I ended up renting a van instead of an SUV, so we’d have enough room for Lauren’s boxes and for Smokey.
The Mustang and van were packed. For this first leg, Kane and Cora were in the van, Lauren and I were in the Mustang.
We’d drive to Hagerstown, Maryland, stay the night, and finish the drive the next day. Both vehicles had two seats available. We’d swap drivers when we stopped for gas and food, but the van had a cooler full of snacks so the lion and wolf wouldn’t need to pig out quite so much in restaurants.
“You’ll really be able to get me home on the weekends, or come see me?”
We were two hours into the trip, and Lauren had asked me this at least a dozen times in the past couple of days. Again, I ran through the logistics.
“If the Drake planes are available, I only need to pay for the gas and a maintenance charge. For longer weekends, commercial airline tickets aren’t very expensive. In an emergency, Nathan introduced me to a pilot who charters flights. I can send her to come get you, or I can fly up to see you.”
“And you can bring Smokey?”
“Yes.”
A long pause, and then, “You aren’t going to give me the speech about how I’ll be okay on my own once I get used to the schedule and make some friends?”
“Clearly, you’ve listened, so I don’t need to say it again.”
“You’ll always be my mom?”
Ah. A new question, and probably the root of why I’d heard the other questions so many times. “Forever and ever. You’re stuck with me.” She’d been an orphan during her childhood, and a daughter as a preteen and teenager. Now she was going to be on her own again. I’d known this was going to be hard.
“How long will you stay?”
“As long as you need me.”
“And if I need you all four years?”
I’d considered this. “Then I guess I’ll be renting an apartment.” I didn’t think it would come to it, but if it did, we’d figure it out. Thankfully, it was workable. I didn’t have a job, and I had plenty of money. If she needed me, I’d be there.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s normal to be scared, and anxious. If you weren’t nervous about it, I’d be worried. You’ll get moved in, make friends, and then lose yourself in classes for at least a few weeks while you figure out how to keep up with college, because it’s different than high school. Eventually, you’ll have enough breathing room that, when someone asks you to a party, or out on a date, or to join them at a bar, you’ll be able to say yes. You have a good head on your shoulders. You’ll do fine.”
We checked into our half-way hotel, and Kane took the Mustang to pick up the food we’d ordered at a local deli. I’d been able to reserve a suite with two bedrooms and a living area, and Smokey decided to camp out in front of the door leading into the suite — once he investigated everything.
Lauren was doing something on her phone, I was checking the weather for the following day, and Cora was staring out the window, when both Cora and Smokey went on alert. I heard Cora in my head a few seconds before I heard the knock on the door.
Vampire. Strigorii.
“Lauren, call Smokey to you and get your glitter on.” The last part was our code word for getting her knife out and open.
I made sure I was centered and ready for anything, and nodded to Cora.
She looked out the peephole.
Valerie. Supposedly a friend.
I motioned for Lauren to close her knife but keep it handy, and she closed it before sliding it back into her pocket. She held onto Smokey’s collar as Cora opened the door.
“Valerie. I thought we were supposed to meet up with you tomorrow evening?” Cora’s voice sounded professional but not terribly friendly.
“You’re in our territory. We’re within our right to insist on a meeting the first night.”
“You are.” Cora didn’t ask a question, didn’t offer a seat, didn’t invite the vampire past the threshold.
I figured it was time for me to join the conversation. “I was led to believe we were welcome, and the meeting tomorrow was just a formality. Was I misinformed?”
“Ah, Kirsten, I take it? And your daughter is behind you, with the quite large dog?”
“Was I misinformed?”
“You were not. Marco welcomes your daughter and you. It’s the wolf and lion he has concerns about.”
“The wolf is mine. The lion is here because the Amakhosi considers me his and wanted us to have another driver. Not a bodyguard — a driver.”
I hated having to say the wolf is mine. Cora is my friend and Valerie had just pissed me off by making me refer to my friend as an asset.
