Belong To The Night

by Shelly Laurenston

  “Oh, honey,” she said sweetly to her cousin. “Was that you on the other side of the door? I’m so sorry! Here. Let me help you.” She grabbed Mac from Bear and moved her forward, slamming her into the wall by the door.

  “Ooopsie! My bad.” Jamie yanked her back by the neck and shoved her forward again. This time she aimed correctly and got her into the swinging door but she did it so hard that Tully knew Mac would be feeling the pain for days. Poor full-humans. How they handled the pain from those minor wounds lasting days—sometimes a full week!—he’d never know.

  After the cousins disappeared into the kitchen, there was some screaming, slamming, and what sounded like the throwing of metal utensils coming from behind the swinging door but only Bear seemed deeply concerned about it. He was still standing there, looking as confused as only a grizzly could sometimes, when Seneca walked out. She gave him that big, blinding grin, and said, “Sheriff! What are you doing standing here?”

  The grizzly pointed at the door and Seneca gave a little laugh as she took his arm and led him to the table where his mother was already sitting. “Don’t worry about that blood on the wall and door. Our staff will clean that up in no time.”

  “But—”

  “You just enjoy your meal and night out with your mother. Hi, Miss Gwen.”

  “Hello, Seneca.”

  “I recommend the salmon!” she said happily before rousing her staff to clean off the wall and doors.

  Kyle grabbed a piece of bread from one of three platters in the middle of the table. “Did she just recommend salmon to bears?”

  The dinner was going better than Tully thought it would. He wouldn’t say anyone was friendly but everyone was at least polite. Then again, conversational lines were pretty safe. Jack was chatting with Millie; Kyle, Katie, and Tully were chatting with each other; Wanda was chatting and Buck was grunting in response; and Buck’s sons were staring at Katie, which meant they were about to get their asses kicked if they didn’t quit it.

  Yep. It could be worse.

  Tully was almost finished with his steak when, laughing at something Kyle had muttered, he heard the bickering between Buck and Wanda. He did his best to ignore it—Lord knew it was none of his business what his father and his unmarked woman were up to—but couldn’t once his father leaned back in his chair and said, “I’m moving my Pack back here. It’s a good place for us to get settled.”

  Tully continued to chew the piece of steak he had in his mouth, staring at his father while he did. He knew everyone was waiting for his response, waiting to see what he’d do. Especially Buck.

  Wanda gave the most forced smile Tully had seen in a long time. “Now, Buck, I thought we talked about waiting—”

  “Quiet.”

  He didn’t yell at her, he didn’t need to. But the way Millie flinched, Tully knew what that tone was leading up to if Wanda didn’t back off. She did, but it was a struggle, her hands curling into fists where they lay on the table.

  Tully swallowed his food and simply said, “No.”

  His father smiled, probably hoping for that. “You think you can stop me?”

  “I know he can,” Jack growled from across the table.

  “I haven’t seen anything that tells me that. My Pack is stronger and—”

  “Right outside town.” Tully used a slice of French bread to sop up what was left of the amazing sauce Mac made to go with the steak. “At least they were. The fine law enforcement officials of Everettville were kind enough to send them on their way. They didn’t like a band of rovers being that close to their precious horses.” Tully popped the piece of bread in his mouth and winked at his father. “The rest of your Pack has been shuffled out of town too. I swear, the bears love making wolves leave. It gives them almost a perverse joy.”

  “You always play it so nice, don’t ya, boy?”

  “I haven’t had to get nasty. And if you leave after this wonderful, thrilling dinner, I won’t have to. But that’s up to you. At the very least do it for your woman.”

  “She can handle anything. She may be full-human, but she ain’t weak.” And Buck’s eyes slid over to Millie. “I never could find a use for a weak female in my life or my bed.”

  Katie slammed her fist down on the table, cutting off anything Tully, Jack, or Kyle were about to say. “You watch your mouth, old man.”

  Seneca suddenly appeared, sliding to a stop by their table and clapping her hands together, her smile way too wide and bright. “How are we doing? Are we ready for dessert?”

