A sharp nod was all he managed. At the moment his voice would terrify her.
“I had to warn you,” she whispered, still holding the sheet to her. “I just wanted to see the night for a moment first.” She glanced toward the balcony doors, the haunting sadness that was so much a part of her doing little to ease the instinctive need to force her back into hiding.
When he didn’t speak, she gave a small sigh before meeting his gaze warily. “Breeds can smell a lie. I wouldn’t lie to you. I’ll just be here for a few moments. Is that really so bad? I just wanted to see the night before warning you . . .” She frowned, obviously fighting to choose her words.
“What’s Cat up to?” He knew his Cat, and he had sensed her secrets. He was willing to wait, to gain her trust, but he had to do whatever it took to satisfy the young woman who had protected Cat for more than a decade. If she didn’t leave quickly they would both regret it.
“If I betray her, then I’ll be like everyone else, in her eyes,” she said softly. “I can’t tell you her secrets, but she’s taught me there are other ways to say what must be said.”
“Say it, child.” He forced back the guttural tone filled with rage long enough to warn her that she didn’t have much time.
“The past isn’t over,” she whispered quickly. “There are threads that she’s sought. The danger isn’t to her, it’s to the fragile remnants of trust that allowed that bond she had with you to remain. But these secrets could destroy it. Beware of flight. If she takes wing, then you may well lose her forever.” With that she stepped back to the bed and, unwrapping the sheet, lay back and stared up at him with such regret that guilt seared him to his soul. “I just wanted to see the night again. I’ve missed it so . . .”
Her eyes closed and as quickly as the spirit had shown herself, she was gone once more. The scent of his Cat filled the room, the mating bond, the mark he’d left on her, once again filling the room.
Graeme couldn’t take his gaze off her.
There had been no warning that Claire would make an appearance. No warning that the spirit that had slept within Cat would awaken.
The eeriness of the presence threatened the sanity he’d found with his Cat, and the knowledge that Claire still existed within her was unsettling.
The ritual performed by the Six Chiefs of the Navajo over a decade before, to hide Cat from the Council forces determined to recapture her, had been designed to place Cat’s spirit in a sleeping state while the spirit of Claire faced the world in Cat’s body.
It had changed even Cat’s genetic makeup during the time Claire had been “awake.” Graeme knew Claire had slept more often than she’d been awake, though, and Cat had faced the petty cruelties and hatred she found in the Martinez household.
Once the need for that protection was over, Claire should have found that path to her eternal sleep or to whatever came after death.
There were times Graeme wasn’t certain what to believe about the afterlife part, but he knew now that Claire hadn’t found it.
Fuck.
This wasn’t tolerable. He wouldn’t allow it to continue. Cat had lost enough of her life. She deserved to face life without the danger of another awakening inside her and taking her place.
He deserved more than to have her taken from him so easily in such a way. When he’d faced Claire, nothing but the most subtle scent of Cat remained. So subtle that identifying her would have been impossible if he weren’t her mate, though even the mating no longer existed when this woman faced the world.
A silent snarl curled at his lips.
She was his. He’d died for her more than once. He’d lived for her. He’d lost his sanity for her. He’d be damned if he’d allow anyone to take her from him now.
Not the Genetics Council, not Jonas Wyatt, and not that poor, sad little creature that had wanted to see the night so desperately.
Claire deserved her rest if she deserved nothing else in this world.
But even more, he and Cat deserved to face life without the knowledge that when Cat slept, the other spirit could awaken so easily without Cat’s knowledge.
It was time to break the fragile truce he had with a certain chief and bring this to an end.
? CHAPTER 16 ?
The next night, Graeme moved carefully to the location where he knew the chief would be awaiting him. Even at a young age Graeme had inspired fear. He hadn’t always understood it, though he often appreciated the ability. One man who had never looked at him with fear or even trepidation was Orrin Martinez, the highest of the Six Chiefs of the Navajo, the spirit men of the tribes of the Nation.
And he’d never managed to surprise Orrin either. Even at that first visit so many years ago, he’d found the Navajo chief waiting for him in the same place he was waiting for him now.