by V. A. Dold
Marcus and Lucas helped Thomas up, and each wrapped an arm around him to help him walk the short distance.
Glancing over her shoulder at Logan, Julia asked, “Would you make sure the bar gets closed on time?”
“You got it. Let me know how he is.”
If left up to the local shifters, The Backwater would be rocking twenty-four seven. Someone needed to shoo them out at closing time, and she had her hands full at the moment.
“Can you lay him on the couch? I’ll get the med kit and a washcloth from the bathroom.”
“You got it.”
Thomas groaned as he was lowered to the cushions. “I feel like I was hit by a bus, then it backed up to make sure it finished the job.”
Marcus was very quiet. Stefan knew he was concerned about injuries they weren’t seeing. Those shifters looked like they were trying to turn his ribs into dust, and there were sure to be a few broken or cracked.
“Julia, I think I should call Anna and the healers,” Stefan called toward the hallway she had just walked down.
“I was thinking the same thing. I suck at healing, and I think he’s going to need them.”
Stefan pulled out his cell phone while Marcus took a seat across the room, and Lucas stood in the doorframe. A steady stream of growls rumbled from Marcus’s chest, as he stared out a window at the swamp.
Seconds later, Julia hustled into the room with arms loaded. “First, we need to clean you up so I can see how bad your cuts are.” She needed to keep talking and concentrate on the task at hand, or the tears she held in check would flow.
“The other healers are unavailable, but Anna and Mom are on their way, as well as Cade and Dad,” Stefan said as he shoved the phone into his pocket. “Dad wants a report about what happened, and he wasn’t about to let the women come here unescorted.”
“When are Jack and Michael joining the guard?” Marcus snarled.
“I’m meeting with Etienne and the guys in a couple days,” Thomas hissed, as Julia dabbed around his left eye.
Lucas narrowed his gaze at his brother. “What are you planning, Marcus?”
“Vampire senses will come in handy,” Marcus growled as he turned away from the window, “when I go swamper hunting.”
“Excellent idea. The moment they laid a hand on Thomas they signed their own death warrants,” Stefan growled.
Twenty minutes later Stefan cocked his head. “I hear Mom and Dad coming up the walk.”
Julia met them at the door before they could knock. “Hello, everyone.”
“How are you, cher?” Emma asked as she drew her in for a tight hug. Then Isaac hugged her gently as Cade smiled hello.
“I’m good, but Thomas has had better days. Please, come in. He’s on the couch through there.”
“Don’t worry, cher. Thomas will be fine,” Anna said as she gave her a quick hug.
“Hi, Grandma. Hey, Mom,” Thomas said as he tried to smile through the pain.
“Oh, cher. What did those animals do to you?” Emma cried.
Anna gasped and rushed to hold him in her arms but instead stood frowning and seemed afraid to touch him. Finally, a whimper escaped her quivering lips before she could suppress it.
When Emma stepped to the end of the couch, Isaac got his first look at Thomas’s face. Furious energy flooded the room as everyone heard vicious snarls in their minds.
Mon amour. You’re sending telepathy to everyone.
Julia frowned at Thomas. “Why are you growling at your grandfather?”
His eyes grew wide in surprise. “Wasn’t me.”
They looked at each other for a heartbeat, then glanced around the room.
Everyone gaped at Isaac as he slowly raised his hand. “It was me.”
“What the hell, Dad?” Stefan, Lucas, and Marcus yelled together.
“Except for Cade, you’re all too young to remember, but as king, I had a few special things I could do. Talking telepathically to all shifters under my rule was one of them.”
“So…” Marcus hedged. “Can we answer you?”
“Yes, you can. Now, anyway. Triggering the ability required two things, I had to be the ruling king, which I am again, and I had to initiate telepathic communication. Which, apparently, I just did. When you were children, and I gave up the throne, I lost that ability,” he shrugged. “It looks like it’s back.”
