Demigod Down

by Kim Schubert

  Ali didn’t pick up on the hint though, clearing her throat. “Lorraine, would you be more comfortable next to Logan?” she asked sweetly.

  Grams grimaced and I grinned as Lorraine snarled at her, “No, I would not be more comfortable next to him.”

  Ali sat back shocked as she looked to Grams and me for guidance. Grams shook her head again and I gave her a low high five. Logan’s hands flexed into fits on the table, glaring at his fiancé, the muscles in his jaw twitching from repressed violence.

  Smoothly, Grams sat opening her leather bound organizer with one side ready for notes and the other the schedule we had prepared for everyone.

  Checking her gold Michael Kor’s watch she looked back to Logan, “Per the terms that all the parties agreed upon we shall begin in ten minutes with the issue of ownership of the 1950 Mustang.”

  Lorrain and Logan both nodded, glaring holes into each other.

  “This is going to be an awkward ten minutes.” I muttered, drumming my fingers against the table.

  Luckily we only had to wait six minutes and thirty-two seconds for the rest of the packs to filter in. They must have been waiting to give Lorrain and Logan time to get settled.

  I was surprised to see Jay and his mate looking at odds as well as she took a seat next to Lorrain and Jay next to Logan. Her red rimmed eyes looked everywhere except at her mate, but he couldn’t take his gaze away from her.

  Next in the lineup was Dean and two additional men I didn’t know. They were the only ones who looked to be in fairly good moods.

  Dean waved to me and I smiled back at him. “Any chance you have cookies to bribe the auditor?” I asked hopefully.

  Chuckling, he shook his head, “Sorry didn’t know bribery was allowed. You are looking well.”

  I cast a look at Jay’s mate. “It’s been a boring couple of days,” I replied. Jay’s mate hadn’t altered her gaze from the table in front of her.

  I turned to Grams, giving her the floor smiling. Nodding, she began. “We are going to begin with the issue of ownership of the Mustang,” she started.

  “Will Jay please raise his hand?” she asked crisply.

  Grumpily, Jay raised an arm clad in a leather jacket and cobalt blue silk shirt.

  “And will Jezebel also raise her hand?” Grams finished, looking at the woman in front of him.

  Tentatively, Jezebel raised a hand, still not looking up.

  Grams looked at me and I sighed. “I have a bad feeling about this,” I muttered.

  “We are just here to discuss the car,” she reminded me.

  I nodded, keeping my trap shut.

  “Jezebel, let’s begin with you,” Grams said gently.

  “I just need the car to leave. It was a gift to me from Jay for our tenth anniversary. The title is in both of our names, but it was a gift,” she said again, meeting his stone eyes.

  “She cannot leave. She is unstable,” he growled back, not bothering to look at us.

  I blinked back and forth to each of them. Jay was correct she couldn’t leave. She couldn’t be trusted on her own as a loner.

  Grams cleared her throat softly and said, “We are only here to settle the matter of ownership of the vehicle, not what is done with it after.”

  Turning, I looked at her. She was right. I nodded, sliding back in my chair, letting her have the floor.

  “Is the title here?” she asked.

  Jay pulled a worn piece of paper of his jacket pocket, handing it to Logan, who in turn transferred it to me. I opened it flat between Grams and myself.

  “This is old,” I muttered, looking back at the feuding couple.

  “How long have you been a mated pair?” I asked gently.

  Jay answered, leaning forward still not looking away from his mate, “Seventy-four years,” he answered. “And she wants to leave me now.”

  “How long has she been unstable?” I asked.

  Jay’s eyes rocketed to my own, ready for a fight, his jaw clenched in stubborn silence.

  “I have never hurt anyone,” Jezabel stated softly.

  I couldn’t help the scoff that escaped me as she met my eyes sniffling. “You choose to do that to yourself.”

  Grams put gentle pressure on my arm and I closed my mouth while shaking my head. “Right, we are only here to determine ownership of the mustang. Not if you in your unstable state are allowed to leave,” I stated.

  “You don’t understand,” she pleaded. “They want to kill me!”

