Harlequin Nocturne March 2016 Box Set Read online

  “I have to go.” He faced her at last. “I can’t make you stay. As you’ve said, this isn’t your fight.”

  How could she rest tonight leaving Tombi with such sadness? And Grandma Tia had fought hard to communicate with her at the hospital—to tell her that Tombi needed her. “Since you put it that way...I’ll hang around.”

  His shoulders relaxed, as if a weight had rolled off. “Thank you. I guarantee to not leave your side this time.”

  “Go ahead and see your friends,” she said.

  “My tent is yours. Go take a nap until night falls.”

  “More orders?”

  A smile broke across the grave landscape of his face. “Just a suggestion. Up to you.”

  Annie watched as he left her side, her heart lightened that she’d made the right decision in staying. And he was right. A nap would help keep her strengthened for the night ahead. She turned to walk to his tent and then froze.

  Tallulah slipped out of Hanan’s tent flap, as silent and fluid as a cat with her long, thin body. She stood and ran a hand through her tangled, mussed hair.

  Her face was relaxed and peaceful in a way Annie had never seen. It transformed her stark, aggressive features into something lovely. Tallulah’s gaze swept the area, then zeroed in on Annie. Her dark eyes tightened to suspicious slits.

  She wasn’t up for this. Not after seeing her grandma in a coma, not after the fight with Tombi. And not in a sleep-deprived fog. Annie went to Tombi’s tent.

  “Hey. Where are you going?”

  Annie ignored Tallulah’s strident demand. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared; their eyes burned into her skin. She walked quickly, but lifted her chin and didn’t glance right or left. Straight ahead lay safety. A few more feet and she could enter Tombi’s tent and zip out the rest of the world a few hours.

  Hot breath brushed the fine hairs at the nape of her neck. “Nobody wants you here. You don’t belong.”

  Annie’s skin prickled at the hostility, and her lips trembled. Stupid to let Tallulah’s anger cut her to the quick. She pressed her mouth into a thin line. She wouldn’t cry in front of everyone watching. Three more steps and she would be rid of the woman. Quickly, she reached the tent flap and knelt to enter.

  Tallulah dropped to her knees alongside her. “What does my brother see in you?” she continued in that same dark whisper. “You’re a coward. A lying coward.”

  Annie’s hands fumbled at the zipper, and she tugged at it, eyes burning with tears.

  I will not cry in front of them. Yes, it was true. She’d rather curl up in a little ball all alone than face Tombi’s pit viper of a twin. Metal grated on metal, and nirvana opened. Annie ducked inside and battened down the hatch, allowing the salty tears to spill from her eyes.

  Low-pitched laughter rang out inches away from the thin canvas lining. “Coward,” Tallulah seethed again.

  “Tallulah!” Tombi’s commanding voice cut through the air.

  How much had he heard? Despite the smothering heat, Annie curled up in the corner and pulled a sheet over herself, a turtle retreating into its shell. Shame smothered her as thick as the Alabama humidity. You don’t belong. The words ricocheted in her brain, fast and deadly. She never belonged, and she never would. Even with a band of supernatural shadow hunters, she was branded as a misfit.

  Hysterical laughter bubbled up, and she covered her mouth with the sheet to keep anyone from overhearing.

  The sound of a zipper unfastening had her hastily rolling onto her side, back to the entrance. She didn’t want Tombi to see her like this. Couldn’t bear to see either pity or disgust on his stoic face.

  “Annie?” he called out softly. “You okay?”

  She feigned sleep, keeping her breathing deep and rhythmic. The air crackled with his scent, with his strong, commanding aura. Her heart pounded in time to the drumming that was his unique music.

  A heavy warmth brushed against the back of her scalp as Tombi’s fingers stroked her hair. The tenderness almost undid her. She’d experienced passion before, but gentle gestures like this were foreign territory. Annie relaxed and stilled under his touch.

  Tombi left in his quick, silent way, and she rolled onto her back. The smell of bacon and biscuits permeated the air. People shuffled around the campfire, speaking in low murmurs.

  She longed to be a part of community like this. Mom and her string of stepfathers and stepsiblings merely tolerated her, and no one wanted to be friends with Crazy Annie.

  Enough of the self-pity. Tallulah had hit a soft spot, and she’d overreacted. With any luck, no one had seen her tears. Her cheeks burned that everyone had witnessed her hasty scamper to Tombi’s tent. Bet none of them had ever disgraced themselves by running away. The warrior spirit in them probably never backed away from a confrontation. Annie sighed and closed her eyes, imagining herself as one of them, eating and laughing together instead of lying in the hot, stifling tent alone.

  She indulged in a familiar fantasy. She’d find a way to get rid of her supernatural hearing and go about her life doing all the ordinary things others took for granted. A job, a family, or even simple things like shopping at the mall or going to a concert. Maybe she’d even go back to school and get a college degree.

  A smile tugged her lips, and she curled up, sleepy at last.

  * * *

  “Annie? Wake up. Time to eat.”

  She bolted to a seated position and inhaled sharply at the intimacy of Tombi’s nearness. Memories of their previous kiss in the tent made her skin heat and her body yearn for more of the same.

  Tombi retreated, even as his breath grew raspy and his eyes darkened. “A quick bite and we need to get a move on.”

  He was in full warrior mode, ready to hunt once more. Damn her traitorous body. She needed to remind herself that his focus was on defeating the shadows, and she was merely a tool in helping him win the battle.

  Annie clambered out of the tent and followed him to the center of the campsite. The fire was long gone, but white-hot firewood gave off heat. Tombi piled an aluminum pie plate with several bacon slices and a couple of biscuits and handed it to her.

  The smell set her mouth salivating, and she dug in. She hadn’t eaten since the crackers at the hospital. Tombi silently poured her a glass of sweet tea, and she washed down the food with the sugared brew. Perfect. Food always tasted better when eaten outdoors. Either that, or she was really hungry.

  Tombi sat across from her and leaned forward; his skin shone like bronze in the night. “Let’s do something different tonight. Something a little safer.”

  Safer sounded great. “What?” she asked, setting aside her plate.

  “We’re going back to the spot where I first met you. Where Bo appeared and spoke.”

  She sighed.

  “Thought you would like that.”

  “I feel like I’m damned no matter what happens tonight. Either you’ll be disappointed he doesn’t appear, or he’ll talk and you might not like what he has to say.” She couldn’t help the bitterness that crept in her voice. “Like today.”

  “I don’t discount what you heard. You just caught me by surprise. I didn’t consider the possibility of you picking up on dreams.” He stood, signaling the discussion was over.

  She stood as well, determined to hold her ground. “I know Hanan’s your friend. But you never know what’s hidden in others’ hearts.” Like your sister. But she would keep her lips locked on that possible deception. If Tombi couldn’t entertain the idea of a friend as betrayer, how would he react over a sister? A twin at that. Two hearts that once beat within the same mother.

  From this point on, she would filter whatever messages the music or spirits revealed. Tombi and his people might have supernatural gifts, but they were no more accepting than anyone else in the non-gifted world.

&nbs