“Jeez, Adam. Don’t go all childish on us,” J.T. said. “It sucks the way your father treated you. Think of it this way. He did you a favor, because if he hadn’t pushed you out, you wouldn’t have met us.”
“You’re right,” Adam said. “My head is telling me that, but—” He broke off, shaking his head. “Never mind. There’s the turn.”
A few minutes later, the road came to an end in front of a huge two-story house.
“Big brother did good,” Cade said.
“The village looks better than I remember too.” Adam climbed out of the SUV, holding on to the door to keep upright. This house must have cost a fortune. Where had the money come from? The duties of Kokopelli would keep him too busy to hold down the sort of job Justin would need to afford a property like this.
Nate limped around the SUV to join him. Despite the fact that they were out in the open where the others and the locals might see them, Nate hugged him roughly, then stepped back.
“Things have changed around here. Money…”
“Maybe he won the lottery.” Nate shrugged as if he didn’t think it was a big deal.
“Maybe.” Quite frankly, Adam didn’t care about money. All he needed was enough to survive. He didn’t need material possessions to showcase his wealth to others. But the obvious money here surprised him.
“Are we going to do this?” Cade asked.
“Maybe I should go in alone,” Adam said.
Nate tensed. “Hell, no.”
“I agree. We’re going with you,” J.T. said in an implacable tone.
Morgan gestured at him. “Let’s go.”
Cade strode ahead and pounded on the red door with his fist, ignoring the ornate knocker. “Move it along,” he said. “Time’s a wastin’.”
Adam hovered beside Nate, making sure he didn’t trip. Not that there was anything to stumble on. The footpath appeared in pristine condition, as did the pots of purple and white pansies.
The door opened, and a young woman stood in the doorway, a slender figure with long, dark hair. She wore black trousers and a body-hugging turquoise top.
“Look at the way she’s cradling her stomach. She’s pregnant,” Nate murmured in his ear.
Adam had no idea who she was and had never seen her before. “Is Justin here?”
“I’ll get him for you.” She frowned at the other men, hesitated, then said, “Do you want to come in and wait?”
Footsteps sounded behind the woman. “Who is it, Lara?”
Adam stepped forward. “Justin.” It was the first time he’d seen his brother since the night he’d left. He looked older, more polished, and wore a smart suit. Unfamiliar glasses perched on his brother’s nose, and the shadows beneath his eyes indicated Justin hadn’t slept well recently.
The color seeped from his face. “Adam?”
Adam cocked his head, watching his brother closely. “We need to talk.” He noticed the way Justin glanced at his friends and frowned slightly.
“This is Nate, Cade, Morgan and J.T.,” Adam said.
“Come in,” Justin said, standing back. “This is my wife Lara.”
“Lara.” Adam entered the large tiled foyer, suddenly glad of the guys at his back. He caught the gaze Justin flicked at his jeans and T-shirt and barely restrained his snarl. It seemed some things hadn’t changed. His brother was still a pretentious snob.
“Have you seen our father?”
“No, I decided to see you first.” Adam didn’t like to admit he was afraid of the reception he might receive from his father. He’d known Justin would at least want to lord it over him and sneer at his obvious lack of wealth. Adam didn’t care about that. He needed information. “I need to talk to you about Kokopelli.”
“Not in front of outsiders,” Justin snapped.
Adam straightened. “They know.”
A hiss escaped Justin, his dark eyes flashing with anger. “You don’t tell outsiders.”
His brows rose. “They’re my best friends. My family.”
“Give it a break,” Cade cut in, looking as if he might roll his eyes. “Who’s gonna believe this story anyway? A figure who goes around promoting fertility. Yeah, right.” He sniggered.
“Don’t mock what you don’t understand,” Lara said, her eyes flashing with a hint of temper.
“Quite right, my love.” Justin wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist, the softening of his face and faint smile telling Adam his brother truly loved this woman. This was a radical change for a man who used to go through women like tissues. It made him wonder what sort of woman his new sister-in-law was, because somehow he didn’t think Justin would change.
