Triple Cross

by Tymber Dalton

  She followed the sound to Ortega’s office, where he and his brother Juan were having a discussion with the door open.

  She knocked on the open doorway. “Hey. What’s up?”

  Ortega turned, dark fury flashing across his face before he sat behind his desk. “It…is nothing.” He leaned back in his chair, chin propped on his hand.

  Juan silently walked past her and out of the office.

  Without invitation, she walked in and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Tell me.”

  He glowered. Not at her, but apparently at the world. “It seems Rodolfo has had the final say.”

  Forcing herself to remain calm, she kept her breathing even and steady so as not to betray herself to the jaguar’s sensitive nature. “Sorry?”

  “He died last night.” He slapped the top of his desk. “I still had plans, dammit. My brother says he thinks his heart finally gave out. It wasn’t unexpected during sessions, but we were between sessions, and he’d seemed to heal up quite nicely since the last one.”

  Before he could pull his hand back, she reached out and covered it with hers, waiting until his golden gaze locked onto hers. The dark energy she’d felt yesterday was still there. She sent out a powerful wave of her own to turn and counteract it.

  If she didn’t help him now, it would only get worse, until he succumbed to it and ruined his life.

  “Okay. Now your focus needs to be on your family, on Fiona. If it’s happened, it can’t be changed or undone, right? Move on.”

  “He killed—”

  “Yeah, a lot of people. Believe me, I know.” She concentrated harder, hoping he didn’t sense what she was up to. “Focus on your family now. On moving forward. On life. On healing. This is a choice you can make. To walk in the light, or to forever obsess over someone who’s now dead. What do you think your son and daughter-in-law would want? For you to obsess over Rodolfo, or raise Fiona in the light? What kind of example do you want to set for Fiona?”

  She held her breath as he stared at her for a long, silent moment. Inside him the dark energy churned, his vengeance, all grown from his own nurturing despite the seed germinating from Rodolfo’s actions.

  With great relief, she felt it begin to swirl out of him, like sewage down a drain as his entire body relaxed. His shoulders slumped and he turned his hand, palm up, and gently clasped hers.

  With tears in his eyes, he nodded. “Thank you, Elain. I needed that reminder.”

  She squeezed his hand tightly. “You’re a good man, Ortega. Use that good for good. This is a new Chapter for a lot of us.”

  He laughed. “I was going to bury him where I could spit on his grave every morning, and piss on it every night.”

  Elain arched an eyebrow at him, making him sigh. “I suppose I should have him cremated and scatter his ashes to the winds.”

  “Atta boy. There you go.”

  He leaned forward. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Very well.”

  “I smell Rosa’s famous crepes.”

  She grinned as the last of the dark energy left him. Hopefully for good. “I believe that’s my breakfast she’s working on.”

  He released her hand and stood to round the desk. On the other side, he held out a hand to her, waiting until she took his arm to head for the door. “Then let’s go to the kitchen. I did not eat yet. I certainly could do with some of her crepes myself.”

  She patted his arm and laid her head against his shoulder. “Fiona’s in school right now?”

  “Yes, she just left a little while ago. My wife took her. Why?”

  “Okay. Please do me another favor. Follow my lead when I reintroduce Ain to a certain someone, all right?” She looked up at him.

  “Of course.” One dark eyebrow gracefully arched as a smile quirked his lips. “Anything else?”

  She shrugged. “No, that’s all. You’ll be able to follow my lead.”

  He chuckled and certainly seemed a drastically changed man, his features now appearing softer, more relaxed than when she’d entered the office. “You are a curious woman, Elain Lyall. And you know I cannot refuse you anything. Not because you are our Seer, but because you are my friend and, because of you, I have Fiona and peace in my life.”

  They returned to the kitchen. Ain stood when Ortega entered. He reached to shake hands with the jaguar, but Ortega pulled him in for a hug. “You are considered family, Ain. No handshakes.” He clapped Ain on the back. “My associate will arrive soon to facilitate the paperwork. Have you decided on a name yet?”

