by Erin R Flynn
“We know that now,” Hagan huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “But you kept drifting to him. Sitting by him at stuff or calling on him first.”
I opened my mouth to defend it but then closed it when I realized it was true. I shook my head, knowing they weren’t going to like my answer, but then Reagan had begged me to talk to them, so I did. “He’s like you guys used to be, knowing what I need without asking. Or asking how I wish things were. He helped uncomplicate the new problems that kept popping up, along with Alok and Tasar.”
“And you took that as our no longer loving you? No longer fighting for you?” Reagan asked, a bit of anger in his tone. I shrugged, not really having an answer. “We were drowning in all you had already given us, Sera. Just because we didn’t constantly report in with you or ask what we could do next because we were so bogged down doesn’t make us any less—”
“I know that,” I snapped, tears burning in my eyes. “I’m not talking about the big responsibilities. I know how much you both do. I’m talking about at meals when he asks if I’ve had enough tea because I’m tired and probably dehydrated. He notices stuff like that enough to care. Just like I ask you guys about meals and food because I know you’re run down.”
“Okay, I get the discrepancy,” Hagan whispered when he saw I was about to cry. “When we met, everyone was harping on you, lecturing about everything. We didn’t want to seem like nagging. It’s a fine line between being caring and nagging.”
“I never yelled at you for nagging. I yelled at Riley who does nag and is a dick to me most days. I appreciate the concern, but I’m a big girl who can tell someone when I’m not happy.”
“But you weren’t, Sera,” Reagan argued. “You were numb almost, and you weren’t saying anything was making you unhappy.”
Well, they weren’t wrong, but they weren’t right either because if someone was making me happy or I kept going to Dain, then there was a way they just didn’t see or know how to help. Everything was too complicated, and I was glad when Alena interrupted that we had to go before we went around in another circle of what we all did wrong.
15
On the way back to the club, I made a lot of calls and received a few about some surprising things. One of which was my councilwoman buddy who had decided to get on a plane with several of her people to work directly with Jason and our FBI, worried about the depth of it all and how many hands were involved that needed to be cut off.
The rest I had to call in some wolves—and I had a lot of them luckily, as many already had recent jobs to protect us—to handle several last minute details.
When we pulled up to the service entrance of the club, it was a zoo. I rolled my eyes and headed in, wondering if anything was going to ever not contribute to my blood pressure.
“What do you mean there’s a bachelorette party at two of the big tables tonight?” Jacqueline asked, her tone taking on a hysterical edge to it. “No one told me!”
“It’s in the reservation book,” one of the hosts replied. “It’s been there since we announced we were taking reservations.”
“We will develop a new system of letting you know when people order cakes in advance,” I cut in, understanding where the conversation was going. “Can you get something by eight or closer to nine since they’re eating dinner at eight?”
“Yes, but I’m also supposed to be working on the baby shower and the party tomorrow and—”
“I called Noe and asked a favor, Alpha to Alpha because this baby shower could throw us extra positive publicity we need as a community,” I said, rubbing her arms as I tried to calm her. “He will talk to his hawk you’re doing the party for about this not being on you but something we all need.
“To apologize for not having you there to teach them how to frost and decorate themselves, I asked Ashley Powell and a few of her friends that are our wolves to pick up tons of crazy toppings from bulk candy, plus cans of that squirt frosting that glues them or whatever. She said she’s got it. She will come get the cakes before the party, bring it all there, and help out. It’s covered.”
“Okay, good, the cakes are done,” she sighed, leaning against me. “I shouldn’t have taken that job opening weekend. I’m so sorry, Alpha. I should have remembered how crazy it can be at a new place.”
“You asked and we said it was fine. No one could have planned the baby shower fiasco. Do the best you can.” I could feel how depleted she was, so I slanted my mouth over hers and gave her some power. I wasn’t even pushing her power level up, but getting her closer back to normal she was so drained.
“Thank you, Alpha.”
I called Ashley and added some penis candies or whatever else she could find to fill a secret chamber cake for a bachelorette party. It was a blessing she was a high school senior who didn’t have the last two periods and got out early, and drove. I’d used her to do stuff like this for me way too many times lately.
While I’d handled all of that, Theon and Alena had caught up everyone on the security front, Noah agreeing he was best to handle protecting the boys at Timequake along with Remus, Jake, and a few others Vlad had to help while he left to handle other things before he returned tonight.
Before I walked into my next headache, I fed from Goran and Zlat, glad they were on hand too. They were going to handle getting people to the house with Harris and my FBI teams to intercept the six that were coming, thinking they’d hit the boys.
“What have we here?” I asked as I reached the big table closest to the kitchen and found all of the boys working with chocolate.
“The lip chocolate molds came in the delivery today because of some delay,” Leo explained. “We helped get the caramel into the smaller sized molds and frozen, and now we’re getting them in the middle of these bigger molds so they’re chocolate caramel lip candies. Gayle said she’d handle painting them since airbrushing is airbrushing and working with the red luster is no big deal.”
