by Tara Lain
The next second, Jazz was carrying a monkey.
“You got him?”
He nodded.
She started down, and Jazz followed with the boy clinging to him. Below, people gasped and whispered.
After a couple of minutes, Carla touched the ground, and her mother grabbed her into a hug. Several men waited at the base of the tree to take the kid from Jazz, but the only one who could pry him from around Jazz’s neck was his mom.
She pulled him into a bear hug, but the kid was laughing. “Wow, mom, Superhero Jazz recued me. That was so cool!”
“Randall, if you ever do anything like that again, I swear I’ll… I’ll leave you up there and”—she glanced at Jazz—“so will Superhero Jazz. Is that clear?”
He nodded but still grinned at Jazz. She stared at Jazz above the boy’s head and mouthed, “Thank you.”
He smiled. “No problem.” Wiping sap from his hands, he walked back to the table where Carla was sitting beside her mother, getting yelled at like poor Randall.
He sat across from them.
Carla flashed some teeth at him.
Jazz said, “Nice there, crazy person.”
“Back atcha.”
Jazz looked up and found Lysandra Mason and her nephew gazing at him with small smiles. Lysandra said, “You two are quite a dynamic duo.”
Jazz gave Carla a look. “I’ve been dragging this woman out of trouble since we met.”
“Ha!” Carla speared him with a dirty look. “Somebody’s been rescuing somebody, that’s for sure.”
“Excuse me. I don’t mean to intrude, but I wanted to congratulate the young people on their remarkable daring.” The guy in the too-slick suit stood beside the table, flashing his expensive dental work. He sounded a little like a wiseguy and smelled like warmed-over lies. He extended a hand to Jazz. “I’m Karl Evenride, Donald’s father. I was very impressed with your bravery.”
“Thank you, sir.” Jazz shook his hand, and his impression that the guy had something to hide got sharp-edged. This dude was interested in Jazz. Too interested.
Evenride turned his pearly whites on Carla. “Amazing courage there, missy.”
She crossed her arms, and the crease never disappeared from between her brows. “Thanks.”
Evenride’s smile didn’t fade, but his eyes got harder. “Well, I wanted to express my admiration.” He brightened his smile and stuck out his hand to the governor. “Dave, great to see you.”
“Same here, Karl.” Evenride looked pointedly at Lysandra, so the governor was backed into a corner. “May I present our guests, Lysandra Mason and her nephew, Dashiell Mercury.”
Evenride couldn’t wait to move in on his prey. “Well, isn’t this a pure pleasure.” He shook hands with Lysandra, then moved on to Dash.
A shift in his scent broadcasted that his number-one interest at this picnic wasn’t Dave Mendes or even his assistant governor. He was here for Lysandra and by association, Dash. Interesting. The Society of Being that Lysandra ran had a lot of enemies. She meddled in too many status quos. But Evenride didn’t smell as if he planned to harm her. Still, he was practically drooling with opportunism.
“Are you planning on staying in our fair city for long, Lysandra?” he asked.
Her smile seemed a little cool, but not chilly. “No, sadly. In fact, I’m afraid we must leave very soon.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. Well, it’s really good to make your acquaintance. You too, Dashiell. Hope I see you again.”
They smiled, and he finally gave it up, gave a jaunty salute, and walked away.
“My apologies, Lysandra. He can be a bit overbearing,” Mrs. Mendes said.
Carla snorted. “Ya think?”
A man wearing a dark suit walked up to the table behind Lysandra. She glanced over her shoulder and frowned. “Oh no. I guess my prediction about having to go is accurate.”
The guy in the suit leaned over and murmured something in her ear about “touching base,” then walked away.
She smiled and shook her head slowly. “I have a pressing meeting in New York, I’m afraid. I’m so sorry. I’ve really enjoyed being here with all of you, even for a little while.” She stood and hugged Mrs. Mendes, then the governor. She turned to Carla. “Everything I’ve heard about your brains and bravery seem understated. I hope to see you again soon.”
“Thank you. Me too.”
She looked at Jazz. “Do you ever come to New York, Jazz?”