  When Ain looked at her, the love in his gaze made Elain’s heart swell.

  Yeah, this was worth it, I guess. He looked happier than she’d ever seen him look before.

  “Would you like to tell him?” he asked her.

  “You can do it, Prime,” she gently teased.

  The baby was staring at them. Ain scooped him out of his carrier and proudly presented him to the jaguar. “Ortega, this is our son, Connor Aaron Lyall.”

  Ortega nodded as he reached out and gently touched the infant’s chin. “That is a very good name.”

  “And we’d like you to be his godfather,” Ain said, surprising Elain.

  Okay, a little off the reservation, but whatever. She hadn’t included that in the script she planted in his memory, but she wouldn’t argue with him, either.

  “Truly?” Ortega asked.

  “Well, yeah,” Ain said. “If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have him.” The force of the love washing from her mate as he stared at the baby in his arms nearly knocked Elain over. “I think the honor rightly belongs to you, my friend.”

  Ortega placed his hand over his heart. “I am deeply honored. I am proud to be your first son’s godfather.”

  They heard a noise and Elain turned in time to see Marston freeze in the kitchen doorway. He held Colleen in his arms and warily stared at Elain and Ain. Eight months old, the little girl looked painfully like her mother, including beautiful dark hair and grey eyes.

  Fortunately, like her mother, she did not bear the cockatrice scent. With the exception of Seers, she should be able to pass for wolf heritage with most shifters when she grew up.

  I’ll have to figure out something before then to mask that and protect her.

  “Martin!” Elain called out, as if they were old friends. “There you are. You haven’t met my husband Ain yet.” She walked over to him and forced herself to slip her arm around his waist and lead him over to the table. “Ain, this is the man I told you about last night, Martin Hillyard.”

  Ain genially smiled and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Martin. My wife’s told me a lot about you.”

  She would have burst out laughing at Marston’s shocked response, if it wouldn’t have thrown a fat-assed monkey wrench into her plans.

  He shook hands with Ain. “Nice to meet you, too, Ain.”

  Then Marston finally noticed the baby Ain held. “Eh, who is this little chap?”

  “This is our son, Connor Aaron,” Ain proudly said.

  She looked at Marston, who quickly glanced at her before looking away again. “He’s a very handsome chap. Resembles you both very much.”

  “Well, he’s adopted. His parents…”Ain choked up a little “But he’s our first child. And he’ll be a big brother in a few weeks,” he said, nodding toward Elain’s stomach with a smile.

  “They’ll grow up practically twins,” Elain said, finally releasing Marston, who had noticeably relaxed upon realizing he wasn’t about to be killed.

  They settled down to eat Rosa’s delicious food, with Colleen in a high chair next to Marston, and Rosa doting on her the entire time. Elain felt amusement from Ortega and confusion from Marston throughout the meal.

  They had just finished eating when Elain found a perfect opening. “Ain, would you mind taking the baby upstairs and changing him? I need a really quick word with Ortega and Martin. Seer stuff.”

  “Sure, babe.” He kissed her before taking the baby and heading o
ut of the kitchen. Once he was gone, she leaned in with a smile toward Marston. “See? Told you your teeth were safe.”

  He glanced at Ortega first before answering. “I don’t know if I want to know.”

  Ortega and Elain answered together. “You don’t.”

  He nodded. “Right. Martin Hillyard it is. Anything else I need to know?”

  “Your mate was killed by cockatrice, and Ortega is giving you and your daughter sanctuary to protect you both, and absolutely no one can know you’re here.”

  “I don’t know if I can remember that story,” Ortega playfully drawled with a smile.

  “Would it be better if I remained in my rooms while you’re here?” Marston asked.

  “No, because that would look weird to him,” she said. “It’s fine. He asks you any questions, just be honest and say it’s too painful to talk about. We won’t be here long.”

  “Anyone else we’re expecting?” Marston asked.

