Suck It by Linsey Hall
9
Drakon
The rodeo was everything that I disliked about life amongst others. Crowded, loud, and full of idiots. I didn’t dislike shifters in particular, but I did dislike large groups of any kind.
While I put the finishing touches on the sorcerer’s binding, Mac went out to call her friends and give them an update. Once I was done covering his unconscious body with loose bags of animal feed, I joined her.
The setting sun gleamed on her brilliant gold hair and the long expanses of skin revealed by her tiny cowgirl attire. Heat shot straight through me, an unfamiliar sensation.
I’d never felt this way about anyone before—so impossibly drawn to them that I couldn’t stop the desire that overtook me. The most I could do was shove it to the back of my mind where it waited to jump out at me every time she moved into my line of vision.
Fates, I was losing it.
She turned to face me. “Done?”
I nodded.
“Good. My friends are going to start looking for the cannisters. They’ll keep an eye out for any disturbances in the air that indicate a protective shield. Maybe they’ll get lucky and grab someone who knows where they’re hidden.”
I nodded. “Good. Let’s go look for them.”
“Okay. It’s one concrete thing we can do to help.”
We set off back into the crowd. Fortunately, there would be a little bit of time before the cannisters went off. Full dark hadn’t fallen yet, and there was at least an hour before the ceremony.
Shouts and cheers sounded around us as we neared the arena. The riding area and bleachers had been built up in front of two massive barns, incorporating them into the animal holding areas.
Several shifters looked at Mac, interest gleaming in their eyes. I shot them one hard look and moved to block her from their sight. Quickly, they averted their gazes.
The scents of animals grew stronger as we neared the pens. Steel bars separated us from the bulls, horses, and sheep that weren’t in the barns. As I passed them, the animals moved to the side of their stalls, sensing the predator in their midst. They had no need to worry. I’d never stoop to drinking from an animal.
Cheers grew louder as we cut through the crowd toward the area where the riders congregated. Though much of the magic around Madame Alette’s costumes had worn off, most of the shifters didn’t pay us much attention. We walked as if we belonged, and our signatures fit right in with the rest.
Finally, we reached the entrance to the competitors’ waiting area. A hulking shifter stood in front of it, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
I stopped in front of him, waiting for him to move so that I could pass. Mac’s gaze burned into me.
“You’re not a rider.” He glowered.
“Yes, I am.” I imbued my voice with all the compulsion I could, and his eyes fogged over. “Let us pass.”
He nodded docilely, and I smiled. Life was so much easier when people didn’t protect themselves from vampire compulsion the way Ludovic’s secret society members had.
Mac and I entered the dusty space that was filled with riders of various shapes and sizes. They lounged on benches and leaned against steel bars, chewing tobacco and talking as they waited their turns. The space was far larger than I’d anticipated, filled with various seating areas and small rooms built into the side of one of the barns. A dark corridor led deeper into the large, red wooden structure, but it looked quiet back there.
“Shit, there are a ton of places to hide a cannister in here,” Mac whispered.
I scanned the area, looking for any kind of clue. When my gaze snagged on a hazy patch in the air, I smiled. The shadow looked just like the one back by the rubbish bins. I nodded toward it. “Looks like we’re in luck.”
“Hot damn.” She grinned. “We just need to find an unnoticeable way to snag him. Or her.”
“There’s an office over there. Door is shut, but it looks like the lights inside are off.”
“Perfect. Let’s intercept him.”
I nodded, and we started toward the hazy, shadowy spot in the air. It moved toward the darkened hallway through the barn, and we darted around to intercept it. A group of riders blocked the hidden figure’s way, buying us time to slip into the darkened corridor that led through the barn.
Once inside the shadowy, dusty interior, I glanced back to confirm that they hadn’t been able to see us enter. The group of cowboys still stood in between us and our target, providing cover. Mac and I sequestered ourselves in the shadows at the side of the corridor as the figure entered.
“Come here.” Mac pulled me until I stood in front of her, trapping her against the wooden wall. “We need a reason to be lurking here. Look like you want to kiss me.”
I did want to kiss her.
The heat gripped me tight, but I ignored it as I propped an arm on the wooden wall over her head and breathed in her scent. “You’re using this as a way to blend in quite often, you know.”
My voice was rougher than I expected it to be, and she just shrugged. “It works.”
“But it’s dangerous.”
Fear flickered in her eyes, followed by a little bit of heat. Awareness hit me.
She liked the fear. Perhaps not a lot, and I wouldn’t go out of my way to frighten her, but Mac was brave. Bold. She liked a challenge, and that’s what this was for her. That’s what I was.
I was happy to play the role.
Just not now.
Now, we needed to focus on the goal.
Carefully, I stole a glance over my shoulder, looking for our target.
They were still nearly impossible to see, particularly in the dark, but they’d entered the hallway. Without my vampiric enhanced vision, I might not have been able to see them at all.
Fortunately, a narrow beam of light shined from a lamp hanging in the ceiling, illuminating the slightly shadowy splotch on the air that moved toward us at a steady pace. The person within the protective barrier clearly had no idea that we could almost see them. I’d bet my next drink of blood that they planned to slip around to the side of us.
