The other girls lived in an apartment five minutes from
Firebird's dorm. Meghan had ice cream, so of course
Firebird had to stop by for a bowl and a quick gossip, and
by the time theyโd gone from high spirits to quiet
sentiment as they realized their years in college were
finally over, it was one a.m. and Firebird figured sheโd
better get back to the dorm or sheโd fall asleep in their
chair.
The main walk of the campus was still hopping with
celebrating students, but the crowds were thinning fast
and when she turned off toward her dorm, it got darker,
quieter.
She didn't mind. Douglas had told her the campus wasnโt
safe, but her father had taught her to protect herself, to
be careful, to be aware. She was all of those things.
The evening hadnโt turned out as she had hoped. Not at
all. Douglas had hinted at his past, had promised to fill
her in, then his work had interfered. And sheโd made him
promise that theyโd talk in the morning, but sheโd seen
the look on his face โ he didnโt want to. What secrets did
he hide? He was a policeman. How bad could his past
possibly be?
As she strolled along the tree-lined walk, she at first
didnโt notice the sounds behind her. She was listening for
footsteps, not the rustle of leaves and the creak of
branches. But once she heard them, she knew what they
boded.
Someone was stalking her, creeping along through the
trees, and that someone wasnโt all human.
A Varinski.
Somehow, a Varinski had found her.
She didnโt look around, didnโt indicate that she knew she
was being followed. Her heart pounded, her skin flushed,
yet she walked at a steady pace.
Donโt run, little Firebird, she heard her fatherโs voice
rumble in her head. Running brings out a hunterโs urge to
chase, and you canโt outrun a wolf or a panther. You canโt
out fly a hawk. But you can outsmart them, and you can
outfight them.
As the Varinski moved from tree to tree, she listened to
the sounds, trying to figure out what kind of creature was
tracking her. A bird of prey, perhaps, or a great cat
leaping between the branches.
Her dorm loomed ahead. Lights illuminated about half the
windows. People were awake and nearby. She could scream
for help. But then someone would get hurt.
She opened her purse, pulled out her cell phone, debated
about calling Douglas. He would want her to โ but then, he
wouldnโt be happy to discover she was walking alone, and
if she put her phone up to her ear, that might force the
stalker to attack.
How had he located her? What did he want?
As she got closer to the dorm, the sound behind her grew
more pronounced. She dug out her keys, threaded them
between her fingers so a key stuck out between each
knuckle. She opened her phone and dialed nine-oneโฆ and
before she could hit the last button, the door to the dorm
burst open. Eight guys came dashing out, Jacob in their
midst, wearing nothing but baseball caps, body paint, and
running shoes. They hooted as they passed her. She pumped
her fist to indicate her approval, and slipped inside
before the door could close.
Then she fled. Fled down the hall and up the stairs to her
bedroom. She didnโt turn on the light, but crept to the
window. Staying well back in the shadows, she looked out.
There it was, crouched in the shadows of a giant oak, some
kind of great cat, stretched along the branch. The
moonlight seeped through the leaves and picked up the
smooth glory of its coat, and even from here she could see
its dark eyes, watching her window. Its tail twitched
slowly, as if the loss of its prey had irritated it.
What did it intend to do to her? Was this a rogue
Varinski, entertaining himself by stalking and killing the
daughter of Konstantine Wilder? Or did the family have
plans to kidnap and hold her as a pawn in their plot to
destroy her family?
She had to go. She had to leave. She couldnโt wait until
graduation, she needed to go at once โ and she couldnโt
tell Douglas why.
He would never believe this.
โOh, my love.โ What had she been thinking, getting
involved with a normal guy? He wouldnโt understand about
the pact with the devil and her familyโs special talents.
How could he? It was absolutely insane.
Worse, as her mate, heโd be in danger, the same kind of
danger that shadowed her.
Outside the window, the great cat moved at last. It stood
and stretched, then lightly leaped down out of the tree.
She got her first good look at it.
A cougar. It was a cougar.
She frowned. Her heart stopped.
A cougar? But just tonight, Douglas had given her a large,
soft, stuffed cougar.
As the cat outside began to change, her heartbeat leaped.
The claws retracted. The bones warped into new shapes: the
paws became hands, the back legs lengthened and
straightened, the shoulders got broader, the hair
retreated onto the head and chest and genitals.
The face changed, too, becoming a manโs face, a familiar
manโs face โฆ the face of the man she loved.
She stared. Stared so hard her eyes hurt.
Douglas. Douglas was a Varinski.
Heโd come to Brown, sought her out, courted her, seduced
her, made her trust him, got her to confide in him โฆ in a
brief spasm of shame, she hid her eyes with her hands.
Sheโd told him she was from Washington. Sheโd told him she
had three brothers, that one was a wine-maker, that her
father grew grapes and her mother ruled the family.
Had she told him the name of her town?
No.
Had she given him anything that would enable him to
pinpoint her location?
No.
No. Please, no.
Douglas stood out there, naked in the moonlight, a tattoo
that looked like great claw marks ripping the skin on his
left side.
She hadnโt seen that before. Heโd taken great care not to
take off his shirt in the light.
Smart guy, because that would have tipped her off for
sure. Her brothers had tattoos that were just as vivid,
just as distinctive, and they had come naturally the first
time they became beasts.
Completely unself-conscious with his nudity โ well, why
should he be self-conscious? apparently, half the guys on
campus were streaking โ Douglas turned and loped away.
Virulently, she hoped he was happy with himself. Because
heโd managed to get laid, but he hadnโt caught her. He
hadnโt killed her.
And he wasnโt going to get another chance to try.
Going to her bed, she picked up the plush stuffed cougar
by the scruff of the neck. Its dark, intense eyes mocked
her as she walked out into the hall and to the trash
chute. But she got the final laugh โ she dropped the
damned thing down the hole and into the Dumpster outside.
Back to her room, she called the airlines and reserved the
first flight out of town toward the west coast. It went to
LA, but that was good enough. She could hang out there,
try to figure out how much to tell the folks, then catch a
ride to Napa to Jasha's winery, and from there on to
Washington.
She packed her clothes and left the dorm, walking toward
the bus stop, and as she walked, she dug into her purse,
pulled out the envelope with Douglas's name scrawled
across the front. Inside was a Fatherโs Day card โฆ and a
plastic stick with the tell-tale blue stripes that
indicated a positive result.
She threw it all into the garbage.
No matter how hard she would try, she could never forget
Douglas Black.
She stroked her hand over the slight mound of her belly.
Douglas had left her a souvenir she would treasure her
whole life long.
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