Harlequin Nocturne March 2016 Box Set Read online

  “Oh, yeah? On what evidence, you...you jackass?”

  He ignored the gibe. “Ever since we met, the shadows have grown more powerful, Nalusa has infiltrated our ranks, and the inner circle has crumbled. No one trusts anyone else.”

  A cold fury tingled along Annie’s spine. “I’m not in league with anybody. And neither is your sister.”

  “I want to believe you.”

  The anguish in his eyes softened her temper. “I understand that you have to suspect the worst of most people. But I thought we had something special.”

  He drew her to him, resting his chin on the top of her head. “We do.”

  The warm, husky voice made her tingle inside, and her thighs tightened. This part, the physical attraction, was so easy between them. If only everything else could be.

  “Come back to the cabin with me,” he urged, pressing his need against her core.

  Annie’s breath caught. She wanted to so much. To bury her heartache and disappointment in his kisses, to feel him inside her, pulsing, their bodies electric with desire. It took all her strength to step out of the warmth and safety of his arms.

  “No.”

  “Why not? It’s so damn good between us, Annie.”

  “In bed. But I want more than that. If you can’t love me, I at least want your trust. One hundred percent.”

  “I’m working on it. Isn’t that good enough for now?”

  No. She’d tried to make Evan love and respect her, but it only ended with her doing all the giving. She wanted Tombi, but only if he could love her as she was. Nothing less would do.

  “Don’t hurt me any more than you already have. The longer we’re together, the more I need to know you love and trust me. I’m done with one-sided relationships.”

  He gave a reluctant nod. “Best we end it now. There’s nothing more I can teach you about blocking sound anyway.” He started to the door and then stopped. “You’ll let me know if your hawk brings you the flute, won’t you? The full moon is in two weeks. We’ll need it.”

  “I’ll do my best to get it back,” she promised. “I’ll still help you any way I can. That hasn’t changed.”

  He opened the door and stared into the night. “Will you be safe?”

  “I managed twenty-seven years without your protection,” Annie pointed out. “And at least for tonight, Tallulah’s staying over.”

  “If you need me, call me.”

  Annie followed Tombi and shut the door behind him. She leaned her back against it and closed her eyes. It would be so easy to stop him, to go back to his cabin and enjoy his lovemaking. No, she’d done the right thing. Too much had been either said or left unsaid between them.

  The rattle of his truck engine faded.

  He was gone.

  Annie took a shuddering breath. If Tombi knew what she’d planned for the evening, he would have never left. Quickly, before she lost courage, Annie went to the altar and picked up the mojo bag she’d infused with power. She tied it to a belt loop on her jeans and blew out the candle. On the way out, she grabbed a flashlight from the bookshelf near the entryway.

  The black night was sticky with humid moisture as she gently shut the door, not wanting to wake her guest. But if Tallulah hadn’t awoken when Tombi came over, she wasn’t going to get up now.

  Good. Best to proceed on this task on her own. Bo had never come to her while she and Tombi sought him together. She suspected his strength to communicate while trapped in a wisp was a difficult feat, easier attempted when he only had to concentrate on one human gifted to hear his voice.

  With each step to the woods, Annie relaxed her mind and opened her hearing. The buzz of mosquitoes and the guttural music of bullfrogs were an instant, familiar backdrop. Amazing how the weeks training with Tombi had allowed her to adjust her supernatural hearing at will.

  The elliptical beam of the flashlight guided her steps. Between its light and her night walk training with Tombi, her steps were quick, and the dark didn’t impede her as much as before.

  The smell and taste of salt tickled her nose and the back of her throat. Strange how often taste was enhanced by a stronger sense of smell. She didn’t just absorb scent through her olfactory glands without it also arousing her taste buds.

  Darkness descended further as she entered the woods. Annie stopped and leaned against the rough bark of a pine tree, switching off the flashlight. How far would she have to go in? She fingered the smooth flannel of her mojo bag.

  The slightest snap of a twig and her breath seized. Was she being followed? She hardly dared breathe, straining to see or hear anything else in the silence of the swamp. Must have been a porcupine or squirrel. She shook off the fear and inhaled deeply.

  “I’m here, Bo. Come to me,” she whispered.

  A faint blue-green light skittered from afar.

  “Closer, Bo. It’s okay, I’m alone.”

  The orb streaked through the forest, leaving a comet tail of sparkles that illuminated the twisting tree branches above and tangled vines and saw palmettos beneath. It stopped and hovered several feet away, its inner heart pulsing, breathing color.

  It worked. She gripped the mojo bag, crushing the herbs and releasing more of the scent, bolstering her confidence. The glowing light twisted its shape, the upper half bending and pointing westward. Figured he would want to go back to the Choctaw sacred grounds where they’d first met.

  “I’ll follow you.”

  The wisp’s glow made the flashlight unnecessary. A blue-and-green haze coated the air, painting teal brushstrokes everywhere. It felt like entering a strange, beautiful fairyland. She trudged along until the path grew less firm beneath her feet and became sludgy, the salt smell grew more pungent and her mouth puckered, briny as a pickle.

  The light stood still.

  “You came back,” Bo said, his voice faint but clear. He sounded weaker than their previous encounter.

  “Yes. Tombi wants to free you. But first we need—”

  “Such a good friend,” Bo said mournfully. “And Tallulah, my love, is nearby. She’s followed you.”

  Aha. So that was what she’d heard earlier. “I thought I heard something. She’s desperate to talk with you.”

  “No. It would only make her healing that much harder. I’m dead to her forever, and she must move on with her life.”

  “I’ll give her your message. Knowing you care might help.” Annie hesitated to bring up the purpose of her visit, but she sensed their time together was brief. “Please, can you tell me the name of the person who’s been telling Nalusa the hunter’s plans and secrets? If we don’t find him soon, Tombi fears that they have no chance of winning. That, with the next full moon, Nalusa and his shadows will make a bold move to eliminate all of them.”

  “Tombi’s right. Na haksichi is—”

  “Bo!” Tallulah burst through from the path, long black hair streaming behind her, silver-streaked with moonlight. Her eyes were wild with a combination of grief and hope. “Is it really you?” She cast wild eyes on Annie. “What is he saying?”

  The teal heart flame within the smoky wisp heated to an incandescent red that roared and cackled like an erupting forest fire. Annie took a step back from the wall of heat that singed her clothes and hair.

  Tallulah dropped to her knees and held her hands out, imploring. “Take me with you, Bo. I only want to be with you.”

  Annie’s own heart broke at seeing the proud woman so humbled and vulnerable. The woman warrior’s loss was so intense, and seeing Bo trapped as a spirit had to be devastating.

  “No!” Bo’s voice rang out so loud it vibrated the earth beneath Annie’s feet.

  “It is you,” Tallulah whispered in awe. “Even I heard you just now.”

  Annie knelt in front of Tallulah. “I need to talk to Bo. We have to find out