by R. J. Blain
I set my coffee down on the table and hid my face in my hands. “Give me a fucking break already,” I muttered.
“I present the fact that he just cursed in front of not one, not two, but five ladies as my evidence,” Richard finished.
“Maybe I’m a little sorry, but only a little,” Evelyn grumbled, and with boneless grace, she wormed her way onto my lap. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I replied, leaning back in the chair. I underestimated how far it would tilt back, resulting in a scramble for balance and Evelyn sprawled across my chest. Pain rippled through me, robbing me of my breath.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry, Jackson. Are you all right?”
“That hurt,” I gasped.
“Elbow right to the chest,” Richard observed with a wince. “I consider you absolved of all of your sins.”
It took me several deep, long breaths to stop wheezing. “That’s something at least.”
“I didn’t mean to,” Evelyn whispered.
“Eh, he’s tough.” Richard sat on the couch next to Nicole, shaking his head. “While I have a list of questions for him, it’s traditional to wait until he starts resisting to start the torture.”
“Richard!” Evelyn blurted, her face turning as red as her hair.
“She’s obviously lowering his resistance in advance,” my brother said, rubbing his chin with a thoughtful expression. “Well done, Evelyn.”
“I didn’t mean to!”
Grumbling at my brother and friend, I embraced Evelyn and pulled her close to me, not caring that it hurt. I stuck my tongue out at them. “You have failed.”
“Never underestimate the power of Jackson’s pigheadedness,” Amber said, grinning at me. “That hurts like hell, doesn’t it?”
Evelyn froze as though horrified she might damage me further if she moved, which I used to my advantage to secure my hold on her. I grinned back at Amber. “No comment.”
“I think he’s fine,” the fire witch reported. “After lunch and his medications kick in, I think he’ll be more than fine.”
“I think you all should confess about this Inquisition operation in New Mexico,” I said.
“I think we should decide on what sort of food we’re ordering in,” Richard counted.
“Pizza,” I replied.
“Pizza it is,” my father declared, pulling out his cell and reaching for the phone book. After a fierce but brief debate on toppings, he put in the order. “Now you can interrogate him.”
“No, I’m interrogating you first. I called it.”
“It’s true, he did,” Nicole said, giving me a thumbs-up. “You score bonus points for a swift finish to the food wars and calling dibs on questioning. What do you want to know?”
“Did you leave any of them for me?”
Stunned silence answered my question. I rested my cheek against Evelyn, waiting for one of them to decide to speak.
“Well, he scores full points in the ‘kill anyone who hurts my daughter’ department,” Nicole reported, drawing a check mark in the air with her finger. “You had an entire group of them all to yourself. I never thought you had it in you. You had your share, we had our share.”
“You didn’t even get to go,” Evelyn retorted, her tone smug.
“Bitch,” Nicole muttered.
“And she’s a lovely one, if I do say so myself. Should I take that as a no?”
“You should,” Richard replied. “Sorry. You were MIA when we were planning the hit. Your loss.”
“Thank you for watching Evelyn’s back, Amber,” I said.
“You’re very welcome. She didn’t need it. All I have to report is that you should never get on the losing end of an argument with her. She’s vicious.”
“Of course I was vicious. They had Jacqueline, and that was absolutely unacceptable.”
Amber arched a brow. “So was leaving bloody paw prints all over the compound. You terrified everyone.”
“Jacqueline wasn’t scared of me,” Evelyn sniffed.
I listen to the exchange, trying to piece together what had happened. I failed. “Please explain,” I begged.
“You can, Amber,” Evelyn said, and after a making herself more comfortable, she nestled her cheek on my shoulder.
“With you two around, I’ll never need sugar again,” Nicole teased.
“I’ll remember that next time you try to steal my chocolate,” Richard replied.
Amber giggled. “Good luck with that, Richard. I think she keeps you around because you keep chocolate stashed everywhere.”
“I’m hurt, Amber.”
“You’ll live,” the fire witch reported. “However, you might not if you annoy the earth witch too much. He’s got crazy eyes.”
“I do not!”
“Those are his ‘I’m in pain and need my medication but the pizza isn’t here yet’ eyes,” Evelyn corrected. “His crazy eyes are gray.”
“I can’t tell if you’re joking,” Richard admitted, scratching his temple.
“Would I lie to you?”
“Yes, you would, and you’re a cunning bitch, so you might even get away with it.”
“Listen to him, Jackson. He’s such a flirt.”
“No he’s not. Stop that, Richard. You have your own woman. Nicole, stop your mate.”
“Richard, stop.”
“I see that my oldest son leads a very interesting life,” my father said. “Enough play. I covered your collective tails while you ran your op in New Mexico, much to his anxiety and anguish. For the record, his eyes do turn gray when he’s seriously annoyed, which happened on at least three occasions when I told him he couldn’t talk to Evelyn. Now, stop taunting him and give him the details.”