  It took all my self-control not to comment on that one, tapping my fingers vigorously against the table.

  “I, as Mate won’t allow it,” Lorraine hissed, starring daggers at Logan.

  “You are not a mate,” I answered her quickly. “Furthermore you have done nothing to prove that you deserve the respect or loyalty of the packs.”

  The two men at the end nodded in agreement. Loraine turned to face me. “You are only here to decide ownership of the car,” she spat at me.

  I smiled, leaning forward, “Yeah, than I get to negotiate the wedding details for you and lover boy,” I said, grinning ear to ear. That bitch was going to pay.

  “That was not supposed to be on the agenda,” Lorraine hissed, looking at Logan.

  He shrugged, trying not to smile. “You told me to hire something to make the decisions.”

  Leaning forward, Lorraine slammed her palms on the table lifting her petite ass out of the chair. “I was referring to a wedding planner, you idiot,” she screeched her long dark hair dangling over her shoulders.

  Grams and I looked at each other in shock. Insulting a leader was dangerous, but insulting a shifter in front of his packs, was suicidal.

  Logan shrugged, not bothering to hide his smug smile having pissed off his fiancé. This was so much worse than I originally thought. Grams cast a long look at me and I nodded, silently acknowledging things were deteriorating in the Shifter Nation faster than I realized.

  Closing my eyes for a moment, I focused back on the task at hand - ownership of the car.

  Jezebel stood from her seat and began pacing the small area, far too close to Grams for my comfort. Grant rolled forward in his chair as Ali stood behind her and I stood slowly watching her erratic movements.

  “You don’t understand!” she cried, tears streaming down her blotchy olive skin, gulping down a breath of air. Moving around Ali and Grant, I placed myself in front of her uneven gait. She was too far gone in her rant to notice.

  “You couldn’t possibly understand. You bitch can reproduce! Do you have any idea how hard it is to carry child after child and have your body fail each and every one?” she screamed, turning her eyes towards me and searching mine for an answer, red rimming her pupils.

  “Pull it together, Jezebel.” I growled in warning, watching the twitching of her hands.

  “I can’t do this anymore.” Jezebel started off, softly sucking in a deep breath, “I cannot be his mate anymore! I cannot lose any more children and I cannot…”

  Moving quickly, I clamped a hand over her mouth. “I have given you one chance already, what comes out of your mouth now cannot be undone.”

  She nodded as I slowly lowered my hand and moved back. “I cannot sustain this life anymore nor do I want to,” Jezebel finished, turning to Jay.

  He stood, tears streaming unashamedly down his face. “Are you certain?” he asked, his voice broken with emotion.

  Silently, she nodded. Jay stood there shaking, rage at her choice and this horrible situation playing across his face. He loved her enough to fight for her, enough to try for her, but she didn’t or maybe couldn’t. In the end, it didn’t matter. She had just asked for death.

  My eyes sought out Logan’s, what he saw there brought him to his feet.

  “With your permission, Jay.” he said softly, finally the leader the shifters made an appearance.

  Jay nodded, falling back into his chair, seeing nothing.

  “You are a monster!” Lorrain threw at Logan before marching out of the roo
m.

  I blew out a breath. Well this was going to shit. We needed her for the rest of this arbitration and I really wanted to get Jezebel taken care of sooner rather than later. However, I couldn’t kill her here and not suffer some blow back. Human beings, as Loraine demonstrated perfectly, didn’t understand.

  “Gentleman, perhaps a break is in order?” Grams stated, closing her organizer.

  The two at the end nodded. “Give us time to get cookies.” The tall one said trying to break the thick tension.

  “I prefer chocolate chip,” I said with a smile. They nodded before heading out.

  I sighed, “You guys good staying here?” I asked Grams, Ali, and Grant.

  “You are going with them?” Ali asked uncertainly.

  I nodded. I began this arbitration and I would see it through.

  Logan adjusted his suit. “You aren’t needed,” he informed me, brushing lint off his sleeve.

  “Yes, she is,” Jay said softly. “She is the only one willing to see to the heart of the matter.” He moved towards the doors.

