Wolf Tales 11 Read Online Free Page B

wound that must have come from either a knife or a bullet.
    Bullet?
That’s what it was. She knew this, but when? How?
    Tia closed her eyes, drifting in and out of consciousness, catching herself in memories. Walking along the open pavilions of the mall, too early, arriving before most of the stores opened for business. A few other people wandering about—not too many, considering how close they were to Christmas.
    Still, the stores were quiet, the weather was cold and clear—a good day for two very pregnant ladies to shop, for one harried mother of twins to enjoy getting away.
    Tia pictured the metal gates guarding the doorways into stores that hadn’t opened yet, turning the chic little shops into prison cells. That’s what they’d looked like.
    Prison cells.
    She pushed herself, searching for those missing moments. Lisa and Tala behind her, laughing. People beginning to fill the area, the sound of laughter, of voices.
    Voices.
Men’s voices. Low, threatening. Lisa’s terrified mental shout, a silent warning that spun Tia around. She remembered now. They wore dark suits, neatly trimmed hair. Two had their arms around Lisa and Tala. Tia recalled the flash of hypodermic needles, the glazed looks on the girls’ faces. A thick arm latched on, catching Tia around her waist. She’d struggled, even after the sting of a needle in her neck, she’d fought him.
    His hand covering her mouth. Biting down, hard. The deadly
thump
of a silenced handgun, searing pain.
    Then nothing.
Okay.
She’d been drugged and shot. Left unconscious, but for how long? Where? Why?
    Lisa? Tala? Where are you?
    Nothing.
No sense of either of them. Head pounding, her side hurting like hell, she struggled to her feet, slapped her palms against the walls to keep from falling over. Gathered what strength she could, ignored the threat of that blinding pain through her skull, and sent out a mental shout.
    If she was still in the mall in Corte Madera, and Luc was miles away in San Francisco, he might not hear her.
    She called him anyway. Her purse was missing. Her cell phone. She felt something warm and sticky running along her thigh. Her wound was bleeding again. Black spots danced in front of her eyes and she knew, without any doubt, she was losing consciousness once more.
    Luc! Luc, help me! Please help me.
    There was nothing. No response. No loving voice in her mind. Her legs quivered and refused to hold her weight.
Luc? I love you, Luc. Can’t you hear me? Cami? Shay? Mommy loves you. Mommy will always love you.
    She was sliding … slipping down smooth metal, caged in by the small bathroom stall, falling into a pool of blood on the tile floor.
So much blood …
    Slipping away from the light, away from consciousness.
    Away from Luc. Darkness descended. Called to her, and pulled Tia into its welcoming arms, even as Luc’s shout echoed distantly in her pounding skull.
    Tia? Where are you? Tia!
    “Luc? Are you okay?” Mik grabbed his arm as Luc collapsed into the big chair behind his desk.
    “Tia. I heard her voice. Faint … far away. She’s hurting. I felt pain. Sensed an injury, smelled blood. Hers? Someone else? I don’t know for sure, but there’s blood and some kind of weird perfume.” He shook his head. “I can’t identify it, but it’s really familiar. Damn. Tia.”
    “Share it.” AJ filled his vision, looming over him. “Share the smell, the perfume. Maybe one of us will recognize it.”
    Luc opened his mind, remembering, pulling up the cloying scent until the smell seemed to fill his office. Perfume and blood. It made him want to retch.
    Tia’s blood.
    “I know what that is.” Tinker stared toward the window, frowning. “It’s that gross perfume they use in public restrooms. Sort of a combination disinfectant, hide the stink smell.”
    “You’re right.” Luc concentrated again. Nothing. “I think she was somewhere north of us, but …”
    “That makes sense.” Mik glanced at AJ. “Didn’t Tala say something about