Bear Bait (Hero Mine Book 1) Page 6

  “Octavia said she thought the degetty was herding her.”

  “Herding her where?” Tally asked, her eyes calculating. The angsty teenager had gone, replaced by a witch, who was every inch a professional member of the squad.

  “Here.” His concern showed, and Tally’s expression softened. “To you.”

  “To me?” Tally’s breath caught in her throat and despite all her bravado, she looked scared. “Why me?”

  “I don’t know, but she had your name, Natalie Munroe, and your address on a piece of paper. She was told you could get rid of the degetty.”

  “Oh, Cade, that’s not good.”

  “I know,” he said hoarsely. “Something is coming.”

  Tally slid into his arms. “We’ll fight it together, we always do.”

  “I know. I hate that any of you are in danger. I hate it more that this might be to do with me. She’s my mate, that can’t be a coincidence.”

  “They were going to find a way in at some point. A way to hit us hard. We’ve been on top of the Templars for too long. Now, each day they grow stronger.” She stepped back from him. “I will send this degetty back to the Underworld. Even if it is for your girlfriend.”

  “What if it’s strong, like the one today… Zinan?”

  “Then we get another Druid Box. Or we ask Lucas for help.” Tally shook her head. “If only my mom was in her right mind.”

  Cade placed his hand on Tally’s shoulder. “Do you ever wonder, if she is bound, what she knows? What someone is trying to keep from us?”

  Tally’s big gray-blue eyes stood out against her pale skin. “You think that is what happened?”

  “It makes sense that she overheard something. Or saw something. Or found something.” He shrugged, rubbing his hand over his face. He was bone tired. All he wanted to do was crawl into bed. “She has to be connected to this.”

  “Maybe. But I’ve asked her every question, every which way, and she gives nothing away. I know Locke is worried about her.”

  “How is the old wolf?” Cade asked. Locke had been a victim of the Templars years ago, when Cade’s mom and dad had first met. He had lost everything to the Templars, and Helena had taken him in. There were rumors that Locke was Tally’s father, but Eva had never believed it. However, the rumor had rumbled on, maybe to throw anyone off the trail of whom Tally’s real father was. Her actions today, the opening of the Druid Box, meant she had to have druid blood in her veins, not shifter blood.

  “He’s OK. Keeps the place tidy, puts food on the table. The usual.”

  “How did you open the Druid Box, Tally?”

  “I should go.”

  “That wasn’t even an attempt at subtle.”

  “I don’t know. I just did.” She looked troubled. “You know, I always thought when I was eighteen, I might come of age and my father’s genes would kick in and I would be a shifter. I have dreamed of that since I was a little girl.”

  “We shift long before we reach eighteen,” Cade said.

  “I know.” She looked up at him, her face white, pale eyes carrying so much baggage it made his heart ache for her. “What happened today broke more than one of my dreams.”

  With that, she turned around and walked off toward home. She didn’t say another word to him, and he didn’t make conversation either. They were both lost in their own worlds. When they reached her house, he stood at the tree line and watched her go inside. He stood long after the door had shut behind her, and watched the house, deep in thought.

  Tally was right, things were moving. Were the Templars trying to enact their end game?

  And what did Octavia coming here have to do with it?

  There was only one way to get answers, and it wasn’t standing there staring at Tally’s house.

  Cade turned around, shifting into his bear in midair. When he hit the ground, his four paws dug into the forest floor and he ran, ran until his lungs felt as if they would burst, and his heart hammered in his ears. Ran until he sensed his mate and knew she was safe.

  She held the answers. She must do. But would she give them to Cade? Maybe Tally was right to distrust Octavia. Unless he turned her, the mating bond only affected him. And he wasn’t about to turn Octavia by force. So he would have to talk to her, get to know her, and learn to tell truth from lies.

  And that began now.

  Chapter Eight – Octavia

  Cade walked back into the room, and an awareness of him swept over her. Despite her fatigue she sat up, wanting him to notice her.