“You’re angry?”
“Cora’s my friend. I hate having to refer to her as…” Fuck. I was screwing up. This was high politics. My human opinions didn’t matter. “What is it you need from us.”
“I mean you no harm. May I enter?”
“Safe passage for me, my daughter, and our companions?”
“Assuming no one steps out of line, yes.”
“Not good enough.”
She sighed and looked annoyed. She didn’t quite roll her eyes, but it was close. “Safe passage. You’ll be asked to leave if there are issues. Refusing to leave nullifies safe passage.”
“Asked to leave when face to face, not via telepathy or electronic means.”
“Agreed.”
“Please come in.”
Cora stepped to the side, Valerie entered, and Smokey growled deep in his chest.
“Good boy. Stay.” No way was I going to fuss at him for letting me know he saw a threat.
“You’re friends with Kendra?” Valerie gracefully sat on our sofa, crossed her legs, and tilted them. She wore a super-tight red dress and red heels, with red lipstick — all in the same shade. Her black hair framed her face in gorgeous waves, and her makeup was precise. Where Kendra was casually elegant, Valerie was classically elegant.
“I am.”
“Gavin?”
“I’m on good terms with The Abbott and his top people.” Look at me, sidestepping questions with ease.
“Top people? So there are some who belong to him that you aren’t on good terms with?”
“I don’t know them all.”
Her smile told me she recognized I’d evaded the question, but she didn’t press the issue. “And your daughter?”
“Thinks Abbott and Gavin are creepy, but likes Kendra. She’s also under the protection of The Abbott, the Dragon King, and the Amakhosi.” Not to mention her mother.
“I’m aware.”
Nathan had only had sex with me a second night because I’d had an evening with Dawg planned while Lauren was out on a final girls-night-out with her friends. He’d said it was imperative that I not smell as if I belonged exclusively to the Amakhosi on this trip. Or, at any time, actually, but especially on this trip.
Dawg had — as always — rocked my world. When I’d come home the next morning, Cora had laughed and told me there was no danger of a supernatural thinking I was exclusive with Nathan.
Valerie looked beyond me, to Lauren. “You need to learn to control your fear. Angelica’s made arrangements for you to meet the local wolf Alpha and the wolves in your age range, the Amakhosi will make sure the local lions treat you well, and I’ll make sure my vampires know you’re off limits. However, you need to understand we can all smell your fear and anxiety. You must get it under control.”
“She’s leaving home for the first time,” I told Valerie. “Of course she’s anxious. She’ll be fine once she gets settled in. You showing up unannounced didn’t help.”
“I’m a friend. I can’t imagine how she’d smell if I were a foe.”
I’d locked extra shielding over all three of us the second Cora and Smokey went on alert. I’d felt Valerie investigating them, but she hadn’t tried to push in. Now, I felt someone else.
“Who did you bring with you?” I asked her.
“Marco is on his way.�
�� She was silent a second. “He’s in the elevator. Closer than I realized.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Kane. Before he said a word, I told him, “Marco and Valerie are here. As of now, things seem civil.”
“Noted. I’m close. See you soon.”
Cora opened the door before a knock sounded, and Marco stepped into view.
“Please join us,” I told him. “We weren’t expecting company and have food on the way. We’re also tired from our travels. What can I do for you?”
He arched a brow at Valerie before meeting my gaze. “I apologize for the intrusion. My second was supposed to have smoothed the way, but it seems she’s set you on edge.”
“She’s offered safe passage,” said Cora. “Do you stand by her offer?”
“I do. I apologize for the unplanned meeting. A supernatural professor scented Celrau on campus the previous two nights. I wanted to give you a heads up as soon as possible.”
My gut turned to ice deep inside me, but I breathed it out and motioned for Lauren to come to me. “This is my daughter, Lauren.”
Marco gave a formal bow to my daughter and offered his hand when she neared.
“I was led to believe you’d been told she can sense… information, if she touches you?”
