“How did that snake thing go?”
“Great. Got eaten and then vampires showed up and Spencer sent his lackeys to polish me off and then I got Tasered.”
“Wow.”
“Please be more specific next time.”
Waylon shook his head. “I can’t believe you, Violet.”
“What? The panther part?”
“No, the fearless leader part. I came here thinking I was going to be the big hero, telling you things you never could have dreamed of and it seems you’ve already lived them.”
I squared up and asked him the hard question. “So what is your schtick? Lay it out for me.”
Waylon put down his coffee. Of course there was coffee involved in this situation.
“Psychic. Future only. Just like Aunt Lily. And I can’t really control it.”
I swirled my coffee. It was the first thing I did when I felt like Violet again. Made a pot of coffee. “Do you dream it?”
“All the time.”
“But you are hidden. I can’t feel you or Lexie and my preternatural senses are pretty damn good.”
“It’s this.” Waylon pulled up his sleeve. On his upper forearm, there was a black swirly mark that I knew too well.
“You’ve got a permanent dampening spell?”
“Yep. And every pair of shoes that Lexie has gets one too.” Waylon rolled down his sleeve. “I’ll tell her when she’s ready. Maybe when she has her first dream.”
“When did your dreams start?”
Waylon gulped and looked away.
“Waylon?”
He licked his lips. “My first one was about a week after Aunt Lily died.”
I remembered that. My life with him was getting easier to remember from the black hole of oblivion I had shoved them into. I was still sleeping in the living room before his mom cleaned out her sewing room so I could have some privacy. Waylon woke up screaming and I took him a glass of milk because that’s what my mother would have done.
“Pretty much every night since then.”
“When was your first about me?”
“Three years ago. You were fighting off this pack of dogs.”
I snorted. “That was my first date with Chaz.”
“You got attacked on your first date?”
“And he still stuck around.” The joke fell out of my mouth before I could realize that it wasn’t exactly true. He wasn’t here now.
“It was little things here and there until . . .”
I gulped. “Until what? You’re going to have to weave a better story than your company sent you here.”
Waylon came out and said it, which, though I appreciated it, was still shocking. “Until I saw you thrown through the Veil. Packed up everything the moment I saw that. ”
The thought of it washed like cold water down my spine. “I haven’t done that yet.”
“I know.”
“So it’s still going to happen?”
“Yes.”
My stomach flopped over on itself and I couldn’t breathe. I was going to be thrown through the Veil? As Spencer’s tribute?
“We can’t let it happen.” Waylon’s brow was cement.
“Well, duh,” I said as I put the coffee down on the counter.
“No, I mean. I’ve seen what happens if Spencer wins. Every incarnation is bad.” When Waylon was serious, a vein popped out on his forehead. That wasn’t there thirteen years ago.
“How bad?”
“Jovan takes over and runs everything.”
“Would it make you feel better to know that you’re not the only one who has prophetic dreams?”
His eyes brightened. “You too?”
I waved my hand to get rid of the notion that I was psychic. “It’s little things. Crazy dreams. It’s not really about the future—more like my brain tuning into things I’m too dumb to listen to. The first time it was fairy tales that my mother told me.”
Waylon smiled. “I remember those. Every night.”
“Came back to me when I needed them, like little whispers from the past.”
Waylon picked his coffee back up and listened for the movie Lexie was watching. It was currently the musical number between the heartthrob and the underdog as they fell in love. This was one of those moments I wished I didn’t have super hearing.
“I read somewhere that psychics get their power because they can hear what the Mother is telling us,” he started.
I put my finger up when I heard Lexie’s movie stop and her bouncing across the first floor.
She landed in the kitchen doorway. “Whatcha talking about?”
“Dreams,” her father said.
Lexie walked into the kitchen and leaned against her father’s arms. “I had a weird one last night about the cleaning lady in the hotel.”
“Weird as in clowns or aliens?” Waylon asked.
All three of us laughed. It felt good. Felt natural. And as angry as I should be at him for keeping all of this from me, for keeping this precious girl from me, I was glad that they were here now, when I could appreciate them.
I’D WRITTEN THIS character once, a vampire queen. She was cool and calm and calculating, and had learned to be as still as stone. It calmed her allies and infuriated her enemies. It was also one of the first times when what I’d seen in my head ended up on the screen—granted, it was a small screen venture but the actress did an amazing job of capturing it.
I thought about that stillness as I waited for the Akasha. Even though my neck was killing me and my arm was aching because I burned through ibuprofen faster than I could take it, I didn’t want her to see how nervous I was. I had to fight my leg to keep from bouncing as I waited at a table in the middle of the coffee shop, my coffee shop. I wanted to look calm and put together despite the white bandages that wrapped around my arm and shoulder.
The morning after Peter had made the phone call, the keys to the coffee shop were in my mailbox. Say what you will about Peter’s fidelity, the boy could push paperwork with the best of them. Attached to the blank manila envelope was a yellow note with “1100 am” written on it.
