The Azar Omnibus: The Complete Azar Trilogy (The Azar Trilogy Book 0)

by Grace McGinty

  “I wasn’t suggesting we set her up as bait,” Keenan growled. It was a little anticlimactic after the werewolf growls, and seemed like a dumb, or brave, thing to do in an apartment filled with things that responded to body language.

  Bast rolled his eyes as if coming to Keenan’s rescue was getting to be a bore. Azar would be eternally grateful to him if he managed to prevent Keenan from being eviscerated into nothing more than a blood splatter painting on her living room wall.

  “The human is right; if something went wrong because we dangled her in front of him and the pledge was completed, well, more of New York will burn than just your bar. I will stay with Azar until the Rogue is caught.” He winked at Azar and his eyes said that he was going to protect her body intimately.

  “Like hell you will. If anyone is staying with Azar, it’s me,” Keenan replied. Both the Djinn looked at Keenan as if he’d suggested killing a T-Rex with a BB gun.

  Azar reached the end of her patience. “Excuse me? If it’s okay with the big strong men in the room, maybe I could have a say in my own life? I don’t need anyone’s protection thank you. I am Ifrit, what is he going to do? Burn me? It is impossible to kill me by setting me on fire, so if anyone is safe from this guy, it’s me.” She lit a small fireball to make a point. “So you can all go home.”

  Bast was shaking his head. “You are not impossible to kill in more mundane ways, Azar. You are vulnerable, especially from sneak attacks. You must have someone to watch your back. I believe I would be the best option.”

  Donovan smiled, “Jerry is still available. Actually all the Were are available now that my club was incinerated.” As much as Azar was glad to see Donovan in a lighter mood, she’d rather take her chances with the Rogue than sleep in an apartment full of werewolves. But Donovan had a point; a Were would be able to smell the Ifrit before it reached her, especially now that they had worked out his trick.

  “Thanks for the offer Donovan. Actually, if it is alright with you and Oliver, perhaps he could sleep on my couch for the next couple of days?” Both Bast and Keenan’s heads whipped to the Werejaguar, whose gleaming smile was predatory to say the least.

  He strode over to Azar and grabbed her hand, bending at the waist to kiss it gently. His lips were hot, and his tongue flicked out, tasting her skin. Maybe this was a bad idea. “I’ve never been able to say no to a damsel in distress. Of course I will stay with you.” His eyes sparkled with mischief, and he was definitely fucking with all the other Alpha males in the room. That was all.

  “Great, then it’s settled. Now everyone but Oliver needs to leave!” She shooed out the Were’s one by one, then Donovan.

  Bast and Keenan were still standing there, side by side, eyeing Oliver suspiciously. She got behind them and gave them both a good shove towards the door. “Out, out, out!”

  They finally left with assurances that they would return; both giving warning looks to Oliver as she slammed the door.

  Oliver poured himself another shot of scotch. “Girl, you really know how to party. I don’t think I could possibly keep up,” he teased, knocking back two fingers of scotch. Azar got him a blanket and pillow, and spread them out on the couch.

  “Oliver, you have no idea.” She shuffled on tired feet toward her room.

  “Want me to tuck you in?” he called.

  “No, thank you!” she said adamantly, even though her lady bits were yelling back a resounding YES!

  His chuckles echoed through her closed door. She had a sneaking suspicion the only one she was fooling was herself.

  Chapter 10

  It’s not every day that she stumbled into her kitchen, desperate for a cup of coffee and instead finds a very nice naked butt peeking out of her fridge. The ass in question belonged to a very lean and well-tanned Oliver. The man didn’t have a tan line in sight, which led Azar to believe that perhaps he did this naked thing often.

  She cleared her throat to get his attention. Oliver turned from the fridge, a carton of milk still in his hand. He didn’t even bother to cover anything, obviously completely at ease with his nudity.

  “Good morning,” he yawned as he took a swig out of the bottle.

  Azar’s jaw dropped to the floor. Now she understood why Oliver spent a lot of time naked. Hell, if she was a man as blessed as he was in that department, she too would spend all her time naked and have absolutely no shame whatsoever. He placed the milk on the counter and set the coffee to percolate.

