“Yes, it will. I will have to re-activate it at every full moon, with a fresh human virgin. That won’t be a problem. Killing is surprisingly easy after the first time.”
“It doesn’t work perfectly. These people here are still fighting you. If anyone saw them out in public, they’d know something was wrong.”
“It takes time. The longer I have people under my control, the weaker their minds become. I’m still experimenting, learning my way around these icons. But the day will come when I control all of the shifter leaders in the nation. And now…it’s your turn.”
He pointed the stone icon at Ginger and said the words again. She froze in place.
“Let go of her,” he said to Richard. Richard released her arm.
He pointed at the table. “Go sit down,” he told her. She walked over to the table and sat down, staring at Tallulah’s body. The smell of blood was overwhelming, threatening to choke her.
How long had it taken Tallulah to die? She wondered, blinking back tears. What had her final thoughts been?
He walked up behind her, and ran his fingers through her hair.
“I’m going to make you watch while I fuck your fated mate,” he told Loch. “She’s going to suck me dry. She’s going to howl like a dog for me. Then I think I’ll have her fuck every panther shifter under my control, all at the same time. We’ll have a big, delightful orgy. I might even make you join in.”
Ginger felt fear and nausea swirling inside her. She was so terrified that she was light-headed, her heart pounding in her chest. She could feel her lunch roiling in her stomach and struggled not to vomit on the table in front of her.
Loch quivered, but couldn’t move.
“Isn’t this fun, Ginger?” Professor Reese grinned, bent down, and ran his tongue up her neck. She sat frozen in place.
The professor turned and started to walk away.
Ginger’s hand shot out. She grabbed the bloodstained knife that lay next to Tallulah’s body, and leaped through the air, knocking the professor to the ground. He hit the floor with a surprised oof.
Big girl power, she thought.
Before he could move or bark a command to his enslaved thralls, she’d slashed the leather cord holding the stone icons, and yanked it from his neck. The icons scattered and bounced on the wooden floor.
“What? How?” His eyes were wild with fright and shock.
Her fangs sprang out, and her eyes blazed with rage. “I’m only half shifter,” she snarled. “So the spell didn’t work on me. Stay down, or I’ll kill you.”
Something black appeared in her peripheral vision, and the next thing she knew, two huge panthers who had been Jason and Richard knocked her away and sent her rolling on the ground. And then Loch and Jax joined them, in wolf form, huge and gray and howling with fury.
She heard roars, and claws rending flesh, and horrible, horrible screams that grew higher and higher in pitch. She covered her face with her hands; there was nothing that she could do to stop the enraged shifters.
The screaming turned to wet gurgling.
She felt strong hands on her. Loch was in human form again, kneeling next to her.
Loch pulled her to feet and she collapsed into his arms, weeping, her knees trembling so hard she could barely stand.
Chapter Sixteen
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Loch asked for the millionth time.
“Fine. I’m fine.” Ginger’s voice was steady but her hands were still shaking.
She was sitting in the sheriff’s office with Winifred, Loch, Lola and Marigold crowded around her. Lola had bought her an ice pack which she pressed against her temples; she had a throbbing headache from the whole ordeal.
“I just heard from Marcus Running Horse, who was the Panther Nation’s second in command. He’s temporary leader while they convene and figure out what to do next,” Loch said. “This is unprecedented.”
“What about the icons?”
“They’re going to modernize their security. Build a massive vault to store the icons in.”
“What about Tommy Deerkiller?”
“He’s still going to be prosecuted for dealing in stolen property. He’ll likely get a few years in prison. Obviously he didn’t kill anyone. It appears that the professor, disguised as Montgomery is the one who framed him, put the bloody clothes in his house and called us from a disposable phone to tip us off.”
Ginger nodded, wearily. “I still can’t believe Tallulah’s dead. That poor, silly, na?ve girl. Have you notified her parents?”
“Yes.” Loch’s face was resigned and sad. “The part of my job that I hate the most. They’re flying in to claim the body.”
“At least this hideous ordeal is over with,” Marigold said.
“Most of it. We’ve still got the Wolf Shifter Council gunning for us,” Ginger pointed out.
“No, you don’t. You didn’t stick around at the barbecue to see what happened,” Willie said. “I told Aurora that I’m planning on making an immediate challenge for her council seat. You should have seen her face. She went white as a sheet.”