So I waited for my meeting with the Akasha and ran speeches through my head. But nothing seemed to come off right and there were always too many cat metaphors.
The bells on the door broke the unnatural silence of the place. The first thing I noticed about the Akasha were her eyes. They were almond-shaped and light colored despite her dark skin.
She stopped in the doorway and shivered. “Violet Jordan?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She looked around the coffee shop and then saw the protection symbol above the door. “You’re working some heavy mojo here.”
“I needed to make sure that we were safe.”
“Meaning you and me, or you and your pack?”
“Any Wanderer who wandered in.”
She pressed her lips together and looked up at the symbol, then back at me. There was a quizzical look on her face and she took in a deep breath before walking across the espresso-soaked floor.
I rose to greet her. I’d left my charm at home. I wasn’t going to need it for the full moon, so I hadn’t packed it. Which left me woefully unprepared for the sheer heat of her. I felt her when she was within three feet of me. When Nash had warned me that she was the embodiment of fire, I didn’t think that she was actually as hot as fire.
She stuck out her hand. “Inez.”
“Violet Jordan.” As I slid my hand against hers, my power went out around her. I’d brushed everyone in the past six weeks, so it was a natural reaction for me.
But she was the first one who’d burned me back.
The dry air brushed my cheeks and in its wake came the sizzle. It was like the slow burn after a pepper spray and it stayed on my cheek and arm long after she’d released my hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Akasha.”
The woman winced. “Please don’t call me that. I hate all the formal stuff.”
“Then, please call me
Violet.” I gestured that we should sit.
Inez did, but she still looked around the shop. “What’s up with this place?”
“I came here often enough, before and after the shift, that I somehow created a haven for all Wanderers.”
“How?”
I was honest. “I have no idea, but people tend to end up here when they are lost.”
Inez tugged on the cuff of her scarlet leather jacket. She crossed her legs at the ankle and tried to rest her hands in her lap.
She was nervous. I was making someone else nervous. “Which means that it’s a safe place for your people too.”
“What about vampires?”
“I suppose that if a vampire was in trouble, they might gravitate toward this place, but I’m not really eager to find that out.”
“Delmont said you tangled with them.”
“I did.”
“Said their leader ended up dead.”
“He did.”
Inez adjusted in her seat and as she looked at the window where I’d spent most of my time in the past two years, I saw a slick scar just at the collar of her jacket. It wasn’t the pretty vampire bites you see in the movies, but a half circle of violent edges. The story of it jumped into my brain before I could even blink.
She’d been attacked by vampires. What good vampire wouldn’t want a victim that would keep them running at human temperatures for a while? That’s why the mention of me consorting with vampires had her as nervous as me.
Maybe Delmont was wrong about this approach. Or maybe he knew the story and what kind of effect it would have on this woman. It did seem like his M.O.
“I didn’t kill him,” I finally said.
Inez’s gaze jumped back to me. “What?”
“He was dead when we got there. But his Clade did come and we did fight.”
Inez swallowed. “Are you going to let them stay?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
She looked at me with wide eyes.
“I know that you have your own pack and probably have just as many concerns as I do about how we are all going to deal with each other..”
“Kiln. A group of elementals is called a Kiln.”
I nodded. “Okay. I know that you guys are probably going through the same growing pains we are, and frankly, I don’t think we need to worry about more cooks in the kitchen.”
Inez studied me for a moment. “He said that you were different.”
“Who?”
“Tai-Jen, the wind elemental.”
I was shocked. It hadn’t occurred to me before that my own sensei would also be part of her Kiln. “He would know me probably as well as anyone.”
Inez leaned back in her chair. She wasn’t fidgeting for the first time now that I was the focus of the conversation. “He said you were strong but stubborn, and you pushed yourself to be faster.”
“Did he mention how many times he threw me against the wall?”
“He did take a bit of pride in that.” When Inez smiled, she lit up the whole room. And just like Nash, I felt like I’d been given a gift—that she didn’t smile that often, didn’t have enough occasions to.
“He’s right. I do push myself. Pushed myself a little too hard. But I’d imagine you can understand that when you’ve got people relying on you, you want to be strong for them.”
“I can.”
I was getting “good guy” vibes from her. I wished I could blame it on some psychic ability, but really it was all in my gut. Still wasn’t going to trust her. Not until I knew the story about the scar on her neck. The scar was a little too deep to just make rash decisions. We didn’t want another warthog incident.
“I’m not going to propose an alliance. I’m too new at all of this to get interspecies politics involved. But if you’ve got troubles, know that you can call on me, and I’ll let you know . . .”
“The next time a giant snake decides to attack you?”
“Something like that.”
Inez took in a long breath and let it out slowly. “After what Delmont said, I wasn’t sure I was going to like you, Violet Jordan.”
“What exactly did Delmont say?”
Inez raised her eyebrows. “He said that you were powerful and would make a good ruler over Dallas.”
