They were innocent enough words, but Joshua felt like he’d been sucker punched by Talley Donovan, the sweetest girl in the world.
“I am not in love with Ada Jessup or anyone,” he said a bit too vehemently. “I barely know her.”
Talley was unperturbed by his tone. “I didn’t say you were in love with her. I said you were leaning that way. Sometimes, someone comes along and without even saying a word they make us lean. I’m sure if you ask Scout she can give you a nice, logical explanation involving chemistry and biology.”
“I’m not… I can’t be…” Joshua tried the hand scrub over the eyes thing again, but when his vision cleared he was still in the same eternal line with Talley. “She’s cute and smart and funny and has amazing taste in music, and I like her. I really do. She’s great.” She also knocked down every single defense he had, made him forget all the rules that governed his life, and spoke to his soul in a way no one else had in a very long time. “But I’m not going to fall in love with her, Talley. I don’t do that. Not anymore.”
Because she was as close to him as anyone had ever been, Talley knew about Evey and how she’d died. He’d told her the story in the beginning to let her know why he was willing to join her and Jase in their quest to take down the Alpha Pack. After all, who wouldn’t want to strike down the ruling body who let the Shifter who had beaten his fiancée to death get away with murder? So Talley knew how deeply Joshua had loved before and how it had nearly destroyed him. He expected her to understand and let it go, but instead she said, “A broken heart may never fully heal, but that doesn’t mean it no longer works. It’s been a long time, Joshua. No one would blame you for moving on.”
“It’s not about guilt over moving on, Tal.”
She tilted her head, sending dark hair cascading over her shoulder. “Then what is it about?”
He couldn’t put it into words, so he grabbed her hand and showed her. Because he was an Immortal, Talley didn’t have an all-access pass to his brain with just a touch like she did with everyone else, but they’d learned he could project specific thoughts and emotions into her mind. Careful to not overwhelm her, he gave her everything. The happiest days of his life when he was with Evey. The way she looked when he found her and the pain he felt as they lowered her casket into the ground. The long years without her. He also showed her the friends from his childhood who had died old men and the never-ending parade of funerals he’d attended for people he had loved over the years.
Not falling in love wasn’t about guilt or an unwilling heart. It was a survival tactic.
“Oh, Joshua.” Talley threw her arms around him and hugged with all her might. Because he needed it more than he cared to admit, he hugged her back until the guy behind him muttered something about getting a room.
“I’m sorry,” she said as he pulled away. “I knew it got lonely sometimes, but I never—” When rapid blinking failed to work, she rubbed away the tears in her eyes with the backs of her hands.
“There are parts to being Immortal they don’t put in the brochure.” Not that he’d asked Benjamin what the drawbacks to never dying might be when the man offered him a chance to avenge Evey’s death. All he’d needed to know was he would have several lifetimes to make sure what happened to Evey never happened to another girl again. It wasn’t until the first few decades slipped away he realized his mistake. By then it was too late.
“You know you’re not alone now, right?” Talley asked as they moved forward another spot in line. Now there was only one person standing between them and deep-fried goodness.
“I know.” But he also knew one day Talley and Jase and the rest of his friends would die, and he would be left with an eternity without them.
Chapter 9
“Where in the Hades have you been?” Scout Donovan asked as Joshua, Talley, and Angel paraded past them with boxes filled with corn dogs, cheeseburgers, onion rings, french fries, and an assortment of milkshakes. “We sent you guys out to get food like two hours ago.”
Jase snagged a fry out of Talley’s box and threw it in his mouth.
“Fries are cold.”
“We’ve been standing out in the heat for hours waiting on the order someone was supposed to call in,” Joshua said as he allowed himself a full three seconds to imagine chopping off his best friend’s head with the sword he had strapped onto his back the moment they exited the car.
Jase’s second stolen fry paused just shy of his lips. “I know you’re not trying to blame me,” he said. “I told Angel to do it.”