“Poor Jacqueline,” I groaned and then thanked them for their help. It had been my stupid idea to give every customer a chocolate treat in the shape of lips for a Siren’s Kiss instead of after dinner mints with the check. Everyone had loved the concept, but unfortunately, things kept getting messed up. At least they’d gotten the right ones, Leo promising to handle returning the ones that didn’t work.
Chocolate molds were hard to really get much from by pictures or distributor dimensions. We’d had to order a bunch to find the right fit or Jacqueline would spend way too much time making the candies herself instead of the smart way of making the centers in smaller molds, freezing them, and covering them with the chocolate so the warm chocolate would defrost the centers and be all gooey.
“Congratulations on your victory,” Eva greeted Alena and me.
“They were not all caught, so we must be on the highest guard,” Alena warned her. “And it wasn’t as much fun when they have to be taken alive. Your granddaughter is immensely skilled in these sorts of hunts. I really did nothing but look fabulous.”
“You always do, Daughter,” Eva chuckled. She nodded to a table up front. “You may still have people to gut yet.”
I kissed her cheeks when Alena moved away and looked over to where she was talking about. Simone looked ready to pull out her hair, sitting with four other women, one older than the others. I frowned, guessing it was the baby shower thing and not happy it wasn’t going well.
“Never a dull fucking moment,” I grumbled as I headed towards them.
“Yes, you will probably be treated as a servant, as you are a civil servant, and she referred to me and our family as immigrant leeches who just want the too easy to get visas,” Eva practically sang, rage and mirth all in one long info dump as she headed off to handle something or play with more makeup.
I threw back my head and laughed, interrupting whatever else was going on, sitting on the table across the aisle from them and looking at them each in turn. “You understand that Eva Dorcas, and even Alena Dorcas, have the ear and are one of the Gr
eek Prime Minister’s advisors. There is no world in which your ignorant assumption of them trying to get visas or blasting them as lowly immigrants is anything other than offensive to them and immigrants.”
“Yes, especially since you are immigrants to me and mine,” Laila purred from the front entrance to the restaurant. She smiled when I gave her a shocked look. It was also funny given Eva just went out one door and she came in another. “We pushed up the flight, as you both always have so much to entertain me with, Alpha Sera and Alpha Simone. We were actually delayed, so we should have been here earlier.”
“Welcome to the party, Queen Laila,” I joked, walking over and hugging her.
She returned the gesture but then frowned. “You did not get them all.”
“No.” That was all I was going to say in the mixed company.
She glanced past me and nodded. “Let me help, my friend. I believe I can be much aid in this.” I gave a slow nod, and she cupped the side of my face. I felt her power trickle over me. “I understand. I will share these pictures and images with the fairies in mine and your security.”
“You can do that?”
She smiled at my shocked tone. “Of course. I am queen.”
“Now I’m glad I have lots and lots of presents for you.”
It was her turn to laugh as she headed towards the kitchen after I pointed her the way to meet up with Dain and everyone else. Good. We had more and more awesome help. It made me feel much better.
One of her party caught my eye, his body and bright eyes exactly mine and my siren’s type. I shook my head and sat back on the table. Maybe it was the formal clothing of court. Those nifty vest cloaks and low hanging pants made anyone with a nice body look super hot.
Or I was stressed out and that made my siren try to relax me… In the sex kind of way.
“Now, how’s the meeting going?” I asked Simone, not hiding that this was a huge inconvenience but keeping it somewhat civil so I didn’t hurt the club.
“So far, I’ve been told we’re going to give massive discounts or Mrs. Evans here will broadcast it everywhere how much of a dump our place is and that people like us, animals, should not be allowed to serve any real people,” Simone answered, looking tired and worried at what I would do.
“Not me, my mother-in-law,” the young Mrs. Evans—married to the football star and friend to paranormals—clarified as she and her friends rolled her eyes.
“They better give us half their normal prices, or I’ll put them out of business before they even open.”
“Hey, I just happen to have handcuffs,” I chuckled, pulling them off my belt and moving towards the table.
“Are you going to cuff me to a stripper pole?” the older woman sneered, glancing around at the club with disdain. “I should bathe in disinfectant from just having entered such a filthy place.”
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were visually impaired as well as mentally deficient,” I purred, tapping my badge I still had flipped over my belt from when I was giving SWAT orders before I’d left the bust.
She snorted. The bitch actually snorted at me. “You have no jurisdiction over me. You’re a glorified park services fake cop, policing animals.”
“Right, because those humans I just arrested that even several intelligence agencies couldn’t bust was because I’m a fake cop.” I rolled my eyes. “On your feet.”
“You’re serious?” the nice Mrs. Evans whispered, her eyes wide.
“Yeah, blackmail is a serious crime. She just blackmailed a shifter establishment in front of a federal agent. That’s not something I just ignore because I’m part owner. Hell, it would make me as stupid as her.” The mean Mrs. Evans gave me a look saying she dared me. I waved her to stand. “I’m not kidding. You just blackmailed a federal agent. That’s at least a year per item, and you said prices, so you categorized all services as their own items.
