Lycan Legacy - 4 - 5 - 6: Princess - Progeny - Paladin: Book 4 - 5 - 6 in the Lycan Legacy Series

by Veronica Singer

  Out of earshot, I faced Brian. "I wanted to thank you for showing restraint. We got everyone out safely, mostly because of you."

  Brian pulled off his helmet and removed his balaclava. "Yeah, I thought that one guy would try to jump us. That would have ended badly."

  "I agree." Badly for your team. "He's family." I rubbed my belly. "He's very protective of me and the babies."

  "Babies? So you're having twins?"

  At least. "Yeah, I'm carrying multiples."

  "When are you due?"

  "In about two months. I can't wait for the delivery. I'm tired of stretch pants and flat shoes."

  "You still look great," he said.

  I gave him my dimple smile. "Thank you. I know I look a mess."

  Enough chit-chat. "Brian, I wanted to warn you that those mines are dangerous. Neither you nor your team should go down there."

  "Don't worry, we have experts."

  "So do we. I'm not talking about the charges we just set. Those are modern and pretty safe."

  I pointed at Rooster, who was shouting into his cell phone near the trailer. Over his head was a sign that said ‘Absolutely no cell phones allowed.’

  "But with idiots like that here, even modern explosives aren't safe. No, what I'm talking about is that we found a bunch of old, old dynamite in one chamber."

  "Old dynamite? Where is it?"

  "I don't know. It should be labeled on a chart in the trailer. I'm an administrator, not an explosives expert. All I know is that our explosives guy went down, saw what was there, and backed out on tiptoe. He's been through two wars and I had never seen him scared before. He made us drill a new shaft to avoid that tunnel."

  "I'll let my team know. Thanks."

  Time to shift gears now that I had sent the warning. "So how's your family?"

  "I'm divorced, no kids."

  Did he think I was angling for info on his marital status? Better to just ignore and move on.

  "And your sister? Is your mom still with us?"

  "Rachel’s doing well. She's married with two kids. Mom's hanging on, but her arthritis is bad. Those Wyoming winters are hard on her. Now her memory is fading, too." He shook his head in frustration.

  "Your mom was a great help to me in high school. Did you know she tailored your sister's old cheerleader uniform to fit me? If it wasn't for her, I never would have been able to afford to join the squad."

  "Really?" Brian looked away, reminiscing. "You really came out of your shell after you joined the squad."

  "I went from introvert to extrovert." I smiled at the memory of how my status changed after I made the squad. I went from being the strange girl dressed in thrift store rejects to a popular cheerleader.

  I made a decision and pulled a business card from my purse. "Take this and call the admin office at the hospital. My dad’s a doctor there and we can help your mom. I'll let them know you’ll be calling."

  "Are you sure? All she has is Medicare. We can't really afford—"

  I folded his fingers over the card. "My dad has a lot of pull in the hospital." Actually, we own it. "You won't have to spend a dime."

  6

  In the car, while Logan drove, I called Mason at home. I spoke to him in Fae, a language that Logan didn't understand. Hell, almost nobody this side of the veil could speak Fae. I warned Mason that the pack and I were heading home.

  "I understand," he said. "I'll stop the spells I have going. Are you hungry?" Then he laughed. "Of course you are. I'll order lunch from Famous Dave's."

  "Logan is with me," I said. "Order some extras for him." Logan's ear twitched at the sound of his name, but he concentrated on the road.

  It was nearly one p.m. when we arrived at the compound in Henderson. After much discussion, Mason and I had bought out an entire tract of houses in a walled compound. I missed our Wyoming compound, the rivers, hills, and forest; the bite of fresh air and the freedom to run unnoticed. But my pack needed more than that.

  "Come on inside, Logan," I said as he pulled into the garage. "Join us for lunch. We have a lot of things to discuss."

  The dining room table was filled with takeout boxes loaded with succulent portions of meat. I laid out plates and silverware and we sat down, me at the head of the table, with Mason on my right and Logan on my left. Did that make me the boss? Or a buffer zone between Logan and Mason?