Joshua turned slowly toward the slightly sunburned girl behind him. “Angel?”
“I’m sorry.” Angel blinked her eyes in slow-motion twice and then pulled in the corners of her mouth to make her bottom lip jut out slightly. “I forgot.”
“One, Jase has already taken the role of the forgetful, absent-minded sibling. That means you’re forced to join me in the ranks of responsible people,” Scout said as she took the box from her sister. “And two, that look isn’t nearly as effective as it was when you were five. It’s time to retire it.”
With silent understanding, Joshua and Jase decided it would be best to not correct Scout on her second point. She really didn’t want to know how often the two of them still fell victim to puppy dog eyes.
Before Angel could retaliate and start yet another epic Donovan sister snark-off, Joshua asked, “How are things going here? The temperature in the room okay, or do I need to call the maintenance staff?”
Joshua didn’t actually care about the temperature in the room where the heads of some of the more prominent packs were waiting for their food and a couple of hours of the Alphas’ time. They were Shifters, the full moon was a week away, and it was June in Kentucky. They would claim to be too hot even if the thermostat was set on forty. But when everyone in the next room was blessed with super-hearing and was overly interested in everything you said, you learned to use code.
“It’s a balmy seventy-four with a north-west breeze and humidity at thirty percent,” Jase said. “You might want to consider calling in the lifeguards.”
Balmy seventy-four? North-west breeze? What kind of code was Jase using?
Liam, who was doing his taciturn, stand-and-glare-for-fun thing in the corner of the room, threw an orange and hit Jase in the head.
“The room is soundproof,” Scout explained. “Apparently the fancy people who have dinner parties here don’t want to accidentally hear kitchen noises.”
Talley picked the orange up off the floor and began peeling it. “So, how are things? Any major cranky pants I need to know about before going in there?”
From the glance Scout shot Liam, Joshua knew he wasn’t going to like what they were going to say.
“The Kazan Pack claims to have been attacked by a Thaumaturgic,” Liam said. “Said she tried to drown one of their pups.”
Joshua’s legs were moving before he gave it conscious thought. His mind worked better when he was in motion.
“Did they get a look at her?” he asked.
Scout nodded. “Description matches the girl the Perry Pack claims they saw near the place where their pup got hurt.”
Joshua pulled his phone out of his back pocket and started punching in names and locations. “The Kazan Pack is in Greece. The Perry Pack is in Wales. And we can assume she’s responsible for the damage to the DuBuque Pack Den in France.” Not for the first time, he mentally ran through the list of Thaumaturgics he knew, but it was useless.
Unlike Shifters and Seers, the relationship between Thaumaturgics and Immortals wasn’t a strong one. For one, their numbers were significantly lower. There were only eight Erelim in existence, and although the number of Thaumaturgics were once on par with Seers, Joshua wouldn’t be surprised if only a few dozen existed now. For another, they didn’t need one another in the same way the Shifters and Seers did. Like the animals they transformed into under the full moon, Shifters needed a strong, central family unit. In a species predominantly made up of males, fem
ale Seers were the center of that family unit. Immortals, on the other hand, were solitary creatures. With the exception of Joshua, they preferred to be on their own, and most Thaumaturgics were secretive about their powers. They didn’t exactly invite each other over for dinner and a discussion of their supernatural lifestyle. Still, Joshua had managed to cross paths with a few over the years. Unfortunately, none of them controlled water.
“What are we doing?” he asked no one in particular.
“Officially, we’re looking into it and taking every possible measure to identify this person and bring her to justice,” Jase said around a mouthful of corndog.
“And unofficially?”
“Sending out a few of the Taxiarhos and hoping like hell they catch her before she hurts someone else,” Liam said. “And in the meantime, we’re keeping Maggie and Charlie at the Den until the day of the wedding. The European packs are out for Thaumaturgic blood.”