“Me? Uh, yes, ma’am. I’m going to be working for my grandfather soon, so I’ll definitely be spending more time there.”
“Good. I can imagine you and Carla being wonderful companions for Dash.”
He saw a tiny smile tug at the corner of Carla’s mouth, but Jazz didn’t know what to say.
Mrs. Mendes saved him. “What a wonderful idea. What about Dash coming to spend some time with Carla and Jazz here in Connecticut?”
Lysandra cocked her head and glanced at Jazz, then at Dash. “Yes, that is an interesting idea.”
Jazz swallowed hard. Carla was an easy friend to have, since they almost always met at her house or did the things she liked. Having a human guest intruding on the pack was a whole other matter.
Lysandra gave Jazz a steady look. “We’ll see if we can’t work something out. They could all get together here or in New York.”
Jazz glanced at Dash, whose face remained placid perfection. It was odd, but like Lysandra, the guy had little smell past his scent of ginger and magnolia, which went straight to Jazz’s groin. Still, something told Jazz that this calm duck was swimming like mad under the still water.
Lysandra took Dash by the arm. “We’ll work it out before everyone has to go back to school.”
“Dash goes to school?” The words fell out of Jazz’s mouth before he knew he was talking.
Dash raised a perfect, arched, deep brown brow. “Sure, man. What do you think? I absorb knowledge from the universe?”
Jazz tried to keep from dissolving in the pale green mystery of those eyes. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Ten minutes later, the Mendes’s had seen Lysandra and Dash off, and Carla trotted over to where Jazz was standing under a tree—recovering.
She grinned. “Man, do you look shell-shocked. You may not be fit for human companionship for days.”
Interesting choice of words. “Yeah, what an epic experience. How many people get to meet their idol? And it’s even better to find out she’s as great as I wanted her to be.” He chuckled.
She gave him that Carla sideways smirk. “I’m not sure that Lysandra’s the main reason you look like you just caught a glimpse of the face of Apollo. But I guess you can tell yourself that.” She nudged his ribs.
“How are you holding up after your Wonder Woman routine?”
She jabbed her wrists forward like she was repelling bullets, and he laughed. “I found a couple muscles I hadn’t used since gymnastics class,” she said, “but otherwise, I’m great.”
He wrapped an elbow around her neck and ruffled her hair. “Yeah, you are.”
“I’ve got to do this picture-taking thing. I’ll come find you when I’m done, okay?”
“Sure. I need to go hang with my brothers anyway.” He could sense them looking at him, glaring questions.
“Okay. I should be about twenty minutes. See you after.” She trotted to her parents, who waved at Jazz. He waved back and turned to walk toward Lindsey and Seth, who were talking to some people out on the grass.
As he got closer, they quit talking and turned toward him. They didn’t look upset. That was good at least.
Jazz smiled. “Hey.”
Lindsey said, “Hey yourself, darling.”
Seth rested a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay? You did good saving that kid.”
“And you even managed to make it look hard.” Lindsey chuckled. “So you got to meet your idol. How was that?”
Jazz smiled and told the truth. “Amazing. Fantastic. I acted like a dork, but she was
sweet and as real as she could be. She seemed upset that she had to leave this picnic to go to a meeting in New York. She’s lit, totally.”
Seth crossed his powerful arms. “And what’s with the gorgeous dude?”
“Uh, yeah.” Jazz couldn’t quite look them in the eye. “Noticed him, did you?”
“Since I didn’t get blindfolded while you were playing baseball, yeah, I noticed.”
Lindsey raised his eyebrow. “Oh you did, did you?”
“Didn’t you?” Seth gave him a quizzical look.
“Of course I did. I’m not nuts.” He laughed. “So tell us, darling. We’re all ears.”
“He’s her nephew.”
“Ooh.” Lindsey gave a little wiggle.
“Anyway, get ready. She thinks Carla and I would make good ‘companions’ for the guy, whose name is—are you ready for it?—Dashiell, called Dash, Mercury.”
Seth growled, “You’re kidding me?”
