This is the Fourth Part of Maggie’s Point of View of the latest scheme from Luna and Maggie. If you’re trying to keep track, the first part was Newfound Depths by Luna, The Second was Unusual Depths by Maggie. The Third was Newfound Desires by Luna. The Fourth was Unusual Desires by Maggie. The fifth was Newfound Strength by Luna. The Sixth part was Unusual Strength by Maggie. The Seventh part was Newfound Determination by Luna. Now comes Unusual Determination from this corner…notice a theme? LOL.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as we are enjoying writing it!

HUGS!
Maggie

Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton and the Berkley Publishing Group do not authorize this author. All characters that you recognize belong to Laurell K. Hamilton except for the ones created by the people in this group. This is solely for entertainment purposes.

Rating: R to be safe for strong language and minor violence

Special Thanks to Luna for being my most awesome beta not to mention a wonderful friend. I lub ya Looney Tunes!

Author’s note: The first bit in italics is the end of Unusual Strength….thought I better remind you all where we left off. J

Unusual Determination

Hugging Teddy, I giggled and ran out of the room. There was a loud snap as the power of the circle discharged. Looking back, I remembered I was supposed to thank the guardians of the quarters and open the circle before I crossed any random lines. Guess it was too late now and Luna was HOME! I’d worry about it later.

Charging into my sister’s bedroom, I didn’t yell to warn her of my arrival. She wouldn’t need the warning and besides I was sort of hoping to surprise her. Looking around, she wasn’t here either. If she wasn’t here or in the circle, where would she have gone?

I tried to quiet my breathing and listen for any sounds in the house. There was nothing unusual but as my noise twitched, I realized there was a disturbance in the air currents behind me. Strong arms came around me as some sort of foul smelling rag covered my mouth. As shadowed figures came into view, I heard a low voice asking, “Did we get it all on tape?”

I held my breath, trying desperately to remain conscious for as long as possible while I tried to figure out what to do. Tape? Did he say tape and why the hell did his voice sound familiar. Struggling against the iron grip that held me, I was able to wiggle one arm lose. Trying to force the grip on my mouth to loosen, I clawed at the arm and stomped on my opponent’s feet. Slamming my weight back into the chest behind me, I caught my assailant off guard and we both tumbled toward the floor. He swore as my head connected with what I think was his chin on impact.

Shit! Suddenly recognizing the voices of my captors, I tried to scream out for help as the noxious rag was placed more firmly into my mouth. Breathing became more difficult and the voices fuzzy as I lost track of time.

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I was floating in a soft bank of clouds. There was something I was supposed to be doing but what? As I slowly drifted along I became aware of shadows, and murmured voices. There were strange scents in the air. Some reminded me of the hospital but there were other aromas, harder to sort out. There was incense burning somewhere close by and candles. I could smell the sulfur. I caught the hint of some sort of flower, roses maybe. ROSES! I was supposed to be finding Luna!

My eyes shot open as I tried to sit up. Restraining arms quickly stopped my movement, but the gesture was moot. As quickly as I sat up, my head began spinning. Closing my eyes I dropped back into the softest bed I had ever been in. Cautiously re-opening my eyes I viewed my surroundings. I was lying in soft blue satin sheets, surrounded by pillows and covered with a down comforter which was also blue with wisps of white coloring in spots. Well, if I had woken up before that would explain my cloud dream. I appeared to be wearing a pair of dark blue pajamas with stars and moons on them. They looked vaguely familiar. Wracking my brain, I finally remembered where I had seen them before. Damn! They were mine and I had left them at the lair for late nights at the lab! I looked up to see Jean Claude’s amusement at my obvious confusion.

“What..” was as far as my raspy voice got before I realized my throat was as dry as my musty old college notebooks. I tried to swallow, fighting back tears. I would NOT let him manipulate my emotions. Not this time. It was too important that I gain my freedom. How long had I been here? Lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t realize my employer had poured me a glass of water until I felt his cool hand at the back of my head urging me to take a sip of the offered drink.

His deceptively mild voice answered my unvoiced question. “You have been my guest for a few days, Ma Cherie. We were quite…. concerned about you.” Looking up, I saw no sign of his alleged concern. I searched in vain for some sign of softness around his eyes, the hint of a smile. All I saw was cold firm flesh that reminded me I worked for a corpse when all was said and done. His face was the careful controlled mask that he used when he wanted to hide his true feelings and I knew I was in deep shit.

Panicking and still close enough to my dreams to move between worlds, I reached out for Luna, praying she would hear me. Grasping at the link, I merged my mind with hers as best I could. We were confused, but we heard footsteps in the distance. We were being attacked! Crouching, we analyzed our opponents. What would they try?

My attention was suddenly shifted and I felt Luna being pulled along with me. I looked up to see Jean Claude’s blue eyes starting to swirl as he commanded my attention. He was not going to roll my mind this time. Moving my gaze from his eyes, I focused on his black hair against his alabaster skin, the line of his jaw. I would do anything to avoid looking him in the eyes again, damn it! I drew energy from my connection to Luna, feeling the power flow between us, but all too soon her presence was gone.

