The two twins were now wailing in earnest, their cries a cacophony that echoed throughout the quarry. Cadmus looked at them with irritation. “Get them to shut up!” He barked at Billy Bob and Jordy. But that only made the two start screaming even louder. Lily was terrified of what Cadmus would do. What Jordy wanted to do.
And then it was Lily’s turn to scream, as Jordy produced a syringe. She ran over to the shrieking Clover, grabbing her arm and keeping well away from kicking distance, before jabbing the little girl in the upper arm. Cadmus watched impassively, as Billy Bob yanked Clover back, and pushed Brady towards Jordy.
Lily’s screams were now hoarse, under the shrieking and crying of the two children, as Jordy grabbed Brady’s arm and jabbed him as well.
“I only pressed halfway in both, Boss. Figured you might need the kids for later.” Jordy beamed with pride, as looked at Lily. “Relax, roomie. That means I only gave each of the brats about half a dose of a tranq dart. That’ll shut them up and keep them alive. At least for now.”
Sure enough, she could see that two kids had slumped onto the gravel, each held aloft with Billy Bob fisting the backs of their tee-shirts.
“Move them to the side, but where Katie can still see them.” Cadmus ordered, and he turned to Lily. “Let them serve as a reminder for what worse can still happen if I find our conversations are….unproductive.”
Lily was sobbing now. Damn, damn, damn. She had to pull it together for the kids. Maybe by now Rika had called for an Amber Alert. Maybe Puma had reported her racing off in one of the cars.
Too many maybes. She couldn’t count on the calvary coming. Right now, she was it for the kids, the only one who had a shot at keeping them safe. She forced herself to calm down. At least her crying had slowed down to hiccuping sobs.
“Please. Don’t hurt them any more. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Oh, that you will, my dear.” Cadmus said silkily. He reached out again, grabbed her jaw with his fingers, pressing against the tender spots he had before. She distracted herself from the pain with the loosening of the knot behind her back.
“So tell me, how many of them are there? Just the five I saw? Or more?”
Lily swallowed. “Just the five.”
“Can they all turn into animals? Or just the one?”
Well she only saw Col, and Merek and Barric. So she couldn’t say about all of them, technically. “I..I don’t know. Honest.”
Cadmus pressed his lips tightly, as if deciding whether or not she was telling the truth. His fingers pressed even deeper into her jaw.
“How many do you knowcanturn into animals?”
Ouch. “Three.”
Behind Cadmus, she saw Jordy’s jaw drop. Billy Bob was wandering, kicking at the gravel.
“Can they take on any shape? Or is it just the wolf?”
“I don’t know.” His fingers tightened. Hers loosened the rope more.
“Jordy,” Cadmus called out over his shoulder. “Take the girl child and—”
“No!” Lily roared. “I’m answering your questions honestly.”
Cadmus released her jaw, surveying her critically. The spots where his fingers dug in ached, but it was just as well that she couldn’t rub at them. “Right you are, Katie. Is that short for Katya? Katarina? Katrina? Katherine?”
“Katherine.”
“Very well. A better question then. I want you to tell me everything you know about the one that I encountered. He is the only one of the five with hair shorn in a military style, auburn colored. He turned into a massive wolf with auburn fur.”
Col. He wanted to know about Col.
“I don’t know what else to add to that.” Smoking hot? Made her feel cherished? Was the first to give her orgasms? Was the person she fantasized about having babies with? Cadmus started to turn menacingly towards the twins, and a barrage of words spilled out.
“I mean, he’s the one having the most difficulty with contemporary idioms. His English is a mixture of the Medieval Faire and what he’s been exposed to on TV or blu-rays. He was raised by a demanding father. He’s had military training. That sort of thing?”
Cadmus smirked. “That’s better. Highly irrelevant, but I suspect you know that. Although the military training confirms my impression. Now tell me more about his ability to turn into a wolf. Does he have any other magical abilities?”
He made me fall in love with him.
