He laughed. “Jeans are fine.”
“Cool.” That’s what he had on, along with a red t-shirt and jean jacket. I’d picked jeans, and a beige, cowl-necked sweater. The nights tended to be chilly, even if the days were still warm. “Let me grab a jacket.”
“Okay.” He waited while I did that and petted each dog who’d followed me to the front door. Which was basically all of them. At least I didn’t have to bend to pet Leglin.
Once we were in his truck and on our way, Soames said, “I really appreciate you talking to Mr. Whitehaven.”
“You’re welcome.” He was a heck of a lot easier to work with than Nick. “We’re going to have fun working together. We make a good team.”
He grinned. “I thought so.”
“Any leaks yet?” I asked, referring to the media. He shook his head. “Good. But it is working, right? I haven’t seen anything on the news about about protestors or attacks on vamps.”
“Seems to be. Lord Derrick’s a good choice for spokesperson. He looks harmless.”
That struck me as funny, and my ribs complained when I laughed. “Ow. Yeah, I guess he does.”
We talked about work for the rest of the drive, and eventually made it out past the city limits to a fenced pasture.
“This is our temporary gathering place. The rancher who owns it lets us rent it,” Soames explained while parking among other trucks along the fence line. “Not much grazing for his cattle here.”
“Cool.” I could see some lights not far away, and the intermittent breeze carried the murmur of voices. The gate was open, and we made the short trek to where the rest of the clan was.
Terra and Alanna met us, greeting me with gentle hugs. The blonde teen whipped a marker out of her back pocket. “Can I sign your cast? I learned people do that.”
“Sure.” I held up my arm, and she stuck her free hand under to help before drawing a flower on the cast. She added “Heal fast” and her name.
“There’s food,” she informed me. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“Starving.”
The two women led me to a large tent, the front of which was mosquito netting. Tables covered with food waited inside, along with lines of people piling their plates high. More proof that shifters ate like there was no tomorrow. Smiling faces greeted us, some people saying “hi” while others just nodded.
The general atmosphere felt calm and happy. I relaxed, selecting grilled chicken, a baked potato, fried okra, and a slice of chocolate cake. Terra carried our plates, leaving me to handle my plastic cup of tea. Outside the tent, picnic tables dotted the immediate area. During the day, there wouldn’t be any shade, but it was pretty pleasant at night.
I looked around as we walked over to a table, and didn’t see Logan anywhere. However, I did see Danielle, who glared back before turning away. Right, joining the clan wasn’t exactly conducive to not trying to be friendly with Logan anymore. Oh, well.
We ate, and Terra informed me they’d had the event semi-catered. People began drifting off beyond the lit area as I finished my last few bites.
“If you’re done, let’s go to the circle,” Terra said.
“Okay.” I ran my tongue over my teeth, as we left the table, hoping there weren’t bits of chicken caught between them. Those still hanging around followed us. I still hadn’t spotted Logan, and wondered where he was.
The circle was sort of a double one, with rocks marking its boundaries, and people standing a few deep the full way around its interior perimeter. Terra and Alanna led me through them, right to the center where a slab of sandstone sat. It was covered in a dark cloth, a brass bowl, candles, and other things lying on top of it. One of those things was a knife, its obsidian blade dull in the starlight.
Terra coughed, a deep grunt of sound that instantly silenced everyone. “We are gathered tonight to consider a new addition to our clan. I ask who among you will stand before us with this woman?”
“I will.” Logan’s voice. He slipped past a few people and crossed the intervening space to stand on my left, offering me a smile.
“As will I,” Alanna said. She was already standing on my right, between Terra and me.
“And I.” Soames cleared the crowd and lined up next to Logan.
“I will stand with her.” Gabriel joined us, standing next to Soames.
“I will too.” The woman who came forward wasn’t someone I’d met yet. She had a pretty, friendly face, freckles, and red hair bright enough to know it was red in spite of the lack of good light. We traded a smile as she walked over.