  “You need to hurry,” Grant warned, his eye out of focus. “The dead are gathering and she isn’t strong enough to stop a possession.” Did I mention Grant was from a long line of Gypsies? His skills scared the shit out of me.

  I nodded, turning to usher Jezebel out to the SUV.

  …

  Covered parking was a brilliant idea in the heat of the summer when steering wheel temperatures could melt nails off. Grunting, I slid into my SUV with Dean, Jay, Jezebel, and Logan riding shot gun.

  I hesitated, fiddling with the AC before asking, “Is there some place in particular you wanted to go?”

  I took my answer from the silence, having already decided where I would want to go.

  Ninety minutes later, we pulled up at the Shifter Cemetery where Logan’s grandfather was buried.

  “You come here often?” Logan asked me as we climbed out of the cool AC and back into the midday heat and humidity.

  “Sometimes,” I answered “the dead make great listeners.” I said, closing my door heading into the shade of the trees.

  I don’t know why I didn’t stop walking until I reached the grave I knew well, but I did once I got there.

  Jezebel knelt on the soft grass as Logan moved behind her, his eyes locked onto the back of her head.

  “Are you ready?” I asked softly.

  Jezebel lifted her tear-stained face to look at Jay, “I’m sorry,” she said before bowing her head once again.

  I took Jay’s hand and he squeezed it painfully. Logan’s eyes met my own and I nodded.

  Reaching down, his hands were quick, fast, and efficient. The bones in her neck broke instantly, separating from her shoulders, falling forward and lifelessly onto the ground.

  Jay rushed to her, brushing her dark hair back on a head that didn’t quite line up with her body anymore. Logan came to stand beside me.

  We both turned, hearing another vehicle in the gravel drive.

  “We made arrangements on our way out here.” Dean said, softly staring at Jezebel’s dead body.

  I moved to Dean, resting a hand against his forearm. “If you need anything, please let me know.”

  He nodded, meeting my dry gaze with his moist one. Turning I pulled Logan behind me passing the other clan members with a simple nod before loading back into my SUV.

  I could feel Logan’s hatred before we pulled out of the driveway. “I had to do it,” I said softly.

  “I hate it,” he growled.

  I sighed, letting out a deep exhale before I answered. “I know, but we have to keep them safe.”

  He scoffed at my openness. “You seem to enjoy it.”

  “Keep telling yourself that.” I answered, wishing Blake was here.

  On cue, the SUV’s Bluetooth system began to ring and Blake’s name flashed on the center panel.

  I hit answer, not caring that Logan was in the car. “Hi!” I greeted him, happy for the distraction.

  “Hey babe, you doing okay?” he asked, worried.

  “Yeah,” I answered, slouching in my seat, “Today isn’t going exactly to plan.” I hadn’t let him know about the arbitration I had signed up for.

  “Are you almost done?” he asked, rustling papers in the background.

  “Probably a few more hours. We haven’t even begun on the Logan and Lorraine wedding nightmare.” I answered, smiling at Logan who was scowling at me.

  “What a cluster fuck that is going to be, you’ll have to explain how you got roped into it,” he muttered. “The politics of the shifter nation is a train wreck right now and all the high and mighty pair do is more damage. It’s a damn miracle Logan hasn’t been challenged for the title.”

  “I know. I was actually thinking the same thing,” I answered thoughtfully. Logan shifted in his seat, arms crossed over his chest.

  “Probably has something to do with Kass and Darren getting married. You, my dear, are viewed as aligning with them and you are a powerful threat,” Blake said as a door opened in the background.

  “That’s a vicious rumor,” I muttered. “I have not aligned myself with the shifters, just Darren.”

  Blake laughed, “You know it doesn’t work like that.”

  I groaned. He was right. “A girl can dream.”

  “Yes, she can,” he said with a sigh. “I gotta go sweetie, not sure when I’ll be back.”

  “No worries,” I said with false nonchalance as the call ended.

  “He sounds busy,” Logan commented.

  “He is, Logan, just as I am, babysitting your ass, in case you hadn’t noticed,” I informed him, pulling onto the highway.

