“Never thought of that. But I didn’t know either of the wolves and still don’t hardly see them around.”
“Neither are the assholes they were. I’m not worried about you. And if you need someone to talk to, I’m all ears. Though I know Brody is too. You have a lot of friends in this pack. Anyone would be willing to talk to you. You should know that.”
“I do. But the offer still stands. Once Danika is healthy, I’m ready for whatever is expected. And I realize you don’t ask your wolves for a lot. Not even your second, unless it’s an emergency. I’m not stressing.”
“I’m sorry we weren’t able to change Danika.” Sincerity layered his voice.
“I know. If I had thought I could get her to go for this plan with Paavo and Mathis, I would have skipped her being changed. Well, I would have waited to become a werewolf for her to be a leprechaun.” He smiled. “Her father…I get why she was afraid to be like him, but that’s not going to be the case. I’m just glad we were able to convince her.”
“Me too.”
“I should get back to her. I just wanted to call and make sure you knew how much I appreciate this morning.”
“We all do, and we all understand the importance of making sure she’s healthy. Good night, Adam.”
“Night, Slater.” He hung up and went back to check on Makayla. She hadn’t moved. Adam returned to their bed and curled up around Danika, who slept peacefully.
Chapter 21
Abigail slept soundly. Finnian crept from the bed, moved to her purse, opened her wallet, and grinned. Full of hundred-dollar bills. He grabbed the money and his clothes, then headed for the living room where he quickly dressed and hurried outside and down the road.
He heard his name carry on the wind and he ran as hard as he could, back toward the city. He needed to find his way to the airport and find a flight toward his daughters.
If Danika refused to use her luck, he would take it from her. She didn’t have long left if she was sick already. He could sense it on her. The illness from before.
Closing his eyes, he caught a fence and held on as he drew a slow breath. A part of him wished things could have been different. He remembered when Diedre first gave birth. Danika was so precious, so sweet. But as she grew older she didn’t want anything to do with him. She started to resent him. She claimed it had to do with how he treated her mother, but he treated her like a queen.
Sure, he’d leave. Only to make more money to make them more comfortable. And the farther away Danika pulled from him, the more Diedre started to question everything. At least until the end. In the end, she was happy. All she needed was him. If only they had never had the children to begin with. They could have stayed free and he could have convinced her to be something more so they would have had forever.
A creeping feeling slithered up his spine and he hurried to the park and hid in the trees just before a cop car crept by, searching for someone.
He heard a growl and looked up in time to see a Doberman Pinscher stalking his way, his lip curled.
Normally a squirrel would have run by, capturing the dog’s attention. Maybe a cat would get too close and the snapping dog would go that way.
The dog lunged, and he dodged, but faceplanted as the dog grabbed the back of his arm and set his teeth, growling harder.
“Down, Princess Fluffles. Leave the poor man alone,” a woman shouted, rushing over. “Oh my God. Are you all right?” She managed to pull the dog back and she kept growling.
He covered the back of his arm and winced. “Will be.” Just needed to get to the airport.
“I feel really bad about this. Could I take you somewhere?”
He eyed the dog dubiously. “Can you keep her from me?”
“I’ll run her home and come back with my car if you’ll wait on the bench.”
“Sure.” Why not. At least something was going his way. He made it to his feet and headed for the bench.
“I’ll be right back,” the woman called.
It felt like forever before she came back with a man who carried a first aid kit. He cleared his throat. “My wife says Princess Fluffles bit you pretty bad.”
He’d managed to heal some of it, leaving only a little damage so as not to totally freak out the humans. If he were totally healed, they would wonder what was up.
“Looked worse than it is.”
“Still, I’ll give you that ride to the airport. Sonja works early. I’m Jack.” He moved closer and took a look at his arm. “Yeah, this isn’t too horrible. Still, a ride is the least we can do.”
“Thank you.”
“But why were you walking?” He glanced around the park. “You would have been walking a long time.”
“Car wouldn’t start. Probably should have called a cab.”
“No worries, I’ll get you there,” Jack promised.
The guy was big, looked like he spent most of his time in a gym. With the way his luck was going, he wasn’t going to try anything.
“Thanks again,” Finnian said.
* * * *
Robert yawned, then rolled over to grab the phone. “Hello?”
“Robert, thank God. That prick Finnian stole from me before leaving.”
A laugh bubbled out of Robert. “I’m sorry, when did he get the chance to steal from you?”
“I was asleep…damn it.”
“You took him home? Let me guess, you figured since I gave him a hard time, he must be one of the good guys?”
She sighed. “You don’t have to make this worse.”
“Sorry. What do you need?”
“Think you and Preston could come out here and find him?”
“No, we’re both busy right now. I’ll call the woman in charge out there. She’ll send a wereanimal with a mage to track Finnian.”
“But he took my cash.”