  “No, Lina’s not going to come blow you up,” she said. Then she shook a finger at him. “Colleen’s the only reason you’re alive, buddy. That, and I respect Ortega. Don’t forget it, Damocles.”

  “Believe me, I shall not.”

  “I’m thinking you need to grow a beard and mustache,” she advised. “Dye your hair lighter. And make sure to keep the weight off. Lina’s still calling you Fat Boy.”

  He nodded.

  Ortega chuckled. “Your discomfort amuses me greatly, Marston. Excuse me, Martin.”

  The older wolf was smart enough to not reply.

  She stood. “Great, that’s cleared up.” Then, to Ortega, “Your wife and brothers will be okay with this?”

  He shrugged. “The members of my household are all very trusted and know sometimes people need aliases. No one will question it. I shall talk with Fiona about it as well.”

  “Great.” She pointed at Marston again. “Might want to make that name change permanent, just in case.”

  * * * *

  Lacey hung up the phone after talking with Ortega. She didn’t know what was going on.

  She suspected she didn’t want to know.

  Their conversation was short, a courtesy call on his part to let her know that his longtime guest had finally crossed over.

  No love lost there.

  It was his innocent aside that he would drop by to say hello when he and Elain and Ain returned to Maine that gave her the insight she needed.

  Ortega apparently hadn’t connected the dots, but Lacey now understood her vision from the night before, of Rodolfo dying just as another baby joined the Lyall pack. Not exactly the way she’d interpreted it, but she knew Elain must have played a role in things.

  Her powers are growing faster than I thought.

  In a way, she felt proud of that. In another, it scared her. She hoped the young woman knew what she was doing and didn’t run afoul of Baba Yaga in the process.

  Or, perhaps worse, emulate the Immortal.

  Because if the baby boy her vision showed Ain holding in front of a Clan Council recognition hearing was really a wolf by blood, then she was a fricking Kardashian.

  It didn’t mean she wouldn’t go along with their ruse. She absolutely would.

  However, maybe Gigi’s sudden departure with Oscar following the battle meant more than everyone else thought.

  And maybe, just maybe, Baba Yaga had finally met her match in the sneakiness department.

  * * * *

  As the day progressed, it was obvious to Elain that the spell had completely worked. Ain had no memory of what he’d done to avenge his sisters, other than the story everyone else knew.

  He also had no idea their son had been born a cockatrice, or what Gigi did to make him appear to be a wolf. As far as he remembered, they’d first met him upon their arrival in Bolivia.

  That Ortega helped Elain bolster the story didn’t hurt any.

  The paperwork took less time than Elain thought it would. Ortega’s man actually worked for the American embassy, and was a panther shifter with a lot of experience in this area. He drew up adoption papers with fictitious birth parents listed, created a birth certificate for the baby, an adoption certificate listing Ain and Elain as parents, had a judge sign off on the back-dated paperwork, obtained the appropriate visa paperwork for the infant—all in less than eight hours, and all of it legitimate and able to pass official scrutiny.

  “He’s fast,” Ortega said with obvious pride as Elain and Ain flipped through the papers.

  “Damn,” she said. “You should hire him out to the state to revamp the department of motor vehicles.”

  “How much do we owe you?” Ain asked Ortega.

  The jaguar almost looked offended. “I will not have you paying for my godson’s paperwork,” he said before breaking into a smile. “Consider it my gift to you both. We will all come to the recognition ceremony, and make it a very big party to remember.”

  Elain asked Ain to take the baby upstairs to change him. Once he was out of earshot, she turned to Ortega.

  “Everyone will come to the ceremony except Martin,” she wryly corrected.

  The big cat nodded. “Well, yes. I don’t think he’s even set foot outside the walls since he arrived. Our pediatrician comes here for Colleen’s checkups and vaccinations.”

  * * * *

  Leaving Ain upstairs with the baby that night, Elain claimed Seer business and headed downstairs with the manila envelope of paperwork she’d taken from the diaper bag. She’d glanced through it earlier, but that was the extent of it. She’d used Connor’s exact date and time of birth, and the weight, and length, from his Maine birth certificate for his adoption paperwork and the false birth certificate.

