by Eve Langlais
“Not this time. I won’t be gone long.”
The claim didn’t matter. The little girl’s lips turned down, and Jakob almost opened his mouth to say something that would cheer her. A look from Maze snapped his jaw shut.
“You have to protect Pappy from the bad guys,” Maze stated, instead of giving in to the cutest face ever. Seriously, Jakob was fairly certain the child was part witch. She’d definitely bespelled him.
“I do?” the little girl breathed, her eyes wide. She wore a long T-shirt that went down to her knees, a cast-off of Maze’s he’d wager, given it bore a faded Led Zeppelin logo.
“Pappy is getting old,” Maze continued, ignoring her father’s snort as he turned away lest his amusement give away the truth.
Jakob wandered closer to the old man and in a low hush said, “Any way you can tie Maze up and keep her here with you?”
Herbert cast him a sardonic gaze. “And die the moment she gets loose? You know she has a temper.”
He did. He’d seen it on more than one occasion, over the top and extreme, like her decision to break up with him before he’d even left on his first mercenary tour.
Then refusing his calls.
“She’s in danger if she sticks with me.”
“She and that child are in danger every single day.”
Being a shifter meant taking extra precautions, but Jakob had always accepted it as a fact of life. “Has she told you about my problem?”
“That you’re an asshat who wouldn’t know responsibility if it bit you in the ass?”
He blinked. “Uh, not that problem. And I had my reasons at the time. I was talking about the fact my roo is now a panda.”
Herbert turned to stare at him. “Repeat that again. Slowly.”
“My mother turned me into a panda.”
“Did you hit your head on the slide?”
“He’s telling the truth.” Maze sidled close, Peach on her hip, sucking a thumb, her head tucked against her mother.
“He’s a bear? But how?” Herbert eyed him more closely, his gaze tracking up and down. “His smell…”
“Is off, I know. I didn’t notice before because of the reek of him. If I didn’t know him better, I’d say he was—”
“Human!” Peach pointed.
Jakob grimaced. “Now that’s not nice.”
“How fascinating.” Herbert leaned close and sniffed.
“The Council needs to know what’s happened to him. What his mother is capable of.”
“I don’t want Teddy to go bye-bye.” Peach reached for him. At a loss, he reached back, and she climbed into his arms and patted his cheeks. “I like your bear.”
He gave Maze a panicked look before managing, “Your cat’s pretty cool, too.” The right answer apparently since the child beamed.
“Can you roll like Po?”
“Who?”
“Kung Fu Panda,” Maze snickered. “I told you, you need to watch those movies.”
“Po’s a good fighter,” Peach added. “And funny.”
A side eye directed his way assessed him for comical attribute. He tried a smile. Hoped it didn’t send her screaming.
Herbert cleared his throat. “I want to know more about this bear thing. Can you still skinwalk into your kangaroo?”
The next hour was spent talking about everything that had happened to him, with Maze finally getting the full version. Bored by the grownup talk, Peach fell asleep in his lap, a warm bundle of fur since she chose to be a cub to nap.
More than once he caught Maze staring at him, her brow knitted into a frown as if puzzled. He was feeling off kilter himself and not because of his panda.
There was something very real and comfortable about having a child put her trust in him enough to watch her while she slept. Something captivating about the way her mind worked. And when she looked at him… He wanted to give Peach anything she wanted.
And that went double for her mother.
There were only two caves set up for sleeping, and he got one of them to himself. A solid stretch of uninterrupted slumber saw him waking feeling energized and clear minded.
Time for him to make smarter decisions. Starting with not involving innocents in his problems.
He tiptoed out of his cave. The other one still had its leather curtain closed.
Before going to bed, he’d scouted two tunnels leading away from the lake. The one wide and welcoming, with scents galore. He chose the smallish one that he needed to heave himself through specifically because it had no smell at all. A hidden passage.
He’d grabbed his bug-out bag on his way out of the camp, moving quietly lest he wake them and have to make them understand this was for the best.
The tunnel twisted and churned before spitting him out amongst a rocky outcropping surrounded by stunted foliage—and Maze.
She sat on the ground with her back against a fat-boled tree, reading a book of all things.
“Took you long enough,” she stated, placing her bookmark in her spot before stashing it in her pack.
“You were supposed to be sleeping.”
“I did. And when I woke up, it occurred to me you might do something stupid and macho.” She rolled her shoulders.
“And here I was going for stoic and brave. I’m going alone. It’s for your own protection.”
“I don’t need you protecting me. I’ve been doing fine on my own.”
“If not yourself, then Peach. You saw what happened. Being around me puts her in danger.”
“What your mother is doing puts us all in danger.” A somber reminder.
“You’re stubborn.”
“And you’re still dumb. But cute.” She popped to her feet and patted his cheek. “Now, if you’re done whining, we’ve got miles to hike before we make it to the dune buggy I’ve got stashed.”
“Did you say dune buggy?” If ever there was a moment to fall in love with a woman, this was it. The point of no return.
