Wild Cat

CHAPTER TWELVE

Reid’s hand flashed to Diego’s unnaturally fast, and beyond-human strength crushed Diego’s wrist.

Diego gritted his teeth but didn’t move. “Let go or I’ll pull this trigger, I swear to God.”

Reid stopped the pressure but didn’t release him. “Stay the hell out of my business, Escobar.”

“Fuck that. You tell me why you shot at Cassidy and tried to drag her away last night. Tell me exactly who you are and why you want her.”

“I need the blood of a Shifter.”

Diego heard Cassidy’s faint gasp behind him, and he ground the pistol barrel into Reid’s jaw. “That was the wrong answer.”

Reid’s eyes flashed black with rage. “You can’t understand, human. You stink like them, the bloody beasts of burden. You were all over her-it’s like kissing a cow.”

Diego’s fury rose, the one that had had him tearing IV needles out of himself when he’d been in the hospital after being shot. “You tell me why you want Shifter blood, or maybe I’ll just shoot you for the sick and twisted bastard you are.”

“I need the blood for the ritual. So I can get back.”

“Get back where?”

“To Faerie.”

“What?” Cassidy was right next to him. “What are you talking about?”

Diego glared at Reid. “How the hell did the psych testers miss you?”

“You can’t ever understand,” Reid said. “I have to leave this place. I want to see my home again, no matter what it takes.”

“You’ll die if you touch Cassidy-or any of the Shifters. In fact, how about I arrest you for attempted murder right now?”

“I wasn’t going to murder her, until she sliced me.” Reid glared at Cassidy. “Now I want to bathe in her blood.”

“Wait, Diego.” Cassidy stepped up to Reid. “What do you mean? You need blood to get back to Faerie?”

“I’m locked out, aren’t I? I searched for years for a spell, hunting down every true Wiccan coven I could, looking for the ones who’d saved the ancient Fae lore. After scouring Ireland and Scotland for decades, I found the spell here, in Las Vegas, of all places. An old woman of Irish descent had a grimoire that had been handed down through her family for centuries. That grimoire contained some rites of the ancient Fae, and had a lot to say about Shifters. They certainly hated you. The grimoire has a spell to get me back through the gates, but I need Shifter blood to work it. Lots of blood. I never got to use your mate’s.”

Diego felt Cassidy’s rage at the same time her hands came up, fingers changing to claws. “You killed Donovan?”

“I never touched him,” Reid said, but Cassidy was already shifting.

Her limbs became strong cat’s limbs, her shirt tearing, her face contorting to the cross between Shifter and wildcat. Diego grabbed her and tried to hold her back, but she was too strong. Cassidy ripped herself out of Diego’s grasp and lunged at Reid, claws and teeth poised for the kill. Sparks danced along her Collar, and she snarled in pain, but she didn’t stop.

Sudden light flared, whiter and hotter than the Las Vegas sun. Cassidy fell back, and Diego shielded his eyes with his arm.

The light vanished. Diego lowered his arm to see Cassidy standing there, still in her half-shifted form, Collar sparking, staring at the place Reid had been. The only thing missing was Reid.

The front door was still closed, but Reid wasn’t in the apartment. Diego checked it, room by room, gun ready, but there was no sign of Reid. He’d simply vanished.

When he came back to the kitchen, he found Cassidy, human again, sitting in one of Reid’s ordinary kitchen chairs, the man’s groceries spilling over the table. Her Collar had stopped sparking, but her hands were over her face, and she was weeping.

Diego holstered his Sig and crouched next to her. To see this beautiful, brave, strong woman crying wrenched his heart. “Cass. Shh.” He stroked her hair.

“He killed Donovan,” she said brokenly.

Reid had claimed not to have touched him, but Diego knew what Cassidy meant. Whether Reid pulled the trigger himself or had someone else do it was irrelevant. Reid knew about the death, had been involved.

Diego kissed Cassidy’s cheek. Her green eyes were wet with tears, and Diego nuzzled her. “I’ll get him for that, Cass. I promise you.”

She looked up, the anger in her like fire. “I’ll get him. I’m going to find out exactly what he did and who helped him, and I’m going to gut them all.”

