated wasting the valuable time to search but they were going to need backup. He finally found it in the scraps of his jacket. He didn’t breathe easier until he got a dial out.
“Demon. They attacked outside the gates with a goddamn rocket launcher. They took Clytie.” The roar was unmistakable.
“Report.” Mac must have picked up the phone.
Eli pulled open the trunk as he made his report. Inside they kept a wide range of weapons, none of which were useful right here and now. Instead, he pulled out the blanket and used it to collect wolf parts off the street. As soon as he passed on his report and cleared out the road he dropped the phone into the battered trunk with the grisly remains and slammed it closed. He changed back to jaguar grateful his quick healing had already closed the worst of his wounds. He sprang after Logan on four feet.
They followed the scent until it was lost among the city smells of the busy highway then they headed back to the compound to wait for Demon and the rest.
Clytie woke up in the pitch dark. Her head pounding and her arm stung. She touched angry claw marks but no gushing blood when she examined it by feel. Her dress was ripped to hell and back, she had lost her pretty shoes and she smelled bad. So much for agonizing over what to wear for the show, she should have just gone with the jeans. She rooted around for her purse, but all she found was the mattress she was sitting on and concrete. She remembered the crash and the fighting. She took a second to pray Eli and Logan had made it, then concentrated all her good wishes on herself. She remembered something falling from above and pain. She had no way of knowing how long she had been knocked out so she might very well be in Siberia for all she knew.
She was trying really hard not to panic when a door opened and an overhead light flipped on. She covered her eyes against the sudden glare. The pounding in her head got worse, even as the pounding of her heart surpassed it. When she could see more than spots, she saw a small room with concrete floors. Besides the naked twin mattress, the only other thing in the room was a high window too small for her to fit through.
“Do you like it?” The man spoke from the open door drawing her eyes. She had never seen him before. “We weren’t expecting guests but when I saw you I had to get to know you.” He was shorter than Demon, but then who wasn't. He had a hard body crammed into tight black jeans and t-shirt. Black hair cut close around the face of a fallen angel. He had movie star good looks with perfectly symmetrical bone structure and ice blue eyes. No matter the rest of the package, it was the eyes that told the story. After one look, Clytie was wishing she was back in the woods with the werewolves.
“Very minimalistic.” She did her best to fake bravado, but was sure her shaking knees would give her away.
He laughed, a harsh sound, more a bark than anything else. He moved into the room and squatted down at the edge of the mattress. Clytie didn’t realize she’d backed up until she hit the wall.
“Who marked you?” He asked, reaching for her neck. Clytie stood up nearly flying to get away from his hand. She ran for the open door hoping to get out before he could reach her, instead another man filled the opening, and she had to stop her flight mid run. The man now behind her laughed again as he stood up and sauntered toward her. “What’s your hurry darlin’? We were just getting to know each other.” Clytie moved until she had her back against the wall again, closer to the door with both men in her sights.