  “Tally OK?” Eva asked, concerned.

  “Yeah.” He shook his head, and added apologetically. “I couldn’t have let her go like that. Not without…”

  “It’s OK. We all know how she feels about you,” Eva said, casting a glance across to Octavia. “We should give you some time alone with Octavia.”

  “No, it’s OK,” Octavia said, not wanting to be alone with Cade. This attraction between them was unnatural and it scared her.

  “Why don’t I take Octavia to my room?” Cade asked. He put his hand up reassuringly when he saw Octavia open her mouth to protest. “You need to sleep.”

  “Cade is right. There is nothing we can do tonight. We all need our rest.” Eva stood up and went to Seth. “How are you feeling now?”

  “Like I went ten rounds with a degetty,” he said. Octavia had seen the bruises on Seth’s face, and a cut above Eva’s eye. But she could not have guessed where they were earned.

  “There was another degetty? Or you fought the same one?” she asked.

  “Let’s get you to bed,” Cade said, changing the subject as he bent down, ready to scoop her up in his arms.

  “I can walk.”

  “OK, then.” He held out his hand and she took it, hauling herself up off the sofa. Whatever Tally had done to her feet had worked—they no longer hurt, but the rest of her was stiff and complaining as she put weight on her legs.

  “You didn’t answer,” Octavia said as she took her first tentative steps, feeling like an old woman as she hobbled across the room. “Another degetty?”

  “Yes. We were called out to contain one an hour or two before I came across you in the woods,” Cade said.

  “Were they working together? Do they work together?” Octavia asked.

  “They don’t usually work together, but that’s because they are usually controlled by someone.”

  “Controlled by someone.” She nodded, trying to make her brain fire up its thought process. “The one that chased me. That was because someone had given it an order to?”

  “Correct,” Tobias said. “Someone set it on you. But the one we went to contain had been trapped in a Druid Box, possibly for years. So we don’t think they had anything to do with each other. Do we?” he asked Cade.

  Cade shook his head. “No.” He sighed and decided to come clean. “But Kell said he thought he saw another degetty at the place we captured Zinan.”

  “What?” Eva said, her eyes like lasers on her son, penetrating as she listened to him talk.

  “He saw green eyes.” Cade heisted. “He thought he saw green eyes.”

  “When did he tell you this?” Eva asked.

  “When I was in the car.”

  “We should have tracked it,” Seth said.

  “We weren’t in a fit state,” Cade answered. “Kell kept it to himself so we wouldn’t be tempted to go after it.”

  “Kell,” Eva said under her breath.

  “You know he cares about us. About you,” Cade said gently.

  “About this family,” Eva corrected. “I know.”

  “And he was right,” Tobias said. “You were pretty beat up.”

  “We could have handled it,” insisted Seth.

  “Or we could have wound up dead,” Cade said.

  “It’s done now,” Eva replied pragmatically.

  “I told him we would go back and look tomorrow. I can take Tobias and Wes, if Uncle Kurt can spare him.”

  “Good,” Eva said. “I’m sur
e Kurt can spare Wes for an hour or two.”

  “I can go too,” Seth protested.

  “You need to heal,” Cade said firmly.

  “I’m OK.”

  “We can talk about it tomorrow,” Eva said. “Right now, Octavia needs to sleep.” Eva was right, Octavia was in danger of falling asleep on her feet, and she wished she had taken Cade up on his offer to carry her to bed.

  “Yes, we can talk about it tomorrow,” Cade said, and put his arm around Octavia’s waist, giving her support as they left the room. She should have pushed him away, but she didn’t want to fall flat on her face, which was a very real danger since her legs didn’t seem to do what her brain told them to.

  They reached the foot of the stairs. Octavia might as well be standing at the foot of a mountain. She didn’t know if she could lift her leg up one stair, let alone them all.

  “If I carry you, I promise not to tell,” Cade said.

  Octavia looked at him. “I wanted to show you how strong I am.”