Amber relented with a shrug. “There’s not a lot to tell you, Jackson. Zachary and company found the address and a notable number of details about the place. We went in expecting a fight. Evelyn ripped out a couple of throats before we could restrain her, not that we were in much of a hurry to stop her. She intimidated the piss out of the Normals running the place. It was disappointingly anticlimactic. Turns out that most of the people they were holding in their compound all came to their senses at the same time. There were about fifty Normals in the joint, and not quite seven hundred really angry witches. Given some time to organize themselves and they wouldn’t have needed us at all.” Amber shook her head, falling quiet for a long moment.
“That’s it?” I asked.
“Have I told you Jacqueline’s really cute? Look, most of the witches they were holding have never seen a Fenerec before. Hell, some of them probably didn’t even realize they were witches in the first place. We scared them as much as we scared their captors. It didn’t help most of them spoke French and none of us did. That was a stupid oversight on our part. Anyway, Jacqueline sees Evelyn and has a temper tantrum because the captive witches wouldn’t let her go.”
I tried to imagine my little girl having a fit of any sort and couldn’t. “Okay, so she has a temper tantrum. What happened?”
Amber bit her lip.
“He’s not going to get mad, Amber,” Evelyn said.
“No, but I’m mad about how she was treated.”
“Talk, Amber,” I ordered.
“Fine, fine. She started crying and shrieking at the top of her lungs for her mommy.” Heaving a sigh, Amber shook her head. “At that point, I was fairly certain Suzanne was dead—really dead, I mean. She wasn’t in the compound. The rest of the team knew, too. I made the mistake of saying her name.”
“This doesn’t sound good.”
“Little brat starts howling, bites her way to freedom, and comes over to kick me in the shin. At this point, I’m armed to the teeth with an assault rifle, several pistols, and a couple of hand grenades. Evelyn’s completely covered in blood—and I mean that, she was absolutely soaked in it. Without missing a beat, Jacqueline decides Evelyn’s a pony, climbs up, hugs her neck, and declares Evelyn is her mommy and that anyone who disagrees should go fuck off.”
My mouth dr
opped open. “You’re serious.”
Amber giggled. “She’s adorable, Jackson, but I wish you luck cleaning up her language. I think that’s the nicest thing she said to anyone right up until we we’re getting ready to board the plane to bring her here. The real saint of patience was Evelyn, who very calmly told Jacqueline that if she didn’t cease talking, she was going to Atlanta to wait for her daddy instead of going to Canada. Terrifyingly effective.”
“What did Suzanne teach her?” I demanded.
“How to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” Evelyn grumbled. “It’s the only thing she’ll eat. I’ve been trying to feed her a healthy meal since we’ve had her. I managed to slip a banana into one of her sandwiches, and she asked me what she had done to deserve the treat. She won’t even try ice cream.”
The chill started in my chest and spread through me, leaving me numb. “What did you just say?”
Scrunching her shoulders, Evelyn whispered, “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that part yet.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty certain peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are not an appropriate diet for a child,” I said, amazed at how calm I sounded despite wanting to get up and punch someone.
The person I wanted to hit was dead, which didn’t help matters any.
The knock at the door drew me from my thoughts, and my father answered it, returning with sufficient pizza to feed an army. “Food, medicine, and sleep for you, Dante. You can tell us what happened in Montreal after you wake up.”
“And before you worry about waking her by crawling into bed, don’t. It’d probably take a lot more than that to wake her at this point. She’s been a nervous bundle of energy since we found her. I don’t think the poor baby has slept a wink in three or four days,” Evelyn said, sliding off of my lap and giving my cheek a kiss. “No arguing.”
“What if I want to argue?”
“You can go sleep with your parents upstairs.”
“Damn, woman. You’re cruel,” my brother muttered.
~~*~~
As soon as I finished eating and taking my medication, Richard stalked me into the bedroom, closing the door behind us.
“It’s creepy when you do that,” I informed him, standing still in anticipation of the Fenerec’s inspection. I glanced at the bed out of the corner of my eye. My daughter was a lump under the covers, much to my disappointment.
“Just shut up and take your shirt off.”
“I’m telling Nicole. The least you could do is buy me flowers and dinner first,” I complained in a whisper, grimacing as I fought to peel my way out of the t-shirt.
“Why didn’t you wear a button up? Stupid,” Richard chided, helping me pull the stubborn material over my head. “It’s like you went out of your way to make it hurt more.”
“It didn’t hurt too much getting into it,” I confessed. “Didn’t want to bleed all over a nice shirt.”
“You didn’t bleed all over this one.” Richard sighed, circling me as he inspected the bandage. “Who did the wrappings?”
“A nurse at the hospital. I go back in tomorrow morning to have it checked.”
After grumbling, poking at it, and shaking his head, the Fenerec left it alone. “You’ll take me with you.”
It was easier to let Richard have his way, so I nodded my agreement. “You want something more than to get me out of my shirt.”
“You’re observant. Sit.”
I sat on the edge of the bed, watching for any sign of Jacqueline waking. She remained still and quiet, and in my paranoia, I narrowed my eyes until I saw the blanket rise and fall with her breaths. Richard pulled the sole chair in the room near the door and sat down, propping his feet up beside me.
“Why don’t you tell me everything that happened, and I’ll save you the interrogation from the entire group of them.”
