by Tara Lain
With that, Dash turned and walked away.
Jazz didn’t move.
DASH SIGHED as he walked back to his room at the mansion. Okay, no way I can keep this to myself. Damn.
It was late. He and Carla had created an email to Evenride along the lines of Dash’s suggestion. Now, even though it was late, he had to make the call.
Once in his room, he closed and locked the door, changed out of his jeans and sweater, and pulled on his sleep pants. Throwing himself on the bed, he hit speed dial.
After two rings, Lys said, “Where the hell have you been?”
“Sorry. I had to do some things with Carla.”
“I assume from the resounding echo of power through the universe that you have something important to tell me.”
“Yes, Mistress.” He wet his lips. “Tonight, Carla nearly fell off a precipice. The fall would likely have killed her. Jazz suspended her, stopping her in midair.” He heard her intake of breath. “The most interesting thing is, he didn’t know he did it. He believed it was me. He asked me to explain how I’d accomplished it.”
“Amazing. He’s completely untutored.”
“And completely clueless.” He rubbed a hand over his neck. “I’m not sure what to do.”
“What have you done so far?”
“He confronted me so I told him he was the one who did it. Then I just walked away. He was stunned, and I wasn’t sure what I should say. Do I tell him what he is? And most importantly, what do I say about why I know what he is?”
There was a brief pause. Her voice sounded stern. “There was no way this could have been avoided?”
He frowned and let it color his voice. “I don’t see how. Obviously, he wasn’t going to let his best friend die. I couldn’t pretend I didn’t see it.”
“Couldn’t you have altered his perception?”
“I changed hers slightly. She remembered a little, but not her life-threatening situation. I tried to alter his. No change. He may be more powerful than I am.” He chuckled darkly. “He could have believed that I saved Carla, but I thought it was better if he knew he’d done it himself. I apologize if that was the wrong thing to do. I was pretty startled when I couldn’t manipulate his mind.”
She laughed softly. “Yes, you’re not used to being the less powerful one, are you, darling?” She sighed. “Now our question must be, who else knows he can do these things? Is his family aware? And if they are, what in hell do they make of it?”
“At this point I think I only have one investigative recourse.”
“What’s that?”
“Ask Jazz.”
“Um, I hesitate to do that.” She paused, and he waited. Finally she said, “Is there a chance you can convince him you have no idea what really happened? That it seemed like Carla would fall, but… something?”
Dash thought back to that fateful moment. He’d reached into thin air and guided Carla back to solid ground, but only after Jazz had suspended her. Could he convince Jazz that he saw it wrong? That Dash thought he’d just pulled Carla from the edge not from the air? “There’s a chance. He’s damned smart, but I think he doesn’t want to accept his power. Maybe I can help that along and persuade him it didn’t happen.”
“Good. Do it.”
“If I fail—”
“Don’t.”
He frowned but tried not to let it show in his voice. “What can you tell me about his family? Aside from Lindsey and Casper, who are both brilliant businessmen but otherwise regular guys, I haven’t met any of them. I get the impression he has another brother who, like Lindsey, is also gay and married. What are the chances? He’s also got a stepfather and a mother whom he adores.”
“None of them are blood.”
“I know.”
“It’s to the family’s credit that they make no distinction between their natural and adopted sons.”
“Anything else I should know?” The image of the huge men who changed to wolves played through his mind.
There might have been a slight pause on Lysandra’s end. “Several of the family members are in law enforcement.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. There is at least one police investigator and two or maybe three FBI agents.”
Dash frowned. “That’s an unfortunate complication. I’d like to find a way to meet the family, but they may be inherently suspicious of anyone in Jazz’s life.”
“Yes. It could be difficult to insinuate yourself with these people.”
“Then how the hell am I going to find out what they know about Jazz?” He sighed. And how could he find out what she knew about him?
“I’ll see what I can uncover from here.”
“Okay. So I gather I shouldn’t tell Jazz what I am—or what he is, for that matter—under any circumstances?”
