Chapter 2
two
“Now, all of you behave.” Kyle’s eyes glittered, catching the glow of a random streetlamp. “This is for food and supplies. We can’t afford another incident.”
“Awww.” Julia rubbed at her forehead, long dark hair falling over her shoulders. The pale streak at her temple glowed dully, just beginning to grow in. “Can’t we have just a little fun?”
Fun is one thing. Almost eviscerating a man because he’s patted your ass is another. “Kyle says to behave.” Zach glanced back from the blue minivan’s front passenger seat. “That means behave.” His tone was soft, but the front windows rattled slightly, catching a hint of growl.
“Sure.” Julia ducked her head to the side. So did Brenn, mimicking the submissive posture. “You got it, big brother. Behave.” She made a low, soft noise, the I’ll-be-good-please-don’t-rip-my-throat-out sound.
Zach’s nostrils flared. She was overacting just enough to be sarcastic, and her pheromone wash was spiked with thinly veiled aggression.
“We can have fun just fine without blood,” Kyle repeated, chapter and verse. His dark hair stood up in soft spikes, the stripe iron-grey in the dimness. “We’re Carcajou. Eric?”
“No blood.” Eric, from the backseat, leather jacket creaking. “Brenn?”
“No blood,” Brenn confirmed, his light tenor almost piping, still not fully broken. “We’re not savages.”
“Good.” Kyle slipped the key from the ignition. “Everyone’s dressed?”
“Quit fussing.” Julia tossed her head, impatiently. “Let’s just go. I’m hungry.” Whining already. Brenn rubbed at her nape; she shoved her twin’s hand irritably away.
It’s not her fault, Zach told himself for the fifth time that evening.
She was young, barely past her first Change, and a spoiled brat to boot.
Kyle pretty much allowed her to run wild because she was the only female in the Family.
It was his call, sure… but she was getting harder and harder to corral.
You’re not the alpha, either. It’s not your job. Zach settled himself, one boot on the dashboard, and waited. He wouldn’t move until their leader did did.
Ky stared out the windshield, glass fogging up already with five healthy young animals breathing inside.
Little brother was wearing his scruffy face today, a shadow of stubble across high-planed cheeks, the circles under his coal-dark eyes attractive instead of worn.
Women liked him with a little bit of rough on; otherwise, Ky was too pretty.
Better to be tough than cute, Zach repeated, his own particular well-worn catechism. He studied his toes, ran over the situation again inside his head. They needed cash, plus the kids needed to bleed off some energy. Dangerous, especially with the young ones in such a state.
He’d almost talked Kyle into letting him and Eric do it alone, since they had the quickest fingers and the best control of their tempers.
But Kyle didn’t want to be left home to babysit, and he especially didn’t want them separated if Julia had another one of her fits.
It took a lot to contain her sometimes, and Zach was best at it.
Though sometimes he wished Kyle wouldn’t always take the easiest way out.
Thoughts like that were dangerous. They were the nipping, grinding little ideas of someone who was about to make a challenge, and Zach had set his mind long ago. No stepping to Kyle, that was the rule.
Had been the rule ever since the night of the fire, when Zach held his little brother back from plunging into the flames.
“All right,” Kyle finally said.
They got moving.
An autumn night full of rattling naked branches and the cinnamon-spicy aroma of dry leaves.
Thumping bass was clearly audible, running under the concrete like a pulse in the throat of sweating prey; Zach breathed deep, rolling cold dry air over his tongue.
There was danger on the wind tonight, and it wasn’t just the specter of starvation haunting their little Family.
The beast at the floor of his mind stirred restlessly. Instinct blossomed into certainty. Something’s gonna happen.
“I don’t like this,” he murmured. Kyle paused as the others preceded—slim dark Julia, Brenn trailing in her wake as usual, Eric hunching his shoulders and glancing warily from side to side. “It smells odd.”
Kyle agreed silently, his chin dipping in a facsimile of a nod. “Wish we had a shaman.”
You and me both. We could settle down. And Zach wouldn’t be half so tempted to do something drastic.
But resisting temptation was getting to be his middle name. “I’ll keep an eye on Julia.” I’m such a diplomat.
The animal part of him raised its head, interested in a thread of scent. Brunette, young, tantalizing in its evanescence. Hmm. Wonder who that is. Smells interesting.
“Good. We can blow town if we get enough tonight.” Kyle glanced up at his eldest sibling, as if Zach was the alpha. “South, I’m thinking.”
Nice and warm. Easy pickings, too, if we just stay under the radar. “Sounds like a good idea,” Zach allowed. Except we’re traveling blind, without a shaman. Nobody to throw the bones, and Julia’s unstable. She should marry into another Tribe, if we can find a male strong enough.
But good luck finding a mate for her. Good luck finding anything at all, really. None of the other Tribes would so much as give them the time of day without a shaman of their own. Not even the Tanuki would talk to them, and those were some of the most gregarious around.
He sighed, a cloud of breath hanging in cold air, and Kyle gave him another one of those odd sidelong glances. Quit looking at me that way. You’re the alpha, I’m the second—that’s the way it’s going to stay. God, I wish Dad was here.
“You’ve got the quickest fingers,” Kyle finally said. An order, or a peace offering? Not that it mattered. “You take point tonight.”
Zach nodded, shelving all but the most immediate considerations. “By this time tomorrow we’ll be driving toward orange groves and white-sand beaches.”
And still running one step ahead of disaster.
He pushed the thought away, rubbed his fingertips together, and braced himself for the night’s work.