  “Why?” Cade asked.

  “I don’t know. So you won’t take advantage of me,” she said feebly. It was more because she wanted to impress him. The other women in his life were strong—Tally and her magic, Eva fighting degetty—and she was so normal. So weak.

  He chuckled, and his voice was silky-smooth when he answered, “Honey, if I wanted to take advantage of you, proving you could walk upstairs wouldn’t stop me. But I have no intention of taking advantage of you, ever. I swear.”

  Before she could answer, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her upstairs and down the hallway to the second room on the left. Shouldering the door open, he revealed a comfortable room that was plain but functional.

  Placing her down gently, he supported her while she got her balance. “OK. Bathroom through there. I’ll get you a T-shirt and some sweatpants. I would wash your dress, but it’s beyond saving.”

  Octavia looked down and then instinctively tried to cover herself with her arms. “I didn’t realize it was so torn.”

  “I’ll toss it,” Cade said, going to a closet, opening it, and then passing Octavia some clothes. “I’ll ask my mom if she has anything you can borrow.”

  Octavia wiped a tear away. “I have nothing other than a dead cell phone and my purse. Am I ever going to be able to go home?”

  “Home?” he asked, with a frown. “If that’s what you want.”

  “It is. I want to go back to my old life and forget this ever happened.”

  “OK. Of course you do,” he said sadly. “I swear I will do whatever I can to make that happen for you.”

  “Thanks,” Octavia said, and then fled to the bathroom where she shut the door, cursing the fact there was no lock on the inside. She remembered his words and knew she had to trust him. He was right: he was big and strong enough that he could take what he wanted from her, when he wanted.

  Stripping off her clothes, she switched the hot water on and let the shower run while she assessed the damage in the mirror, until it became too steamed up to see. Her face wasn’t too bad, but her arms and her legs were scratched pretty badly. Nothing that wouldn’t heal.

  Climbing under the hot water, she stood for a moment, letting the water wash away the hot tears that cascaded down her cheeks. No one could see her here, so she let it all out, hoping the running water would cover the sound of her sobs.

  Her life as she knew it was over. A happy ever after with Matthew was gone, a dream she had been rudely awoken from. Octavia knew that, even though Cade had promised her he would do his best to make her safe. She wasn’t naive enough to believe that was ever going to happen, not unless she figured out why she was here. What did they want from her? She didn’t know anything. Her job didn’t entail handling personal information on anyone who mattered.

  And even if it did, what kind of people released a damn demon on someone?

  Cade would know. As much as she was sure he had questions for her, she had questions for him. She needed him to explain this world to her. She needed to understand its rules if she hoped to play the game and not die.

  Grabbing the shampoo, she washed her hair, ignoring the stinging of her cuts when the soap ran down her body. She was going to have to toughen up. This was real, no matter how surreal it seemed.

  Washing her body tested her resolve to be tough. Everything either stung or ached; her limbs felt heavy, and her skin raw. When she bent down to wash her calves, and then lifted her feet off the floor, she felt sick at the state of the soles. Without Tally’s lotion, or potion, or whatever it was, she would be in great pain. Octavia made a mental note, that no matter what happened tomorrow, she was going to seek out the young witch and thank her, and try to build some kind of relationship with her.

  Even though she probably hates my guts, Octavia thought, as she dried her body very carefully, aware of the streaks of blood she was leaving on the towel and on the floor where the cuts on her feet had opened up.

  Clothed in the oversized T-shirt and sweatpants, Octavia opened the door and leaned out.

  “Are you OK?” Cade asked, coming across the room.

  “My feet. I don’t want to leave bloody footprints on your carpet.”

  “I’ll carry you, but first let me put a blanket on the bed. Once they have stopped bleeding I can remove it. Tomorrow when you walk we can bandage them. But hopefully Tally’s magic will have worked and they will begin to heal.”

  “Her magic must be potent,” Octavia said, as Cade picked her up and carried her. Again. “This is becoming a habit.”