Stefan and Marcus sat back. Flabbergasted. A rare reaction. Very little affected the brothers the way this bombshell had.
“Well,” Emma said to break the silence. “Should we get busy, Anna?”
“Oh. Yes,” Anna said, shaking off her own surprised stupor.
Repositioning, Anna sat near Thomas’s head as Emma sat at his feet.
“Since there are only the two of us, we’ll send healing energy through you from opposite ends. The Goddess will guide the energy where it is needed,” Emma explained as she wrapped her fingers around his ankles.
Julia was enthralled. The healers were incredible to watch. Before her eyes, the swelling of Thomas’s left eye went down, and the bruising faded. As she strained to listen, his breathing became smoother, and there was a pronounced reduction of the rattle in his lungs earlier. Before they ended the session, his lips returned to normal, the swelling and split skin gone.
Finally, Emma stood. Julia thought she was done, but instead, she moved to join Anna by his head. A concerned expression creased her brow as her hands hovered over his forehead and then around the sides of his skull. She didn’t actually touch Thomas. Rather, it looked like she was sensing something.
“Are you sensing what I feel?” Anna asked.
“I believe there’s a fracture along the left side running from above his ear to the eye socket.”
“That’s where I was feeling an injury as well,” Anna agreed.
Isaac, my love, we need a little help. Please have everyone send as much energy as possible to Thomas.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we need to lend a little assistance. Hold your palm out toward Thomas and imagine a door opening at the top of your head to allow the Goddess to funnel energy through you and out your palm. In your mind, visualize the energy flowing to Thomas.”
The room was silent for a very long ten minutes before Emma spoke. “That should do it. Are you sensing anything else, Anna?”
There was a moment’s pause before she shook her head. “I think we’ve done all we can.”
Thomas sat up and rubbed his head as if testing it out. “Wow, I feel a lot better.” He smiled at his mother and grandmother as he hugged them. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, cher,” Emma beamed.
Anna swatted his arm. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.” Then she pulled him in for a second hug.
“Geez, Mom. It wasn’t like I picked a bar fight. I was just taking out the trash, and those goons jumped me.”
“Are you well enough to tell us what happened?” Cade asked.
“I offered to take out the trash while Julia finished up at the bar. I didn’t realize they were there until the first one jumped me from behind. They must have been laying in wait.”
That’s when it occurred to him…
“Babe, do you always take out the trash, or is that job shared between all the employees?”
She let out a snort at the idea Logan would lower himself to trash duty. “I do it.”
“Hell, no!” Lucas barked. “No one assaults our women.”
Julia looked confused. “I wasn’t the one attacked.”
“No, babe, but you were the one they expected. So, it stands to reason. You were the target.”
“Oh. I see.”
Isaac leaned forward. “Do you remember anything they said?”
“One thing was more than evident,” Thomas said as he took Julia’s hand. “They hate humans mating with shifters.”
Isaac nodded. “That’s been a long-held sentiment amongst the swamp shifters.”
Cade watched as Thomas snuggled Julia under his arm on the couch.
Grinning, he stood and helped Anna with her coat. “I think our work here is done.” Then his expression became serious. “Cher, I don’t like the idea of you taking out the trash alone for the foreseeable future, and I would prefer you didn’t open or close the bar alone either,” Cade suggested.
“I agree. It’s not safe, babe,” Thomas said as he caressed the soft skin of her inner wrist. “If Logan can’t be with you, call me. Either one of the guards or I will be more than happy to help you open and close.”
She opened her mouth to object, but Thomas put a finger to her lips. “I need to know you’re safe. Please, humor me.”
Blushing, she nodded. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll do my best not to be alone at the bar or outside in the back.”
Isaac was helping Emma into her coat and gave a pointed look to his sons.
“We should head home,” Stefan said, getting to his feet.
“Yeah, I have things to do, too,” Marcus added.
“Oh, yeah. What they said.” Lucas grinned.