Terra lifted her hands. “Does anyone object to the inclusion of Discordia Angel Jones into our clan?”
“I object.” Not Danielle, which I expected the minute I heard Terra’s question, but her barrel-chested cousin. He took a step forward. “She’s human, not tiger.”
The red-headed woman spoke up. “There is tiger in her aura. I see and smell it.”
“She can’t shift.” He crossed his arms as though that settled the matter.
“Doesn’t need to, in order to defend clan and Queen,” Logan said.
The cousin wasn’t ready to back off. “This is against tradition.”
“We live in a new world now, and some traditions will change.” Alanna stared at him. I tried not to fidget. “She has been friend and ally to the clan. Has twice helped prevent others from taking our Queen.”
A murmur of agreement rose, and Danielle’s cousin twitched before dropping his arms to his sides. “I withdraw my objection.”
“Then let us begin.” Terra picked up the knife and cut her thumb pad, directing the resulting drip of blood into the bowl. Alanna did the same before they walked away from the altar to collect blood from those around us.
It took a while before they came back to us. I managed to keep from hissing as Terra drew the blade across my thumb. Once the others standing with me donated their drops, Terra replaced the bowl on the altar.
She and Alanna began a singsong chant while lighting the candles, and moved on to adding the waiting herbs and other things to the bowl. Logan moved a little closer to me, his voice low. “They’re asking for the gods’ blessings on your inclusion. Each item is a representation of the things important to us, and a sacrifice to them.”
I nodded and whispered, “Have the gods ever said ‘no way’?”
He chuckled. “No.”
I hoped I wouldn’t be the first one the gods said no to. The women’s voices rose and fell, and finally fell silent as Terra dropped the last thing, which looked like dirt, into the bowl and stirred it with the knife. I wasn’t remotely prepared for the sudden volcano of multicolored smoke that erupted from the bowl. She hadn’t dropped a lit match into it.
Logan steadied me with his hand across my lower back as my gaze followed the smoke upward. It formed a column and slowly began to revolve. Tiny green sparks began jumping out of the bowl, dancing free and pulling thin threads of smoke after them.
At some unknown signal, the green sparks darted away from the column, each one halting over someone’s head. I looked straight up to find one over mine too. They’d pulled and separated the smoke out into a net of sorts over the circle. Just as suddenly as the smoke had appeared, the sparks all dove downward. Mine landed somewhere above my eyes.
It didn’t hurt, but I couldn’t close my eyes. The sparks seemed to funnel the smoke into each of us, and I wondered if everyone felt the same flush of warmth I did.
Or if they could see the circle of spectral tigers pacing above us. Hundreds of them, most the usual orange, black, and white, but a few black tigers, and white ones too. I didn’t want to blink, afraid of missing a second of the awe-inspiring sight.
They began to fade away as the last of the smoke slid its way into people, and were gone as the green sparks flickered out. I lowered my head, blinking to relieve the strain of keeping them wide open, as Terra shouted, “It is done.”
With the ceremony over, party time began. People streamed back to the ten
t and tables, laughing and talking as they went. Logan noticed I’d grown a little shaky and offered his arm. “Thanks.”
“No problem. By the way, this is Moira.” He meant the red-headed woman, who fell in step with us on my other side.
“Hi. Thanks for, uh,” I lifted my cast slightly, not sure how to complete what I’d been saying.
“You’re welcome.” Moira radiated good humor and warmth. “I bet that was strange for you.”
“The smoke startled me, but the rest was cool, especially the tigers.”
Logan stumbled slightly and Moira’s eyes widened. They both asked, “Tigers?”
Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything about them. “Um, yeah. Kind of ghostly looking, in the sky over us?”
Before either could respond, a scream came from somewhere near the tent. Logan unwound his arm from mine, pointing at Moira. “Stay with her.”
She nodded, and he rushed away. I followed her to the closest picnic table, and we climbed onto it for a look. Moira hissed. “Those damn outsiders.”