Joshua nodded, already checking the security at their home just outside of Lexington with his phone. The four hour drive might seem like a long way to go when you’re driving back to Timber to see your parents for the weekend, but for someone who had endured a thirteen hour flight, it was nothing, especially if they had vengeance on their mind. Being an old pro at vengeance, Joshua understood how the Kazan or Perry Pack might not care that Maggie’s power was over the earth or that she was a member of the Alpha Pack. To them, she would only be a Thaumaturgic, and therefore the enemy.
“Anything else I need to know about?” he asked once he felt certain the farm was locked down tight. While the Stratego didn’t have official assigned roles, they all had their particular skills and duties. Charlie was the building and grounds manager for the Den, Jase took care of public relations, and with his tech skills, Joshua was in charge of operations. If there was even the faintest whisper of trouble, he needed to know about it. “The Bowen Pack behaving themselves?”
Scout rolled her eyes. “Snarky and passive aggressive to the point I’m about to get physically aggressive, but for them, that’s pretty good.”
“Hank and Miriam get in yet?”
“They’ll be here by dark,” Liam said, picking up a burger, pulling up the bun, and grimacing at the yellow cheese stringing from the bread to the meat.
Joshua tossed the Alpha Male a cheeseless hamburger. “What are you not telling me?”
Scout plucked off a piece of a bun and rolled it into a ball. “I had conversation with a Seer from the Young Pack today,” she said. “She’s a Dream Walker. Said she’d been having a recurring vision she thought I needed to know about.”
Dream Walker was a term used for a broad spectrum of Seers. What they could See in dreams varied from where forgotten items could be found to glimpses of the future. No matter what their Sight, though, a recurring vision was something worth paying attention to.
“She said she Sees the Alpha Pack searching a mansion for something we’ve lost. We’re tearing through the place, tossing couches over, ripping holes in the wall, the works.” Scout ran a hand through her hair. “When we finally find it, it’s a porcelain doll. She says it’s the most beautiful doll she’s ever seen, but part of its face has been smashed in.” Her eyes flicked over to her sister for just a fraction of a second, and when she looked back at Joshua, there were tears swimming in their depths. “And that’s it. She wakes up.”
Without the warning from the SHP mole they would have argued the meaning for ages, but now everyone was standing around trying their hardest not to look at the almost-teenager standing in the middle of the room, a pout the only thing currently marring her face.
“That’s this lady’s super-power? Weird dreams? Last night I had a dream where Scout got pregnant and when the baby was born it was a poodle. Does that make me a Seer now?”
Scout gave her sister a glare that would have made the most dominant of Shifters cower in a corner. “A poodle?” she asked her sister who met the scary Alpha stare with one of complete insolence.
“It was a cute poodle.”
Scout growled, and Liam snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her back against him.
“We have people to feed,” he reminded his mate. “Jase and Makya, you’re on waiter duty. Get this food out there and start with the smaller packs first. Let them know everyone in that room is on equal footing as far as the Alpha Pack is concerned.” He turned his attention to Angel, who was overly pleased with herself for getting under her sister’s skin. “Munchkin, you’re with me on Operation: Find Ketchup. There isn’t any in this kitchen, so we’ll have to drive down to the main lodge.”
Angel folded her arms over her chest. “Why do you need help finding ketchup?”
“Why do you have to be the only person to question everything I say?”
“It keeps you humble.”
Liam let go of Scout and walked toward the door, tugging Angel’s ponytail as he passed. “Well, right now I need you to keep me from dropping bottles of ketchup.” She still didn’t budge, so he added. “I’ll let you drive the golf cart.”
She was out the door so fast Joshua wondered if she might have picked up some Shifter speed from her siblings.
“I want a tracker on her,” Scout said the moment the door slammed shut. “And if someone even looks at her wrong, take them out. Lethal force.”
“Scout, you’re—“
Eyes like glowing ice pinned Talley to the spot. “No one is taking my sister away from me. Ever.”