“That means beverages is their own year. Appetizers, using the hot tubs, cake, every course, dessert, breakfast burrito bar Simone was thinking, plus anything and everything we can split up to an individual item. I bet we could get at least twenty. Probably two dozen if we tried hard.”
“We’re leaving,” she spat at me as she got to her feet, waving at her very pregnant daughter-in-law as if she was a damn dog to follow her.
It was my turn to snort as I grabbed her wrist and turned her around. “Yeah, you don’t get to decide that. If you leave the scene of the crime, it doesn’t make it not happen.”
“I do not understand her entitlement, as there is no family money anymore, and she feeds off her talented son like a leech,” Laila interjected, letting me know she was back and having fun at our show.
“What?” the daughter-in-law hissed, pushing herself up after she wiggled out of the booth. Man, that elder Mrs. Evans was a bitch just for making someone so pregnant slide in first so she could have the end seat. “All your talk about me being poor trash marrying him for the family’s vast fortune and it’s gone? I’m a self-made woman, and you lost your family’s fortune?
“I handle all of his contracts, make sure no more agents rob him or stupid clauses people slipped in before because no one was protecting him. I talk with his trainers even if they try to keep everything locked down. I make sure he always has outside doctors. I do everything to make my husband healthy, happy, and get everything he deserves, and you treat me like trash no matter how he yells at you because I wasn’t willing to be the reason he cuts you all off.
“But now you’re taking his money when you ranted that playing his ‘little game’ was beneath him and the family? You disgust me. You disgust him, and I’m done with your bigotry. I warned you that if you didn’t stop, I wasn’t letting our child around such low class filth that doesn’t have the upbringing and pedigree to respect those in law enforcement and self-made women. Don’t expect us to bail you out or that I’ll defend you, Mother. You’re the animal that needs to be locked up.”
“Well damn, I wasn’t really going to do it but scare her, but after that speech, I can’t not have your back,” I admitted, slapping the cuffs on the bigot and mirandizing her before pulling out my phone to call for a squad car. I sat her off to the side where she screeched and ranted until a few of Simone’s panthers who had come to sweep the whole building and parking garage to help my wolves stood by her. They were scary, so she shut up.
When the police showed up, wondering why the hell they were showing up for something federal, I pulled them off to the side and explained the situation. One looked ready to burst out laughing, and the other actually asked if we could call someone else. Needless to say, I asked why.
“Because I pulled her over once and got my ass handed to me with bullshit complaint records and IA coming down on me that I roughed up a mommy of one of the Chicago damn Bears,” he admitted.
“I can help with that,” I assured him and walked over to elder Mrs. Evans.
She was back to spewing shit about taking all of our badges and having me thrown in the zoo where I belonged. I lost my temper, and I saw Alena was too, and she wouldn’t be as nice about it.
I leaned in towards her, draping her in my influence as Alena had showed me to do with the terrorists so they’d answer all Brian’s questions without it spreading to everyone else. “I don’t give a shit who you think you are or how important you say you are in your tiny, bigoted world, but you’re didn’t fuck with CPD this time that has to play local politics to make your crazy ass happy. You screwed with a fed and a local leader with actual power.
“So you’re going to go with these nice policemen and correct your previous statement about any and all lies against any CPD. Then they’re going to take you to the FBI where you’re going to explain, in detail, what you said to threaten us and what you really think of all of us just so we get all your bigotry on record. Do you understand?”
She bobbed her head, smiling politely at the police when they helped her to her feet.
“I don’t even want to know what yo
u did, but I’ll come back and kiss your feet if this clears my record because it’s been hanging over me for too long and it was all bullshit,” the patrolman muttered.
I told him it wasn’t necessary, but I did like people actually liking me for once. Always a nice change.
“I didn’t know she had harassed the police like that, neither does my husband, for the record,” the nice Mrs. Evans grumbled, back in the booth on the edge. “So I won’t even object to whatever you did to her.”
“It’s legal,” I promised, smiling at her skeptical look. “You must be one hell of an attorney.”
“I am, thank you. Now what did you do?”
“Something that can’t make people lie, but just behave for a bit.” She opened her mouth to ask more, and I shook my head. “Telling you gives away what I am, and I’m endangered here, so I’m trying to keep it under wraps.” Her eyes filled with understanding. I’d basically said I was the siren in Chicago without saying it. But I was more distracted by her smell. “What are you?”
“What?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
“I smelled it too, but I didn’t want to say anything with her bigot mother-in-law near,” Eva informed me as she rejoined us for a moment. “She’s got a tiny bit of witch in her. You smell the essence of magic in blood. It’s impressive, Granddaughter. Most could not have.”
“I didn’t,” Simone confirmed. “But I got this feeling that I like her and I’m a bit more leery of humans, especially given who she came in with. That normally only comes from any of us.”
“Seriously?” Mrs. Evans asked, glancing between us. We nodded. “Well, cool. Can I do anything?”
“Maybe. Maybe not,” I muttered, scrolling through contacts after I pulled out my phone. I reached over and wrote down Nina’s number on a napkin. “Give Nina Jezebel a call and set up an appointment with her, and I’m sure she can tell you a whole hell of a lot more than I can.”