"I didn't think anyone noticed!"
"We all did." Water whirled as Emma’s feet touched the bottom of the pool and she treaded toward them. "You don’t know what he said the last lunch he was here. He's in love with you, and he'll protect you. Nate’s never going to get to you again."
"Lunch time!" The jangle of the triangle accented Jareth’s call. "Raw for the weirdos, chicken for the normal one!"
"Jareth being in a good mood helps!" Juliette exhaled. "Yeah, I’m safe here. But, Em? You’re wrong. Tristan can’t be in love with me, not after what I’ve done and said to him."
* * *
The lithe black cat stalked closer to the camp, gingerly stepping around patches of twigs and leaves that would’ve crackled under massive paws. Keen feline ears listened to the conversation.
"Couple weeks more until when we have to head back," came a voice sounding like Nathaniel’s.
"Good. I'm tired of this stupid forest,” another man said.
"Have you thought more about Juliette? She needs to be taken care of," chimed a third.
The cat's muscles tensed, slick fur standing up on shoulders aching to attack.
Nathaniel chuckled sardonically. "She's not getting away. I’ll take care of her myself."
"When do you think we’ll get back here?"
"Month or two after we get home. Time to find her, strangle her, and get online and find out if what those damn ugly birds we found point us anywhere…"
Some else groaned. "I still want a chance at her, Rob. I already paid."
The cat snarled.
"What was that?" someone muttered, opening the flap of the tent.
The agile creature vaulted and bolted south.
* * *
A shrill shrieking pierced the night’s air. Arms and legs thrashed around, tangling sheets and nightgown. Lights in the hallway flicked on, and the door slammed open.
"Juliette!" Gabrielle rushed to the bed. "Emma, help me!"
Pale with fright, Emma hurried to the other side and pushed one of Juliette's shoulders against the mattress. "Juliette! Juliette, wake up!"
"Wake up!"
Beads of sweat decorating her forehead, Juliette opened her eyes and looked about madly. Breaths came in labored gasps. The concerned faces of Gabrielle and Emma peered down at her. William and Jareth, wide-eyed, waited at the foot of her bed. Juliette remembered where she was. A knot formed in her stomach. She bit her lip to hold back a sob, but failed.
“We have it. Go on back to bed," Gabrielle urged her brothers.
Emma’s arms wrapped around Juliette. Like a mother, Gabrielle enclosed both of them in her own.
"What happened, honey? Whatever it was, it was only a nightmare." Emma’s voice trembled.
"B-but it was s-s-so real! I was so, so sc-scared!" Juliette wiped her cheeks and runny nose with her nightgown sleeve. "I couldn't stop him! And he-he…"
"Juliette, listen to me." Gabrielle cradled Juliette's moist face in her cool hands. "Take a deep breath. Hyperventilating won't help you. Come on, now. Breathe deep."
Juliette struggled to do as she was told and managed after several shaking tries. She exhaled hard. The next was easier.
"You're safe, Juliette, and you're never going back to him. You are here with us. He doesn't know where you are. He can't find you. All of us will make sure he can never get his hands on you again."
"Thank you." Juliette sniffled. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I woke you up with my stupidity. I have to work on getting over this. Shouldn't I be okay now because I'm not with him anymore?"
"Please don’t apologize. You aren't stupid.” Emma tightened her hold on Juliette. “You're traumatized. It is very normal. Healing can take a long time."
"Is it bad of me to wish Tristan was here?" Juliette’s cheeks heated up. “I miss my best friend, but I’m scared to contact her because Nathaniel could find me. So that leaves Tristan.”
"Not at all. He helped you get away, and you and he have an emotional connection." Gabrielle patted Juliette’s hand and glanced at the ring.
Emma stared down at the piece, her eyebrows raised. To Juliette she said, "We’ve had six weeks of missing the men we love. He didn’t plan to take you away from everything, bring you here, and leave you with a few strangers. He’s familiar; now he’s gone. You’re wanting back what you know."
Gabrielle glanced at the clock. "It's almost 5 A.M. Does anyone want some tea? Chamomile might help you relax, Juliette."
