Grave Origins

by Lori Drake

  “Can we go back to the part about you kissing Dean?” Ben asked. “Was it hot? He looks like a good kisser.”

  “How does one…” Joey began, then shook her head. “You know what, never mind. We’re losing focus here. Lewis invited us to stay another day.”

  “We’re going to the carnival!” Maria clapped her hands, shaken from her unnecessary bout of religiosity.

  Joey caught a glimpse of something on her inner arm as she did and tilted her head. “You’ve got something on your arm.”

  “What?” Maria looked down, then blinked and turned that forearm down. “It’s nothing.”

  Joey leaned over and snagged Maria’s hand, turning her wrist over and peering. “Why do you have Chris’s number written on your arm?”

  Maria shrugged. “He wanted me to have it, just in case.”

  Joey rolled her eyes. “What a worrywart.”

  “So, a carnival, eh?” Ben said, bringing them back on topic, but without any particular enthusiasm.

  “Yeah,” Joey said. “I figure it’ll give us another chance to ask questions. Maybe even one on one. I’d like to get Heidi alone, in particular, and ask her some targeted questions to try to find out if she knows anything about Maria’s parents. She seems to be the weak link when it comes to the wolves that were around Cincinnati back then.”

  “What’re the odds I could sit the carnival out too?”

  “Zero to zero. I need your help, bro.”

  Ben grumbled but nodded. “Fine, fine. Maybe there’ll be some cute carnies.”

  Joey snorted, retrieving her phone from her pocket. “That’s what you said about Lewis’s pack.”

  “Yeah, and I totally missed out on scoping them out, too.”

  “You can do that tomorrow.”

  “Max was kind of cute,” Maria said, but with a wrinkled nose that implied “for a wolf.”

  Ben smirked at her. “Even if I did date Joey’s sloppy seconds—”

  “Hey!” Joey protested.

  Ben snickered and licked ham glaze from his fingers. “Yeah, yeah, nothing happened. While you were out on Jon’s boat. For two days. Anyway, rich guys aren’t my thing. I like a man who works with his hands.”

  “Max was working in the garage,” Maria said. “But that reminds me, Joey. Over dinner, you indicated you’d tell me something later. About Max.”

  “Oh, just that Max’s family is one of the big four,” Joey replied. “That’s why Owen was teasing him about being rich.”

  Maria tilted her head. “The big four?”

  Joey fidgeted with her phone, wanting to slip out and make a call to Chris. He was probably champing at the bit by now for a status update, and she wanted to know how things were going on his end too. “In the United States, there are four families that are like lycanthrope royalty. Wealthy, influential, et cetera. They intermarry a lot, which is why our parents tried to fix me and Max up.”

  “The Grants are another, then?” Maria asked.

  “Yeah,” Joey said.

  Maria thought about that for a moment. “What about the Martins?”

  “Ordinary plebs,” Ben said. “But I’m given to understand that his father was kind of a big deal in the Pacific Northwest. Newman and Cohen are the other two.”

  “Is it frowned upon, marrying outside the big four?” Maria asked next.

  Joey shook her head. “Not particularly. It’s a culture thing. Like calls to like, you know? You grow up with a certain amount of privilege, and people who grew up the same way understand it better than those who didn’t. Plus, you know they’re not just after your money.”

  “It can also be a challenge,” Ben said. “Finding someone near your own age to make a connection with. Lycanthropes have low birth rates, and as spread out as we are… it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack, unless you happen to luck out and be born around the same time in the same city.”

  “Ahh,” Maria said, glancing at Joey. “That’s why you said it was practically a baby boom, with Heidi and Owen being five years apart.”

  Joey nodded. “Yeah. Something was off about her reaction, though. Anyway, toss me your room key. I need to call Chris, and I’d like some privacy.”

  Ben produced his key from his pocket and tossed it to her.

  Joey snatched the key out of the air and headed for the door. “Don’t kill each other while I’m gone.”

  15

  “It’s so good to hear your voice,” Chris said, leaning back in his office chair. He’d closed his office door, which was a rare enough occasion that he was reasonably certain no one would interrupt unless it was an emergency.