“Not even.”
“Who are these people?” Seth frowned. Always scary.
Lindsey gazed at Seth and got serious. “What are you thinking?”
He shook his head. “Nothing specific, but did you see them?”
“Sort of like the view from a TV screen. Even that small and fuzzy, they looked extraordinary.” Lindsey looked at Jazz. “Tell us about them.”
Jazz wanted to defend them, which was weird. He took a breath. What’s true? “They’re different, for sure. But I don’t think she came here looking for us or anything.” He flipped a finger back and forth between the three of them. “She seemed pretty surprised to meet me. Same with the guy, Dash. But they aren’t regular people, and it’s more than just the way they look. They’re unique, but I’m pretty sure they’re human.” He shrugged.
“You said they seemed surprised to see you. Do you think they suspected anything about you?” Lindsey frowned.
Jazz shook his head. “I don’t think so. I couldn’t smell either of them very well, but I didn’t get a lot of lying vibes, just some secrecy.” He shook his head. “I’m not even sure about that. I really didn’t pick up their scent at all.”
Lindsey wrinkled his brows then smoothed the crease with his finger. “That’s unusual, isn’t it? Your sense of smell is exceptional, even for an alpha.”
“Yeah, but some people are easier than others.”
“What are the chances the woman will go through with getting you and the nephew together?” Seth asked.
Whoa. That made his heart slam. “I don’t know. But she said the three of us, not just him and me.”
Seth looked at Lindsey. “We’re going to have to watch this.”
Jazz tried not to frown. “Uh, why? What’re you thinking?”
“You know me. Anything out of the ordinary is always worth watching.”
Lindsey nodded. “So they’re gone?”
Jazz nodded. “Yes.”
“And they didn’t make any specific meet-up plans?”
“No plans.”
Seth looked around. “Where’s Carla?”
Jazz scanned the area. “She had some photos with her family. She said she’d come find me after.”
Lindsey nodded toward the table where the Mendes family was sitting. “Looks like Dave and Cathy are back.”
“I wonder where she is. If she shows up, tell her I’m on her trail.”
He had a weird feeling about this….
Chapter Five
JAZZ WALKED toward the governor and his wife, trying not to get freaked by Seth’s suspicion. Chances were good he’d never see Lysandra Mason or Dash Mercury again.
Mrs. Mendes smiled at him as he approached.
“Hi. Didn’t Carla come back with you?” he asked.
“We had to speak with a couple people after the photo session. I thought she’d be with you. Maybe she stopped to chat with friends.”
He smiled. “No worries. I’ll find her.”
As soon as he got out of sight in the trees, he released the tight reins he kept on his senses—especially his sense of smell. He’d learned if he didn’t control it, he’d give himself away for sure, making observations other people couldn’t see or know.
So many humans had walked through the trees, including Carla. Clearly, she’d come through there a few times, so it was hard to pick out the scents he wanted.
Focus.
Actually, what he did was something between focusing and relaxing. His brain kicked into auto-scent, separated real fresh smells from slightly older ones, and managed to ferret Carla’s vanilla-like aroma out of the mess of other humans’.
He followed it, then stopped. Carla wasn’t the only one he could smell. There were men—no, boys. Young men. Hair rose on the back of his neck. And he knew one of them. Donald. The vibration of a growl rumbled in his chest. Down boy.
He started to run, trying to follow the scent and not panic. He knew he had to keep his speed under control in case someone saw him, but his feet wanted to fly. Finally, he heard voices. He froze, then walked silently toward them.
“Donald, this isn’t funny. Get the hell away from me.” Carla.
“Oh come on, Carla. I’m not doing anything you haven’t done plenty of times with that skinny loser you seem to like so much. Get rid of him and let me show you what it’s like to be with a real man.”
“Get off me!”
Jazz brushed aside the edge of some bushes. Fuck! Donald held Carla’s arm and tried to drag her closer to him. Carla kicked and twisted, but one of the other assholes kept grabbing her feet.
Jazz’s vision blurred with heat and his hands closed into fists. The rumble deep inside him got more powerful—and closer. Damn, the wolf is very upset.