  Jamie would never admit it out loud but her cousin had a hell of a right cross.

  And although trying to plate the desserts for Tully and his family would be easier with both eyes open, she was going to show her inner tenacity and ignore the swelling of her left eye.

  Once she finished, Jamie grabbed two plates, Mac grabbed two, and the waiters took care of the rest. They slipped out the swinging door and over to the large table in the middle of the room. From what she could tell, all seemed to be going well—until she actually saw everyone. They looked…tense. Dangerously tense. It looked as if things had moved along a lot faster than she’d thought they would.

  Time to get this over with.

  Moving around the table to stay downwind of the patchouli funk Wanda had brought in with her—Christ! She hated that smell!—she carefully placed her specially prepared dessert in front of Jack and Kyle while the waiters and Mac took care of everyone else.

  “Nice eye,” Tully mouthed at her and she gave him a little sneer that made him laugh.

  Sen, always the one with the charm, clapped her hands together and said, “This is Jamie’s Dark Chocolate Path of Destruction cake”—which made Tully chuckle, Buck Smith glaring at him from across the table—“but we all call it Chocolate Overload for short. We hope you all enjoy it and that you enjoyed your meal and we wanted to thank you for coming tonight.”

  “It was lovely, sweetheart,” Millie said as she gave them all a brave, if rather desperate smile.

  Jamie grinned and gave her a wink. “The dessert’s killer, Miss Millie, but I think you’ll love it.” Then Jamie slapped her hands down on Buck’s shoulders. “You, too, Buck. You’ll just love it.” She walked off behind her coven.

  But Jamie slowed to a stop, her head swimming. It must be that goddamn patchouli crap! Then pain tore through her brain and everything around her spun out of control…

  Tully was moments from having an orgasm over Jamie’s cake—had she put anything else in here but chocolate and some nuts? Heroin, maybe? Crack? Damn!—when he saw Jamie suddenly stumble to a stop. She rubbed her forehead with one hand and slowly turned toward the table.

  “Jamie?”

  She shook her head before slowly walking forward. Her coven, about to push through the swinging door and head back into the kitchen, stopped and watched her closely. Even little Seneca seemed concerned.

  “Is everything all right, sweetheart?” his momma asked. “You need a glass of water or somethin’?”

  Jamie shook her head again and said, “No, ma’am. I just…” She blinked hard as if trying to focus her eyes. “I just…”

  She stood by the table now and, after a moment, looked at Tully.

  “Beautiful?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so, so sorry.”

  And before he could ask her what she might be sorry for, she grabbed Wanda by the back of the head, a handful of her hair wrapped around her fingers, and flung the woman out of the chair and across the room. Bear pulled his momma out of the way and over to Tully’s table where they were all now standing, watching as Jamie swiped up a steak knife from one of the tables and stalked over to Wanda. But her coven cut her off, Mac catching her around the waist.

  “Jamie, don’t.”

  “She doesn’t smell that bad!” Seneca argued. But it was Emma that had Tully’s attention. She was watching Wanda close as the woman slowly got to her feet. He wasn’t sure what she saw, what clued
her in, but Emma got out a squeaked, “Jamie!”

  Jamie shoved her cousin aside, raising her hand and blocking the power suddenly flowing from Wanda in a huge wave.

  “Get out!” Jamie yelled at them over the roar of sound, but they didn’t move fast enough and Tully watched as Jamie was forced several feet back.

  Growling, Jamie pushed and the power lashed back at Wanda. The other woman stumbled, snarled, and flew at Jamie. And he meant that literally. She flew.

  Wanda slammed into Jamie, hands tight around her throat, and that funky scent clogging up Jamie’s delicate senses. She wouldn’t stand for it! But she didn’t have a chance to do anything as Wanda’s strength and power shoved Jamie back into the kitchen, through the kitchen, and out the back door, with Wanda still holding on tight.

  Once outside, Wanda flew them up until Jamie’s back collided with a tree. The air surrounding them kept the pair aloft, and Jamie knew that Wanda’s goddess had imbued the witch with serious power although Jamie wondered what Wanda had to give up to get it.