  “Yours too. It’s been a day.” Joey sounded tired, and it was barely eight o’clock. But knowing her, she’d been up before dawn.

  “Sounds like you should start. After yesterday, mine was downright ordinary.”

  “First, can we talk about you branding our pack members?”

  “Sure. Wait, what?”

  She laughed. “Maria’s temporary tattoo. Anyway…”

  He listened while she filled him in on the events of the day, becoming increasingly concerned about the situation as she went on. When she got to the part about the carnival, he barely managed to swallow a groan.

  “Another day?

  “Yeah. I know it’s less than ideal, but I think I’m onto something with Heidi and Owen.”

  Chris gazed up at the plain white ceiling and stretched his legs out, pointing and flexing his toes before crossing his ankles. “But does it have anything to do with Maria’s parents?”

  “Maybe.” There was a pregnant pause. “Okay, I have no idea.”

  “The whole point of waiting to ask about Maria was to get the lay of the land, right?”

  “Right.”

  “And they seem friendly, open to answering questions, right?”

  Another hesitation. “Right.”

  “Maybe it’s time to start asking them questions about Maria’s birth parents. Her birth certificate came in. I know who they are.”

  “Is it Heidi and Owen?”

  Chris chuckled. “Nope. Paul Evans and Meghan Rochester.”

  “She’s a Rochester?”

  “Her mother was, at least. I looked them up in the database. Daughter of Corinne and Winston Rochester, formerly of Cincinnati. There’s a recorded date of death that matches Maria’s birth certificate, but no cause specified. That branch of the Rochester family relocated to Albany a few months later.”

  “Maybe Max knows something about it…”

  “Max?”

  “Rochester. He’s here. Sorry, I forgot to mention it.”

  The proverbial light bulb flicked on. “Max Rochester. Is he the one that…”

  Joey sighed heavily. “Yes. The boat incident. Ben thinks it’ll bother you that he’s here. He’s wrong, right?”

  Chris thought about it a moment. Did it bother him? Max hadn’t been interested in Joey when they’d first met, but a few years had passed since then. Situations changed. People changed.

  “Right?” she asked again.

  “Yeah,” he said, shaking himself out of that second of doubt. It didn’t matter if Max was into Joey now. Joey loved Chris, and that was all that mattered. He was secure in that. His lips curved in a smile as he remembered another reason why Max was unlikely to pursue Joey. “Ben doesn’t know what happened on that boat. I do.”

  “And you pinky-swore you’d never tell anyone.”

  The warning in her tone was hardly necessary. He chuckled. “I remember. Mum’s the word. Anyway… yeah, definitely a good idea to ask Max. Maybe he knows something about Meghan. A rumor through the family grapevine if nothing else.”

  “And if he doesn’t, he should be able to find out. Speaking of which, are you in front of your computer?”

  “Yeah, what do you need?”

  “Look and see what kind of family connection there is between Max and Maria’s mom. Meghan, you said?”

  Chris straightened in his chair, pull
ed his laptop over, and logged in to the database to take a look. “Hmm. It looks like Max and Meghan were second cousins. She was considerably older than him, though. She was nineteen when she died, and Max was”—he did some quick mental math—“five.”

  “So it’s possible he might not even have met her, but I could swear he gave Maria the hairy eyeball when he first met her. Anyway, I’ll talk to him about all of it tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll leave the carnival with some answers, and then we can head home. I’d like to get in before dark, and I know Ben doesn’t have unlimited time.”

  “There’s one other thing.” Chris sat back in his chair again. “I looked Maria’s father up in the database too.”

  “Oh? What’d you find?”

  “Zilch. No Paul Evans in Cincinnati or anywhere else.”

  “That’s not terribly unusual. We’re encountering more and more holes in the damn thing the more we work with it.”

  “Yeah, I know. And lone wolves are all but impossible to keep track of. But I thought it was worth noting. I keep thinking about what Maria said, that her father was killed in a wolf attack.”