I sighed. “I don’t want to be a queen, Inez. I just want our people safe.”
She frowned. “You’ve got the money, the power, and over half the Wanderers in this area on your side, but you’d give up the crown?”
“If there was someone I knew could do it better, yes.”
Inez chuckled. “If your ‘better’ is not getting eaten by a snake, I’d like to take a swing at it.”
“The next time a Bigger comes across, I’ll let you have a shot.”
Inez settled back into her seat. I felt the play of her energy in the air around us as she drew her finger across the table. “Why did you come alone?”
“I’m never really alone.”
Inez huffed. “Tell me about it. They won’t let me go anywhere without Cheech and Chong outside.”
I knew exactly who she was talking about. Their shadows blocked half the window outside. “Big earth elementals?”
“Yeah.”
“I called them Rock and Roll last time they were trying to beat in my brains.”
“Decent guys actually.”
“Aren’t they all in the beginning?”
Inez shook his head. “You’ll never fully know what Haverty did.”
I nodded. “I won’t pretend. I also will never do what he did. Goes against everything that I stand for.”
Inez looked up and I saw the fire in her eyes, literally. “What do you stand for, Violet Jordan?”
I licked my lips and told her the same thing that I had repeated to my pack when I’d first met all of them, when I sat down at these very tables and explained what they could do now. “It’s not about the power. It’s about the choices you make and the lives that you build. It’s always about the home that you go to after the fight and the family in that home.”
Inez looked away as her eyes began to tear. “And if you don’t have a family because they were taken from you?”
I reached across the table and took her hand. Her power flared around her and my skin began to burn like holding your hand over a gas flame. But I kept it there. “Then you build one. And you fight for them.”
“There does seem to be a lot of fighting in this world.”
I released her hand and held up my injured arm. “More in mine than most. Sacred destiny or not, life is rough.”
Inez nodded. “I hear you.”
“I will want to know what you guys are up to.”
“What makes you think that I will tell you?”
“Remember that stubborn part that the sensei mentioned? It’s true.”
Inez sat up in her chair. “Do you have any concerns?”
“Can I still train with my sensei? I need a good throw-down every now and again to keep me in my place.”
“I don’t see why not. Wouldn’t mind enrolling myself.”
“Are fireballs not effective enough? Because last time I saw you, it looked pretty darn effective.”
Inez smiled. “They are effective, but they burn the good as well as the bad.”
“Gotcha. Versus a good throat chop that can be aimed at one throat.”
“You have an odd way with words, Miss Jordan.”
I watched her. There was something else that she wanted to talk about. Something more, and it didn’t involve ninjitsu. “Anything for me? Questions, comments, concerns?”
Inez looked down at the table. “Be frank with me. How many have you lost to the Lock?”
The images of the ghouls flashed across my brain and my eyes snapped shut for a moment. When I opened them, Inez’s knuckles were practically white, knotted together on the table between us.
“None, actually. Been attacked by a few, but all of mine are still standing. Why?”
I
nez shook her head. “Nothing.”
She was lying. I’d never seen a lie scream behind someone’s eyes like it flashed behind hers.
“You’ve lost some?” The way her jaw clenched, I knew my answer. I gulped. “How many?”
“Five.”
“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t hide the blood draining out of my face. Why did Jovan need all that power?
“I wasn’t strong enough.”
“You cannot blame yourself for sins you didn’t commit.
Inez rose and I followed suit. “I need to let you go. From what I understand, you have a pack meeting tonight.”
“You know, full moon and all. It was a pleasure meeting you.”
“See you again, Violet Jordan.”
Inez walked back out the door and I saw her and the two brutes pass by the sunny window.
Now that went swimmingly, I thought to myself as I walked behind the counter of the shop. My Plan A of just being Violet Jordan actually worked for once.
I deserved a celebratory coffee.
Everything at the shop was still in its place. Even the fridge was still running. The grinder still worked and the milk was still good.
Freshly made latté in hand, I leaned across the counter of my coffee shop and just took a moment and a sip of coffee—surprisingly, my first of the day. It wasn’t horrible.
I looked across the quiet shop and knew that something was wrong. It was more than the espresso, which didn’t have Bastian’s flair to it.
It was this place. This place needed people. I needed to open it back up and get Bastian back behind the counter to fix me a decent caramel macchiato every morning.
And if needing a decent cup of coffee every morning made me a queen, then so be it.
Chapter Fifteen
THE FARMHOUSE NEVER looked so blissfully wonderful before. Its two-story frame stood out against the afternoon sky and it glowed with a homey warmth. It was probably just the sun behind the house because we were pushing late afternoon when we finally arrived, but to this exhausted girl, it was the most beautiful sight on the planet.
I parked closest to the house and watched as the six other cars that had followed me from Dallas found places to stop along the undefined driveway.
I grabbed my overnight duffle and the black canvas bag with the scary stuff I didn’t trust to stay at home in it and climbed out of my little car.
Nine Lives of an Urban Panther Page 17