  The witch chanted at her and Jamie could only smile. “You’ll have to do better than that, hippie,” she taunted, releasing her desperate grip on the hands Wanda had around her throat and digging her thumbs into Wanda’s eyes, forcing her back.

  Once she had Wanda completely arched over, the hippie screaming from the pain in her eyes, Jamie ripped the power out of Wanda, and made it her own. Then she slammed Wanda’s stinky ass into the ground.

  They all ran out the back door in time to see Jamie and Wanda fly into the top of one of the older trees. There was rustling and then screaming but, to be honest, Tully was too confused to know who was screaming or why.

  Leave it to Buck. He’d come here to test the new coven. To see if they were as strong as the ones before them. If not, he planned to try and push his oldest son out. As if Tully would ever let that happen. He may be different from the rest of his Smith kin, he was definitely nicer than most of them, but that didn’t make him weak. No matter what Buck Smith thought.

  Tully heard a roar come from the tree Jamie and Wanda had crashed into, dark light exploding around the leaves. He knew that “dark light” didn’t actually make sense, but there was no other way for him to describe it. But if he could harness it and turn it into one of his home designs…he was pretty sure that only someone with a really dark sense of humor could live there.

  A body flew out of the tree and crashed into the land beneath, dirt and earth exploding out as it settled into a crevice.

  Tully stepped forward, needing to know if it was Jamie, but Jack caught his arm, held him back.

  “Don’t get in the middle of this, son.”

  And before he could argue, before he could tell his daddy he couldn’t leave her alone, Jamie landed beside the now-moving body. She landed with the sure-footedness of a cat, cracking her neck and shoulders like a boxer. He briefly wondered why, until she grabbed Wanda by the front of her sweater with one hand, lifting her up, and punched her in the face with the other. She did it three times. Short, powerful rabbit punches.

  “You’re gonna tell me where your coven is, hippie.” And her voice was so calm, Tully could only think of death. “Because we both know you didn’t come here alone. You didn’t hide who you are alone. Not from me.”

  As she spoke, Jamie’s own coven moved in behind and around her. Mac standing the closest. Their faces were hard, their eyes cold. Even sweet Seneca and little Emma. It seemed all of them were as territorial as any predator he knew.

  Jamie drew her fist back again. “You’re gonna tell me. When I’m done, you’ll tell me everything.”

  But she didn’t have a chance to follow through on that as Buck’s gravely voice cut in and said, “Let her go.”

  They all looked up at the same moment, and if Bear hadn’t grabbed Tully and Kyle hadn’t grabbed their daddy, all hell would have broken loose in that moment.

  Buck had Millie by the throat. They were both still human but his claws were right against her jugular. And there was nothing in those eyes that said he’d have a moment’s hesitation about killing her while they all watched. Behind him stood his sons, ready to back him up like always. Ready to enjoy whatever their father would do to Tully’s momma.

  Jamie, still crouching, spun Wanda around until her back was to Jamie’s front and Jamie’s arm was around the woman’s neck. She locked eyes with Buck, and Tully wondered what the old bastard saw because he was watching her real strange.

  “You’re going to let Miss Millie go,” Jamie said, softly. “You’re gonna let her go now.”

  Buck didn’t say anything, just kept watching Jamie. Waiting.

  “You don’t think I’ll kill her?” Jamie asked. “You’re kinda right. I may not kill her because I don’t have to.”

  She raised her arm and her cousin brushed her hand across Jamie’s palm. An essence, like pure crystals, passed between them and Jamie flexed her fingers before placing her hand against Wanda’s stomach.