Mega Douche was plowing through the clan, his followers on his heels. I spotted Terra being herded toward us, Logan at her back, but then she turned and darted around him, avoiding everyone who reached to stop her.
She shifted, her clothing tightening and tearing before falling free. There were only a few seconds to admire her black-striped, white figure before she leaped at Mega Douche. He actually punched her in her tiger face, an uppercut that knocked her away.
Meanwhile, others were shifting to tiger, including Logan, who charged toward the oversized enemy. But before he reached Mega Douche, who was now a gigantic tiger, a white streak struck the enemy leader. He and Terra rolled a few feet, and she sprang free before Mega D wrapped his heavy front legs around her.
Thwap, thwap, thwap! She began pounding away at his head and face, her claws extended and drawing blood with each blow.
“Thatta girl! Show him who’s boss!” I cheered, wrapping my good arm around my ribs. “Ow.”
Thwap, thwap, thwap. I squinted at Terra. Her white fur seemed to be brighter than before. “Um, is she glowing?”
“Yes.” Moira bounced up and down, before a fierce grin appeared on her face. “She is.”
A final blow from Terra toppled Mega D onto his side. She roared, and I gaped as tigers became humans again, all except Terra. Even those who were unconscious. At least, I hoped they were only unconscious.
The shifters closest to Terra dropped down to their knees, bowing their heads, and those behind them followed suit, until the only people standing were Moira and me.
I realized what had happened.
The White Queen had come into her own.
Terra hadn’t killed Mega Douche. In spite of the number of naked people around, I made my way over to him to check once Moira helped me down from the tabletop.
He was conscious, lying on his side and curled into fetal position. That made it easier to ignore the fact that he was naked as a jaybird. So did the bright pink lines crisscrossing his face and scalp, and the blood-seeping puncture wounds dotting his face and neck. “How bad are you hurt?”
“I’m healing.”
I crouched down. “I didn’t help this time.” He glared back. “She kicked your ass, dude, and she’s only a teenager. Just sayin’.”
He grunted, uncurling enough to roll forward and push up until he was resting on hand and hip. I kept my eyes on his face, trying not to notice his now-exposed junk lying right at the periphery of my view. The whole shifter nudity thing was a little too much for my delicate sensibilities. “She’s come into her power.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought happened. It’d probably be a good idea for you and your buddies to call it a night. Might want to think long and hard about coming after her again too. She may decide you’re too irritating to live.” I shrugged, rising to dust off my jeans, and added, “You might even consider getting the hell out of Santo Trueno. Just sayin’.”
He stood up too, and I couldn’t avoid a full-body look while lifting my gaze to his face. Holy crap, he was scary big all over. I hoped no one noticed my face turning red. “What if I don’t?”
“Then I guess you deserve whatever you get, dude.” With that, I turned my back on him and walked away, trying to pretend I was blind.
Way too many naked people around for my comfort. Way, way too many.
I made an about-face to hide in the tent when I realized most of them were heading the direction I wanted. If the cars were that popular now, I could make my own way home soon. No one else was in there, and it seemed like a good place to wait until the clothing impaired became unimpaired.
“Discord?”
“Yes?” I didn’t turn around to look at Logan.
“Are you all right?”
“Yeppers. Hiding out with the food for now.”
“Why?”
“Naked people.”
“Oh. Give me a few minutes. I’ll get dressed and come back.”
“Actually, I’m kind of ready to go home, if that’s okay.” I hadn’t realized how tired I was until then.
“It’s okay. Not sure...what do you want to do? Close your eyes and let me lead you?”
Sounded like a future funny story in the making. “Yes, let’s do that.”
He laughed. “Okay, close your eyes and turn around.”
I did, and he walked over to take my hand. “Here we go.”
“Bet you think I’m being silly about the nudity.”
“Being raised differently isn’t silly,” Logan said. “We usually don’t run around without clothes anyway.”