He almost asked how much, but he didn’t want to know. He knew she was getting into shadier things after being demoted from being an enforcer. They had no choice. She was as dirty as a mudhole, taking bribes, cutting corners, killing innocent people instead of investigating. She was dirty, and he wanted the corruption wiped from the Enforcer program.
“I’ll have the proper people contact you.” He hung up and scrolled through his phone for Lyla Ortez, who was the senior officer in Charleston. He quickly gave her the details he had and dropped the phone on the bedside table.
Last thing he wanted to do was deal with chasing Finnian. He had a solid idea where he was heading. He wouldn’t be there until early in the day, and unless someone had given him some information, he didn’t know where to find either daughter. Only that they were in Edenton. No one was going to let anything happen to either.
Tremaine looked over Liz’s shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“Finnian stole whatever cash Abigail Tormley had. He’s now on his way back here. I’m letting them try to find him. If he’s lucky enough to get here, it will be a miracle. Even then, I’m not too worried about what he’ll do to anyone.”
Tremaine chuckled and put his head back down. “Going back to sleep?”
Robert yawned. “I am. And I want to take a vacation soon. With my family.”
“That sounds perfect,” Tremaine answered.
Chapter 22
Danika heard a strange sound on the baby monitor. She hurried out of bed, across the hall and found Makayla choking. She scooped her up and performed the Heimlich maneuver.
A grape shot across the room and Makayla took a ragged breath. She sat down, hugging her girl tight. “Don’t scare Mommy, Bluebird.”
“Sowwy.” She hugged tighter.
Adam popped his head in. “She okay?”
Danika shook her head. “She found a grape, was choking.”
“Looks good now.” He came over with a smile, scooping her up. “How’d you find a grape?”
Makayla shrugged. “Hungry.”
“Lunchtime it is.” He started down the stairs, carrying her.
Danika caught her breat
h and started after them as Adam slipped and fell down the stairs, trying to keep Makayla up and out of harm’s way.
He hit his head with a thunk and she saw blood on the steps. She darted to him.
Danika jumped straight up from the nightmare, catching the scream in her throat. Adam sat up, capturing her face. “Danika, what is it?”
She sucked in a breath. “I don’t want to be him. I don’t want to live if it means you all get hurt.”
He pulled her back into his arms, caressing her cheek. “You’ll never be him. You couldn’t be. You care about what happens to everyone else.”
Nodding, she tucked her head against his chest. “Just keep reminding me.”
“I will, darling.”
“I thought…God, that dream.”
“What happened?”
“Makayla choked on a grape, I fixed that. Then you took her downstairs and fell. There was blood. I just…” Tears ran down her face.
“I’m right here. Makayla is in the other room. Here, I’ll go check on her.”
“No, I need to.” She climbed to her feet, grabbed the robe, and hurried across the hall. Makayla slept soundly and Danika went back to Adam, curling in his arms.
“Are you feeling okay?” he murmured.
Shaking her head, she sighed. “Burning up, but don’t want to let you go.”
“Not letting you go,” he assured, running his hand up and down her back. “You won’t have too much more of this.” He kissed her head.
“I know. I still have to work out what to tell Anne.” She pulled in a breath. “How do I explain any of this?”
“We tell her the truth. Worst case, we ask Robert to help with that part.”
She leaned back to capture his gaze. “He doesn’t like my father much.”
“Of course not. Doesn’t sound like he has many friends.”
“Not any worth having anyway.” She scooted closer. “Sorry I woke you.”
He kissed her lips. “Not a problem. I’m just glad I can help.”
“You always do.” She yawned. “Did you figure out what we’re doing tomorrow night?”
“Yeah, they said they’re open. Call when we’re ready. So pretty much after Dominique gets here, we can go. But first thing in the morning, I’m going to go to Brody’s. We’re going to go into the woods behind his house to shift. Unless you’d rather be there the first time.”
She smiled. “If Fallon’s home, I could bring Makayla over. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on her. You could shift with Brody, run a bit, then come back so Makayla can get used to your other form.”
He grinned. “You want to come with me?”
“I do. Want to see you all furry.”
He chuckled. “That’s a relief. I wasn’t sure when things didn’t work out the way we wanted yesterday.”
She lifted a shoulder. “That wasn’t your fault. I knew there was a chance it wouldn’t work. And maybe it’s stupid, but I liked the idea of being a wolf with you better than being with anyone else.”
“Being with them won’t change anything between us.”
“I know. I get it. Part of me wonders, but I think that’s natural.”
“Sure, but trust me. Trust us.”
“Always do.” From the very beginning, she had trusted him. Even with their plan for tomorrow. She just needed to trust that the two of them would remain the same.
Adam swept her hair back. “Sleep, babe. You need your rest.”
She dragged the blanket over her and he pulled it over him too before kissing her eyelids.
* * * *
Finnian stared out the window of the plane, attempting to avoid the attention of the brat beside him. Every time he glanced anywhere toward his right, the little shit started talking his ear off while shoveling food in his face. To top it off, he was a noisy eater.