“Shall I make tea or coffee?” Lara asked.
“Coffee would be great,” Adam said.
Lara inclined her head and disappeared through a doorway on their left.
“We can talk in here.” Justin pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his brow. Now that his wife had gone, he seemed ill at ease. Nervous, even. He led them into a room overlooking a valley, the range of mountains beyond jutting up like sharp teeth on the horizon. A sluggish river meandered along the valley floor, and a small herd of elk picked its way across, stopping to graze now and then.
“Nice view,” Adam said. “Have you lived here long?”
“About two years,” Justin said.
Cade, Morgan, J.T. and Nate took possession of chairs and waited expectantly for Adam to get to the important stuff. When he hesitated, Cade coughed, jerking his head at Justin. Adam glared at him. It wasn’t exactly something he could blurt out. He needed to work his way into the subject.
“Someone tried to kill Adam. Did you do it?” J.T. demanded.
So much for diplomacy. Adam started to stay something, but Nate’s swift shake of head stopped him. He scrutinized Justin then and caught a strange expression on his face.
“You know something,” Cade said in disbelief.
“You tried to kill your brother.” Morgan looked as if he wanted to whack Justin into the wall.
“You put all of us in danger,” Nate snapped.
“Why?” While Adam had considered the possibility, he hadn’t really believed until he’d seen the guilt on his brother’s face. “Why the fuck would you do that to me when I haven’t stepped foot near here since the day I left?”
His brother refused to look at him, although, to Adam’s surprise, he answered. “I was losing my powers. My tattoo has faded. It’s barely visible now, but no one in the village has come forward to claim the office of Kokopelli.” Justin wiped his hands down his thighs.
Clammy palms. He might wipe those, but he couldn’t rid his forehead of the telltale tension without dragging out his handkerchief again.
Adam stared, incredulous. “Why didn’t you just contact me? We could have talked.”
“But I didn’t know where to find you.”
“Bullshit,” Nate snapped. “You knew where to send people to shoot and attack Adam.”
“I…I…” Justin trailed off, his face pale and panicked.
“Leave Justin alone.” The feminine voice stopped Morgan and Cade’s grumbling curses. “I’ve rung your father. He’ll arrive soon, so they can’t hurt you without witnesses.”
Nate turned on her. “What, it’s all right for him to attempt to kill Adam?” The sting of temper shaded his words.
Lara placed a tray of cups and a coffeepot on a low wooden table before turning around to glare at them. “Justin has made mistakes, and he’s truly sorry. At least he tried to call off the assassin.”
“Oh, yeah? And that makes it okay?” Cade sneered. “That damn assassin crashed into our van and tried to kill us.”
Nate lurched to his feet, his fists clenched. “You’re jealous of Adam.”
Adam stared at his brother, unable to wrap his head around the truth. Justin hadn’t denied a thing. How could Justin hate him? He hadn’t been around to get in the way or interfere. He hadn’t been part of the Kokopelli legend, hadn’t cared about the legend or ev
en thought about it until the tattoo had started to reform on his chest.
Morgan nailed Justin with a fierce glare and took a couple of steps toward him. “Don’t hit him, Nate. I’d like that honor.”
“No one is hitting anyone,” Lara stated in a firm voice.
“You think it’s all right for Justin to organize someone to kill Adam? Adam left here when your father kicked him out. He has a new family now.” Nate folded his arms over his chest. “Us.”
Adam whipped off his T-shirt to display the Kokopelli. It glowed, the brilliant turquoise, red, blue and white vivid against his golden skin. He thumped his chest with his fist. “I didn’t ask for this. We’ll talk to Father. Maybe there’s some way to transfer the Kokopelli again.”
“No,” Justin said. “I don’t want the responsibility anymore.”
“And yet you wanted it enough to need me dead.”
A loud thump sounded at the entrance.
“That’s probably your father,” Lara said.