  "Thanks for ordering lunch," I said. "It looks like you cleared out the restaurant."

  "Once you said Logan was coming, I knew we'd need a lot of extra food." Mason rubbed his midsection to emphasize the difference between his slim belly and Logan's protruding gut.

  "Skinny little magician," growled Logan. "Eat up. You'll need your strength after the cubs are born and we can settle our differences."

  "I'm looking forward to the birth, and straightening you out." Mason piled his plate high with meat, then squirted a generous portion of Famous Dave's Devil's Spit hot sauce on his meat.

  Would these two really fight after the babies arrived? Mason had no fear of fighting a werewolf. As one of the most powerful magicians in two worlds, he had little to fear from werewolves. Logan was a roughhouse brawler, with a werewolf's disdain for magic and magicians. He was also sneaky, and a lot faster than he looked. It had taken all my skill to beat Logan and make him my pack's runt.

  As the alpha, I could order Logan to not fight. As Mason's mate, I could probably convince him not to kill Logan. But interceding might make the situation worse. Werewolves fight for dominance at every stage of our lives, so it was natural for them to clash. Maybe I could goad them into some kind of race? Like the time we had scaled the outside of Tokyo Tower to see who was fastest? I put those thoughts away; those were worries for another day.

  I inhaled deeply to catch the aroma of Mason's hot sauce, then put the mildest sauce on my ribs.

  "You don't like hot sauce, alpha?" asked Logan.

  "I love hot sauce. But when I eat it, the babies start kicking. The last time I indulged, they kept me up all night." I took a sip of my fruit juice, another compromise. No wine or caffeine until the children were born.

  A pleasant twenty minutes passed in silence, except for the crunching of bones and chewing of meat.

  I wiped my mouth and pushed the empty plate away. As I sipped my juice, Logan and Mason finished.

  Mason looked at my clean plate and raised an eyebrow. I could tell from the glint in his eye, he was getting ready for a teasing comment. My glare stopped him. After all, I was eating for at least four.

  Mason gave me his bland smile. "Save room for dessert, love. I got the bread pudding you like."

  "Maybe later. We need to talk about the mine."

  "What's happening?"

  "They evicted us this morning. Some government bureaucrat came in and claimed the mine using eminent domain."

  "And he's still alive?"

  I gritted my teeth and responded. "Yes. He brought in a SWAT team to force us out."

  Logan grunted to express his opinion of the SWAT team.

  "Since there were a lot of human workers around, I decided not to get physical."

  "Sometimes you're too nice, alpha," said Logan. He shook his head. "That mine was producing millions in ore. Now that'll belong to those idiots."

  Mason and I shared a look. "Logan, the mine is worthless," I said.

  "Worthless? But we were making money."

  "We were making money because Mason was going there on the weekends and calling high concentrations of the minerals we needed up from deep in the earth. He brought them close to the surface, then we mined them."

  I thought Logan would be angry. He hated the thought of magic. Instead, he looked at Mason with admiration, followed by suspicion. "Why waste time with rare earth minerals? Couldn't you just bring up a few tons of gold? We would have been set up for life."

  "Gold is hard to call. Like iron, it resists magic."

  I reached over and touched Logan's hand. "Plus, adding a few tons of gold to the world's supply might
drop the price of gold. Since we have a lot of the pack's wealth tied up in gold, that would be shooting ourselves in the foot."

  "But gold is the best," insisted Logan.

  "Not for this," I said. "Besides, the mine wasn't just to make money."

  At Logan's glare, I added, "Although that's important. The mine allowed us to get everyone in the pack a job, health insurance for those with human mates, and a W2. Hell, Christopher couldn't get his child into daycare until he produced an income tax return."

  Logan tilted his head at Mason. "I thought your pet magician took care of documents for you. Turns out he's not so useful."

  "'Pet magician?' I'm looking forward to putting a leash on you," said Mason.

  Logan's claws extended and he growled.

  "Sure, Mason would help me—us, help us, by providing documents," I blurted to interrupt the bickering. If I could bring him down from cloud nine. "But I want the pack to build up a history, have naturally created documents. Would the pack have accepted documents that had been magicked up by Mason?"