“And yet, I’m offering my hand in peace.”
Lauren breathed energy in, stood tall, and shook his hand.
“You aren’t as old as Abbott. You feel more like Kendra, but not as strong. Or, at least not on your own. With your people behind you, I’m not sure who’d be stronger.”
Cora choked and tried to cover it with a cough. Marco’s smile grew into something close to delight. My daughter amused him. Great.
“Which is why I’m glad Kendra and I are friends. May we sit and talk, young lady?”
She nodded, and I motioned Smokey to the spot in front of us. He lumbered between us and the vampires, and plopped onto the carpeted floor with a grumble instead of a growl. He didn’t like them, but didn’t see them as an active threat.
Cora opened the door to Kane, and I told him, “Put the food on the table, please. You and Cora should get started. Can I go ahead and get a water?”
“And my lemonade?” asked Lauren.
They brought us our drinks and stood at our backs, like bodyguards. I shook my head. “No. Go somewhere else. We don’t need bodyguards right now. Go eat. I know ya’ll are starving.” Shapeshifters need a lot more food than humans, and we’d driven the last four hours without stopping. I could feel Cora’s hunger.
“Val, stand at the door, please.” Marco didn’t look at her when he gave the order, and I could see it rankled, though she quickly hid it. She was used to being in charge when he wasn’t around.
When Cora and Kane were at the table and eating, and Val standing sentry at the door, I looked back to Marco. “Your territory, your hunt, but I’d like to help track and eliminate Celrau with your people. Cora will come with me. Kane can stay with Lauren in the hotel room if we can’t assure her safety in the dorm.”
“She’ll be safe in the dorm, but I can’t guarantee her safety outside of the dorm from sunset to sunrise while Celrau are present. It’s possible other leaders can, but I cannot.”
“Nathan had the right to tell her about her roommate.” He owns his lions, therefore it was his secret to tell. However, other supernaturals had been moved to her floor to help ensure her safety, but no one could tell me the details. Not their secrets to tell. I’d know when I met them, though, and Lauren would figure it out, too.
“Humans normally get safe passage into my territory, no matter the length of their stay. However, I don’t believe you’re completely human. You have three weeks now, and may be in my territory for any part of five calendar days per month. Not per thirty days, but per month. You understand?”
Arguing my humanity wasn’t going to get me anywhere. “And if I want to stay longer, what would you need from me?”
“Answers.”
“If I need to stay longer, we’ll talk.” My response was as much for Lauren to hear as Marco. My daughter had gone stiff beside me, and I put my hand on her leg without looking away from the vampire. “It’s okay, Lauren. He isn’t saying I can’t stay, just that there’ll need to be negotiations. We’ll deal with it, if you want me to stay longer.”
Marco inhaled deeply, and addressed me instead of Lauren. “Valerie has already spoken to the need for your daughter to control her fear response.”
I focused on knocking on his shields, as if I were trying to speak telepathically to Abbott, and Marco’s voice came in my head.
You shouldn’t have been able to do that.
So I’m told. Lauren was adopted as an older child, which I’m sure you’re aware. She’s terrified at the thoughts of being so far from me. She’s lost one mother, though she doesn’t remember her. She doesn’t want to lose another, even if it’s only by distance. I’m fairly certain she’ll be fine in a few weeks, but she needs to know I can stay longer if she isn’t. Please help me.
A nod, and he looked at Lauren. “Your mother is correct. Should she need to stay longer, we’ll negotiate terms.”
Thank you. “Will you allow me to help hunt Celrau? I assume you don’t allow them in your territory?”
“By treaty, they live in New York, Philadelphia, DC, and Baltimore. I can control their numbers more easily by allowing them in the largest cities, within areas I denote, so I can keep an eye on them. They aren't allowed in Boston, but frequently hunt a single night — in and out before we can catch them. I’ve never known them to encroach upon Cambridge.”
“There are no coincidences.”
“Indeed.”