He loved her even more once she took the wheel and peeled through the barrens and the forests, jostling and bouncing them as she drove too fast, but not recklessly. She handled the buggy like a pro.
“When did you learn to drive like this?” Because, when he’d known her, she’d owned a battered Beetle and tended to drive at a sedate pace.
“A few years ago. I took defensive driving, followed by high-speed chase.”
“Why?”
She cast him a quick glance. “Because.”
“Because isn’t an answer.”
“I know.”
In that moment she reminded him of his own reply when he’d announced he’d accepted a mercenary position and would be out of country for a while.
“Why do you have to go?”
“Because.”
He now understood what a shitty reply that was.
Which was why the words tumbled out of him. “I didn’t leave because I wanted to,” he shouted over the growling engine.
“Even if you didn’t want to, you decided. You. Not us, even though we were a couple.” Her fingers tightened on the wheel.
“I had no choice. None of us did. Me and my brothers agreed to a two-year contract of missions to keep Uncle Kevyn alive instead of six feet under.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Uncle K got caught with his paw in the cookie jar. The Council gave us a choice. Either we complete some missions equivalent to what Uncle K took or they would make an example of him.”
“Let’s say that’s true. Why the heck wouldn’t you have told me?”
“Because the deal was secret.”
“I would have never told.” She sounded offended, and with good reason.
“I know. But at the time, I was young and stupid. I thought everything would turn out fine. We’d do a few missions, you’d forgive me, and—”
“We’d live happily ever after? I save lives, Jakob. I don’t take them. Did it even occur to you how I’d feel about dating a killer?”
He winced. “No
t all of our jobs involved people getting whacked.” And most of those who did get taken out deserved it.
“Even one is too many. And now is not the time to rehash the past.”
Except there was no better time, because who knew what tomorrow would bring?
They reached a town where she accessed a garage, kept locked with keypad, where she traded the dune buggy for a two-door Honda Civic.
As she locked the garage, he couldn’t help but say, “How many hidey spots do you have things stashed in?”
“A few,” was her vague reply.
He was beginning to wonder why.
For this leg, she let him drive, and she pulled a new phone out of the glovebox. She had to plug it in, but as soon as she had signal, she was dialing.
He heard the reply. “Hamster House of Horror, Betty speaking.”
“Hey, Betty. It’s Maisy. I need a favor.”
“Oh?”
Maisy sighed. “Sometimes the wheel spins so fast my hamster gets dizzy.”
Which must have been code because Betty said, “What do you need?”
“Two tickets to Canada and transportation to FUCN’A. I’ll need a suitcase, too, men’s clothing, shirt size extra-large. Thirty-four inseam, thirty-six waist. Make that thirty-eight waist.” She eyed him and made him conscious of the pounds he’d packed on.
He chewed on the bamboo utensils they’d found in a kitchen equipment store.
“Can you warn the Academy we’ve got an incoming potential target? Confirmed tampering of genetics. The subject will require confidential one-on-one treatment and training.”
“Oooh, sounds positively delicious. Is he cute?”
Maze ignored Betty’s question. “I’ll want full lab access and notify Dr. Nolan Master, as he is familiar with Mastermind’s work.”
“Did you find one of the escapees?”
“No. This is the work of the copycat.”
“Don’t you mean copy quokka?” he muttered.
After her call to Betty, he put in a quick one to his brothers. His da answered. “Who is this?”
“It’s me, Dad.”
“Boy, where are you? What happened to Maisy and the kid?”
“They’re fine. We all are. We had a spot of trouble and hid in the bush until we could shake it.”
“We were worried when we got word her place was torched,” his father said softly. Not softly enough. Maisy stiffened.
“Ah shit. Did she lose everything?”
“Yeah. But you tell her we’ll help her rebuild. Klaus already has some plans drawn up to give her something bigger, with a proper room for her to treat patients.”
“I’m sure she’d like that.”
A few more platitudes and he hung up. Maisy had her arms crossed.
“I’m sorry about your house.”
“I know you are. And it’s not your fault. I was planning to leave anyhow.”
On her terms, with her things. This had to hurt. “We will rebuild.”
“So I heard. Do you know how many times they’ve offered already?” She snorted. “Guess I won’t have a choice now. If I stick around.”
“Where else would you go?” he asked, switching his gaze between her and the open road.
“The Academy offered me a position. Not only would it pay enough to allow me to live comfortably, I’d be doing what I love in a properly equipped environment. Peach could go to school with other kids like her and have the added benefit of learning at the Academy.”
“But it’s Canada.” One thing to visit, but to live?
She rolled her shoulders. “Why not? I hear it’s quite lovely.”
“And cold.”
“I have fur to keep me warm.”
Technically, so did he. And a layer of pudge now, too. Poke it and die.
“What about your dad?”
She sighed. “He’s the reason I haven’t accepted yet. How can I tell him that not only is his daughter leaving but so is his best friend and granddaughter?”
“Maybe he would join you.”
“As if he’d ever leave his home.” She snorted.
“You never know.” People would do a lot for love. Once upon a time, he’d given up the woman he cared for most in the world for family.