As the figure neared us, it moved right to avoid us. We mimicked the movement, stepping in front of them. Each of us grabbed an arm. From the size of the bicep, I’d have to guess a man. A big one.
“Let go,” the figure hissed.
“Come now, you don’t want to make a scene, do you?” I asked. It actually wouldn’t be the worst. Perhaps the shifters would clear out then, saving themselves.
The downside of that was we wouldn’t catch Ludovic. And damned if I didn’t want to catch the bastard. Not just for my own benefit, but it was our best chance to prevent a future tragedy. At least we knew where he was planning this one.
The figure hissed, and we dragged him back into the office, slipping inside the darkened room. Fortunately, we’d been so deep inside the barn none of the riders out in the main area had noticed us.
Mac turned on a light while I kept a grip on the figure. They were still protected by their magical barrier, but I didn’t need to see them to question them.
“Where is the cannister of wolfsbane hidden?” I demanded. The figure growled, and I shook him. “Don’t try that with me. Won’t work.”
“I’m protected from compulsion.”
“Oh, bloody hell.” I’d just been thinking how convenient it was that these bastards weren’t protected. The universe had heard me and smited me. I looked at Mac. “Can you try?”
She nodded, uncertainty on her face. Her new power was a mystery to her and to me, but hopefully it would work. She approached, and I kept a tight hold on the man in front of me, giving her just enough room to slip close enough to lay a hand on what I presumed was his shoulder.
The figure flinched away from her, but I held him tight. Her magic swelled on the air, the scent of a fresh river on a misty morning making me want to draw it deeply into my lungs. It overpowered her false shifter scent, and I could all but feel the figure’s confusion.
“You’re not a shifter,” he hissed.
“Nope.” She grinned, her power swelling even more. “Now tell me where the cannister is hidden. And where the others are, as well.”
I could feel him straining against my hold and gripped him tighter. Mac forced more of her power into him, swaying slightly from the effort. I moved closer to support her with my body, and she leaned heavily against me.
Finally, the figure spat out, “Under the bleachers where the bull riders are waiting.”
Damn it. Those bleachers were packed.
“What about the other cannisters?” she asked.
“Only know where one is. By Freida’s Kolache Stand.”
Kolaches were an old Eastern European pastry that I hadn’t realized were popular in Texas.
“What’s the plan for after the shifters are unconscious?” Mac demanded.
“Take their souls, of course.”
My blood ran cold, even though I’d expected that answer. Of course, Ludovic wanted to replace the souls we’d released from his dark spell. He needed their power.
“How?” Mac demanded.
“Ludovic has a spell that can be done once they are all unconscious.”
The festival was out in the middle of nowhere, miles from any other people. It was the perfect place for such an ambush.
“Then they’ll be dead?” Disgust echoed in Mac’s voice.
“They’re just shifters.”
Anger surged through me. We were done with this bastard. I reached up to break his neck, but Mac gripped my arm. “Don’t. When this is over, we can get more information from him.”
Damn it, she was right. Instead of killing him, I knocked him unconscious and dragged his body toward one of the empty horse stalls, making quick work of binding him for later retrieval. It wasn’t easy while I wasn’t able to see him, but I finished quickly enough.
Mac was crouched in the hallway outside of the stall, whispering to Genevieve. I approached, and she looked up, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Genevieve is going to start searching beneath the bleachers, but we might need a distraction if it’s hidden right beneath a bunch of people. We can’t fit below there to grab it.”
“What kind of distraction?”
“Don’t know. Let’s head out to the main area and see if there’s anything we can use.”
I followed Mac down the dark corridor to the crowded area full of waiting riders. Genevieve followed, sticking to the shadows. We were halfway to the bleachers when a bulky older man stepped in front of me. His massive gray mustache quivered as he looked me up and down, the irritation in his eyes fading to interest.
“You our next rider?” he demanded, a wad of chewing tobacco quivering in his cheek.
“No.”
“Well, you are now. Clive is out drunk.” He hiked a finger toward a man who slumped against the wall. “And you’ve got his build. You’ll be perfect for Rodolfo.”
“Rodolfo?”
“The bull he’s riding. Feisty bastard. Makes mincemeat of the smaller guys. Can’t have a crushed skull ruining the show. But you’ll do just fine.”
Fates, this place was irritating.
I looked at Mac, who nodded, her eyes bright. Distraction. I could all but hear her trying to scream it into my mind.
I’d never ridden a bull before, but how hard could it be? I looked around at the people surrounding me, then shrugged. If they could do it, so could I. “Agreed. But I get twice his pay.”
I didn’t care about the pay, but the man would have been suspicious if I had just said yes.
He grumbled, then nodded. “Fine. Just give a good show.”
“No problem.” I shot Mac one last look, then followed the man toward the steel bars that separated us from the main riding pen. A glance over my shoulder showed her slipping toward the bleachers.
The benches for the waiting cowboys weren’t built for observing the show—they were too far away from the pen. In order to see what was happening in the pen, they’d have to leave their seats. I could make that happen. I’d probably have to put on a damned good show, but I’d find a way.