Jeanne Stein - The Watcher

"Witch hunt? You know about that?"

He says it like he's surprised. "I take it everyone but me knew about it. Williams thinks I can't help. He thinks I'd be a liability. I can't believe he's forced me out here to stand on the sidelines while my friend is in danger."

"Maybe it's because your friend is in danger," Frey says quietly. "The witch has to be stopped at all costs. You are protective of those you love."

"You mean Culebra might have to be sacrificed for the greater good? That's bullshit and you know it. Williams thinks Culebra is a partner in what's about to happen. I know he's not." I start pacing. "I'm pretty sure the witch sent me a message. Right after I hit that damned wall. Said I couldn't help him and to go away."

As soon as I say that, something clicks in my brain. "Why would she try to scare me away from here!" I stop pacing and turn to look at Frey. "Where does Williams think this magical hell raising is going to happen?"

Frey looks unsure whether he should answer. I take a step toward him and glare. "You'd better tell me. I can do a lot of damage to that human body before you can make the change back to cat."

It's an empty threat and I'm sure Frey knows it, but it gives him the chance to respond without feeling as if he's betraying Williams. A threat from a vampire is a serious matter. "Arizona," he says. "We're pretty sure that Burke plans to raise the demon in Sedona where the power of the vortex will enhance her own magics." A pause. "But he may be wrong about that."

I shake a hand impatiently for him to go on.

"I did some prowling around in the desert last night. Came across what I thought was the usual Wiccan wannabes getting ready for their annual Halloween naked dance in the moonlight. Now I'm not so sure."

"Because?"

"Well, for one thing, to get to the place you have to travel underground. And there were guards. With guns. Williams has a lot of inside information, though, so he's probably right about Arizona." He lets his voice drop.

"But you're not sure?" I can't help but smile. Poor Williams. If Frey is right, he banished me to the one place I most need to be. Life's a bitch sometimes, isn't it?

Frey continues, frowning. "I think you should know that there is another reason Williams wants you here, out of the way."

Once again, he gets my full attention.

"Williams heard from that agent, Foley, yesterday morning. Martinez has Max."

My stomach lurches. "Williams told you that?"

Frey nods. "Foley also said that somehow, Martinez found out about you. Martinez is looking for you now. Foley wanted Williams to tell him where you'd gone so they could offer you protection. Then the story broke about El Centra. I think Williams wanted to be sure he got to you before Foley did. He doesn't trust him. He wanted to make sure you'd go somewhere safe."

And somewhere out of communication, obviously. I don't think I've ever been more angry with Williams. He kept the fact that Martinez has Max from me. Probably thought he was doing a good thing when I told him what I suspected about Foley tailing me. And I hadn't even filled him in on the other part—Max's conviction that Foley was now working with Martinez and my suspicion that it was Foley who shot Alan.

Shit. I need to talk to Williams now. But what to do about the witch? If she has Culebra… "If the witch is here, can we stop her?" I ask Frey. "You and I?"

He raises a shoulder. "It would be better if we had help."

"You mean Williams? Get him here?"

Frey nods. "Call him on your cell and …"

My cell is with Williams. The cell he gave me is stuck on a cactus somewhere in the middle of the desert. But I spy Culebra's phone on the counter and start toward it. When I lift the receiver, I get nothing. The phone's dead.

Frey reaches out a hand. "You do have your cell with you, right?"

From the look on my face, Frey divines the answer. "That's not good. This isn't something we should try on our own. The witch has some pretty serious mojo."

Serious mojo? This from an English teacher with a degree from Harvard?

Frey interprets that look, too. "All I'm saying is, we're going to need help. Maybe I can change back into panther mode and find Williams."

"Before midnight? And isn't he in Arizona?"

"I could make it to Balboa Park in a couple of hours. Someone there might be able to contact him. A chopper could get him here in an hour."

I glance at my watch. It's almost eight o'clock. Assuming Frey could do it, it's still cutting things too close. Could he get to a phone somewhere else in time? Where? And once he did, what would he do? Change back into human form and beg naked on the street for money to make the call?

"Damn it, Frey, what are we going to do? We can't let the witch open the gates to hell or whatever she has planned. And we certainly can't let her use Culebra to do it."

"So, you have another plan?"

"Not yet. But we made a pretty good team once before."

His brows draw together. "Against humans. This is different."

"Well, unless you come up with a better suggestion, we're going to have to try."

He crosses his arms and a tense, speculative expression settles on his face.

"What?" I ask.

"I'll help you. But, Anna, there's something else I should tell you. Now. Before we start out."

I can't imagine what else there could be. My own expression must reflect my impatience because his eyes slide away and focus somewhere over my shoulder.

Then he says, "We can't have sex when it's over."

I can't have heard him correctly. With all that's going on, this is what he has to tell me? I just stare at him, speechless.

Color floods his face. "I have a girlfriend now. She'd kill me."

I step close to him. "Are you kidding me? The witch will probably kill us."

"Well, just the same. I remember the last time. I took care of you when you needed it. I can't do that again."

He's talking about what happened when we went after the men who hurt my niece. He offered himself, with sex and blood, and I took both. I had no choice. I pass a hand over my face and look into his dark eyes. "I promise to control myself, okay?"

Frey uncrosses his arms. "Are you sure you can?"

There's an uncomfortable minute while we both stare at each other. No, I'm not sure I can. But I will. I nod.

He accepts it and moves behind the bar. I hear the zipper again. He's taking off the jeans, presumably to shapeshift into animal form. And he's doing it behind the bar.

"I've seen you naked, Frey. I promised to control myself, didn't I?"

I get only a growl in response.

FREY'S OTHER FORM IS PANTHER. WHEN HE SLINKS out from behind the bar, I marvel again at the strange creatures I've come in contact with since becoming vampire. Creatures I thought existed only in the pages of novels or on the big screen. Some are beautiful and inspire awe, like this sleek, man-sized cat full of grace and primitive power. Others, like Avery and Simon Fisher, were vampires who inspired fear and dread.

I'm still not sure where I fit in the continuum.

Frey approaches, alert, watchful. His eyes hold a spark of humanity though I know from seeing him in action that the cat is in full control. He looks at me, then moves to the door. I follow him outside.

I realize once we set off down the road that I should have asked him where we were going. But it's no problem for me to keep up. He trots ahead, muscles bunching and releasing under a pelt of dark fur. I follow, my own senses probing the night.

There's no moon. The sky is huge and black and filled with a million stars never seen in a city sky. I spy diamonds moving swiftly overhead, airplanes, and the slower moving pinpoints of light are satellites traveling around the earth in their solitary orbits.