  Joey snorted. “That’s assuming her lying uncle told her anything resembling the truth about her parents. Him finding her in a fairy ring in the woods is starting to sound more plausible.”

  “It does, doesn’t it? But speaking of the uncle… he was an Evans too. That suggests he really was a relation.”

  “He couldn’t have been a lycanthrope. He wouldn’t have been able to keep that from Maria. Maybe Paul Evans was adopted too.”

  “If so, there ought to be a record of it. Anyway… I’m going to have Adam work his magic and see what he can find out about the Evans brothers while you work the Rochester angle.”

  “Sounds good. Now… tell me about your day. You’re not in jail, so I take it the cops didn’t come back with a search warrant.”

  “Not yet.” Chris knocked on the smooth wooden surface of his desk. He wasn’t particularly superstitious, but it never hurt. He quickly filled her in on what she’d missed that day, from the revelation about Kate’s reburial to Dawn’s plans to return to Eastgate and offer assistance. Joey listened mostly without interrupting, though there was quite the string of curse words when she found out about Colt sneaking onto the reservation.

  “So, no movement on the Vince front?” she asked once he’d wrapped things up.

  “No, not yet. Sam’s supposed to talk to Dad—I should check in and see if he got a chance to do that today. He had a bad day yesterday. And I forgot to ask Cathy, but I briefed Dawn while she was here earlier, and she said she’d ask Cathy about it.”

  “I could ask Lewis while I’m here.” She sounded hesitant. Uncertain. Which was unlike her.

  “But?”

  “He’s kind of a dick. I mean, sometimes he’s perfectly pleasant, and then he’ll make an off handed comment that makes me want to punch his smug face.”

  “I’d appreciate it if you’d continue to not do that.”

  She chuckled. “I think I can restrain myself. Anyway, I’ll check in tomorrow after we wrap things up at the carnival.”

  “Did I mention I miss you?”

  “It was implied. I miss you too. But I’ll be home soon.”

  “Soon,” he murmured, trying not to think too hard about all the things that could go wrong between now and then.

  Sooner would be better.

  Joey was starting to wonder if the weather was anything but sunny and clear on this side of the mountains. Not that she minded, exactly. It reminded her of Southern California, but that was a double-edged sword. It both reminded her of home and made her acutely homesick at the same time. She hoped one day she’d be able to return to San Diego, or somewhere else in the region, and settle for a time.

  Today was not that day. At twelve on the dot, they arrived at the carnival, which was set up in a park along the banks of the river that bisected the town, but ended up loitering around the gate for fifteen minutes until Lewis’s people started showing up. Owen was the first to arrive, followed by Heidi, Lewis, and Max in one car and the rest in another. Joey scanned the faces and frowned faintly, as she didn’t see Kyle among them.

  “Still no Kyle?” she asked Amanda.

  Amanda flashed a smile tinged with regret. “He has to man his booth for a little while. Caroline and Gerald are going to go relieve him in a little bit so he can come have some fun with us.”

  “That’s great. I’m looking forward to meeting him,” Joey said. “Oh, and everyone… this is Ben.”

  Ben gave the group a small wave, then stepped in front of Heidi and caught her hand. “You must be Heidi. Thank you so much for the wonderful food you sent over last night. Your culinary brilliance is only surpassed by your beauty.” He bowed over her hand and kissed it.

  Heidi’s eyes went wide, cheeks flushing a pretty pink. Lewis’s gaze locked on Ben as a growl rumbled from his chest.

  Joey swallowed a laugh but couldn’t keep the broad smile from her face. “Don’t go starting trouble,” she said, thumping her brother on the back before turning that smile on Lewis. “Sorry, we don’t let him off the leash much.”

  Ben looked up as he straightened and stared Lewis down for a long moment before backing away with a carefree shrug and looking around. “Are we going in or what? Maria’s going to fleece the shooting gallery guy out of the biggest stuffed animal he’s got.”

  Joey snorted. “They fix those pellet guns, you know. So the aim is off. It’s rigged.”