Justin shot a glance at Adam’s chest before saying, “I’ll get it.”
“I’ll get it,” Cade said. “I don’t trust you.”
Justin hesitated, then shrugged. Cade arrived back a few moments later on the heels of an older man.
“Father,” Justin said, a hint of panic in his voice.
“Justin.” He turned to Adam, his eyes widening when he spied the Kokopelli on his chest. “Adam.”
Adam inclined his head in a show of respect. “Father.”
“You’re back,” his father said. “Good. That’s good. It was time for you to return.”
Chapter Twelve
“He’s not returning,” Nate snapped.
“No.” A few years ago his father’s words might have pleased Adam, but now he was older and realized acceptance came with an unspoken price. One he wasn’t willing to pay. He owed the band and he wanted Nate in his life.
“You bear the badge of office.”
“You find someone to take over, do the hocus-pocus or whatever you did last time to shift the tattoo to Justin. I’m not staying here.” He strode to Nate’s side and wrapped his arm around Nate’s shoulders. “I have responsibilities to my friends and to Nate.”
“You have a duty to your ancestors, to the villagers. You must not walk away and bring shame to our family.”
Huh! He thought it was too late to worry about shame. As usual, his father wasn’t listening. Time to make it clearer. He straightened and met his father’s gaze directly, as an adult. “You can’t make me stay.”
“You would throw away hundreds of years of tradition because of a man?”
Adam’s upper lip curled at the clear disgust in his father’s tone. “You can say it, Father. He’s my lover.” Adam slipped on his T-shirt again.
“And what do you say about this?” his father asked Justin. “You no longer have powers, yet you didn’t say anything, didn’t report to the elders.” He ran his fingers through his long, gray hair, and Adam noticed the faint tremor of his father’s hand.
“I don’t understand,” his father said. “It’s true, for a long time the magic was absent.” His piercing brown gaze zeroed in on Justin. “We were going to replace you, but after your marriage to Lara, conditions improved. The crops were healthy, so we changed our minds. I don’t understand any of this.”
“Ignoring Nate won’t make him go away,” Adam mocked, noting the way his father continued to look straight through Nate. Familiar pain swelled in his chest. He turned to Justin, spearing him a hard look. “I’m leaving with my friends now. I don’t intend to return. I don’t want the Kokopelli responsibilities. They’re all yours. If you’re gonna come after me, tell me now.”
“You can’t leave.” His father’s brows drew together, anger flattening his mouth to a firm line.
“Justin?” Adam ignored his father for the moment, more intent on his brother’s reply. He wanted Justin’s verbal agreement to leave him alone, to live his life as he chose, without the need to keep looking over his shoulder. His gaze drifted from Justin back to his father. When had his father shrunk? He’d never seemed so small. Justin towered over him.
“What are you talking about? Justin, what’s he talking about?”
“Justin is responsible for several attempts on Adam’s life,” Nate snarled. “I think we should turn him in to the police.”
“I second that,” Cade said. “We should go.”
Morgan nodded and stood. “Come near us again and we’ll report you to the cops.”
“You can’t prove anything,” Justin said.
“Maybe not, but we can make things uncomfortable for you,” J.T. said.
“Who are these people?” his father demanded.
“My family,” Adam said, realizing it was the truth. The band and Nate were his family, and he would do anything for them. He glanced at Nate. “Let’s go. I’ve learned everything I needed to know.”
“You can’t just walk out,” his father said. “We can talk about this.”
“You have responsibilities now,” Justin said. “I can’t carry out Kokopelli duties. It wouldn’t be right.”
“We really did intend to ask you to return,” his father said, his tone conciliatory now.
“Thanks, but I’ll pass,” Adam said, moving toward the door. Nate and the others followed.
“Adam, wait,” his father snapped.
Adam kept walking without looking back. He was glad he’d faced both his father and brother. He hadn’t fully realized how much bitterness he’d carried inside, the resentment he’d held close to his chest. He didn’t have to stay, and that felt liberating. He had close friends, a new family and a man he loved and wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Now all he needed to do was tell Nate and make the commitment.