“Fortunately, you told him he did it, whatever that means. Think fast and be convincing.”
“Thanks a bunch.”
She laughed again. “Tell me how it all turns out.”
He knew that meant it better turn out exactly as she wanted.
After she hung up, he tossed the phone across the bed. He didn’t have the lack of self-control, the poor breeding, or the nerve to throw it against the wall.
Chapter Twenty
JAZZ RUBBED his eyes and opened the garage door. No sleep. Not a wink. When his mom had called him, he’d told her he wasn’t feeling well, but now he felt more guilty than crappy, so he needed to get to work, even if he was way late.
He walked around Seth’s motorcycle to get to the Prius.
“Jazz?”
The voice scared him so badly, Jazz actually gasped out loud. He whipped his head around, and there was Dash, standing across the driveway leaning against a tree. Was there even a word for how beautiful he was? “What in the hell are you doing here? For that matter, how did you get here?”
“I bought a car.” He swiped his arm in a grand circle and pointed toward the nummilicious Tesla Roadster, bright red, parked in the middle of the driveway. The thing looked like a scarlet Batmobile.
“Jesus, Lysandra must pay her protégés pretty damned well.”
“I save my money.” He grinned. He walked a few steps closer. “Can I drive you to work?”
“Why aren’t you already at work?” He crossed his arms. “You’re late. Obviously, late enough to buy a car.”
Dash’s expression got serious, and he sauntered into the shade of the garage. “I called and told them I’d be out this morning. I felt really badly about leaving you hanging last night when I know you were upset about Carla. I mean, it was a near thing. Hell, if you hadn’t yelled to stop her so I could grab her arm, I don’t want to think what might have happened next.” He shook his head. “And she didn’t even realize how close she came to falling. It messed me up. I can’t even imagine what it did to you.”
Jazz felt like someone had hit him on the head with a bat. Again. “Are you saying I—I yelled and you grabbed her?”
“Yeah. I mean if I hadn’t been right next to her, I would have sworn she was over the edge. Great Mother, what a scare.”
Jazz wanted to sit down. What the hell? He’d lain awake the whole night trying to decide if he needed to go to Cole, Winter, and Damon this morning and confess his strange power. Was it possible it hadn’t happened?
Dash put a hand on Jazz’s arm. “How about I take you to breakfast, and then we’ll go to work and stay late?”
Jazz nodded absently. Does this mean I’ve been imagining all the shit I keep thinking is happening? “Yeah. Okay.”
Jazz let Dash lead him to the Tesla, where the new-car smell filled his brain. “This reminds me of my brother Lindsey’s cars,” he told Dash. “He loves Teslas. Any kind of electric cars, actually.”
Dash started up the silent roadster and pulled away. “So your brother’s a car fanatic, huh?”
“Just an electric fanatic. That and he has a thing for polo ponies.” Jazz stared out the window, still feeling shell-shocked.
“Polo’s a tough sport. I wouldn’t have taken Lindsey for an athlete.”
“He’s a surprising guy. He’s an expert fencer too.”
Dash pulled into the parking lot of a homey little restaurant. “Come on. Let me buy you some protein.”
Jazz gave him a quick look. What does he mean by that? He mentally shrugged. He was too confused to care. “How’d you find this place?”
Dash grinned. “I asked.”
Inside the cozy restaurant, Dash’s smile won them a corner table with a view of a flower garden, complete with tweeting birdies. Dash held his chair, which made Jazz blush, but he still kind of enjoyed it.
They both sipped coffee as they looked at the menu. The smiling gray-haired waitress asked, “You boys ready to order?”
Dash gave Jazz a glance. “He’ll have the meat-lovers omelet with both bacon and ham on the side. Hold the toast. I’ll have a veggie omelet with a lemon scone. And keep the coffee coming.”
She winked. “I like a man who knows what he wants.” She sauntered to the serving bar laughing, then came back with the coffee pot and refilled their cups before walking back into the kitchen.
