Frost & Bothered (Discord Jones Book 4)

by Gayla Drummond

“Sorry.”

  Danielle growled. “You fail to show proper respect.”

  I didn’t know if she meant me or him, but Logan responded as though she meant him. “I’ve shown you nothing but proper respect since you joined the clan.”

  “That’s the problem,” I said, and they both looked at me. Oops. “Sorry. My mouth isn’t always under my control.”

  The guy on guard duty chuckled. Danielle’s face reddened. “And you. You don’t belong here among us. You’re an insult to our status, parading around in your sad excuse of tiger skin, pretending yourself an equal to our Queen.”

  “That’s enough,” Logan said.

  “No, it is not,” she yelled, and I flinched. Danielle had a serious set of lungs on her. “She’s an affront to us. Makes us a mockery to others. She weakens us, and she weakens you.”

  Her shout had opened doors on the first floor. People began gathering in the hallway. Down at the far end, I saw Terra come out of a room, with Alanna and other teenagers on her heels.

  My mouth ran away with me again. “Wow, you really are a queen. A drama queen.”

  Logan sighed. “Discord, please.”

  “Yeah, I know, I’m not helping, but holy freaking crap.” I dropped my phone into my purse. “I hate drama. You,” I pointed up at Danielle. “Don’t like me. Fine. That’s something I can deal with. But back off of Logan.”

  “I am a queen of this clan.”

  “Newsflash: I am too.”

  Danielle laughed, and it was a nasty, sharp sound. “You’re human.”

  “Eh, there’s been some debate about that.” I waved my hand. “Point being, whether you like it or not, we’re equals here.”

  “You’re not my equal.” She dropped her arms, her fingers flexing.

  I sort of lost my mind as Ginger appeared behind her. My delusion pulled a theatrical vampire pose, baring her teeth and lifting her clawed hands in the air as though she were about to attack Danielle. “Yeah? How about you come say that to my face?”

  Totally the wrong thing to say to her. Logan grabbed my arm when Danielle snarled and leaped, shifting as she came toward us. I threw up my hand, stopping her in mid-flight with my telekinesis. She thrashed, her tail thumping off the wall and railing, her claws shredding air.

  Logan released my arm and stepped back. I took a deep breath, trying to figure out what the hell I should do now. Letting her go before she calmed down wasn’t an option. She’d rip me to shreds. Apologizing was, but it’s not like I’d ever done anything to her to start the whole mess.

  Terra was halfway down the hall, and she did not look happy. I decided to wait until she reached us before doing anything else.

  Danielle stopped snarling and clawing the second Terra stepped into view. The teen looked up at her before looking at me. “Put her down.”

  I obeyed, relatively certain Danielle wouldn’t charge down the stairs now that our Queen was present. She didn’t, but she did crouch down, glaring at me with slitted, orange eyes.

  Terra looked at Danielle again, and I felt a curious sense of pressure. The older woman shifted from tiger to human again, and stood naked as the day she was born in front of us. The teen asked, “What’s the problem here?”

  “Danielle doesn’t like me, and she used that as an excuse to jump all over Logan when we got here.” I heard Logan mutter something, but couldn’t make what he said out. Not that it mattered, because my explanation was the truth.

  “I call for a queens’ council to discuss the Protector’s neglect of his duties.”

  That set off some serious whispering among those watching our little drama unfold. Terra’s shoulders twitched, and her pale green eyes shot to Logan before settling on Danielle again. “Go put some clothes on. We’ll meet in the conference room.”

  Danielle shot me a smug look before turning and stalking upstairs. I blew out a breath, wondering what the hell a queens’ council was, and turned around to look at Logan. He shook his head when I started to speak, and I closed my mouth. He looked pretty grim. Great, I’d gotten him into big trouble.

  Terra gave the order to have the other queens informed, and marched away, back down the hall. I stood there until Alanna gestured for me to follow her.

  Right, I was a queen here too. With a last glance at Logan, I followed the petite brunette down the hallway.