Diego said nothing. He kept on stroking her hair, trying to soothe her, while she wept in rage and grief. He knew damn well that if Cassidy touched Reid, or anyone else, she’d be dead, possibly her whole family with her. He couldn’t let her hunt him.

On the other hand, Diego could round up these people and show her Reid’s body on a platter. He had the power to make that happen, and he would. He’d do anything, he thought, anything at all, to ease the hurt and grief he now saw in Cassidy Warden’s beautiful eyes.

The Shifters were getting used to Diego’s T-Bird moving through the streets of Shiftertown. Several waved as Diego drove by, and Diego knew enough by now to make sure he lifted a hand in greeting back.

Nell, on her front porch, watched Diego and Cassidy emerge from the car, Cassidy’s shirt torn from her sudden shifting, and came alert. “Everything all right, Cass? You need me?”

Cassidy shook her head and went on into the house.

“She’s all right,” Diego said. Nell watched in suspicion, but she stayed on her porch.

The door to the Warden house stood open, the screen door letting in cool spring air. It was a beautiful evening, a reminder that they had only a month or two to enjoy the fine weather before triple-digit temperatures struck.

Cassidy walked right through the living room, heading for her bedroom, ignoring the tangle of two leopards that lay on the floor, dozing together like house cats.

The smaller of the wildcats-probably Jace-lifted his head and yawned, red mouth and long white teeth flashing in the dusk. He rose, still in cat form, and wandered down the back hall after Cassidy.

The larger cat rose, stretched, and became Eric. “Diego,” he said. “Sit. I’ll get you a beer.”

Weird to watch a man saunter toward the kitchen, unworried about his naked ass.

Cassidy came out of the back again, but not as her human self. She was her wildcat, the beautiful snow leopard she’d been out in the mountains. Except that now she looked sad, so sad. When Diego sat on the sofa, she climbed up next to him, settled down, and draped her front paws over Diego’s legs.

Diego thought about how she’d cried in Reid’s apartment and how she’d been last night after she’d fought Reid and her Collar had gone off. She’d been tired, hurt, broken. Diego stroked her, trying to comfort her.

Her coat was soft, studded with little black dots, which were almost lost in creamy white fur. Cassidy sighed a little, her eyes drifting closed.

Eric plunked a beer on the table at Diego’s elbow. A swift glance showed Diego that Eric had pulled on a pair of sweatpants, and Eric didn’t hide his amusement that Diego had checked.

“She all right?” Eric said, looking at Cassidy. “Was he the guy?”

Diego rubbed Cassidy’s throat. “We found him, yes. She tried to attack him, her Collar went off, and he vanished. Into thin air.”

Eric paused a second, then half fell into a chair and put his feet on the coffee table. Cassidy looked up at him, but she stayed cat.

“Tell me,” Eric said.

“He’s a cop in Shifter Division,” Diego said. “Stuart Reid. He’d been assigned to watch you and your family. I had to talk to him sometimes about this case, which is why you smelled him on me.”

“A cop?” Eric stared. “Can’t be. We’re after a Fae.”

“We cornered him tonight in his apartment, and he had wounds that Cassidy gave him last night. He admitted he attacked her and said something about needing Shifter blood for a ritual. Claimed he was trying to return to fairyland.”

“Faerie,” Eric said softly. “Shit.”

Jace came out of the back, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. “If he’s a cop at the police station, why didn’t Cassidy smell him when she was there? Why didn’t you, Dad? Or me?”

“I never took Cassidy anywhere near Shifter Division,” Diego said. “We were in the interrogation rooms I always use, which are on a different floor. I hadn’t talked to Reid at all before then. Most of us never have much to do with Shifter Division.”

Jace put his feet on the table in a manner identical to his father’s. “There’s still no way a Fae could live here and be a police officer. Iron makes them sick, kills them with enough exposure. That’s why they retreated to Faerie centuries ago and now avoid most interaction with the human world.”

“Half Fae can, Jace.” Eric’s voice was quiet. “There’s enough immunity in their non-Fae halves to allow them to tolerate iron. That’s why they’re so dangerous.” He took a sip of beer. “I need to talk to this cop.”

“He vanished.” Diego said. “Disappeared with a burst of light. Is that a Fae thing?”