They piled into the SUV, and Morgan backed up and turned the vehicle. “Why don’t we splurge and stop at one of the places we saw during the drive down? I don’t feel like driving for too much longer today.”
“Suits me,” Cade said.
“What about your woman?” J.T. asked. “Won’t she expect you home, or is she out on the road again?”
“I told her we might be out of town overnight. She won’t worry. Besides, I can ring her.”
“Adam, what about the Kokopelli shit?” Morgan asked. “Is that gonna be a problem for us?”
“I did some research,” Nate said. “According to the info I found on the Internet, Kokopelli was often seen as a wandering minstrel and traveled from town to town, playing his flute and spreading the fertility around. I figure if we’re on the road playing at different venues, we’re doing the same thing. Most of the legends I found on the net seemed to come from the Southwest, but that doesn’t mean Kokopelli didn’t travel farther afield.”
“I like it.” Cade grinned. “Bringing the legend into the future.”
“We can be like that Pied Piper dude,” J.T. said. “The chicks will follow us everywhere, except we’ll be loving them instead of killing them off.”
Morgan scratched his chin, his stubble rasping with the drag of his fingertips. “I don’t think the chicks would like the comparison to rats.”
“And the ones who are careless with birth control wouldn’t like it so much,” Adam added with a wry laugh.
“So that means if we keep you around, we need to suit up without fail,” Cade said, a frown hinting at his seriousness.
“Yeah. I’m not kidding about it, either. Unless you’re serious about the woman, make sure you take precautions.”
“Does that mean I should never have sex again?” Nate asked.
“Man, don’t say stuff like that,” J.T. muttered before Adam could reply. “I love both of you, but I don’t wanna know about your sex life.”
Adam stared out the window at the scenery, the familiar hills and scrubby flats with the red rocks everywhere bringing a rush of memories. Confusion had filled him during his teenage years—lots of angst because of his sexual yearnings, and the pressure from his
father and village elders when the Kokopelli had manifested on his chest. The weird thing was that he didn’t remember the Kokopelli ever looking so colorful and vibrant. The one he’d had as a teenager had scarcely had any color, certainly none of the brilliant colors of this one. And the heat. He didn’t recall the same amount of heat emanating from the Kokopelli. Sometimes it almost pulsed. He noticed the weird sensation when he stood close to Nate, and it had happened again when Lara had stood near him. He had no idea what it meant, but wasn’t about to ask his father or Justin for advice.
“What happens if your brother comes after you again?” Morgan asked.
“I don’t think he will,” Nate said before Adam could answer. “I watched him closely when we were there. I think he’s genuinely sorry for his actions. Besides, I think he really loves his wife. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. I don’t think he wants to do anything to jeopardize his relationship.”
“When did you become so Mr. New Age Sensitive?” Cade demanded.
“Just because you go around with your head up your ass,” Morgan said. “Some of us know how to pay attention.”
Adam smirked while good-natured insults flew. Walking away was the right thing to do. With his friends around him, and his music, he’d manage to keep sane and maybe even do some good with Kokopelli along for the ride.
The Inn was a quiet lodge, a classy place where people came to take nature walks and fish in the nearby lake. The band sat out on the terrace with drinks in hand, watching the sun set and the sky color to a bright pink.
Footsteps heralded a new arrival, and Adam turned his head, stiffening when he saw who it was. “What do you want? Where’s Justin?”
“How did you know where we were?” J.T. demanded.
Lara stared at him, her chin lifting in defiance. Long, dark hair flowed over her shoulders, and she glowed with good health. “I came alone. It wasn’t difficult to find you. I know some of the people who work here. Besides, a couple of the local kids saw you come into the lodge.”
Cade made a scoffing sound. “Did Justin send you to shoot Adam?”
“Justin is sorry for his actions. He told you that he tried to stop the contract, but couldn’t. It’s the truth.”
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