“Oh. So, Terra’s officially Queen now?” I’d missed her eighteenth birthday.
“Yes.”
“Which means she doesn’t need bodyguards all over the place to go somewhere?”
Logan’s fingers tightened on my hand. “Well, she should always have someone close by. Why?”
“I missed her birthday party. Thought I’d do something to make up for it after my cast is off.” After I could use my abilities again.
“She’d like to spend some time with you.”
It wasn’t exactly a yes, but it wasn’t a no either. “I’ll figure something out and let you know.”
“All right. We’re almost to the gate.”
“Hey, Logan.” That was Soames. “Terra wants to talk to you.”
We stopped, and I heard Logan sigh. “All right. Discord’s ready to go home.”
I thought about telling him I could wait, but kind of wanted to take a pain pill and pass out. “Thanks. See you.”
“Yeah.” He brushed his cheek against mine, putting a smile on my face, and released my hand.
“Why are your eyes closed?”
I sighed. “Naked people.”
Soames didn’t get it. “And?”
“Just lead me to your truck, and if you don’t have clothes on, could you find some? I don’t want to explain to my mom why you’re naked when you drop me off.”
He laughed. “I have clothes on, come on.”
And away we went.
Twenty-four
After the excitement of Ceremony Night, I made a determined effort to chill out for a while. A couple of days before I was due back at work, I decided I’d been sitting on my rear end for long enough, because of my car.
My poor baby was covered in dust from being parked. Though it was mid-October, the day was hot enough to slip into a bikini and drag out everything needed to wash a car.
I mixed carwash liquid with water in a bucket and started with the roof. Barely twenty minutes of scrubbing later, I was panting like an overheated dog. “This is what I get for being a couch potato.”
With a sigh, I rinsed the roof off and sat down in a lawn chair. My car looked worse than before I’d started.
While I sat gazing in disgust at the mess I’d made, Logan pulled up at the curb.
Instant embarrassment. My black bikini had seemed perfect car-washing garb, but it also showed of
f my ghost white skin from the neck down. My only consolation was the fact the tan on my arms, neck, and face had faded a lot, so that I wasn’t noticeably two-toned.
Logan walked around his truck, looking at the bucket, towels, and hose. “Hi.”
“Hey.” That’s me, the brilliant conversationalist.
“Need some help?”
Hm, hot guy offering to wash my car. I went with the intelligent response. “Yes, please. I guess I’m still not one hundred percent.”
“Okay.” He stripped off his grass green, short-sleeved polo and went straight to work.
I sat and pretended he wasn’t half-naked, which was on the difficult side because he did have the six-pack I had suspected he would. Logan looked like a guy who worked out to keep fit, but not to excess. He had some good muscle definition going on.
He scrubbed my car down, rinsed, and began drying it. “How’s Sunny?”
“She’s good. Already back at work.”
He nodded, squatting down to dry the passenger door. It was quiet until he’d finished drying everything. “Soames mentioned you’re not seeing Nick anymore.”
Logan tilted his head, surveying the quarter panel, and bent to buff a spot.
“Yeah, we broke up. Kind of got tired of the arguing, and his thinking I’m too dumb to survive much longer.” Nearly the instant I said it, I realized how stupid that sounded, after my Near Death by Merriven experience. “Though I guess he has a point, huh?”
Logan glanced my way, not making eye contact or appearing to ogle my bikini-clad body. “I don’t know about that. Talking the gargoyle into helping out was smart.”
“I guess.” Too bad I hadn’t managed to completely impress upon Tase’s mother, Petra, the need for quick action. She’d almost arrived too late.
He moved the microfiber towel a few inches to rub at another spot. I squinted, but couldn’t see any leftover drops of water anywhere on my car, at least not the parts visible from where I sat. On the other hand, I had an excellent view of his muscles moving around under his tanned skin as he worked.
Save the Last Vamp for Me (Discord Jones Book 3) Page 18