Eric shook his head. “I haven’t heard of half Fae being able to appear and disappear at will, but who knows? I don’t know a lot about Fae magic.”

“I don’t know anything about any magic,” Diego said. “But I know about the shit people do to each other.”

Eric regarded him a moment. “Something happened to you, Diego, something beyond your partner being killed, even your father being killed.”

“A lot of things have happened to me.” Diego’s old anger stirred. Cassidy looked up at him, as though sensing his pain, and Diego went back to petting her. She needed the comfort as well. “But they’re not what I’m talking about right now. I want to get Reid. I’m happy to arrest him and lock him up, but first I need to find him.”

“I’ll send some of my trackers to his apartment to have a sniff around,” Eric said. “So we can start looking.”

“I already sent Xav over there to keep an eye on the place. Reid might not go back there, though, now that we know where to find him.” Xav, as angry as Diego about last night’s attack on Cassidy, had been happy to help.

“Reid doesn’t need to go back,” Eric said. “My trackers can fix on his scent and use that to search him out.”

Diego shook his head. “I can’t let you start an all-out hunt. Reid’s still a police officer, and if you hurt him or kill him I might not be able to help you. Cops hate cop killers, even if the cop is a criminal himself.”

Eric gave him a hard green stare. “I can help you find him, Diego. I have resources you don’t.”

“I know that, and I appreciate it. I don’t mind some assistance, Eric, but you have to let me take him down.”

“Fair.” Eric’s voice was mild, but Diego knew better. He’d have to watch him.

Cassidy growled, a throaty rumble, gave Diego’s hand a lick with a rough tongue, then languidly climbed off him.

Her cat was beautiful. Diego thought about the cow crack Reid had made and decided to break one of Reid’s limbs for that.

Cassidy made her way down the hall to her bedroom. Eric suddenly slammed his bottle to the coffee table and climbed to his feet. “I’m grilling outside,” he said. “Stay for supper.”

Shifters couldn’t do something as simple as cook out. The whole family got involved-Jace grilling buns and putting together the extras, neighbors drifting in to lend a hand or contribute food, and earning themselves an unspoken invitation.

Shane’s mother, Nell, came over with a luscious-looking pie. “Blackberry,” she said as she passed Diego. “Bears’ favorite.”

Diego planted himself at the cooker and watched Eric spreading steaks across the grill along with burger patties. Expensive steaks, if Diego were any judge.

Eric had sent his trackers to Reid’s apartment as promised, but he’d instructed them, with Diego standing next to him, to let Xavier take point. Brody and company already liked Xavier-most people did-and agreed. Xav told Diego on the phone that he also didn’t think Reid would show his face at the apartment again, but said he’d work with the trackers and keep them cool.

Diego picked up a spatula and flipped a burger Eric didn’t reach in time. “Next time I’ll bring you some of my mom’s adobada. You’ll sweat into next winter.”

“Sure, human. We need that in this climate from hell.”

“Spicy foods cool you down. Scientific fact.”

“Right.” Eric poked at the meat. “I bet you thought we ate everything raw.”

Diego shrugged. “I figured you hunted it down and dragged it home.”

“I’ve done it. Back in the wild, when there was nothing else.” He gave Diego a serious look. “Then we discovered barbeque sauce.”

Diego chuckled as he took a drink of beer. Then Cassidy walked out of the house, and all coherent thought left him.

She’d changed back to her human form and now wore a white sleeveless blouse, ass-hugging jeans, and sandals with a hint of heel. She’d brushed out her hair, and now it hung past her shoulders, parted simply in front.

Cassidy’s tall body swayed as she walked. She didn’t parade herself; she simply moved without hurry, as she walked to the cooler on the back patio, and all her curves moved in perfect harmony.

Diego wasn’t the only one watching her. Every male within range stopped and stared as Cassidy extracted a beer from the cooler, opened it, lifted the bottle to her lips, and took a long, slow drink. It was like watching heaven. Diego followed the beer spilling down her lucky throat, imagined the sweat on the bottle’s neck as her mouth slid around it.

“Mating need,” Eric said without looking up from the grill.

Diego jumped. “What?”

