Animal Instincts (Kindred Souls Book 1) Read online

  Skye knew it all had to be connected. The animal fights. The casino. Her brother’s murder. If only Shade could remember something. Anything. Even Nuala Lazare.

  People should stick to their own kind.

  I thought he was too good. I thought he was incorruptible.

  The idea that her brother might have been corrupted made her chest squeeze tight. She didn’t believe it. Didn’t want to believe. But why had Luc tried to make her think so? Why hadn’t Shade told Ethan what he’d learned? Doubt was a horrible thing, especially doubt about someone she loved. Fighting uncertainty, she made her way back the way she’d come.

  Suddenly the tunnel went dark.

  She stopped to get her bearings, to wait for some illumination so she could see where she was going. A bit of filtered light came from the moon and her eyes eventually adjusted.

  That was when she heard them. Footsteps behind her. Tick... tick... tick... No, not footsteps, but paws with sharp claws hitting the floor. Big paws and they were approaching fast.

  Her pulse rushed and bile filled her throat as fear made her flee through the dark, one hand skimming the glass wall. Her legs raced faster than she knew they could go.

  What was coming after her? Another predator like the ones outside the arena that had threatened her? No sense in trying to communicate with it, and this time Luc wouldn’t be there to save her.

  The sound of thundering paws filling her head, she quickened her pace even more, until she felt she was nearly flying.

  Almost out, almost safe, Skye heard the frightening pounding closer behind her. She ran for her life and, even as she thought she would never make it, she reached the stairs. She stumbled upward, knocking her shins a couple of times along the way.

  She was out of breath. Out of time.

  But somehow, she made it to the top and threw open the door, flew around the pillar and into the legal part of the casino boat, got herself into the middle of the crowd. But she kept looking back the way she’d come, waiting for whatever was after her to appear.

  On edge all the way home, Skye kept imagining she was being followed. Flickers of movement taunted her from the side windows of the car, but when, pulse rushing, she turned to see what was out there, it was always nothing.

  That didn’t mean she was safe.

  Thankfully, she arrived home without further incident. She looked up and down the empty street before leaving her car and jogging to her building. Upon entering, she curbed her instinct to go straight into the first-floor apartment to tell Shade everything. Boomer needed a walk first. But once they stepped foot in the foyer, the dog parked himself before the door to Shade’s apartment and whined pitifully.

  “Okay, okay,” she said, unlocking the door.

  Boomer rushed in before her, tail wagging.

  “Shade, where are you?”

  “I’m right here.”

  Shade materialized and stooped to the dog’s level. Boomer stuck his nose right through Shade’s face.

  Shade laughed. “Sorry, boy, but I’m glad to see you, too.”

  Skye waited until he straightened and focused on her before she asked, “Where do you go when—”

  He shrugged. “Don’t know. I must kind of fade in and out, I guess. As far as I’m concerned, I’m still here. At least part of my consciousness is. Ethan was here with a team.”

  “He saw you?”

  “Afraid not. I tried, but nothing. I eavesdropped on them. They didn’t find anything but two sets of prints. Undoubtedly yours and mine.”

  She nodded but her mind was already elsewhere. “Why didn’t you tell me about Nuala Lazare?”

  “Who?”

  “Beautiful. Dark hair and eyes. Intense. Sound familiar?” Shade continued with the blank look, so she said, “I thought maybe she was your snitch, maybe even the one who got you information on what I thought were dogfights, but apparently you had a thing with her. At least according to her brother, Luc.”

  His expression accepting, Shade threw out his hands. “Okay.”

  “Okay? You were seeing someone and you didn’t tell me. And she’s part of a crime family that runs a questionable operation hidden beneath a legal casino. They’re probably responsible for the fights you were investigating.”

  “Sorry, I don’t remember any of this.” Shade’s forehead pulled tight. In the end, he shrugged. “I got a couple of flashes, but nothing I can hold on to.”

  Throwing herself onto one of his leather chairs, she regaled him with the twenty-five-cent tour of her night, including its thriller ending.

  “I don’t understand what’s going on in the lower level of that casino boat.” she shook her head. “I’ve never before heard anyone’s thoughts, and my communications with animals has always been through images and emotions. Then there was all that mind-control stuff going on.” At least Luc Lazare had been trying to control her. “How is any of this possible?”

  Shade perched on the arm of a chair and Boomer settled at his feet. “I don’t know. I don’t seem to know much anymore.”

  “The thing that keeps ringing in my head is Luc Lazare asking me ‘What are you?’ as if I was something other than a human being. What could he have meant, Shade? What could I... we... be?”

  “Uh...”

  Skye didn’t think it was possible, but her ghostly brother went even more pale. He appeared ready to fade into the shadows behind him. Her breath shortened as she stared at him.

  “What?” she asked, certain there was something he knew that she didn’t. “Tell me.”

  “It’s not much. I remember Dad saying something like that to Mom when she was so sick. He said if she was what she claimed to be, then surely she could make the cancer go away, that she could find the answer in that book of hers she was always reading and scribbling in. I remember her telling him it didn’t work like that. Despite the gifts she was given, she was still susceptible to human ills.”