Jazz’s brain fought off the wolf. There are four of them. If I shift, all of them will report a wolf attacking Donald. One guy could be hallucinating, but four? He took some gasping breaths, but his vision got more muddled while his hands clasped and unclasped in fists and the thrum of his growl vibrated through his chest, getting louder and louder.
Vaguely, he saw the guys looking uneasily around them. Can’t let them see me. Can’t. Can’t help it. Can’t stop— His skin burned, bones screamed in pain.
Carla struggled harder, and white heat flared through Jazz’s head.
He raised his mouth to howl and—shiiiiit! His head exploded in a blaze of light, and he fell toward the ground.
As if from inside a cave, he heard shouts and screams.
Carla!
In a mad scramble, he struggled to his feet and stumbled toward the clearing. Thrashing his arms, he crashed into the spot where he’d seen the guys and found… Carla, lying on the ground, gasping for breath. But her eyes were wide open.
“Carla, shit, are you okay?” She struggled to sit up, and he pushed her back down. “Quit. You might be hurt. Let me go find a doctor.”
“I’m fine. Really.” She got herself to a sitting position. “What just happened?”
“What? You don’t know?” He glanced down at himself. I didn’t shift. What happened?
“No. I mean those assholes had surrounded me. That dumb bastard Donald was all over me like syrup on a waffle, and then suddenly he was gone. I don’t know. I mean, I think they were here.” She looked around intently. “Weren’t they? How could they just disappear?”
Jazz dropped to sit down beside her. “Hold on. Start at the beginning.” Something in his gut was doing somersaults.
She took a deep breath. “I came looking for you.”
“Here? Why would I be here?”
“No.” She looked so confused. “I was walking back to the picnic area, and Donald and his friends cut me off. I think I tried to get away, and that’s how I came here? Jeez Louise, I can’t remember exactly.”
“Okay, skip that part. Then what happened?”
“Like I said, they were really crowding me, getting in my face. I think I was angry and upset. I think. Anyway, suddenly there was a flash and a noise. Then suddenly I was on my butt and you
were here.”
“Where are they now?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Can you walk?”
She snorted in that Carla way. “Of course. Jeez, I’m not hurt.” She climbed to her feet awkwardly.
Jazz bounded up. “Right, just hallucinating.” He gave her a grin, even though he felt a little like a manipulating asshole. He knew those guys had been there and that something weird had happened. But he couldn’t explain it any more than she could, so he said nothing.
She smacked his arm. “Whatever it was, it’s over now. Let’s go.”
“You’re sure you feel okay?” Hell, he should ask himself that same question.
She frowned. “No. I’m not sure.” She took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “But I’m certain that if I go running to my father saying something happened to me and I don’t know what, they’re going to think I’m wildass cray.” She shook her head. “I probably got too much sun.”
“Probably.” Gods, he could lie to her, but not himself.
They clomped back through the trees, side by side, but a low-key buzzing just under Jazz’s skin made him want to scratch. A couple of times, he clawed at his arms and got looks from Carla. “Did you get poison ivy or something?”
“Don’t think so.”
They got back to the picnic area, and both Carla’s folks and his brothers looked up anxiously. Mrs. Mendes hurried over. “Where have you been? We were starting to get worried.”
“I’m fine. I—” Carla froze and stared.
Jazz followed her gaze. Donald and his wrestler cronies were standing with Donald’s father, Evenride. The huge bodyguard stood, looking menacing, a few feet away. Donald appeared confused, almost dazed, as he spoke to his father intently. He glanced up, met Carla’s eyes, started to smile, and then shook his head as if he was trying to clear it. What the hell?
Mrs. Mendes clasped Carla’s arm. “What’s wrong?” She followed Carla’s stare. “Did something happen with Donald?”
“What? No. I don’t think so.”
“When I found Carla, Mrs. Mendes, she’d fallen down,” Jazz added, trying to change the subject.
“Oh no, do you think she’s suffered a concussion? Were you climbing another tree, Carla? I told you—”