  "Probably not. But isn't him coaxing minerals up into our mine the same?"

  I waggled my hand. "The pack seems to not mind indirect involvement with magic."

  Logan's expression soured. "Magic has a price. You're the only werewolf I've ever met who can tolerate magicians."

  "The world is getting smaller," I said. "Not just the way humans are crowding us out with their machines, computers, and bureaucracy. Now that some packs are experimenting with using magicians and damned demons against us, we need to prepare for that."

  Logan sent another glare at Mason. "It's like making a deal with the devil."

  "No," I said firmly. "Mason is a good man and a good husband."

  At Logan's scoffing look, I continued. "Remember, I've been offered deals by the devil." I hesitated; was Marcus the devil? I couldn't lie to my packmate. "Or at least a demon prince. We will not be making any deals with demons or devils." I shuddered at the thought of meeting Marcus again.

  My next comment would sting, so I stroked Logan's hand. "Didn't you accept two of Mason's good luck charms for your daughters? Hasn't their life improved since they started wearing them?"

  "Yeah," admitted Logan. "But they're only human. They need all the help they can get."

  I left unsaid that Logan had asked for Mason's help in that situation. Magic can be a great help, and a burden.

  "So what's your plan, alpha?" asked Logan. "Buy up another mine and get your pet—" He halted at my glare. "Your friendly neighborhood magician to bring up more minerals for us?"

  Mason shrugged his shoulders and said, "If that's what you want to do."

  "No," I said. "They would probably do the same thing to any other mine we bought. We need to fight back."

  Logan nodded in agreement. "I can find that little asshole and make sure he never bothers the pack again."

  "I admire your enthusiasm, Logan. I have a plan for Rooster. But we have to play this smarter." I sipped my juice. "If only we’d had a warning. Even twenty-four hours would have given us enough time to stop this."

  "Sounds like you need a lawyer who's connected to the local government," said Mason.

  Logan shuddered. "The only things werewolves hate more than magicians are lawyers."

  "Why?" asked Mason.

  "We hate the stench of lies. A liar stinks worse than magic."

  "So find a lawyer who doesn't lie."

  Logan and I both laughed loudly. "There's no such thing. And even if there were, he would also have to be aware of the supernatural world. Since that combination doesn't exist…"

  "I know one. He's a lawyer and a fae."

  "He can't do us any good in your world. We need someone on this side of the veil."

  Mason smiled. "Did I say he was in Fae? No, he's here. In Las Vegas, in fact."

  "I thought you fairies didn't like to live on Earth," said Logan.

  "Some of us love it here." Mason reached over and took my hand. "Here we have things we could never find in Fae."

  I stroked his cheek and asked, "Didn't you tell me it was painful for fae to live on Earth? Something about needing magic to survive?"

  "That's true. Most fae don't last long on Earth."

  "So you're going to wither up and blow away soon?" jibed Logan. "I'm looking forward to that."

  "Most fae. I have no problem staying here." He stared Logan in the eyes. "Get used to having me around, I'm not going anywhere." I felt a rush of emotion at his simple declaration.

  Instead of getting angry, Logan just laughed and said, "Damn my bad luck."

  "So can we set up a meeting with this lawyer?" I asked.

  "Is this guy a magician, too?" asked Logan.

  Mason held his thumb and forefinger about a half-inch apart. "He's not powerful as a magician. But he's well-connected and very smart."

  Logan shuddered, "A lawyer and a magician? I'm out. If I meet this guy, I might tear him apart."

  "I guess it’ll be just you and me to meet your friend," I said.

  "Not really a friend. He doesn't like me."

  "What? Why?"

  "My mother exiled him to Earth."

  7

  "Exiled to Earth by your mother? That's unbelievable," I said.

  Mason smiled. "You think my mother is too kind to do that?"

  "Oh, no. That bitch would cut the heart out of her own mother if it gave her an advantage. I just can't imagine she thought it would be a good idea to make an enemy and just let him go."