  “Oh ye of little faith. Care to put your money where your mouth is?” Ben turned and sauntered toward the ticket booth.

  Rolling her eyes, Joey elected not to respond and looked back at the group. They were all watching Ben walk away, but Lewis was staring daggers at Ben’s back while his people hung back as if awaiting their Alpha’s okay to continue. Joey could sense his agitated wolf, even at a distance. Maria shrugged and followed Ben. After a few seconds, Max broke ranks and did the same.

  Joey followed, catching up with Max and nudging him with her elbow. “Were you just checking out my brother’s ass?”

  He snorted but didn’t reply. Joey glanced over her shoulder and noted Lewis and the rest of his pack were trailing along. Heidi walked close to Lewis, an arm around his waist. By the time they came up behind Joey in line, his wolf had calmed considerably. Thank goodness. Joey considered herself lucky that Chris wasn’t so territorial.

  Once they’d purchased some tickets, the group broke up into smaller chunks. Some wanted to go on rides, while others were more interested in games. Maria looked torn, until Joey assured her that there was plenty of time for both—she only had to decide which to do first. Maria quickly set off for the games with Ben in tow. Chuckling, Joey followed them. Max joined her, which suited her just fine.

  While Ben and Maria were busy tossing darts at under-inflated balloons, Joey turned to Max. “You got a weird look on your face yesterday when you met Maria. Any particular reason?”

  He shrugged. “Not really. She looked kind of familiar, but I couldn’t place it.”

  “Does the name Meghan Rochester ring a bell?” Joey watched his face for a reaction, but there wasn’t one to speak of.

  “Should it?”

  Joey briefly debated how much to tell him and decided to be direct. There’d been enough beating around the bush on this trip. “She was your second cousin. Maria’s her daughter.”

  Max’s brows lifted. “Sounds like you know more than I do. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “I just found out myself, last night.” Joey shrugged, her eyes tracking back to the she-wolf in question. “Her parents died when she was a baby. She was raised by her father’s brother. Or, at least, someone claiming to be her father’s brother. We’re still trying to sort that out.”

  “Huh. Now that you mention it, she does kind of resemble my Aunt Corinne. Maybe that’s what was niggling at me.”

  Bingo.

  “Meghan was Corinne’s daughter. An
yway, I’m trying to find information about Maria’s parents. How they died, in particular. Do you think you can help?”

  He nodded. “Sure. I can shake the family tree, see what falls out.”

  “Thanks, Max.” She squeezed his arm, then jumped and quickly looked back at Maria in response to a squeal. But it was a sound of delight. Ben had presented her with a small stuffed dinosaur. His prize, presumably.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was into chicks,” Max said.

  “Honestly, it’s nice to see him not giving her the cold shoulder for once. I hoped this trip might help him warm up to her, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”

  “Warm up to her? She seems nice. What’s his beef?”

  Joey’s stomach sank, and she realized she’d said too much. “Eh, they just haven’t been getting along.”

  Maria tugged Ben toward the next booth, a look of childlike glee in her eyes. When Max didn’t press the issue, Joey let herself relax as they followed. Maria was like a kid in a candy store, darting her eyes around, craning her neck this way and that to take it all in.

  “She doesn’t get out much, does she?” Max asked.

  “Sheltered upbringing,” Joey replied. “Speaking of which… did you know that magic and witches are real?”

  He eyed her. “Yes… why? Didn’t you?”

  “Not until last year.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “My only solace is that Ben and Chris didn’t either.”

  “How’s Chris doing, by the way?”

  Joey held up her hand and pointed at her ring. “We’re getting married.”

  “No shit, really? I’ll bet your mom was thrilled.”

  A dark cloud passed briefly in front of Joey’s sunny moment. “We didn’t get engaged until after she passed. But she was happy that we were together.”

  “Always thought he had a thing for you.”

  Joey grumbled and crossed her arms. “Sometimes I feel like I was the last to know about that too.”

  “Is it weird, though? I mean… he was your brother for a long time.”

  “Not as weird as you might think. I’m not sure why. It just feels… right.”