  “I’m not complaining,” he said gently as he placed her on the bed. “Here, you should drink this, it will make you sleep.”

  “Make me sleep, not help me sleep,” Octavia commented.

  “It’s knockout medicine,” Cade admitted. “But when you wake up in the morning, you will feel a damn sight better than if you don’t take it. Don’t worry, I’ve used it several times before when we’ve had a particularly vicious degetty or troll to take down.”

  “Troll,” Octavia repeated, nodding. “You know, if I hadn’t seen what I’ve seen, I would think you are all crazy. Like looney-bin crazy.”

  “But now you know there are things out there… Monsters.”

  “Monsters.” She closed her eyes, screwing them up as if she could blot it all out, but there was no way she could blot out the things she had seen.

  “You’ll get used to it,” Cade said.

  “I’m not sure if that is a bonus or not,” Octavia said.

  “A bonus,” Cade reassured her. “Now that you know what’s out there, it can never take you by surprise again.”

  “You mean because of the smell,” Octavia said. “Rotten eggs.”

  “That is the first sign that you are dealing with a degetty,” Cade said.

  “So nothing else smells like that?” she asked.

  “Nope. So if the glowing green eyes don’t give it away, and sometimes a handler will make a degetty use colored contact lenses.”

  “Of course they do…”

  “Good job the smell is too potent to mask.”

  “Good old rotten eggs.”

  “It’s brimstone.”

  “Isn’t that biblical, fire and brimstone?”

  “Something like that. It’s the smell of sulfur, a residue from the degetty.”

  “And trolls?”

  “Trolls are big and ugly, and hard to mistake for anything else. Degetty are more dangerous because they can look like a man, or a woman.”

  Octavia put her hand to her head. “Geez. I never thought I would be sitting on a bed with a man like you, talking about things that go bump in the night.” She blushed. “Monsters. Not other things that go bump in the night.”

  “That’s what we are… Others.”

  “Others. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with all this knowledge,” Octavia said.

  “You drink the magic potion and forget about it. Your brain can process it while you sleep.” He handed her the vial.
“Don’t worry. I’ll watch over you all night.”

  He got up from the bed and went to the chair in the corner of the room. She watched him, not liking the distance between them. He made her feel safe. Really safe.

  “You can lie next to me,” she said, as she unstopped the vial and smelled the liquid.

  “Are you sure?” He pointed to the chair. “I can watch from here.”

  “Listen, I trust you, I have to trust you. So, you might as well lie next to me.”

  He took a step toward the bed. “If you are sure.”

  “I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t. Anyway, once I take this, I won’t know any different.” She gave him a crooked smile. “Here goes.”

  Octavia tipped her head back and swallowed the potion; at least it didn’t taste too foul. Cade took the empty vial from her and placed it on the nightstand. She snuggled down under the covers and closed her eyes. She didn’t even remember trying to go to sleep.

  But she must have, because the next thing she remembered was opening her eyes and seeing the sunlight through the crack in the curtains. What time it was, she had no idea, but her stomach growled in protest, and she got up, noting her feet were sensitive but not as sore.

  Cade was not in the room. But she heard voices from down the hallway through the wide-open door. Before she was out of the room, he was coming back toward her with a tray laden with food.

  “Back to bed. Eat first, drink some coffee, and then we can decide what to do.” He ushered her back to bed. “Believe me, you are going to need your strength for the day ahead.”

  Chapter Nine – Cade

  “What’s the plan?” Octavia asked. She had already eaten two pieces of toast, and was picking at the bacon and eggs while Cade drank coffee.

  “We have a couple of choices,” Cade said. “We either wait and see what happens.”

  “You mean do nothing?” she asked.

  “Yes. We wait for them to show their hand.” She didn’t like that idea, which he could understand. “Or, we try to track down the people responsible.”

  “How?” she asked. “This is so good.” She had given up trying not to look greedy and instead succumbed to the need to eat everything he had brought in for her.