Jazz smiled. “Thanks. I’m so tired today, I’m not sure I could have made up my mind, but you still ordered what I like. I appreciate you noticing.”
Dash flashed those dimples. “I appreciate noticing.”
Jazz chuckled. It made him anxious to be so closely watched, but it warmed his heart too.
“So you have another brother, right? Besides Lindsey? I think I heard you say that.”
“Yes, Winter. He’s my half brother. I mean, his father is my father, but he has a different mom. Of course, I’m not actually related to either of them. I’m adopted.”
Dash sipped his coffee. “I recently heard that, and I must confess, I was amazed. I never got the slightest feeling from, well, anybody that you weren’t born into the Vanessen family.”
Jazz nodded. “They’re amazing like that.”
“Were you an infant?”
“No.” Jazz shook his head. “Not at all. I was twelve. Almost thirteen.”
The waitress brought their food, and they both dug in. Jazz could have inhaled all that bacon, it tasted so good.
Dash nibbled his scone. “This is so good. Want a bite?”
“Sure.”
Carefully, Dash broke off an end of the crumbly confection, buttered it heavily, and held it out toward Jazz.
He started to reach for it with his hand but Dash pulled it back. Then, with a wicked glint in his eyes, he held it closer to Jazz’s mouth. Oh what the hell? Jazz leaned forward, captured the scone between his lips, and made sure to grab Dash’s fingers too. After a liberal application of tongue to skin, Jazz pulled away with his prize. “Thanks. That’s good.”
Dash laughed and ate his omelet. “So were the Vanessens looking for an older kid when they adopted you?”
“No. I met Lindsey and Seth, and we became friends. Lindsey started teaching me to ride, and in the process, I met his mom. She became my mom, and that was that.” He neglected to mention the little growing furry detail that had freaked out Cole Harker and Lindsey. That hadn’t influenced his mom, however, since she didn’t know about werewolves at the time.
“Your family must be great. Do you see them a lot?”
“Yeah, sure. I live with them.” He chomped a huge bite of ham.
“All of them?”
Jazz tried not to swallow the whole mouthful at once. He sometimes forgot that humans didn’t live in packs. “Yeah. The estate’s really big, so both my brothers and their husbands have their own suites. It’s private and all. Everyone’s pretty devoted to my grandfather, so I expect the family will stay close as long as he’s there, you know?”
Dash gave a tight smile. “No, actually, I don’t. None of my family is really close like that. I think it would be nice.” He took his last bite and sat back with his coffee cup. “Interesting that both your brothers are gay.”
“It’s a funny story, actually. My adoptive father, Damon, brought Winter, my brother, to Connecticut because he thought the family would be a good influence and he’d kind of forget about being gay. Instead, he finds all these gay, uh, guys. Needless to say, his plan didn’t work. Winter found Matt, fell in love, and that was that.”
“Happy ever after?”
“Yep. Pretty much. Matt was really dedicated to the FBI, and Winter joined up too, so they even share a profession now.” He smiled fondly. “They’re great.”
“I’d love to meet them.”
“Oh, uh, yeah. That could happen. They work a lot.”
“Did you grow up in foster homes?”
Jazz glanced at Dash. He seemed so casual. Is he pumping me for information? “Yeah, some. After a while, I went into a group home. That’s where I was when I met Lindsey and Seth.”
“Where are your birth parents?”
He shook his head. “No idea. The Vanessens have inquired and never gotten anywhere. And believe me, if they can’t find out, nobody can.”
“I’ll bet. But do you think you come from Connecticut?”
“Yes, actually. There’s no record of my ever having been anywhere else as a kid.”
Dash shook his head and gazed at Jazz with narrowed eyes. “You amaze me. That couldn’t have been an easy way to grow up, and yet here you are, this strong, powerful, functional man.”
Wow. He’d pay somebody to say that to him every day. “Thank you. It was tough, yeah, but seriously. How could a guy luck out like I did and find this amazing family? There’s no way I can complain about any life that brought me here.”