It took me all of ten seconds to decide it was in my better interest to comply. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Richard frowned. “You’re not going to argue with me?”
“If you’re volunteering to let the piranha in the other room chew on you instead of me, of course I’ll comply.”
“Evelyn’s created a monster, giving you a twisted sense of humor. You were easier to deal with when you were all dour and serious.” He wrinkled his nose, and his displeased visage slipped as he grinned at me.
“I don’t think the doctors in Ottawa put my brain back in my skull quite right,” I said, grinning at him.
“Oh, that’s just playing dirty, Jackson.”
I smirked. Then, settling in so I could keep an eye on Jacqueline, I said, “Interrogate me, Alpha Fenerec, sir.”
“Evelyn said someone grabbed you near the hotel when we were headed to the university. You couldn’t go two whole blocks without getting in trouble?”
I sucked in a breath. I hadn’t told her I had been kidnapped. How had she found out? “They had a Glock. I wasn’t wearing a vest.”
“Okay, I can’t argue with that. Did you find out what they wanted?”
I nodded. “My brother. They were under the impression I was dead. They did inform me—or my brother, as they thought—that they had intended to use their equipment to make me a Normal.”
“That they were going to what?” Richard hissed at me.
“It’s a hate group, Richard. They wanted to eliminate the supernatural by purifying them. That’s what they did to...” I shuddered, unable to take my eyes off of Jacqueline. A shudder tore through me. “Suzanne volunteered. She was a willing participant. The rest weren’t.”
“So they grab you and tell you this why?”
“They wanted the Inquisition’s help eradicating the supernatural. I think they believed because my brother is a Normal, he would be willing to help them—probably with funding or witches so they could create more of those blood diamonds. We didn’t get all the way through the conversation. We were interrupted.”
“By a bridge collapse. That bit I learned from your father, as he found your phone in the wreckage.”
“By a bridge collapse,” I confirmed. Trying to hide what had happened from Richard would likely prove a fruitless endeavor, so I told him everything I remembered. When I got to the point where Suzanne had shot me, I shrugged helplessly. “I was stupid.”
“You were also possessed by a couple of thousand angry, and at that point in time, dead witches. So, she shoots you, and the bullet punches through the vest you’re wearing, and somehow, by some infinitely small chance, hits the blood diamond. Instead of a very quick death, you end up with a bullet lodged in your chest, along with a bunch of shards.”
“That’s when the eruption started, right under Suzanne’s feet. After that, it’s pretty much a blur.”
“What I want to know is how you didn’t end up fried by lava yourself. Suzanne couldn’t have been far from you when the place blew.”
“It was more of a slow and deliberate oozing,” I muttered.
“The heat, Jackson. I meant the heat.”
“I might be an earth witch, but I’m not a geologist, Richard. Ask a scientist. I somehow found my way out of the place. I don’t remember anything after that, not until I woke up in Toronto.”
“I’m amazed the only number you could remember was your father’s.”
“I’m just glad I remembered a number at all. The nurse was getting pretty frustrated with me.”
With a soft chuckle, Richard shook his head. “At least you didn’t have issues with your ID this time. Your father called Evelyn first. At that point, she was neck deep in the Inquisition operation. That Lyle guy led the op. He ran a pretty slick show from what Evelyn told me. He’s also ready to skin you for not telling him it was personal. Jacqueline’s a chip off your block, Jackson—they all knew who she was the instant they saw her.”
“He would have cut me out if he knew.”
“I’m just giving you fair warning that he’s annoyed with you. Still, Lyle’s heading the team who is out to find the rest of this group and
wipe them out. They’ve been tipped off that the Inquisition is onto them, unfortunately. They’re on the run, and from what Zachary can tell from the data, there are at least two other locations overseas where they can manufacture these blood diamonds. Is there anything else I should know?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Go curl up with your little girl and get some sleep. I’ll fill the others in so you won’t get hassled once you’re up.”
“Thanks, Richard.”
“No problem. All a part of being pack.”
~~*~~
Little children possessed supernatural powers, and Jacqueline’s ability was to take up the majority of a king-sized bed. My place on the edge made it easy for me to slip away without waking either Jacqueline or Evelyn. According to my watch, it was five. According to the darkness and quiet outside of the window, it was morning.
Creeping out of the room, I found Richard and Nicole tangled together on the floor, requiring me to step over them in order to make my escape.
Richard cracked open a wolf-yellow eye, catching hold of my ankle.
I kicked free of his gasp. “If you come between me and a shave, I’m turning your pelt into a rug.”
After yawning, Nicole mumbled, “No pelting my mate.”
“Tell him to keep his grubby paws to himself.”
“Keep your grubby paws to yourself,” she dutifully repeated. “Shh. No walks, Jackson.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, making my escape to the bathroom before the Alphas could stop me. They were both asleep again before I reached the bathroom. While the tub filled, I checked the kitchenette, pleased to discover someone had left a pot of coffee warming. Deciding the risk of old brew was far safer than my attempts at making a new pot, I poured a mug and carried my bounty into the bathroom.
Evelyn was waiting for me, seated on the edge of the jacuzzi. “Good morning,” she murmured before stifling a yawn.
I closed the door. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”