  “Don’t take this as a complaint, because you are very pretty, but why are you wandering around my kitchen naked?” Azar had to ask, as she desperately tried to keep her gaze focused on his face and not anywhere else. Like his well-defined abs, or that impressive V where his hips ran into other things.

  Oliver grinned. “Like what you see? I slept in my other form last night, and I can’t do that in jeans.” He sauntered over to the couch and picked up the aforementioned pants, which made the muscles in his thighs ripple as he bent over. “You know you wanna touch these buns,” he teased over his shoulder.

  Azar grinned to herself. She clenched her fist and let the fire heat up in her hand. A girl deserved a bit of fun when she had several death threats hanging over her head.

  “You know, you’re so right. I do want to touch,” she purred, sashaying over to him. She ran a hand over the hard muscles of his ass, and then pulled back her hand and slapped it. She seared a perfectly shaped hand print onto his ass. Not with enough heat to do any serious injury, just enough to be like a bad sunburn.

  All the same, it made Oliver jump about three feet into the air and actually yowl like a scalded cat He turned around rubbing his ass cheek and Azar ran over to the other side of the kitchen, putting the breakfast bar between them. She could barely breathe she was laughing so hard.

  “I’m going to get you back for that.” He was trying to look at the red mark over his shoulder. She watched him walk in circles, chasing his own tail to try and get a good look. Tears of laughter ran down her face at the sight. “I need aloe vera, it burns," he whined.

  “Now you’ll know better than to walk around naked and make open ended offers to an Ifrit. If you play with fire, you are going to get burnt," Azar laughed. She'd always wanted to use that line! She took pity on him and tossed him a tub of yoghurt. “Try this, it’ll help.”

  Once she could breathe again, she made them both a cup of coffee. Oliver had gingerly shimmied into his jeans, commando of course. He was really going to feel the denim on that burn today. She offered him his coffee as a peace offering but there was a wild look in Oliver’s eye to match the grin on his face and they both promised trouble.

  “You won’t be grinning when I get my revenge," he said, taking a gentle sip of his coffee.

  Azar knew better than to have another poke at him. She didn’t know what kind of revenge he meant, but from the glint in his eye, she was either going to love it or hate it. He had that look that mischievous kids get when they’d found a way to pull a prank on the teacher.

  “I’m sorry, really, but you were right; I just had to touch.” She stifled another laughing fit. “What are we up to today? I don’t have to work, and you are on babysitting duty. Is there anything you want to do?” Oliver’s grin widened and he waggled his eyebrows. “Besides that; I have enough man troubles without adding a horny Werejaguar to the list. A grumpy Irish cop and a mysterious Jann are enough for any girl.” She smiled and elbowed him in the ribs to hide the fact that for a fraction of a second, she’d seriously contemplated the offer. He looked down at her, and his eyes practically smoldered. He knew. She didn’t know how he could possibly know she was thinking dirty, dirty things about him, but she’d bet her entire collection of Die Hard films that he did. She blinked at him slowly, keeping her face impassive.

  Eventually, Oliver gave a theatrical sigh. “Why are the good ones always taken?” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. “How about I make pancakes and we watch Netflix?”

  “You really know how
to show a girl a good time,” she said with mock seriousness, glad the tense moment was over, and sat down to watch Oliver cook without a shirt on. Just because she had man troubles, didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a nice view when she saw one.

  They were just finishing up the end of a Yeti movie double feature and the last of the dozen pancakes when Oliver’s phone rang.

  “Oliver. Yup. Yes. Okay. We’ll be right over.” Oliver hung up and sighed. “Playtime is over. That was Jerry. The Pack has called an emergency meeting and would like our presence.” He uncurled his body from the couch and stretched, looking exactly like the cat he was.

  “Why do they want my presence?” She hadn’t had anything to do with the Weres in the area for as long as she’d been in NYC. Oliver shrugged as he put a shirt on, much to her regret, and he gave a little wince as he sat back down on the couch to pull on his socks.

  She sighed and got ready to go back to reality, which she thought would make a much better fantasy movie than anything about a Yeti.