“Mademoiselle?” I looked up to see Jean Claude staring at me a bit too intently, as if he was the one now afraid of me. Testing the theory, I reached out to touch his hand. He drew back as if my touch would burn and put some distance between us. Moving to stand at the end of the bed, he tried to soothe me, using his velvet voice to put me at ease, “Margaret, as I was saying we have been quite concerned. Do you remember coming here?”

My head snapped up in suspicion that he had called me Margaret. No one had called me that in a long time. Had he been messing around inside my head again? Taking a deep breath, I smiled as I realized Luna had left a bit of her paranoia behind with me. He didn’t have to get into my mind to call me Margaret. It’s not a huge leap from there to Maggie.

Realizing he had left the glass of water in my hand, I took another sip while I ran my last memories through my mind. I was at the house, trying to bring Luna back. Setting the glass on the bedside table, I jerked my hand, causing it crash to the floor breaking as a memory surfaced. There were voices I recognized. Gasping, “Jamil was in my house… He grabbed me! Why? How the hell did he get in? What the fuck are you guys up to? Does Richard know his wolves are helping you kidnap humans?” I realized my voice was becoming louder as I spoke, reaching a panicked pitch that was painful to my own ears but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

Jean Claude’s firm voice broke into my tirade though I’m not sure how long he had been trying to get my attention. “Margaret. Either you will calm yourself, or we will sedate you again. Hysterics will not do anything, except lead to your own further…discomfort. If you will behave, I will answer some of your questions.”

Closing my eyes, I could feel my skin trembling as if something was alive, moving underneath, with no way out. Taking a deep breath, I tried to center myself and remained as still as possible. I opened my eyes to see Jean Claude watching me, as if he were trying to see through me. It was rather unnerving, so I focused on his most recent statements. As calmly as I could manage, I asked, “Again. You said sedate me again. Is that why I don’t remember being here the few days you claim I have been?” Damn it. I couldn’t keep the fearful hitch out of my voice at the end.

He smiled. Whether it was because I asked a simple question at last, or because I was heeding his warning, I’m not sure. Whatever the case, He eased back to sit in a high backed chair at the end of the bed. “Yes, unfortunately, we were forced to sedate you when we first brought you here. You were being most irrational and we were concerned both for your safety and that of others. The wolves are mine to call. Though Richard is aware of Jamil’s involvement. He was not any more pleased with your treatment of Jason than I was. Richard was concerned as to what had happened to cause such a change in you. As to how we got past your security systems, it was simply a matter of connecting with others who were concerned for your safety and enlisting their aid.”

“As to what the…. fuck … we’re up to, as you so crudely put it. I could ask the same. We have some rather interesting videotape of a ritual you performed at the house. Dabbling with new skills Doctor?” I could feel the heat of a blush rising on my skin. I most definitely had not meant that ritual to be seen by anyone on this plane. I wondered if they had been able to capture any of the paranormal activity from inside the circle on the tape. If so, it might prove helpful to finding Luna. Of course depending on the quality of information they were able to record, it might also give Jean Claude a good idea of how big a threat I had become, or more to the point, always had been.

Trying to keep my voice neutral, I decided the best defense was an offense. I was too damned tired of being the prey. Smiling at him I replied, “New skills? Not really. I wasn’t doing anything in that room that I couldn’t have done before. You were well aware of my talents when you hired me, probably more aware than I was. I always wondered why the Master of the City would be willing to hire an unknown human doctor for such a sensitive position in his organization.” Sitting up more in the bed, I looked over at the bloodsucking fop, “Now, you obviously have enough respect for my intelligence and skills to let me run a medical research lab for you and treat your people. You might want to remember that long enough to tell me what you have been doing to me while I slept. Don’t even try to deny you’ve done something because I can sense it.” I could hear the trace of a growl in my voice and knew my eyes had bled over to silver but I couldn’t stop. Forcing each word out slowly to make sure there was no confusion I added, “I’m not in the mood for any of your double talking games.”

Jean Claude looked at me in disbelief. His normal mask of indifference was lost in the closest thing to shock I do believe I had ever seen from him. Whether it was my growl, or the fact I dared to argue with him, I wasn’t sure. I was soon to find out though. He spoke almost more to himself than to me, “I had heard of the psychic bond between you and Luna that allowed you to share thoughts. I wasn’t aware how strong it was, that it allowed one of you to speak for the other.”

Chuckling, I replied, “Oh I assure you, that was ALL ME.”

Looking up, he seemed a bit confused as he asked, “How can you be so sure.”

Giving him the wickedest grin, I could muster, I added, “Because if it had been Luna. We would have already ripped your heart out for touching us.”