  The conference room was down at the end, through the same door I’d seen Terra leave a few minutes before. Chairs were the only furniture present. I sat next to Alanna, and looked at Terra. She offered a tight smile in return.

  No one was talking, and I received the distinct impression we weren’t supposed to until the other queens had arrived. It was hard to stay quiet, the lovely luncheon Logan and I had shared beginning to congeal in my stomach.

  EIGHT

  Ten minutes passed before all the other queens joined us. Danielle glared at me as she entered the room behind Moira, the red-haired shamaness. Moira chose to sit on my other side, which was strangely comforting.

  Once all the women had arrived and sat down—there were about twenty of us in total—Terra stood up. “This council has been called by Danielle. Stand and state your reason.”

  The dark-haired woman inclined her head while rising from her seat. “I believe the Protector has neglected his duties to Queen and clan several times since I joined. His duty lies first with our Queen, and second to the clan, yet over the past few months he has forsaken his duties and placed our Queen in danger.” Danielle’s glare made it super clear who she blamed for it.

  “Part of Logan’s duties as Protector have been to lead the clan until our Queen was ready to take her place,” Alanna said. She didn’t bother standing up. “In pursuit of those duties, he’s made certain alliances. He’d be a poor leader and Protector if he failed to uphold our end of those alliances.”

  “He shouldn’t place the Queen in danger to do so,” Danielle countered.

  “You’re assuming I was in danger.” Terra smiled. “I was protected by Teague, two powerful witches and their familiars during the search for Discord’s mother.”

  The older woman inclined her head. “Perhaps you weren’t in danger then, but last night and today? What if we’d been attacked?”

  I raised my hand. “Do I get a turn?”

  Terra nodded. “Go ahead.”

  “Thanks. Okay, Logan’s spent what? Eighteen years leading the clan and protecting Terra? Everything I’ve heard points to him doing a damn good job of it.” When I paused for air, most of the queens made quiet noises of agreement.

  “Unless I’ve missed something, Terra is officially Queen now. She’s eighteen, and came into her own over a month ago, whooping the holy hell out of that overgrown douchebag in the process. I think that means she’s pretty capable of taking care of herself. Especially here, at home, with everyone around.”

  That earned some more murmurs of agreement, and gave me the nerve to keep talking. “I don’t think you realize it, Danielle, but insisting Logan’s the only one who can keep Terra safe isn’t a good thing. It kind of undermines her, and the clan. I mean, if people start hearing our Queen can’t take care of herself, they’ll begin believing it. They hear that they’re not capable of protecting her, they’ll start doubting themselves.” I had to stop for air. “And if they start believing that they’re weak, that Terra’s weak, then others will begin to believe that too. Words have power, and the feelings words convey have power.”

  Moira nodded, a smile playing about her lips. “Our newest queen has raised valid points.”

  “That is not my intention.” Danielle’s glare was gone, her face slightly slack with surprise. “My intention was to assure that the Protector is reminded of his foremost duties.”

  “Sure it was.” I winced, not having meant to say that out loud. But there it was, dangling in the air. “You made it perfectly clear not twenty minutes ago that you don’t like me, and you don’t like the fact that Logan and I are friends.”

  “Until he is no
longer our Queen’s Protector, he has no right to pursue any personal interests.”

  Alanna suddenly snorted. “If he hadn’t done that, the clan would be in bad shape. It’s his personal interest in vehicles that gave us our start after the Melding. His personal interest led to us finding a home, and to our financial stability.”

  “That’s important, but what’s more important is that I want my cousin to be happy.” Terra wasn’t smiling. “It’s not fair that he spends years and years taking care of everybody, and never has time for things that will make him happy. It’s not fair to make him wait to build a life for himself that isn’t centered solely on the clan.”

  “It is his duty,” Danielle insisted, and she may have said more, but the teenager cut her off.

  “Screw duty. He’s done it for years, and I know he’ll continue doing it, but he’s earned time off to do his own thing too.”

  “But...”