Now he was ready to forsake it all and even consider Canada if it meant a second chance with Maze.
Pity Mother didn’t make him into a polar bear.
9
Jakob kept tossing out mixed signals. One moment he was flirty and acting as if he’d seduce her, the next barely looking at her. Hot and cold. What did it mean? What did she want?
I want him.
She’d been with him less than two days, and yet that was all it had taken for all the old feelings to come rushing back, probably because they’d never left.
She loved Jakob Jones. Even if he was a dumbass. Even if he was a clumsy panda bear.
Being near him only reminded her of how good she felt with him. Which was why it had hurt so much when he’d let her down. He’d apologized. Said things would be different. That he was different.
Could she trust him? She wasn’t sure if she wanted to risk finding out. Yet, here she was, making plans with him.
It took some string pulling, but within a day, they were on the long flight to Canada. At least they were in first class. They almost had the section to themselves, only three other passengers having paid for the upgrade. Just before the doors closed, about a half-dozen humans boarded and took seats in the row ahead of them and two of the rows across—at least she hoped they were human. With her shit sense of smell, who knew? Jakob certainly didn’t act worried and relaxed in the last row of seats for their class, the partition wall just behind them.
As the plane taxied, Jakob said, “Tell me more about this Academy we’re going to and why you’re thinking of joining it. I thought you loved your practice.”
“I do. Did. But I’ve got Peach to think about. She needs to go to school. To make friends. To be able to ride her bike to a store and buy herself some overpriced treats. To go to the movies and hang out at malls.”
“You do know malls are pretty much a thing of the past.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Don’t remind me I’m getting old.”
That brought his rich laughter. “Baby, we aren’t even halfway to old. Still got plenty of life kicking around inside me.” His smile was genuine and wide enough to pop that dimple she loved. The one she used to trace with her fingers.
“You’re right; I am still young, and I should be doing more with my life.”
“I’d say you’ve done plenty of good already. Everyone knows Doctor Williams.”
She almost blushed, and she did her best not to squirm. “I’m not doing anything special.”
“Other than helping anyone who shows up on your doorstep, including shitty ex-boyfriends.”
“You weren’t always entirely awful.”
His grin turned rueful. “Good to know. So you want to give your kid a chance to explore somewhere a little more lively. Why not just move closer to a town instead of an entirely different continent?”
“I’d prefer to stay in Australia, but there are no labs that can help me do the kind of medical research I’m interested in.” There were only human science centers, which, for obvious reasons, she couldn’t exactly use. The only option would be to work for Jakob’s mum, and she wasn’t sure she could do the whole supervillain thing.
“It’s so far.”
“You’re one to talk. Didn’t your job take you around the world?”
“Yeah.” He grimaced. “Which is how I know it’s true when Dorothy said there’s no place like home.”
“I don’t have a home anymore.” A somber reminder that her home had been torched.
“And I am so sorry about that.”
His contrite expression had her adding, “I don’t blame you. Much.”
“You should. I’m the reason your place is gone.”
It was, along with all her things an
d memories. Thank goodness her dad had a stash of her most precious mementos, not to mention she’d created hidey holes in case something like this happened. It had been Peach’s sad, “I don’t want to say goodbye,” while rubbing the wall a year ago that got her moving.
She wouldn’t call her daughter psychic, but when Peach spoke about things that hadn’t yet happened, she’d learned to listen. Peach had yet to be wrong.
So was she happy her home and practice got burned down? No, but she’d been expecting it. “Don’t worry about it. This gives me the nudge I’ve been needing.”
“More like a shove. I promise, once I’m done at the Academy, I will do whatever I can to help you and Peach settle somewhere, even if I have to build you a house myself.”
She snorted. “You with a hammer? I’d better make sure I have some tincture for bruises.”
“Are you implying I suck at home repair?”
“I’m sorry, do I need to be more obvious? You do suck at home repair. Or have you forgotten the spice rack?”
The reminder was of the hideous thing he’d built her for all her jars. He’d slaved over it, sanded it—too much in some places, giving it an uneven appearance—and then hung it without the benefit of a level so it sat at a tilt. When they broke up, she’d replaced it with a store-bought one that she installed herself—straight, she might add.
“I was still learning,” he protested.
“Your skills lie in other directions,” was her reply.
“I swear I’ve gotten better.”
“Good for you.”
“I really screwed shit up bad, didn’t I?”
“Yes.” They also weren’t the same young people still learning their way in the world.
“Any chance you’ll ever forgive me?”
“No.” She said it quickly, lest her rapidly beating heart give her away.
“But…”
“You asked. And I said no.” Never mind that she wanted to scream yes. She wasn’t about to let him hurt her again. She’d maul him first. “Get some sleep.” She turned away from him and closed her eyes.
The hum of the engines muffled conversation in the cabin. Soon the lights dimmed as well, but the gloom didn’t lessen how ultra-conscious she remained of the man beside her.
A sucky nose didn’t make her unaware of his scent. He filled her senses. Familiar and yet different. The proximity of him enough to arouse.