Downstairs a teakettle whistled. Juliette shook her head and yawned. Her hand wandered to the chain around her neck and a finger slid down until she clutched the pendant. "I'm fine. Thanks. I think I can sleep."
"If you need us, just come get us, all right? We're here for you." Gabrielle touched Juliette's cheek before she stood up and left the room.
Emma kissed her temple. "Later today we'll do some retail therapy."
Suppressing another yawn, Juliette nodded. "All right, Em! But if I don't get back to sleep, I won't be awake enough."
"Good night, Jules."
With the lights off and her door again closed, Juliette turned onto her side and drew her knees up to her chest, still holding her pendant. Once again a phantom hand touched her. “Stop...”
* * *
Tristan stared up at the green leaves dancing against a brilliant blue sky. He sighed, wishing something would happen. Seven weeks of waiting in the same spot, leaving only to hunt, had worn on all three of them. His head lolled to the side. Stretched out a few feet away, Sunil blinked and sighed deeply. Beyond him, Ash remained hidden low behind a full bush.
The dry brush underneath him sent tingles through him with each wiggle. On a branch above him, one of those green and gold birds had perched itself, body as vibrant as a parrot, but its hair…
From the creature’s head streamed a long blonde mane above a woman's face. It could have been beautiful, even with its crooked nose and uneven eyes, if the features hadn't been twisted into a scowl, one eye twitching angrily.
Tristan, do you see what's above us? Did Nate send it? Sunil growled.
Slowly he tore his eyes away to glance over at Sunil. Before he could respond, the bird's wings opened and rustled the leaves around her. She dropped, and soared back to the camp from which she had come.
Tristan padded to Ash and head-butted him awake. Ash lifted his head as a scream pierced the stillness of the forest.
Three large ugly wolves surrounded them before they had a chance to react. Nathaniel walked up behind one of them, clad only in the pelt of a grey wolf.
“Which of you is Tristan? Show yourself as human. Let’s talk.”
The panther glanced at his brothers. More pack around them grew. Tristan, realizing he had no feasible options, stretched himself tall, his shoulder aching and his balance off after weeks on all fours. “What do you want, Jensen?”
“Fifteen of us, three of you. So shut up with your attitude.”
Tristan glared at his enemy. “What do you want? What are those bird things?”
“My harpies?” The one who had discovered them landed hard on Nathaniel’s shoulder. “Handy little mind-readers. What the hell is an upiór? Where is she?”
“Who?” Tristan crossed his arms, ignoring the first question.
Quick as lightning Nathaniel’s hand lashed out, grabbed Tristan’s throat, and pinned him to a tree. “Juliette! Where is she?”
“I’m not giving her up.” Tristan’s heart pounded.
Two pairs of footsteps closed in behind Tristan.
“None of us will.” Sunil took his place beside Tristan.
“No?” Nathaniel narrowed his eyes.
In front of Tristan and his brothers, one of the wolves morphed into a human dressed in a wolf pelt similar to Nathaniel’s and whispered into his ear.
“Good idea, Dan.”
Tristan balled his hands into tight fists, his stomach like a ball of hot lead trying to break out and smother the life from Daniel’s body.
; “Here’s what we’re willing to offer.” Nathaniel smiled. “I’ll give you a one-hour head start back to find Juliette. After that some of my guys will track you. If you want, we can take you down now and get it over. She’s a goner no matter what.”
Tristan moved to attack, but his quicker brothers restrained him.
“Let’s go. He isn’t worth it,” Ash insisted.
Sunil pulled Tristan back between a couple of the beasts and out of the circle. “Tristan, let’s leave.”
“Fine.” Tristan trembled and dropped onto all fours, his padded paws and muscular legs furiously speeding toward Juliette and away from the temptation to kill.
12. Return
Completely exhausted after months of hiking over mountainous terrain and living constantly on alert, Tristan stumbled off the last bus. Ahead of him, Ash flagged a cab to take them the rest of the way and hopped into the front seat. Tristan and Sunil slid into the back.
Ash made small talk with their driver, occasionally asking Sunil a question. Tristan stared, unseeing, out the window, his thoughts a jumbled mass. Would Nathaniel beat them home? What would he do if he found Juliette? Now that he knew about them, would he change his focus from finding the clan to hunting them?