After they were gone, Julia covered her mouth and giggled. “They couldn’t have been any more obvious, could they?”
Thomas shook his head and laughed. “At least they’re gone.” Then, he pulled her in for a kiss.
“Tommy,” Julia drew back, “I think you need a shower.”
“What?” And then he realized how bloody his shirt was. “Did I get some on you?”
Worried he had ruined her shirt, he scooted back to check the damage.
“Just a little. It’s okay, a little cold water and it will come right out. I have a robe you can use while I give your clothes a quick wash. Would you like me to get it for you?”
“Yes, thank you. Otherwise, once this dries, my shirt is going to be stiff and crunchy.”
“Ewww.” Julia scrunched her nose and laughed.
“By the way, I kind of like you calling me Tommy.”
“That’s the way I think of you, but if you’re just being polite, I’ll call you Thomas like everyone else.”
Thomas considered that for a minute. “No, I like it. But no one else better try calling me that. Only you have that privilege.” He stood and held out his hand to her, then let her lead the way.
The laundry was washing, and Tommy was in the shower, now she could relax for a minute. Julia settled back on the couch smiling and put her fingers to her lips. She could still taste Thomas, and she relished it. She’d never had a man kiss her the way he did. It was sinful and wicked and, oh, so wonderful.
Suddenly Lucinda’s face popped into her mind with a sour disapproving expression. She could already hear her mother screaming that Thomas was below her and unacceptable as her mate. Then she would start in on how he wasn’t the right kind of man for her and just a security guard. Her mother was going to have a seizure when she found out she’d kissed, never mind was mated to, a man as lowly as Thomas.
But that didn’t matter to her. Thomas was perfect and by no means lowly. Why her mother couldn’t see the power he held not only in his position as head of security but also in the gift he would receive when they completed the ritual, she had no idea.
Ten minutes later, Thomas walked toward Julia, looking sexy as sin. The towel was slung low on his hips, robe hanging open, and hair damp and messy from the towel dry he’d given it.
“Sorry about the lack of fashion, babe. How long until my clothes are dry?”
Julia’s eyes grew heated as she took him in from head to very bare toes. “Clothes? Who needs clothes?”
Before Thomas could respond, a flash of night running lights from a boat caught his eye through the window. “You have a visitor.”
Julia looked toward the window frowning. No one should be at her house. It was late, and she was supposed to be on a date.
Mother?
Julia heaved an exasperated breath as she rolled her eyes at him. “Let me handle her.”
Thomas looked toward the window suspiciously. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. Her mother irritated him. She felt it immediately at the gathering. Hell, she irritated everyone, and knowing her mother’s propensity for dramatics and outbursts, she didn’t want Tommy to do or say anything he might regret. Not that she cared what he said to her mother, but Tommy might, and she didn’t want him to feel bad about it later.
With a single nod to show his agreement with her decision, he adjusted his robe as best he could as the deadbolt rattled mere heartbeats before Lucinda stormed into Julia’s living room. Her hair was flying willy-nilly around her shoulders as if it was alive, and rage colored her face a truly unique shade of red.
“What on earth are you thinking, young lady!”
“That I would like pasta for dinner?” Julia quipped.
“You know darn well I’m not talking about dinner. You used your gift tonight and made a spectacle of yourself.”
“Yes, I certainly did.” Julia let out a long, exasperated breath. Then her eyes narrowed on Lucinda. How did she know she’d used her gift? “There were a few swampers who needed to learn a lesson.”
Her mother snarled angrily at her reply and then sniffed. She wrinkled her nose like she smelled a skunk. Acting as if Thomas wasn’t standing right in front of her. “Human. Why is there a filthy human in my house?”
“Because I invited him into ‘MY’ house,” she growled back, rubbing at the sudden pain she felt behind her eyes. “Do you mind if I take a look at your house key?”
Her mother frowned at her odd question but handed her the key anyway.