“You seem to be avoiding the question of whether I can help hunt them.”
“Under two conditions.” He nodded towards Cora and Kane. “I’d like a few hours with your werewolf, and you’ll hunt by my side so I can see you in action.”
I wanted to tell Marco to go fuck himself without lube, but I sensed Cora’s interest. She wasn’t opposed to a roll in the hay with the sexy vampire. “I’ll agree to the second. Cora speaks for herself and knows I’d never ask her to do something she isn’t comfortable with.”
“Sex and a meal,” Cora said. “Safewords in place. Nothing I don’t want to do, and you’ll need to clear it with Randall.”
Marco nodded. “Assuming Cora’s other Alpha says yes, you have a deal, Miss O’Shea.”
“Kirsten.” He was trying to poke the bear, and I was determined not to respond.
“Of course. We’ll take our leave and see you tomorrow evening.”
The vampires left, Lauren and I joined our friends at the little dining table, and we ate for ten minutes before anyone said a word.
“The Celrau want mom, right?”
I needed to face the ugly truth. “Which means they want you. Everyone knows if they have you, I’ll show up wherever they tell me.”
“Can I fight them?”
“If any of their blood gets on you, they own you. They can get in your head. It isn’t pretty.”
“So fighting them with knives and swords is a bad idea.”
“Not necessarily,” said Cora. “We’ll get you some tactical long underwear — it’ll keep you warm in the brutal New England winter, and won’t let the blood touch your skin. You’ll need to practice fighting with gloves on, and you’ll need to learn strategies for keeping the blood off your face, but we can cover the rest of you in the winter.”
“Which leads us back to whether she can fight them,” I told Cora.
Cora looked to Lauren. “Maybe, but only if you have a heads up. If you can sense them when they’re near, you’ll have a chance. If not, you’ll need to stay in your dorm unless you have a supernatural with you who’ll be able to give you a warning before you’re attacked.”
“And who can help me fight them.”
“Yes. Shapeshifters can change to nullify the effects of the blood.”
“Which means I
need to catch a Celrau and keep him or her alive long enough to do some tests with Lauren,” I said.
“We need to post a watch tonight.” said Cora.
Kane lifted his phone, made a call, and put it on speaker so we could all hear.
“Everything okay?”
Fuck, he’d called Nathan.
“Yes, Your Highness, but Marco notified us that Celrau have been scented in Cambridge. Do you have someone close who can handle a shift on watch? Cora and I can split the night if necessary.”
A pause, and then, “You’ll need to drive tomorrow. I’ll send someone local to you. Cop. One of mine. Looks like she has the night off. Stay awake until she arrives.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“I need you to overnight long johns for Lauren and Kirsten,” said Cora. “To defend against blood.”
“Will do. Lauren, can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“We’ve worked on decapitation with the púdāo. You’ll want to kick the upper body so blood spurts away from you, but make sure you time it so the kick comes after the head is severed. You can do this. I’ve trained you for it.”
Instead of sensing her fear, I saw and felt her strength. She sat a little taller. “Yes, you did. Thank you.”
I shook my head. “Ditto the thanks. Lauren’s strong, she just needs to remember it.”
Kane disconnected, and Cora said, “The way you feel right now, Lauren, is important. Anytime fear tries to creep in, dig for this feeling. You want the supernaturals to smell confidence and strength, not fear. There’s a saying — fake it till you make it. You only need to remember this feeling and replicate it, and we’ll all smell a bad-ass instead of a terrified human. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“It’s important, Lauren.” I told her. “Shifters and vampires don’t respect fear.”
“Okay. I get it.”
More strength. Good.
20
“You aren’t what I expected,” Marco said as we patrolled the areas where Celrau had been scented. Massachusetts is fucking freezing in January, but I was layered up and had these cool little rechargeable gloves and socks that kept my feet and hands warm. How did humans survive this before technology?
Edge of Humanity (Only Human Book 5) Page 15