  She hadn’t let Ain see those, of course. It was easy to keep him distracted by asking him to take care of the baby for her while she claimed Seer business with Ortega. Ain was more than happy to do it.

  Predictably, she found Ortega in his office.

  “A moment?” she asked.

  He nodded and waved her in.

  She closed the door behind her and pointed to the fireplace along the side wall. “Does that thing work?”

  He frowned. “Are you feeling all right?”

  “Yeah, peachy. Seriously.”

  “Yes, it is a real, working fireplace.”

  “You have a lighter on you?”

  He stepped out from behind his desk and walked over. From a small wooden box on the mantle, he removed a barbecue lighter and handed it to her.

  “Perfect, thanks.”

  “Do you wish to be alone?”

  “Nope. I got it. It’ll only take me a minute.” She dumped the envelope’s contents out on the stone hearth, this time looking through every paper.

  Some of it was scribbled notes, details, and contact information. Those last tidbits she took pictures of with her phone, verified she could read the pictures, then burned the paper copies.

  Some of the paperwork was from the hospital in Maine, where Connor had been born.

  His baby picture.

  She fingered it before taking a picture of it and then burning it as well. He was just over two weeks old. Not quite a newborn, but close enough. She could start his baby book as soon as they returned, using new pictures, and be close enough.

  She didn’t dare risk keeping paper copies of any of the originals. She would transcribe and pass on the notes and contact information from the papers to Blackie. She also burned the envelope.

  At last, no scent of cockatrice remained anywhere, except on her hands from handling the papers. And those she’d be washing almost immediately.

  As Ortega watched the paperwork char and curl, he softly asked, “A fresh start?”

  She nodded, not shifting her gaze from the ashes until she was positive every last paper was nothing more than wispy black remains. Those she stirred with a poker, relieved that she was now the only one, other than Gigi, who knew the full story.

  * * * *

  The next morning, Elain took a mome
nt to slip away and visit Marston in his suite before they left.

  He actually smiled as he stuck his chin out, head turned to the side, giving her a clear shot of his jaw.

  She couldn’t help but laugh and shake her head. “No, I’m not punching you.” She put her hands in the small of her back and stretched. “Not this trip. Ortega’s been giving me reports.”

  “Has he?” Colleen was busy trying to pull herself up into a standing position with the couch as her support. He hovered behind her, ready to catch her if she fell.

  “Yep. Said you’ve been father of the year. Just wanted to stop by and tell you to keep it up.”

  “Well, my oath stands firm.”

  “I know.” She watched him nervously keep his hands just behind Colleen, not supporting her, but at the ready. “Believe me, I won’t forget it.”

  He glanced her way before returning his attention to his daughter. “I know.” Colleen pulled herself completely up into a standing position, surprising herself. She looked up at her father before giving him an innocent, toothy grin that melted Elain’s heart.

  “One other thing,” he said, meeting Elain’s gaze. “Ortega has paperwork for her.” He nodded at his daughter. “Should anything happen to me, you and Ortega are named her guardians.”

  She blinked, shocked. “Huh?”

  He smiled. “You heard me.”

  “Wait. What? Why me?”

  “Because she is part cockatrice. She hopefully can be able to pass as wolf with most, but Seers might be able to tell. And, possibly, other cockatrice. That means her life will be in danger. There are only two people I trust with her life, who I know have the ability to protect her, and that’s you and Ortega.”

  She sat in one of the chairs, stunned. “Son of a bitch,” she whispered.

  “I know Lacey loves her,” he continued, “but Lacey is, no offense intended, far older than myself. And not a fraction as powerful as you, even in her younger years. You can keep her safe with your powers. Ortega can keep her safe with his money. Either option will work as far as I’m concerned, but Lacey has neither the financial wherewithal nor the extraordinary powers and influence of you two.”