  Azar turned the Shelby onto a dirt trail that looked like nothing more than a fire break. If Oliver hadn’t pointed it out she would have driven straight past it. They’d driven north for hours to Sterling Forest National Park in upstate New York.

  The national park itself was beautiful. There were deer leaping through the forest undergrowth, and the leaves that littered the ground sent a beautiful woodsy scent wafting through her open window. They were so deep in the forest now that the branches of the tall trees parted only enough to let through dappled light. Rabbits hopped along the forest floor and it all looked very idyllic.

  Azar looked over at Oliver, and wondered if he had the urge to get out and chase down all those bunnies. He seemed pretty relaxed, but she would hit the locks in a heartbeat if he even looked at those rabbits longingly.

  They were thirty feet down the dirt track when, out of nowhere, a man jumped in front of her car. Azar slammed on her brakes, stopping short by inches. The guy was huge, bigger than Jerry and the Onyx werewolves by about a foot, both vertically and horizontally. If she’d hit him, she was pretty sure it would have totaled the Shelby and he would have walked away with barely a scratch. Her heart was pounding and the adrenaline had manifested itself as anger. She breathed deep, calming breaths. Oliver shot her a worried look and then wound down the window as the giant man walked around to the passenger side.

  “That was close Tao. If she didn’t have preternatural speed you would have been a goner. As it is, if she doesn’t calm the hell down, you may still be a goner.” He shot Azar another worried look. “Then I’ll have to explain to your wife why you ended up toasted by an Ifrit because you pulled a stupid stunt like jumping out in front of a car.” He sounded totally calm.

  The huge werewolf, Tao, just shrugged. “I knew she’d stop. We’ve been expecting you. Sweet ride,” he said appreciatively. The man’s voice was gruff and deep; like gravel rolling around the bottom of a forty-four gallon drum. “They are meeting in the common room, you know the way. But stay to the tracks; we’ve increased security and any outsiders straying from the path will be met with quick punishment.” He pinned Azar with a hard glare and she held his eyes for longer than necessary, before lowering hers with a nod. She knew this was bad etiquette in the Were world, challenging a male on his own ground, but they needed to know that she wouldn’t be intimidated by a few muscles. Azar rolled the Shelby forward down the bumpy track. This would be hell on her suspension.

  Ten more rough miles down the road and they came across a gathering of small hunting cabins, backed onto the face of a fifty foot cliff. Fifteen or so people milled about, their ages between five and seventy. Everyone stopped and looked when the car pulled up, staying poised and alert, until Oliver got out of the passenger seat. Then most people just waved and went on with whatever they were doing before, except one old woman, who hobbled over to Oliver and wrapped him in a hug.

  “It is good to see you Cable.”

  Azar raised both eyebrows and mouthed “Cable?” at Oliver as he hugged the old lady back.

  “Oliver is my surname,” he mumbled, “and this beauty is Dotty. She is the matriarch of the Sterling Pack and the love of my life.” The old woman thumped him in the shoulder and knocked Oliver back with an oof.

  “Don’t try your sly cat moves on me, Cable Oliver! Better men have tried and I’m too well seasoned to fall for sweet words and a pretty face.” She shook a gnarled old finger at his face, but she was wearing a big smile and had a sparkle in her eye that said they’d done this routine many times before.

  “You are the second woman to tell me I’m pretty today. If this keeps up, I might get a big head.” He grinned at them both and Dotty took another swipe at him but this time he managed to jump away. Dotty turned to Azar, shaking her head at the mischievous little boy that seemed to be alive and well inside of Cable Oliver.

  “You must be the Ifrit Azar that Jerry has been telling us about. Please be welcome. We are meeting in the Common Room, which I’m sure that ruffian Tao told you about.”

  Dotty ushered them both to what looked like a crack in the cliff face from a distance but as they got closer, she could see the edges had been worn smooth from years of shoulders brushing past. They walked through a maze of connected tunnels that gently sloped downwards. Dotty gave Azar the tour as if she were a real estate agent.