  “I have spoken,” Terra snapped, her lips drawing back to expose her teeth. “Does this council agree with my decision that the Protector can begin reaping the rewards of his years of selfless devotion to Queen and clan?”

  “Yes,” Alanna said, and others repeated her answer, including me. Danielle was the only hold-out, remaining silent.

  “Then this meeting is ended.”

  I felt like jumping up with my fists in the air, but refrained after checking Danielle’s thunderous expression. That would probably set her off, and this time, she might not check herself because of Terra.

  Instead, I stayed quiet and followed everyone out of the room, grateful that Alanna and Moira continued to flank me as we walked.

  While we’d had our meeting, the rest of the clan had assembled in the hallway or on the stairs. Logan was leaning against the wall next to the front door, but he pushed away to stand straight, his face impassive.

  Terra took the opportunity to do him a little dirty. “The queens’ council has made a decision on the claim of dereliction of duty leveled at the Protector. We have taken into account your many years of service, and the results of those years.” She paused. “Our decision is as follows: You will continue to fulfill your duties to Queen and clan.”

  Logan bowed his head. “Yes, my...”

  “Don’t interrupt, I’m not finished.”

  “My apologies.”

  “However, we have decided to lessen those duties.”

  Logan raised his head, a look of hurt flashing across his face before his expression settled back into neutral lines. I felt sorry for him, and I guess Terra decided not to jerk him around anymore, because she said, “This is not a punishment, but a reward. We’ve made the decision to allow you leisure time to pursue personal interests. You have more than earned it.”

  He blinked, and a slow smile found its way onto his face. “Thank you, my Queen.”

  “You’re welcome. I think you should start by taking a two-week vacation.”

  Logan’s jaw dropped.

  “But we need to discuss...”

  “Geeze, Logan, can’t you take a hint?” Terra spun around, her hands flying to her hips. I quietly shut their apartment door and leaned against it. “I don’t need a babysitter anymore. What I need is a chance to really be Queen.”

  “Okay, I get that, but...”

  “No buts. I need an advisor more than a bodyguard now. Advisors don’t have to hang around constantly. They get to lead their own lives too.”

  He nodded, and I had the feeling he hadn’t really been listening to her. “All right. I just...”

  “Need to go pack. I don’t want to see you for two weeks, unless something comes up and I call you. So don’t forget your phone.”

  “Wait. You’re kicking me out of the apartment?”

  “Well, yeah, dummy. I know you. You won’t do the vacation thing if you stay here. So you need to go somewhere else.” She dropped her hands. “And the rest of us need some practice at not running to you for every little thing.”

  Logan ran his hand over his hair before slowly nodding. “Okay.”

  “Good. Go pack, ask Alanna for some cash, and then go have some fun.”

  “I could just stay in another...”

  “Dude.” When he turned to me, I grinned. “When the boss offers you an all-expenses paid vacation, you do not argue. You say ‘thank you’, and you hurry to pack before she changes her mind.”

  “I, uh,” he threw his hands in the air. “Okay, fine. I’ll go pack.”

  He crossed to his room. Terra waited until he’d closed the door before pointing at the front one. Out in the hallway, she pursed her lips. “Why did Danielle try to jump on you?”

  Uh-oh. I winced. “It was my fault. I got smart with her.”

  She nodded, but said, “We can’t have two queens fighting. It’s bad for morale.”

  “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  “You mean, you’ll try not to let it happen again.”

  Well, yeah. It wasn’t as though I could control Danielle or make her stop disliking me. “Yes.”

  Terra tugged at the ends of her pale blonde hair. “I’m not saying don’t defend yourself or anything like that.”

  “I know, I get it. Don’t be a jerk. I’ll try not to be,” I promised. “It just made me mad that she jumped all over Logan like that. I know it was because of me.”

  “I can understand that, but I think you need to hear something. Logan likes you. Danielle doesn’t have a chance with him. She’ll want to be the boss in any relationship she has, and he won’t go for that. He’s been a leader too long.” She wrinkled her nose. “That didn’t come out right. What I mean is, he’ll be equal, or he’ll lead, but he won’t choose someone who’ll try to boss him around all the time.”