Without a word, Julia walked to the bathroom and flushed the key down the toilet.
“What the hell did you do that for?” Lucinda shrieked.
“Is this house on the land owned by the bar?”
“You know it is. Now, why did you do that?”
“Is the bar solely in my name?”
“Of course, it is. And, again, you know that. What’s this about?”
“You are no longer allowed to barge into ‘My’ home uninvited, nor are you allowed to show up whenever you want to. You will call first and ask permission to come over or wait for an invitation. Then, and only then, will you be allowed into this house.”
“I will do whatever I please. I paid for this house and that bar.”
“Where the money came from matters little, whose name is on the deed is what’s important. You have no power or voice here on my property. Now, leave before I call the bouncer from the bar and have you forcibly removed.”
Chapter Seven
Her mother glared at her. “Don’t get smart with me, young lady. I’m sure you don’t want your father to know the way you talk to me.”
“Ah, Mother. See, there you’re wrong. Go ahead and tell him. Then when he asks me about it, I’ll fill him in on how you hate humans. Oh, and how you’ve been shopping both Krystal and me around to every pack in the state. What do you think he’ll say about ‘your’ behavior?”
Her mother curled her lip as she eyed Thomas, acknowledging him for the first time. “And what is that you have on, Thomas?” Lucinda virtually spat his name like a dirty word. “Don’t you possess clothes of your own?”
Cocking an eyebrow, he glanced down at the robe. He hardly looked like a homeless person. She was simply being vicious, and he knew it. Her nasty attitude made it imperative he mess with her.
“Haven’t you heard? Freshly showered is the latest thing in fashion.” He gave Lucinda a wicked grin and widened the gap in the robe across his chest to show a little more flesh. “Besides, Julia thinks I’m sexy dressed like this.” For added measure, he waggled his eyebrows at her.
“With that outfit and attitude,” she looked him up and down then sneered, “you should be working a corner somewhere.”
Thomas rubbed his chin and nodded thoughtfully. “That might be true, ‘MOM’,” he turned left and then right to
allow her a complete appraisal, “I think I could pull off being a high-end escort, don’t you?” Thomas emphasized the fact that he referred to her as his mother to rub her nose in a situation he knew she detested.
“You sure don’t look like a hooker to me,” Julia purred as she wrapped an arm around his waist. “You look HOT!”
He smiled at her and gave her a playful whisker rub across her cheek as she giggled and wriggled away.
Her mother growled at their cozy behavior.
“Give it a rest, Mother. He’s my mate and,” she kissed him solidly on the lips to emphasize her point, “I’m rapidly falling in love with him.”
Lucinda took a menacing step further into the room, and Julia felt Tommy adjust his stance as if he was preparing to fight her.
Glancing up at him, she patted his chest affectionately. “I got this, cher.”
Thomas relented but remained on the ready, glaring his own challenge at his soon to be mother-in-law. If she made one threatening move, mother-in-law or not, he would take her down.
“Were you hit on the head during your little bar fight?” Lucinda hissed. “You can’t mate…that,” she spat as she shook a finger at Thomas.
“Mother, I’m only going to say this once, so listen up. Your opinion means nothing to us. This is my life, not yours, and I’m living it without your interference. Mind your own business and keep your opinions to yourself.”
Her mother’s beautiful face turned cold and stony with suppressed fury. “You listen up, little girl. That bar doesn’t even come close to producing enough money to pay your bills. As it stands, I pay more of your monthly budget than that den of iniquity provides. I own you. You mate this human, and you’re through. I’ll cut you off so fast you won’t know what hit you.”
“No problem,” she said shrugging her shoulders. “I’ll mate Tommy tonight, and we’ll pool our incomes. I don’t need your money or the strings attached to it.”
Her mother looked like she was going to explode. “You can’t live on his ‘rent-a-cop’ income.”
“There you’re wrong and horribly misinformed, Mother. Tommy can easily support me.”