  “Down the tunnel on your left, we have the communal kitchen and dining areas. Most of the families eat together but the dens do have their own private kitchenettes if a member doesn’t feel like eating with the rest of the pack. Everyone likes to just sit alone sometimes, especially the teenagers. They’d lie around all day watching those god awful Werewolf TV shows in their pajamas if their parents let them. Okay, down to the tunnel on your right are the Dens. Non pack members are never allowed near the Dens; a safety precaution, you know.”

  Azar nodded. The safety of the pack came before good manners.

  They walked on and the tunnels wound further down below ground. Just in front of them a little girl ran out of an adjoining tunnel, her face wet with tears. She turned and saw Dotty and the tears doubled in size as they rolled down her little cheeks. She ran over to ageing matriarch and threw herself into her arms. She had something clutched protectively close to her body.

  “Kayla, my little pup, what’s wrong?” Dotty asked in soothing tones usually reserved for children and men with the flu.

  “Caleb broke my truck. He said that girls aren’t allowed to have trucks. He said that it was a stupid truck and he threw it on the floor and broke it.”

  She sobbed louder as she showed them all the broken truck. It was an old tin toy and it looked like one of the axels had snapped clean in half when it had hit the stone floor. The wheel hung down at an odd angle and it made the truck look as sad as the little girl. The girl was crying so hard that her little body was shaking with every sob and Azar felt sorry for her.

  Oliver squatted down in front of her. “Don’t you listen to Caleb. Girls are allowed to have trucks. Girls are allowed to have anything they want and when Caleb gets older, I bet he’d give you his whole truck collection just so a pretty girl like you will talk to him.”

  Little Kayla’s tears subsided into violent hiccups and sniffing. “Really, Mr. Oliver? His whole collection?” she asked as her eyes lit up with hope. Oliver smiled and nodded.

  Azar squatted down next to him and put out her hand to the little girl. “My name is Azar. Maybe I can fix your truck, if that is okay with you?” She glanced at Dotty for approval.

  Dotty gave a quick nod, but Kayla eyed her suspiciously.It would have been drummed into her from her earliest memory not to trust strangers. But eventually she looked at Dotty and Oliver, who would protect her, and at her broken truck that she obviously really wanted fixed, and handed it over.

  “I was a blacksmith for a few years, so I should be able to fix this. I’m just going to use a bit of my power?” I directed the last part toward Dotty, who nodded
once again.

  Azar focused her heat on the tip of her index finger and tipped the truck over to see its broken axel. The steel had snapped off near the front left wheel, and it was easy enough to use her finger to weld it back together again. She also heated the whole axel rod to make it stronger, so the next time mean little boys threw it, it could withstand the impact better.

  “Oliver, if you could just grab that bottle of water out of my bag?” Oliver rummaged through her handbag and passed over the bottle.

  Azar tipped it over the axle and it hissed as steam rose from the hot metal until it cooled. She spun the wheels and was happy to see them turn smoothly.

  She handed it back to Kayla. “Try not to play with it for another hour to let the metal cool completely, but after that it will be stronger than ever. A wild elephant could stomp on it and that axle won’t break. But I’d keep it away from elephants anyway, if I was you.” She winked at Kayla as the little girl tipped the truck upside down and looked at the fixed axle and then back at Azar, like she’d just seen a magic show.

  “What do you say Kayla?” Dotty prompted.

  “Thank you for fixing my truck,” the girl said genuinely. She looked like she’d found a brand new hero.

  “You’re very welcome, Kayla. Mr. Oliver is right about those boys though, so don’t you worry about what they say.” Kayla smiled brightly before Dotty shooed her back toward the Dens.

  “Caleb and Kayla are a future mated pair if I’ve ever seen one. Just can’t keep them apart now, even though they are always fighting. Mark my words, in fifteen or twenty years, we’ll be attending their wedding,” Dotty chuckled, hobbling back down the tunnel. Azar hoped Dotty was still alive in fifteen or twenty years.

  Eventually, the tunnel opened out onto a big rounded cavern with large rugs covering the stone floor. Light sconces were fixed to the walls and cast a warm light over the people sitting around a beautifully carved long table. Dotty motioned for them to sit at the two empty seats in the middle.