  Wishing there had been some way Mom could have saved herself, Skye said, “If only she was here to give us some answers.”

  “Maybe she still can,” Shade said. “Maybe we’d find answers in that book.”

  Frowning, she only vaguely remembered the book. “Does it still exist? I haven’t seen it since she died.”

  “Remember, Dad gave a bunch of Mom’s stuff to Grandma.”

  “The basement.” When we’d inherited this building two years ago, there’d been what seemed like a lifetime of possessions stored in a room down there, but we’d never taken the time to go through it all and dredge up old memories. “I’ll go look.”

  Normally she only used the basement to do her laundry. She hadn’t been in Grandma’s storage bin since they’d first moved in. The eight-by-ten-foot room was filled with boxes and old furniture laden with dust. She was looking around, trying to figure out where to start, when an old trunk drew her attention. Certain she recognized it, Skye stood staring at it for a moment. That trunk had been in the room where Mom had spent a lot of time alone.

  Her pulse fluttered and she was drawn straight to the trunk. Her heart beat faster as she lifted the lid. The book wasn’t visible. The top of the pile was strewn with candlesticks and crystals and swaths of cloth. Her hands tingled, and as if pulled down by a magnet, they thrust downward through the layers to the bottom of the trunk. She knew when she touched it. It seemed to hum in greeting. Ignoring items spilling out of the trunk, she concentrated on pulling out the heavy book.

  The leather cover was worn, but she could make out the lettering. The Book of Powers.

  Despite her sudden trepidation, she hugged it to her chest and headed back upstairs to her brother’s apartment.

  “Got it,” she said as she went straight to the living room, where she sat in one of the chairs near the fireplace, Shade at her side.

  The initial entry was first written in Gaelic, then what looked to be an English translation alongside the original.

  “This seems to be an introduction,” she said, aware of the energy surging
from the book where she touched it. “‘We, the progeny of the Powers, the bearers of conscience and the keepers of history, will continue the fight against evil spirits that wreak chaos throughout humanity. We will balance light with the growing darkness, will restrain the power of demons to corrupt humanity, will prevent fallen angels from taking over the world, thereby keeping the universe in balance. This we swear.’ And it’s signed Brigit, the Protectress.” she thought about it for a moment. “The progeny of the Powers. What does that mean?”

  “The Powers are part of the hierarchy of angels.”

  A weird feeling shot through her. “And you know that how?”

  He shrugged and aimed his eyes upward.

  Her mind raced. Progeny of the Powers. Meaning progeny of angels. Meaning descendants of angels.

  Meaning Shade and her?

  Skye could hardly catch her breath. This was too far out to process. Still, she couldn’t stop reading now.

  Noting some pages were dog-eared, she checked them out. Certain passages laboriously copied were marked and commented upon in the margins by several hands. Some notations were from Genesis in the Old Testament and others were from sources like the Book of Enoch and from the Book of Jubilees, both of which many scholars thought should be part of the Bible.

  And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied there were born unto them comely daughters. And some angels saw and lusted after them, and took them to beget progeny.

  “The fallen angels,” she mused, her supposition verified by a note in the margin.

  “And the children of those unions were the Nephilim,” Shade said. “And their progeny or descendants are also known as demons.”

  ...progeny of the Powers...will restrain the power of demons...

  Her heart raced and her mouth went dry. She was an animal rescuer, not a demon slayer. She was a normal person, not something else. She wasn’t!

  She kept turning pages, kept reading until she got to another passage that was oddly significant.

  The Lord saw how great the Nephilim’s wickedness on the earth had become, and his heart was filled with pain. He decided to send a Great Flood to wipe mankind and animals, all of whom he created, from the face of the earth.

  “So that’s how the Ark came about,” Shade said. “Apparently Noah wasn’t one of the Nephilim.”

  “But somehow the Nephilim weren’t all wiped out,” she said, scanning further entries. “Look, there are accounts of the Nephilim after the Flood. How did they survive?”

  Astonished by it all, disbelieving that any of this could actually be true, she let exhaustion both physical and mental overwhelm her. Her hands on the book tingled softly, as if The Book of Powers was alive. Maybe she was imagining it. Maybe none of this was real.

  Maybe it was simply all a nightmare.

  Boomer started whining, snapping her back to the now. Barely able to take a breath, she closed the book and set it down. She’d had enough for one day. The Book of Powers and its implications were too much for her.

  “Why are you stopping?” Shade asked.

  “The dog has to go out. I’d better take him before he has an accident. Then I’m going to bed. I’ve had a long day and I’m exhausted. The book can wait until tomorrow.”

  Thankful Shade didn’t try to stop her, she grabbed the dog’s leash and headed for the door. The farther she got away from the book, the more normal she felt.

  She was relieved to be free of its thrall, if only for now.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Luc had faded into the shadows of the front porch near the open window to listen, and now he was glad he’d done so. Having decided he needed to protect Skye Cross, he’d come to check on her. He couldn’t let her be killed as her brother had been.