  My stomach rumbled, and Mason laughed. "Let me serve up the bread pudding and I'll tell you the story."

  Mason's look told me he wanted to tell this story in private. I turned to Logan, rubbed his hand again, and said, "Logan, aren't you supposed to take your girls out shopping?"

  Logan was rude, foul-mouthed, and quick to anger, but he was smart enough to read Mason's reticence. "As long as you don't need me. I'm not interested in listening to a bunch of fairy tales, anyway."

  I handed him a portion of the bread pudding and escorted him to the door. "See you at the barbecue tonight. Bring the kids if you like."

  I settled back into my chair as Mason served out helpings of the bread pudding and topped up our drinks.

  "So, tell me about this lawyer. What did he do to piss your mother off?" I asked in Fae. It was a strange language, but some stories are best recounted in the original. And the language was more precise about relationships than English.

  "He proposed to my sister, Princess Alexandrite."

  I remembered her—cold, cruel, and cunning. Her chosen colors were the icy shades of violet. She'd challenged me to a game of chess, knowing she was the best player in Fae. I shuddered at the memory of how close she had come to outsmarting me.

  "I find it hard to believe that Alexandrite's heart would warm to any man."

  "You'd be surprised. Anyway, the problem wasn't warming my sister's cold heart. Mother didn't approve of the union."

  I laughed. "Isn't your sister old enough to decide for herself? She’s over a hundred years old, isn’t she?"

  "In the royal family, Mother's approval of the union is required."

  "But you didn't ask for your mother's approval when you started seeing me."

  Mason stroked my cheek tenderly. "Once I knew you were the one, I didn't care what Mother thought."

  So my prince had rebelled against his overbearing mother to be my mate. "I'm glad you made that choice."

  He dropped into English. "There's also the fact that fae consider men second-class citizens. The family wasn't worried about what I did or whom I loved."

  Funny that in Fae, there was no way to call men "second-class citizens." Like water to a fish, it was the unmentioned norm.

  I continued in Fae. "Until they found out I might have a girl and screw up the succession to the throne."

  I had a sudden thought and a flash of jealousy. "What if you had mated with a human woman? Say, for example, your ex-girlfriend Zanna?" That top-hat
-wearing stage-magician bitch had been all over Mason when we had met. I started tapping my fingers nervously on the table.

  Mason watched my fingers as the taps went from thump-thump-thump-thump to click-click-click-click when my claws extended. He had once called those claws a "thermometer for my anger."

  "Well, first, I would never have proposed to Zanna. I knew in my heart she wasn’t the woman for me. Next, mating with a human would have meant little to Mother. Most fae/human hybrids are very weak in magical talents."

  I opened my mouth to protest, and he added, "With a few notable exceptions, like me."

  Click-click-click-click. "And if?"

  "If? Well, if a royal son was to marry a human woman, the human woman would submit to Mother and any children, male or female, would be removed from the line of succession."

  Click-click-click-click. Mason continued, "Could you imagine Zanna facing down my mother?"

  The thought of Zanna—five-two at best, with her white silk tuxedo jacket, fishnet stockings, white patent-leather high heels, and white top hat—confronting Princess Perla brought a smile to my lips.

  "Maybe Zanna could show your mother some card tricks."

  Thump-thump-thump-thump. Mason took a long breath, relieved that my claws had retracted. "So there's nothing to fret about. There's no need to be jealous of her."

  "I'm not jealous of her at all. I'd almost forgotten she existed."

  "You tried to weld her escape hatch shut during her death-trap act."

  "That was just a joke. I would never have gone through with it. I swear I'm not jealous of your ex."

  Mason smiled his mischievous smile. "That's good, because she texted me today. She wants to get together—me, you, her, and her boyfriend."

  Click-click-click-click. "Yes, we could have her for dinner." I smiled as I imagined how well that tiny troublemaker would fit into one of our barbecue grills.

  "I already told her we would be busy and couldn't plan anything for the next several months. You know, with our new family, careers, etc."

  "Good answer, magician. I don't think we would get along. I never trusted that woman."