The icy glass against his temple did little to soothe his aching head. Outside a few late summer drops of rain began to fall, echoing the tears his heavy heart couldn't cry. Nathaniel’s deadly threat forced him to face his affection for her and absolute certainty he'd lay down his life to protect her. Juliette had already suffered too much--and at the hands of a sadistic skin-walker. Tristan refused to take the love of a human, especially one he loved in return, and leave her hurt. With no clear path to keep her safe from him, his thoughts returned to Nathaniel’s threat just as the car turned onto his driveway.
The driver whistled low as he drove into the clearing. "Are you sure you're not here to case the place?"
"Like I said, we’ve been camping for a couple weeks, roughing-it style." Ash's large cash tip settled the cabbie.
Tristan tossed extra bills over the seat. Heaving his bag, he pushed the door open and heading toward the porch, looking around carefully and listening. "Let's make this quick. Shower, grab a few clothes, cars, and get to Ojai."
* * *
The gleaming gold Bentley careened down the freeway, followed by his brothers in their vehicles. Tristan changed the music on his MP3 player from soft jazz to classic rock. Expecting Eric Clapton, Moonlight Sonata--badly mislabeled--started instead. The notes matched the heaviness in his heart, so he let it play, its ominous tone providing the company misery loves.
Enough time had passed for Juliette’s physical injuries to heal. Beyond that, what if she hadn’t forgiven him? It would be best for them both. Somehow, he’d move on again, though a stabbing pain in his chest swore otherwise.
What if she returned his affections? Tristan shook his head, refusing to let himself consider the possibility. He’d helped her escape a bad situation, nothing more. A bittersweet hope she’d find someone else filled him with such jealousy that he felt an uncharacteristic rage at the faceless suitor in his mind. He couldn't trust anyone aside from his family to keep her safe, yet he’d have to let go sometime.
At long last he turned onto the road leading to the rental mansion, driving slowly down beneath the building. He parked in front of the garage, flanked by his brothers. Exhaustion etched on all their faces, Tristan followed Sunil inside and to the living room.
Emma flew into Sunil’s arms, the force throwing him against the wall behind him. Softly she cried, her head tucked beneath her husband’s chin. Their bodies pressed together, Sunil led her past Tristan and Ash toward their room.
He stepped into the archway, his heart leaping to his throat at the sight of her. The world apart from them seemed to have disappeared. Like molten gold, her corn silk hair gleamed with the soft afternoon light. Her bright blue eyes lit up, and her lower lip quivered. Beneath a fitted black turtleneck, her chest heaved, the pendant rising and falling with her breaths. Quickly she darted up and across the room to him, flinging her arms around his neck, and without realizing what he was doing, he lifted her from the ground in a tight embrace. The vanilla scent he’d remembered radiated from her skin.
"Oh, Tristan, I'm so glad you're back."
Reluctantly, Tristan moved her to half an arm's length from him and examined her face. The cut on her bottom lip had healed, and he mentally thanked his sisters for whatever they did that prevented a reminding scar. The bruises beneath her eyes had disappeared and the fear they had contained was gone. In its place resided joy. He longed to kiss her berry-pink lips.
Fighting the urge to pull her back to him or to even smile, he made himself speak. "Good afternoon, Juliette." Confused, he moved past her to sit down and dropped his heads into his hands.
The dull din of other voices in the room and a direct question from Gabrielle shattered his momentary bubble.
“I've ordered the chef out tonight to prepare dinner for the five of us, but let me go call and update the headcount. Is filet mignon okay?"
"Fabulous!" Ash loosened his hug. "After so long of whatever we scrounged up, anything's fine with us.”
Juliette laced her fingers together. "Excuse me, Gabby. I'm tired and need to go lay down. Please wake me up when dinner's ready." Quickly she hurried out of the room and toward the stairs.
William cracked his knuckles. "What was that about? 'Good afternoon'? You’re not still hung up, are you?"
“I don’t want to get into it.” Tristan clenched his jaw.
"You--"
A snap interrupted the start of their argument and Gabrielle glared at them. “We’ll deal with that later. What happened?”
Ash filled Gabrielle and William in.