The Master stood and moved toward the bed. I smiled, daring him to come and he backed up, putting the chair between us. “I will forgive you this once as I understand you are confused, not yourself. I can’t help but believe Luna has something to do with your speech, no matter what you protest. Maggie alone is too sweet and soft spoken to speak so…. out of turn.”

Shaking my head, I knew without looking in a mirror that the firm line of my jaw revealed my usually well-hidden stubborn streak. “No, it is you that does not understand. Even the kindest, most gentle of animals will turn to fight you, given enough provocation. I could tell you what I once explained as Biology undergrad tutor to my charges. The fight or flight instinct is one of if not the oldest instincts animals possess. Which one holds a stronger sway may depend on the animal in question. But given nowhere to run, anyone will turn that instinct to fight, even the mildest mannered human.” I stared into his eyes at the last, letting him know it was a challenge. I dared him to try to roll me now.

I was surprised to find he was the one to look away first. I didn’t know if he was afraid of not being able to roll me or simply afraid of what he might see in my gaze, but whatever the motive, I wasn’t going to argue when he was playing things my way. I smiled in my confidence, but perhaps my smile came too soon.

When he spoke, his voice sounded somewhat tired, as if it had lost some of its velvet edge. Perhaps it only seemed that way to me, and he had truly lost whatever power he once held over me.

“You cling to your righteous anger and your alleged humanity as if it were some cloak to hide beneath. The question is do you hide your fear or some greater truth you do not wish me to see?” He turned back to gaze at me on the bed and held up his hand when I would argue, “Yes, I know physically you are still human. I will answer one of your earlier questions, though you have done nothing to earn my favor this evening. When you were sedated, Lillian was brought in to run tests on you. She assures me that based on every known test and some new ones that few know about; you are not a lycanthrope. Yet, you showed shifter like abilities of strength and speed. Indeed, on a metaphysical level, your power feels like lycanthrope.” Shaking his head he thought for a moment. “Non. That is not precisely true. Your power feels like shifter on the surface with something harder and far more untouchable underneath. Something I don’t think Ma Petit has even faced before. Which leaves me with two important questions. What exactly are you Margaret and what should I do with you now?”

Unsure of how to answer, I sat there staring him as a blurred object came fly across the room to crash into him. The Master of the City was thrown to the ground. The growl of rage coming from the flying mass of arms and fists let me know who had shown up. I looked up to see some unfamiliar vampires coming into the room to break up the fight and screamed. “Noah! Stop that before someone hurts you, PLEASE!”

As I screamed, one of the new comers took the distraction as an opening and grabbed Noah by the arm, forcefully pulling my ex-lover off Jean Claude. If he had been human, he would have had a dislocated shoulder. Being a wereleopard, he was just pissed. He snarled at the vamp that grabbed him but made no move to continue the fight. Instead he turned eyes filled with more hatred that I had ever seen from Noah on those in the room, most particularly on my host. “You French Bastard. Richard was supposed to make sure she was okay, not bring her here for you to play science project on! What gives you the fucking right to mess with our lives?”

Gasping, I knew then. I knew how Jean Claude’s team had gotten past our security measures. There was only one person that didn’t live at Haven that knew how to get in and out. Looking at Noah, all I could do was shake my head, not trusting what would come out if I tried to speak of his betrayal. He must have sensed my hurt and anger because he turned to look at me, forgetting there was anyone else in the room. “Doll. You wouldn’t answer the phone. Luna and Lija wouldn’t either. I couldn’t get a feel for either you or Wonder Woman. I panicked.”

Hearing movement from the other side of the room, I turned to focus on it. I had to or I might have attacked the wereleopard guard myself. I saw Jean Claude straightening his clothes and moving to the door, ushering his people out as he went. “I think you and your cat have some catching up to do. I’ll allow you a few minutes to visit while I take care of some business.” Looking from his pale complexion to Jason’s eager face, it wasn’t hard to guess what his business was but I decided to let it go. I really didn’t want to think about it.

As the door closed I turned to see Noah, still standing where they had left him. He looked afraid to move. I didn’t blame him. He had good reason to be afraid of me right now. Knowing anything we said would be over heard and too tired for mind games, I pointed at the paper and pen on the nightstand nearby and lowered my shields enough to mentally snap at him. “Grab it and sit the hell down.” I quickly began writing a plan, using only keywords Noah would know. If my notes were confiscated before we destroyed them, I didn’t want to reveal my whole hand.

He looked at me hopefully. Stupid man. I was still pissed at him. Pissed enough to never speak to him again but I needed to get out of here. My life and possibly Luna’s now depended on it. If he wanted to help me to ease his guilt for getting me into this mess, fine, I would let him. I wasn’t going to let there be any doubt of who was in charge this time though. He would do exactly as I said or he would become expendable. I didn’t have time for anything else. Get out; rescue Luna, and then I would extract revenge on Superman for his idiotic stunt. After that, I was finding Lija and taking a nice long vacation with him somewhere warm and sunny. Nodding my head, I knew I had a solid plan. A girl has to have her priorities after all.