  Or Jez.

  He mourned his lifelong friend. They’d played together as children, and she’d always stood up for him. If only he’d been able to figure out who was running the shifter fights before Jez had been involved. But no one was talking. Now he would make it his mission. He looked forward to the day when the one responsible for Jez’s death—her murder—would pay.

  In the meantime, he needed to know how Skye had found her way into the cloaked area of the casino. He would need to run interference if she’d made a deal with the wrong being to get her invitation, so he’d followed her here, to her home, to find out whom she knew.

  Here, where another surprise awaited him in the form of a dead man who lingered still. Shade Cross’s unexpected presence had kept him from entering the building, had kept him one with the shadows. Had kept him listening. He’d gotten quite an earful.

  Skye was leaving the apartment with the dog.

  To escape detection, Luc thought of himself in the ground-level shadows of the building. His body tingled as he sifted out of sight, and his blood rushed when he resurfaced. He could change locations in the blink of an eye. A useful ability but unfortunately limited in scope.

  Sequestered in the shadows, he watched Skye race down the stairs and follow the dog to the parkway where it did its business. She tried to go back to the building, but the dog barked at him as if it could see him and stood firm. She stooped down, gave the pooch a hug, and set her forehead against its fur.

  The next thing he knew, she whipped around and stared into the dark well next to the building where he stood, as if she could see him.

  “Show yourself, Luc,” she said. “I know you’re there.”

  Reluctantly, Luc stepped out of the shadows. The dog started barking again. Quiet down. I’m a friend.

  “You’re not my friend.”

  “I was talking to the dog.” Who now sat halfway between him and Skye.

  He’d never met one of her kind before. Lucky for him. He’d asked her what she was, but she hadn’t known. Now she did. Or at least she had some idea. He’d assumed she was simply human, but that wasn’t fully true, not if she had The Book of Powers in her possession. She was one of their descendants.

  His kind and hers didn’t mix.

  Now that he knew what she was, he would proceed with even more caution.

  “You followed her home?” she asked.

  “Not exactly. Was someone following you?”

  “What exactly then?”

  “Instinct.” He figured she’d had enough surprises for one day. “Did someone follow you?”

  “Did you tell someone to?”

  “No.” But someone else might have. Luc switched on the internal radar that would pick up the presence of another Kindred.

  “No one here now.” He heard a car door close on the next block. “Well, maybe a human.”

  She followed his gaze. “You heard something?”

  “I hear a lot of things.”

  Her expression anything but friendly, Skye stepped closer, stopping next to the dog. “Does that include my private conversation with my brother?”

  “And if it did?”

  “I wouldn’t like that.”

  He moved closer. The dog growled and moved to block him.

  “Boomer, it’s okay, honey.” She bent over to pat the dog’s head.

  “You like this beast.”

  “I love him. I love all animals.”

  “All?”

  “Animals,” she repeated.

  “Ones like the coyote and the African wild dog?”

  “Why not?”

  “What if they’re something else?”

  Even under nothing but streetlights, he could see her blanch.

  “What else would they be?” she said.

  Luc laughed, then was surrounded by emotion. Hers. Embarrassment. Anger. Fear. He didn’t want her to fear him.

  It didn’t matter what he wanted.

  He had an obligation. A duty. He had to make sure Skye was safe, even from him.

  “They are what they are,” he said. “They chose their fates.”

  “Chose? What does that mean? Did you choose yours?”

  The reminder he hadn’t chosen anything ye
t stung. His mother had raised him to respect and protect humanity. His father had shown him corruption came naturally to the weak, it couldn’t be forced, and it could be used to the Kindred’s advantage. He didn’t agree with everything Pop said or did, but he understood more than he wanted to. He was still torn between his two worlds, still looking for the thing that would make his choice inevitable. Either that or he continued to live his hell on earth, void of satisfaction or happiness or love.

  “Well, if you’re done talking, Boomer and I will go inside.”

  “No, wait. I can ease your mind.” Again, he moved closer, this time stopping the dog from interfering with a hand gesture. They were almost as close as they had been in the cleansing station. “I tried to help you earlier, but you resisted.”

  “What makes you think I won’t resist now?”

  Only one way to make her pliable to his will, Luc thought, slipping a hand behind her neck.

  “That won’t work,” she informed him.

  He said, “I’m up to the challenge.” Then he dipped his head and slipped his mouth over hers.

  She gasped, and he took full possession of her. Not merely of her mouth. But of her body. And her thoughts.

  He let her see what they would be like together. Let her feel the erotic impulses that raged through him, that he kept in control only by sheer will. If only his will were strong enough to protect him from her, now that he knew what she was. He couldn’t have her. Shouldn’t want her. That didn’t stop him from imagining it, from having her in his mind.

  He thought about the things he would do to her to make her mindless with desire. He could see his hands on her breasts, could feel her hot, wet flesh wrapped around his.

  When she moaned and swayed closer, brushing her breasts against his chest and her hips against his groin, he knew it was now or never.