"So Nate knows we’re upiórs?” Gabrielle sighed. “Well, this likely confirmed to him that he’s on the right track to the coven. Juliette needs to stay here. She can't go back to our home and wait for murder. None of us can."
Sunil leaned back in his seat. "What else do we need from the house?"
"I grabbed the usual, and a few other trinkets, before we came here. They're all in the safe in the back closet. I--"
"Gabby,” Sunil interrupted, “what do you know about harpies? Nate had some."
"Oh my god." Gabrielle’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you mention them before?”
"A what?" Jareth asked from the doorway.
"A harpy is a bird-woman who can read minds, which is a little-known fact about them. They're so rare Jane thought they had become extinct. Those nasty birds were well known for their love of talking and gossiping and not minding their own business. Did any of you think about us being here?"
Tristan ran a hand through his hair. "We were all too intent on our purpose and shock about being discovered.”
"We're going to need a new plan and better focus."
"Should we try to get out sooner or take more time to make a better plan?"
“Plan.”
"Let’s brainstorm after dinner, Gab." Jareth turned on the television and flipped through the channels. "Talking all night isn't going to get any answers. We’ll find a safer place for the girl."
Gabrielle excused herself. Tristan followed her outside and leaned back in a chair. Silently they took in the rolling evergreen-dotted Santa Ynez mountain range and the storm clouds closing in.
“I don’t want to love her, Gabby. I must get her to permanent safety and let us part ways so she’ll find someone who’ll make her happy. We can move to the coven and--”
“Tristan, calm down. One thing at a time. Right now Nate poses a deadly threat to Juliette, us, and the coven. Those are the pressing issues.” She checked the hour on her delicate gold watch. “I need to go wake Juliette. Check your emotions at the door. We have business to handle.”
* * *
Red wine warmed Juliette from the inside out and dulled the sting of Tristan’s cool formality toward her. The quiet banter dredge
d up a memory of her first meal with them. Tristan had accepted her then.
After dessert, she excused herself to the bathroom to brush her teeth and sit in solitude until her head cleared and the dishes had been removed. Upon returning to the front room, Gabrielle's kind smile greeted her.
"Juliette, I’m going with Emma and Sunil to run some errands. Ash, Jareth, and Will are driving out to the beach. We may all be back late. Do you need anything before we take off?"
Juliette’s eyes flickered toward Tristan leaning back in his chair and glaring out the window. "N-no, I'll be…" She swallowed hard. "I'll be okay."
"If you can think of anything while we're out, just give me a call." With a final smile, Gabrielle closed the door behind her.
For several minutes, Juliette leaned against a wall, unsure what to do. Tristan had never been cold to her. She took advantage of the moment to admire his style of dress. She’d never paid much attention to his clothes before, always focusing on his gentle eyes and soft tenor voice.
Tristan's fine twill trousers were dark-grey wool. Their custom cut fit perfectly, even seated. The black leather shoes that clad his feet appeared to be high quality. His navy silk shirt, with its cuffs rolled to reveal his strong forearms, was the sort most men would wear only when dressing up with a sport coat and tie.
His hair hung in glossy, dark, loose ringlets around his pensive face. His troubled eyes focused on far-away thoughts. Eventually he raised his hands and rubbed his forehead.
Afraid to say anything, she backed out of the entryway and left to find some books to study.
* * *
The grandfather clock chimed…Six…seven…eight times. Guilt slammed into him. Tristan sighed. Answers on how to proceed were no clearer than before, and he knew the woman he loved was paying the price. Tristan pushed back his chair and stood up, stretching.
The house was quiet. He thought she might have gone to bed. Tristan retrieved his laptop computer from its case in the blue master bedroom Gabrielle had vacated and dug its charger out with it. He needed to check his e-mail, find how his stock was doing, and catch up on some world news of the last months.
Tristan headed toward the family room and stopped short. Silent, Juliette sat on the chaise, her feet tucked beneath her. A large textbook lay open on the leather ottoman, and she had a notebook in her lap. A couple of novel-sized books had been set on the floor next to her chair, a cup of tea on a saucer set on top of them. A merry fire crackled in the fireplace. He pressed a button on the side of his computer, and, convinced the battery would last long enough to get through most of his work, took a seat on the sofa.