  “I have gotten that impression.”

  Terra flashed a smile. “Just saying it because I want you to know that Danielle’s not a threat to anything you and Logan decide to do. She doesn’t realize that yet, but it won’t hurt you to ignore her comments and stuff. Okay?”

  Look at me, being schooled by an eighteen-year-old about showing some maturity. “Okay. Thanks, and I’m sorry I caused trouble.”

  “It’s okay.” She nibbled on her lower lip for a second. “You know, it would help if you could find a way to spend more time with us. Not like every single day, because I know you’re busy most of the time. But maybe Sunday evenings? We all eat together and watch movies or play games then.”

  Bonding time. Definitely something I should take part in, since I still didn’t know every clan member on sight or by name. “That sounds fun. I’ll come as often as I can.”

  “Great. But not tomorrow or next Sunday, okay? I need you to keep Logan as busy as possible while he’s on vacation, or he’ll turn up and there goes that idea.”

  I saluted her. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am.”

  Terra giggled, and we heard muffled footsteps inside the apartment. “Here he comes.”

  Opening the door, Logan gave us a suspicious look. “What are you two conspiring about?”

  “Nothing. I have to go see what Dane wants to tell me. Come with?”

  “Well, since I’m at loose ends.” He lifted the dark blue duffle bag he held. “I guess I will.”

  “Cool.”

  Logan grinned and kissed Terra on top of her head. “Don’t burn the building down while I’m gone.”

  “I’ll try not to.”

  “And call me if...”

  “Shoo!” She flapped her hands at him.

  Dane opened his front door at my knock, and stepped back. “Come in.”

  His apartment didn’t have much by way of furniture. A small, round table with two chairs sat between the living and kitchen areas. A beige sofa was sandwiched by two square end tables, and fronted by a matching coffee table. Mismatched bookshelves lined the other walls, filled with paperback books.

  One of the work laptops sat on the coffee table, next to a small printer and a box of manila folders. My partner took a seat on the sofa in front of t
he laptop. “I try to think of stuff that will help me be a better PI, since I don’t have your psychic leg up on it.”

  Logan dropped his duffle by the door, and we crossed to sit on either side of Dane.

  “I’ve been learning about social media sites and stuff. You know, bookmarking forums and sites that people from Santo Trueno hang out at.” Dane clicked on the favorites icon in the browser, and a list of folders appeared in a dropdown box. The folders were labeled with titles like “City” or “Colleges”, and “Clubs”, etcetera.

  “Wait, you’re cataloging Santo Trueno?”

  He smiled. “Well, I’m trying to. At least, everything I can find online. You know, the Internet is available to just about everyone, as long as they have a smart phone, or a library card, or use one of the Internet cafes.”

  “No, I didn’t know that. I use the Internet at work, and I guess my phone isn’t smart.” I felt compelled to add, “I do know what social media is though.”

  “You should upgrade your phone. Anyway, I’ve spent the day poking around, looking through social media sites and forums. I found those friends of Rico’s that his mother gave us the names of.”

  “Awesome. Did you get their addresses?”

  “Yeah, but none of them know anything.” Dane grinned at my raised eyebrows. “Email, Cordi. It’s the wave of the future.”

  “Oh.”

  “Well, email and social media. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. Rico’s not the only person who’s recently gone missing. Or,” he tapped around on the keyboard. “Is suspected of missing. Here it is.”

  I looked at the screen, and the text document he’d opened. It was a list of seven names, with dates beside each that went back two weeks. Five of the names had red Xs beside them. “What’s the X for?”

  “To mark the ones who were all last seen, or talked about going to, the same place. I don’t know about the other two yet.”

  “The same place. Dreamland?”

  He nodded.

  I stared at the list. The final name, below Frederico Guerra’s, was Rebecca Spears. For some reason, I couldn’t look away from that name. It took me several seconds to make the connection. “Have you guys seen Becky?”