He wondered if the kid was half goblin.
Then the jerk started nudging his arm while smacking his mouth.
Finnian spun in the seat. “What?”
Projectile vomit covered his face and chest. “Fucking abyss, what did you do to your beast?” he growled at the kid’s mother.
“I beg your pardon?” the woman shouted, standing and glowering down at Finnian.
Finnian stood, sloshing the puke off him, onto the kid. “Your beast just puked all over me, and you defend the little shit?”
“He’s airsick. He’s just a kid.”
“Dramamine, bitch!”
The mother took a step forward, not that she had anywhere to go with the tubby shit sitting between them, glee in his beady little eyes.
“Ma’am, please, take your child to the bathroom and clean him up.”
“Of course, but do something about this asshole.” She touched her kid’s shoulder. “Come on, Dax. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Dax. What the hell kind of name was Dax?
“Sir, would you come with me?” a flight attendant stated.
“Sure,” he muttered, looking down at the filth.
“We have something to help clean up the mess.”
He caught a whiff of the puke as he started down the aisle and gagged. “That kid…”
The steward shook his head. “Seems like a bit of bad luck. Unfortunately, not much we can do about sick kids on a plane.”
“Guess not.”
The steward handed him a pack of wipes and a roll of paper towels back in the area they kept the food. He nodded at the sink. “Here you are.”
Finnian repressed a growl and went to work on cleaning himself up, while the asshole steward went back to the seat to clean up there.
Chapter 23
The next morning, Danika sat on the couch, watching Makayla at the play kitchenette. She wanted to make breakfast like mama. And it was cute.
Still, she didn’t have the energy to play, like she normally would. And soon that wasn’t going to be a problem. Her phone rang and she winced when she saw Anne’s number.
Taking a slow breath, she pressed talk. “Hey, sorry I haven’t called yet. It’s been a little hectic.”
“Danika, I know you’re scared and wish cancer wasn’t the answer, but we really need to start treating you soon.”
“I know, really. I’ll set that all up Monday morning. In the meantime, why don’t you come over for a barbecue Sunday night?”
“The sooner we start treatment, the better. We don’t want you entering the blast phase.”
Which Emily seemed to think she had already entered. However, there was a solution that would wipe that out.
“I’m doing well right now, and I promise I’m not putting this off. Besides, I wanted to talk to you about something anyway, but I’d rather do that face-to-face.”
Anne sighed. “All right, sure. We’ll come over. That is, if I can bring Henry.”
She grinned. “I wouldn’t invite one without the other.”
“Should we bring something?”
“Yourselves. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Okay,” she answered slowly. “You’re my friend. You know why I’m worried, right?”
“Of course, I do. But trust me when I say I’m dealing with it.”
“Just don’t sign up for some crazy experimental treatment.”
Danika laughed. “That’s not it. Remember, I have freelance jobs waiting on me, I have a little girl. I’m getting everything worked out. Okay?” And granted, she’d finished all her current projects a week before, in case she was sick, but Anne wouldn’t know that.
“Okay, okay. We’ll see you Sunday.”
“Thank you. Bye, Anne.”
“Bye.”
Makayla hurried over with her arms outstretched.
Danika scooped her up and hugged her. “Hey, baby. What’s up?”
“Love you, Mama.”
“Love you so much.”
Adam’s hands closed over her shoulders. “Ready for Uncle Brody and Aunt Fallon?”
“Ryan, Rhia!” She slipped out of Danika’s arms an
d ran for her shoes. Danika couldn’t help laughing.
“Ready to shift?” Danika asked.
“Sure. I’ve seen Brody do it plenty. Seen some of the others shift too. Not worried about that.”
“What are you worried about?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Right now? Nothing. Honestly, I am good with this decision. You?”
“I want to see your other from.” She took his hand and kissed his inner wrist before hopping up. “Driving? Or walking?”
“Driving.” He didn’t bother saying he was worried she would get tired again, but she could feel it. And he was probably right.
* * * *
After an extended layover, Finnian climbed off the plane. He still smelled foul. He had no clothes with him, but he still had his hotel room, with clothes, if he could just make it to Seattle without being spotted.
Though he was convinced something had happened to all of his luck. He seemed to have none.
What had Robert done to him while he was out cold? He knew of no spells to block innate abilities. Then again, he didn’t know enough about mages.
Robert had the uncanny ability to translocate all over hell and back. That was usually limited to a short distance. But no, they started in Seattle and the asshole dropped him all the way in Charleston on the other side of the country. And the bottom crease of his ass still hurt, but he couldn’t figure out why. It was almost like a welt, but he couldn’t see or feel anything there.
He made his way through the airport, but saw people searching. Mage types. Finnian ducked into a bathroom and headed to a stall where he stayed for an hour. There was no doubt that Abigail told the mages everything. And she was going to look stupid for taking him home, but that was little consolation.
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