  “So the question you need to ask yourself, Buck…is what will I do?” That’s when Jamie plunged her hand inside the woman, her fingers moving past cotton and skin and flesh until she was in up to her wrist. Wanda screamed. As he’d never heard another living being scream before. “ ’Cause you see,” Jamie went on, “I can spend all day hurtin’ her.” She moved her hand around inside Wanda. “I can hurt her again and again and I won’t care.” The hand inside Wanda moved up while Jamie’s other arm held the other witch in place. “And once I reach her heart, I’ll squeeze it”—Jamie jerked her hand up again—“and squeeze until it bursts in my hand like a ripe tomato. Wanda knows I’ll do it. Wanda knows my reputation. She knows I’ll crush her heart, and I’ll take her soul as mine. I’ll keep it on a leash…like a puppy. Now you maybe thinking, ‘so?’ And that’s completely valid. I mean, how you tolerated the funk for this long, I have no idea.” She moved her arm back and forth and Wanda’s scream echoed through the trees and night-filled sky. “But then everyone will know, won’t they? They’ll know that you were too weak to protect your woman. That you let another full-human torture and kill her and there was nothing you could do. So let Millie go. Let her go before I get really angry.”

  Tully watched Buck close, watched what he’d do next. If the old bastard did anything to his momma, it would be the last thing he ever did.

  Jamie was still staring into Buck’s eyes, her gaze never moving from his. When he didn’t release Millie, Jamie jerked her arm up one more time, Wanda’s scream as painful as her first, and like that, Buck pushed Millie away.

  Tully’s momma jerked away from him, her hand rubbing her throat. Then she spun on her heel and slapped at Buck’s jaw, knocking his face to one side. When he turned back, her claw marks ran down his cheek and blood down his neck.

  Seneca stepped forward and held her hand out. Millie took it, letting the witch lead her back to Jack, gripping him tight when his arms wrapped around her.

  Buck stepped forward and Jamie said, “Now, now. We ain’t done. She still needs to answer my question. Don’t you, Wanda?” Wanda nodded desperately even while her eyes begged Buck to do something—anything—to help her. “Where is your coven? Tell me or your pain is just beginning.”

  “Out…outside of town about ten miles,” she gasped. “On Perkins Road.”

  “Emma. Kenny. Go. Kyle, Katie, go with ’em.”

  Pulling her arm slowly out of Wanda’s gut, smiling at Buck as Wanda panted and writhed and tried not to scream in excruciating pain, Jamie stood, taking Wanda with her. The others were gone by the time she got to her full height. But she didn’t release Wanda right away.

  “Are we done, cousin?” she asked Mac.

  “No. We’re not.”

  Jamie held out her hand and Mac reached under her chef’s coat, pulling out an eight-inch cooking knife from where she’d tucked it between the thick black leather belt she had around her jeans. She laid it into Jamie’s palm, her eyes never leaving Buck’s as she did. The cousi
ns may fight like two pitbulls chained together in a junkyard, but once there was a common enemy in front of them…

  Jamie’s hand closed around the knife handle and she flipped it around until she held it blade down. That was when she dragged it across Wanda’s collar bone. Wanda screamed again, her arms reaching out for Buck.

  “Now I’ve got your blood,” Jamie told Wanda even while she continued to stare at Buck. And with her hand still holding Wanda’s hair, she lifted her leg and kicked the woman toward him. Wanda landed in Buck’s arms and Jamie held up her fist, a handful of strands wrapped tight around her fingers. “And your hair.” Her head tilted to the side. “We both know what I can do with this, hippie. If you lied to me, or you try anything…”

  She let the threat hang out there as she grinned and turned away from Buck and the others, Mac walking backward for a bit before she followed after Jamie, Seneca falling into step beside them.

  “Thank you so much for your patronage at Smithville Arms,” Jamie said while she walked up the steps, sounding more like an airline ad than the deadly witch that she was. “I do hope you had a lovely time and that you’ll remember us the next time you’re planning a business trip, a family vacation, or just a quick weekend getaway with friends.”

  Then she was back inside the kitchen, the busted screen door awkwardly slamming closed behind her.

  Tully looked back at his father but the old man, his sons, and his tricky mate were already gone.

  “He’ll be back,” his momma said from the safety of his daddy’s arms. “You know he’ll be back, pup.”

  “I know, Momma.” He smiled at her and kissed her forehead before locking eyes with his daddy. “But it’s just a little thing.”

  Chapter Fifteen