  “I noticed,” He growled.

  “Anytime you feel like correcting that, be my guest,” I told him forcefully.

  “It’s complicated,” He growled, sinking lower in his seat.

  “No, it’s not. You got to the top because you were the most powerful, just, and deadliest shifter there was. A stupid human does not change your roll, no matter how you wish you were different. We are the creatures that go bump in the night, that seek justice and create it in bloody ways when necessary. Do not forget that,” I informed him, hissing out a breath.

  We rode back to the hotel in painful silence.

  Neither of us could get out of the SUV fast enough once we were back in the underground parking lot, stomping our way back to the conference room.

  Logan opened the cream doors pausing a moment before moving aside to let me through. “Thanks,” I muttered at him, not sure what caused the sudden chivalry.

  Laughter greeted my ears as I jerked my head up from the carpet seeing Darren and Kass sitting at the end with glorious food spread out.

  “Hey,” I said, my voice betraying how relieved I was to see them.

  Darren smiled, standing to embrace me breathing in the scent of the graveyard and death as he pulled back, a question in his eyes before he turned to shake hands with his brother.

  “Thought you guys might be hungry,” he said as I grabbed a cheese sandwich and pickle.

  “Famished,” I answered, stuffing my face.

  Logan scooped up what appeared to be a turkey club sliding me a napkin and plate before setting himself next to Kass.

  We sat in companionable silence, Ali and Grant sliding in to get something to eat as well and hand out water bottles. The peaceful sound of our chewing was interrupted by Lorraine barging through the doors. I felt her hot hatred and irritation before I even turned to see who it was.

  Exhaling, she said nothing as she sat down next to me. Her arms locked across her chest, glaring daggers into Logan.

  “Would you like something to eat?” Kass attempted politely.

  “Not that crap. I do have a wedding dress to fit into,” Lorraine scolded as Kass pushed her plate back, fleeing from the room and Lorraine’s cruel words.

  Tendrils of pure hatred wove under my skin as I turned to her. “Insult her again and I will make you bleed,” I whispered softl
y.

  She scoffed, not believing my threat, “You can’t touch me. I am his fiancé,” she informed me smiling smugly, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back righteously in the chair.

  Not moving my body forward, I smiled flashing my flat white teeth, “How is your nose healing?” I whispered.

  Fear made the blood leave her face, but she was quick to recover. “It isn’t my fault she got herself knocked up before the wedding.”

  My hand rocked out against her cheek, whipping her head to the side with a satisfying crack. Turning to me, she was horrified to feel a thin tendril of blood seep down from her bottom lip.

  She turned to Logan, “Are you going to let her get away with this?” She screamed at him.

  Logan shrugged, “She warned you.” He answered, mouth full. “Not my fault you didn’t listen.”

  “You are supposed to protect me!” She hissed as the door opened and the other two shifters brought in a tearful Kass eating a cookie.

  They rumbled dissatisfaction and annoyance as they gently set Kass down next to Grams at her original seat, treating her gently.

  I smiled at her. “You okay?” I asked.

  She nodded, “Hormones.” She shrugged. “Olie, this is Jeff and Kent. Darren and I met with them a few weeks ago. They are the reason we are here today.”

  “Here I thought it was to feed me.” I answered, smiling gently trying hard to forget about the annoyance that was Lorraine.

  I cast a look toward Darren who had murder in his eyes at the mistreatment of his fiancé.

  Jeff and Kent moved to the other side of Logan and Lorraine to sit down awkwardly as Lorraine glared at me. “If you will, excuse me,” she hissed at Logan slammed up from the table. “I have to fix my face.” She said, hitting my chair forcefully as she left the room.

  Kass leaned over the table and shoved a cookie in my mouth. I bit down pinching my lip, my shoulders ridged as I turned to Kass. “Well played,” I said, my mouth full.

  She smiled as Darren took her hand across the table. “You are beautiful,” he said to her beaming with pride. “She is an idiot.”

  Kass sighed, taking another bite of cookie while casting an annoyed look at Logan.