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I gulped the cool liquid, my throat dry and parched. After a moment, my heart stopped racing, and I shook my head. The events of the dream were fuzzy but still there.
"Great Mother Bast, that was bad." I wiped my mouth and scrunched back against the headboard. Bringing my legs up, I wrapped my arms around them and rested my chin on the top of my knees.
"What was it about, or do you mind if I ask?" Chase pulled the covers up so we wouldn't freeze—by now the temperature in the room was hovering around ten degrees above icicle time—and he put his arm around my shoulders, gently rubbing my back.
"I think I know where to look for the Hunters Moon Clan," I said, trying to make sense of the dream. In it, I'd been a black panther, not a tabby. Wish fulfillment, no doubt, but I knew everything else in it had been accurate. "There should be a road near the waterfall. You said Snoqualmie Falls, right?"
He nodded.
"Okay, we need to look for a road back in the woods near there, and it will lead to a turnoff called Goldenrod Road… or Drive… or Avenue. There's a cave against one of the foothills, and that's where the Hunters Moon Clan makes their nest. And Chase, that man you showed us a mug shot of? Geph…"
"Geph von Spynne, the dude Zachary got into it with?" He yawned, then grabbed his pocket-sized notebook and jotted down a few notes.
"That's the one," I said. "He's in charge. Or at least, he's involved, and trust me, he's dangerous."
"And when you factor in Kyoka and the other two members of the Degath Squad…"
"We have a very lethal combination." I slid out from under the covers and grabbed the corn chips sitting on my dresser. Normally, I'd go watch Jerry Springer when I woke up in the middle of the night, but my dream was so vivid and the danger so real that I couldn't think about anything except those red eyes that had been staring at me out of the forest. And the spirit guide. Who was he? And why had he helped me?
With more questions than I had answers for, I padded over to the window seat. Chase joined me, and I gave him a gentle peck on the cheek, then he went back to bed and turned off the light while I curled up to watch the snow fall softly to blanket the ground with its white shroud of winter.
* * *
CHAPTER 15
When I woke up, the world looked a whole lot bigger. I blinked, trying to make sense of things, then realized I was curled up on my pillow next to Chase, who was staring at me with a soft smile. He reached out to gently scratch me behind the ears and then stroke my back. It felt so good I didn't want him to quit and head-butted his hand for another ear rub, then lightly padded down to the foot of the bed and jumped off. Once on the floor, I closed my eyes and willed myself to transform, which went a whole lot smoother than it did when it happened involuntarily.
As I came back to myself, clad in my PJs and feeling decidedly tousled, I looked up at him from where I was kneeling on the floor. Chase started to laugh.
"I think I've almost gotten used to that," he said, climbing out of bed and stretching. "After the first few times, it doesn't seem so strange."
I grinned as I pushed myself to my feet and stretched, yawning. "Good, because it's probably not going to change." About fifty percent of the time when I spent the night with Chase, I woke up in cat form, curled on the pillow next to him. He usually gave me a good rubdown before I shifted back, and I think that my inner cat was so tickled by the attention that she decided to take advantage of him as much as possible.
"What are you doing today?" he asked. "I've decided to go with your idea and see if I can cover up what's going on with the OIA. We need all the time and info we can get, and without the department backing me up, we'd have to kiss a lot of that good-bye."
"Good," I said, glancing at him. Chase kept in shape, that was for sure. His stomach was taut, a six-pack to make any man envious, and the sight of him naked sent my mind reeling in other directions. I looked at the clock. Six a.m. Still early. "Listen," I said, slowly unbuttoning my pajama top. "Why don't we start the day with a workout?" As I slid out of my PJs, Chase's gaze flickered to mine, and there was no more we needed to say.
Iris had breakfast ready by the time we showered, dressed, and headed downstairs. Camille was helping her, and Maggie was sitting in her custom-made high chair, slurping at the bowl of cream, sugar, cinnamon, and sage.>"You really mean it, don't you?" He stared at the bed, a furrowed line of concentration creasing his brow. "Do you think we can pull it off?"
"If we can't, then Earth is doomed," I said glumly. "Otherworld, too. The demons will find a way in, and there won't be anything left."
Chase let out a long sigh. "I think you're crazy, for what it's worth. But if it works… maybe we can pull together a ragtag team. We could base everything out of Seattle and hire our own operatives from the Supe and human community."
"The problem would be how to pay them. We'd have to keep Devins in the dark about the fact that they aren't being sent from OW. And we have to redirect the Wayfarer portal to point away from Y'Elestrial, which might arouse suspicions unless we rig it so it seems to be broken." I sighed. "The logistics are huge, but I don't see any other choice."
"Maybe we can find volunteers," Chase said. "People we can tell the truth to, who would be willing to put in time in order to stop Shadow Wing's attempts. We could use a few medical personnel, especially those who know about Fae body chemistry. And we need somebody really good with computers, because we're going to have to be on top of everybody's whereabouts."
I grinned. Computer programmer, huh? "I might be able to take care of that. I know just the person."
"Let's sleep on it." Chase snuggled under the covers and reached for me. I rolled against him and smiled. He had an erection that wouldn't stop giving. "How about another round of grab and tickle?"
Snickering, I reached down and clasped hold of him. "I'll take care of the grab, you just be sure to take care of tickling me in all the right ways," I whispered.
I wasn't disappointed.
The raucous call of birds quieted down as I stalked my way through the jungle. Rain splashed out of the skies, leaving diamond droplets on the arboreal canopy that wove together a latticework of vegetation covering the path and everything below.
Dusk had fallen, and soon my enemy would be out to hunt. I paused to listen at every scuttle, every sound of some creature moving through the foliage. The ground was pungent as I silently traced my route, the sour tang of decaying leaves mingling with that of mold that spread like fragile veins through the soil and toadstools popping out of the moss.