Dash smiled, and it was like rainbows sparkled off his straight white teeth and glinting emerald eyes. “You really are inspiring, man. I mean it.”
Weirdly, Jazz got that he did mean it. “I think you better take me to work before I get such a swelled head, I won’t be able to get into that teeny, pricey car of yours.”
Dash snorted and paid the check. As they walked to the car, Jazz’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and cringed. Baldwyn. He’d kind of forgotten about the whole dinner thing. Still…. He clicked to accept the call. “Hi.”
“Hi. Hope I didn’t catch you in the middle of something.”
“Uh, yes, kind of. I’m working.”
Wyn chuckled and it was a throaty, cute sound. “Right. I forget you’ve got this whole human life thing.”
Jazz coughed and glanced at Dash, who seemed to be focused on getting into his side of the Tesla. Jazz paused outside the car. “So, uh….”
“I just wanted to remind you about our dinner and ask what kind of food you like.”
Jazz snorted. “I like anything as long as it’s meat.”
“Funny how we have the same tastes.”
“But I’m not sure—”
His voice got soft. “Don’t bail. I’m getting huge pressure from Merced and Trixie. I can’t lose the game before my puck’s even on the ice.”
Jazz laughed. “I’d never reject your puck.”
“Seriously, thanks. They really have a buttburr over you.”
“Pucks and butts. Quite a dinner invitation you extend. Look, I’ve got to go. I’ll do my best, but there’s some real shit coming down at work. I’ll let you know ahead if I can’t make it.”
“I understand.” He paused. “Just realize that they’re serious about us getting together. I’m not sure of all the implications, but it’d be easiest just to go along, ya know?”
“Oh. Okay. Well, thanks for letting me know.”
“Talk tomorrow.”
Jazz clicked off and climbed into the car.
“Everything okay?” Dash asked.
“Oh yeah, just some friends of the family acting weird. No big.”
Precisely what he needed. More weird.
WHEN THEY got to the department, Amy called them into her office. “Dash, you’re on deck for the Starbucks run. I’ll place a mobile. Just ask for Amy’s order.”
Jazz snorted. “Don’t even think about taking the Tesla, because there’s no place to park in seventeen blocks, and it’s only ten blocks from here.”
Dash raised an arched brow. “Can I bring you something while I’m paying my dues?”
“Trust me, you won’t be able to carry one more cup.” Jazz gave Dash directions, then waved as he pushed out the department doors, definitely looking like a stranger in a strange land. It was obvious Dash had never been a gofer in his whole life. “Have fun.”
Jazz walked into his cubicle and sat behind his laptop, started it, and stared at his fuzzy kitten screensaver. That’s as far as he got.
So, I didn’t suspend Carla in midair. It just looked like I did.
He ran a hand through his mind-of-its-own hair.
It sure as fuck looked like I suspended her.
The cat on his screen stared back at him.
Do I believe it? Okay, I was willing to believe I’d stopped her from falling by doing some kind of freakin’ magic, and now I don’t believe I didn’t do it. I’m so weird.
If he didn’t believe he’d suspended Carla, then he was free to doubt that he’d made the guys disappear in the clearing, that he’d seen that big dude watching them at Packarama, and that the bodyguard had looked at him and not seen him. Man, so tempting. He could go back to just being him, a teenage werewolf, member of the Vanessen Pack, and the youngest in the Vanessen family. That would be so easy. So comfortable.
He slowly shook his head. Can’t get there. Those things happened, no matter how much I want to believe they didn’t. No matter how sick it makes me to believe they did.
Next question. Does Dash really believe his story? That I yelled and he grabbed her and that’s all there was to it. It made sense. Dash was human. There was no reason for him to believe supernatural things. Of course he’d want to explain the events in a natural way. So there was no conspiracy in that.
Then why do I feel so uneasy? Normally, he could smell when people were lying. There were only a few exceptions. Some alpha werewolves… and Dash. Oh, and Lysandra too. Just the fact he couldn’t smell them meant…. Okay, he didn’t know what, but it made him uneasy.