Eric gestured with his fork at the males whose gazes riveted to Cassidy. “Cassidy is of cub-bearing age, and she’s no longer mated. Males outnumber females around here five to one. Whenever Cassidy walks outside, every unmated male around zeros in on her.”

Diego saw that. Blatantly or subtly, the men watched Cassidy. “And you let them?”

“They can look all they want, but it’s Cassidy’s choice. The males can claim her and fight each other to the death for her, but she can still turn down the mate-claim. The high ratio of males to females means that the females get to be choosy.”

Diego frowned at the hungry stares trained on Cassidy. “What if they don’t wait for her to be choosy?”

Eric flipped a steak. “Cassidy’s my second, plenty dominant enough to make anyone she doesn’t like back off. Plus, she’s my sister. Anyone touches her against her will, they know they’ll answer to me. And, trust me, they don’t want to.”

Diego didn’t have to be Shifter to understand. Eric wouldn’t need to threaten or even look belligerent. Just as in the neighborhood that had spawned Diego, the people here knew who ruled, who could do what, and what would happen if they disobeyed the unspoken rules.

The difference between Diego’s world and Eric’s was that Eric implied he’d respect his sister’s choice. The man who had ruled Diego’s neighborhood had pretty much kept his sister away from all comers, whether she liked it or not. She’d tried to kill her brother one day, just to get away from him.

Cassidy smiled over at Eric and Diego, oblivious that she was the topic of conversation. She came to them and clicked her beer bottle against Diego’s. Diego had a hard time breathing.

Cassidy slipped her hand under Diego’s arm. “Take a walk with me.”

Eric turned back to his burgers and steaks, and Diego let Cassidy move with him to the edge of the party. A few more steps, and they were in darkness.

“I know you and Eric are talking about tracking down Reid,” Cassidy said. “I also know that Eric will try to keep me out of it. But I want to find him.”

Cassidy’s voice held an edge. Diego recognized that edge, having heard it many times from himself.

“I’m going to kick his ass for touching you, Cass,” he said. “I want to, and I can. And if he had anything to do with Donovan’s death, I’ll get him for that too. I promise you.”

Her eyes glittered in the darkness. “Are you going to shut me out too?”

“No. But you were ready to kill Reid tonight. If he hadn’t gotten away, you’d be in deep shit-so deep I wouldn’t be able to get you out of it. You have to let me do this my way. I’ll gather evidence against him to make the charges stick. If I’m careful, I can get Reid convicted for murder, not just assault and abduction. Trust me, I want him to go down.”

“We have to find him first.”

“I’ll find him,” Diego said with conviction. “Xavier and I are good at what we do, we have your brother’s trackers, and Eric seems to be good at what he does too. Between all of us, Reid doesn’t stand a chance.”

Cassidy’s face softened, but he saw the sadness in her eyes. “Diego…”

Diego put his hands on her shoulders. “Believe me, Cass, I’m going to get Reid for even trying to hurt you. And if he had anything to do with your mate’s death, he’ll pay for it. And if he didn’t, I’ll find out what really happened to Donovan, and make whoever killed him pay for it. I swear to you.”

She looked perplexed. “Why would you do all this for me?”

Because he understood what she was going through. Someone had killed a person she loved and gotten away with it. Donovan’s death must be an open and festering wound for her, and Diego wanted to heal her.

Diego knew damn well he might never run to ground the men who shot Jobe, might never have the satisfaction of taking his vengeance. But he could at least do this for Cassidy.

Diego squeezed her shoulders. “I’m doing it because you have a great ass.”

Her answering smile flared. “Lots of women have great asses, Diego Escobar.”

Diego slid his hands to the ass in question. “But I like yours best.”

“Yeah?” Cassidy’s touch flowed to his own buttocks. “Yours is pretty nice too.”

Diego caressed her, finding her firm and sweet. “This is dangerous.”

“I like dangerous.”

He touched her Collar, which felt smooth and cool, like an innocent piece of jewelry. “You all right?”

“The Collar didn’t have time to do much damage today. You petting me helped. A lot.”

Her smile sent fires through him. Diego touched the Collar again. “I don’t like to see this hurting you, mi ja.”

Cassidy looked up at him, her eyes full. “Thank you, Diego.” She reached up to him, mouth hot, and Diego kissed her without hesitation.