“She’s surrounded by the strongest Shifters in the world, all willing to die to protect her. They would be stupid to try,” Talley said. “But if we’re going to be effective and not start a Shifter civil war, we need to stay calm and rational. Killing anyone who gets within a hundred feet of Angel isn’t calm and rational.”
“I know. I just…” Scout took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “God, this is stressing me out. It’s Angel. She’s not part of this. What kind of sick, evil, twisted person would attack a twelve-year-old just to get to me?”
“I can do a tracker,” Joshua said, already running through the set-up in his mind. “I’ve been working on a undetectable GPS small enough I should be able to fit it on a bracelet or necklace.”
A little of the tension in Scout’s shoulders disappeared. “Really? How soon can you have it?”
“If someone else can be on Angel duty this afternoon, then maybe by tomorrow morning?”
Joshua almost lost his footing as another body slammed into his.
“Thank you,” Scout said, her arms holding him in a steel cage. “You are my absolute favorite person on Earth right now.”
With a chuckle, Joshua wrapped his arms around Scout and squeezed. Hard. “You’re welcome,” he said as she tightened her own hold. They both kept increasing the pressure, neither giving up until Scout muttered, “I think you just broke one of my ribs.”
Joshua immediately let go. It wasn’t the first time one of them had broken the other when a hug turned into a who-is-stronger contest, but he didn’t want Scout to have to go in front of the other Pack Leaders injured. They would see it as a sign of weakness, and too many of them would take any sign of weakness as an invitation to Challenge the Alphas. Personally, Joshua thought they were all idiots. Why any of them would want the job of Alpha was beyond him.
“You good?”
Scout stretched her arms above her head and did a few experimental twists and shimmies. “Just bruised I think.”
“Do you need to Change?” Not every Shifter could Change at will, but Scout could, and since the transformation from human to wolf and back again healed all wounds, she often used it in place of a doctor’s visit.
“Nah, I’m good,” she said. “It’d take something a lot tougher than some gangly Immortal to damage me.”
They both knew she was lying, but other than a few quirks of his eyebrows, Joshua didn’t comment on it. After talking to Talley, he knew he and Scout needed to have a much more important conversation than exactly how hard he could
kick her pasty white ass.
Makya came back into the kitchen to grab the last box of burgers, and although the Omega had earned Joshua’s trust over the past few years, Joshua waited until he was gone again to say anything.
“So… I might have screwed up a little,” he said as soon as the door slammed shut.
Scout slid into a chair a bit more slowly than normal, her hand pressed to her side. “If it has anything to do with flowers, tulle, or cake, I don’t really care,” she said. “Well, I might care a little bit about the cake, but the other stuff can go have sexual relations with itself. I’m completely over this wedding planning stuff.”
“Maybe I should rephrase. What I meant to say is, ‘I have screwed up royally.’”
“What do you mean? You don’t screw up. You’re almost as bad as Talley when it comes to always being good.”
Joshua swallowed down the butterflies threatening to escape his stomach through his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I told Ada Jessup I’m an Immortal.”
Scout’s eyebrows shot up beneath her bangs. “And she believed you?”
“Well, she had some pretty compelling evidence with the rapidly healing gunshot wound.”
“Ada Jessup… isn’t she like twelve or something?”
Joshua raised his eyes to the ceiling and silently beseeched God to save him from the Donovan family.
“No, she’s not twelve. She’s eighteen.”
“Eighteen?” Scout scrunched her eyebrows together. “I thought she was a lot younger than us. I remember sending her dolls and coloring books when she was in the hospital. I swear to God that was like last year or something.”
He desperately wanted to ask, but he bit it back. Ada would tell him when she was ready.
He didn’t question his absolute conviction she would be ready to tell him someday, and he would be there to hear it when she was. It was best not to examine those thoughts and feelings too deeply. Talley was right. He was leaning too far as it was already.
“That’s right,” Talley said. “Ada was the girl we all sent cards to when we were in middle school. She was like eight or something then.”
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