Page 35 of Taken By Raider Kings
“Yeah.”One corner of his mouth lifted again, all irritation vanished.“You smell even better now.”
“I haven’t even had ashower.”The man was a complete lunatic, she decided.Her back ached, but overall—and all things considered—she felt reasonably good.Getting enough sleep was probably the answer to all the world’s problems.
If she could sleep for a week, though, it wouldn’t bring Lucy back.It wouldn’t stop all this.
“Better hurry, then.”He turned back to the window.A ripple passed through him, as if he was going to turn into that… the werewolf-thing again.She huddled on the bed, waiting.
But he didn’t.He just stood there, staring out the window like a movie was playing int he parking lot.Silence stretched between them.
Maybe she could risk a serious question.“So what happens now?I don’t suppose you’re going to take me home.”I sound strange.
His broad shoulders rose, dropped.“I’m not so sure you have a home to go back to, Sophie.Is that short for Sophia?”
You aresonot the first person to ask me that.“No, it’s just Sophie.What do you mean, you’re not so sure?”
“I smelled smoke.The more I think about it, I think theupirtorched your building.Are you really sure there’s no reason for them to be after you?Because it sure seems like they’ve got a grudge.”
Torched my building?“Look, I’ve never seen anything like this before.As far as I knew, werewolves and… and vampires were only in movies.Not even verygoodmovies.I don’t know what any of you want from me.I just want to be left alone.”
“To go back to starving to death?Look, you want to be a social worker?Great.We’ll pay your way through school.We’ll get you somewhere to stay, a nicer place than that little apartment.”The words sped up, tumbling over each other.“We’ll protect you against anyone, including your ex-husband.All you have to do is be our shaman.”
She stared at his wide back under navy cotton.He was so…big,but it wasn’t just his height or the muscle.It was the way he carried himself, with utter self-assurance.“What’s the catch?”
His hair had red highlights in its darkness, and skin moved smoothly over the muscle of his forearms as he stuck his thumbs in his pockets.“You just have to put up with us being a little… different.That’s all.Look, Sophie, it’s not just because you smell good.People like us, if we don’t have a shaman, we can go a little… crazy.”
Crazy enough to start kidnapping people off the streets?But she buttoned her lip over that one.It was what Lucy might have called Not Helpful.
Oh, but it hurt to think of Lucy.
“That’s why others of our kind, other Tribe, won’t even talk to us if we don’t have a shaman.We’re fugitives.Shamans help us stay controlled.Our last one… she died in a house fire, a long time ago.It was…” Now he sounded not quite so assured—in fact, like he had something in his throat.“We need some help, Sophie.We needyourhelp.”
She licked her lips, wished for a toothbrush and a decent cup of coffee.And maybe world peace, while she was at it.“What if I say no?”
“That’s not really an option.”He said it so quietly she knew he meant every word.“We can do it the easy way, or the hard way.I’ve got to make sure my Family survives.”
A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.“Survives?”
“Without a shaman, we’re vulnerable.You think Ilikedoing this?”
“You certainly don’t seem too broken up about it.”
He turned on his heel, his chin dropped, and he regarded her with glowing-dark eyes.Sophie hugged her knees and wished she hadn’t said it.He looked like Marc sometimes did when he was getting ready to yell, and she decided right now would be a really good time for her to start using some of that psych she was always studying.
Only, would it work on a werewolf?
Zach didn’t yell, though.He continued, slow and even and very flat, as if choosing each word very carefully.“I would have liked it better if we could have trailed you, and if I could have met you, let you think it was coincidence.Asked you out on a date or two.Gradually eased you into it.We’re not bad, Sophie.We’re just different.And weneedyou, you can’t imagine how much.I’m asking you to help us out, even though we haven’t been exactly saints or anything.”
“Why me?”I’m just ordinary.The rattle of copper-bottomed pans in her memory intensified.
“You’re the first shaman we’ve found, the first person with any potential we’veeverfound.We can’t wait around for another one—more of us will die.Probably Brenn, he’s fragile now.Or Julia, because she’s been allowed to grow like a weed and she’s too goddamn stubborn for her own good.Eric might hold out, but his animal… he might go over the edge any day.Imight.And if that happens the other Tribe’ll hunt us down and carve us like meat.”He shrugged.“Against that—against more of them dying—I really have no trouble forcing you to stay put and getting to know us.”
Well, nice to know he’s feeling no qualms.“So what if I believe you?”If that was the stick, she wondered what the carrot could be.Or vice versa.“What if I agree?What happens next?”
The tension running through him didn’t wane.He just stood there andlookedat her, thumbs in pockets, shoulders drawn up, the weak sunlight bringing out that hint of red in his hair.“You get cleaned up.We get you some fresh clothes and something to eat.And we try to figure out what theupirwant with you.”
Sounds like I don’t have much of a choice.Story of my life.“And you really don’t have any trouble forcing me to do things?”
“Look, all I want is for my Family to survive.You’re necessary for that.And I like you, Sophie.I like you a lot.”His tone dropped from friendly to something else, and Sophie swallowed dryly.
