by Lucy Lyons
My hand went to the pocket of my white cotton trousers where my phone was buzzing angrily. I’d been ignoring it because I was sure it was Ashlynn wondering why I hadn’t made it back to camp yet. I pulled it out and glanced down to see I was right.
“No, I think I’ll let it go to voicemail,” I sniffed.
“Clay, are you making that decision based on your powers or because you’re avoiding your girlfriend?”
“The second.” I answered readily. “And before you say anything, yes, I know it’s immature, and I don’t care. I can’t do anything wrong as far as the pack’s concerned, and I can’t do anything right in Ash’s eyes.”
“Yeah, Nick mentioned we probably should talk about your power base. Answer the call. Then we’ll finish this. I’ve got to get Ro before she starts to . . .” her voice trailed off as a shrill cry rose from the back of the room where Caroline had set up a crib. “Yeah,” she finished, “before she starts in with that.”
I slid my thumb across the face of the phone to accept the call, but I was too late and it switched to voicemail instead. I shrugged it off and stuffed the phone back into my pocket, waiting for Caroline to finish what smelled like diaper duty and return. When she did, she held the tiniest, most perfect little creature I’d ever laid eyes on in her arms.
“Say hello to your goddaughter,” she murmured, and without thinking, my arms went out to hold her. Suddenly, I was staring down into large, dark, murky eyes that weren’t sure what color they were going to be yet. Rowena’s little face was serious as we contemplated each other, and I felt a pull from deep inside to hold her tighter and never let her go.
“Is she using psychic mind tricks on me?” I asked, my heart beginning to race as my need to keep Rowena intensified.
“Oh crap. I’m sorry Clay, let me take her back,” Caroline chuckled and pried the baby out of my hands. Immediately I was struck by a sense of profound loss and panic. I didn’t realize I’d taken a step toward Caroline until Colette grabbed me by the arm and twisted it painfully behind my back, forcing me to my knees.
“Well, look at it this way, Clay, my lad,” she snickered as I shook my head to clear it. “Rowie likes you enough to try to mind-meld you into being her slave.” She laughed and let me up, watching me closely as I shook out my arm and rolled my shoulder to make sure it wasn’t partially dislocated.
“That baby is an adorable menace, Caroline,” I scoffed. “Little stinker. I have every intention of returning the emotional blackmail someday.”
“Sorry, Clay. You still don’t use your magic much. It never occurred to me that she’d tap into it with you like she does me. It’s exhausting being so in tune with her mental and emotional state. But with your power growing faster than you’re getting trained for, maybe you need to be kept away from the midget for a bit.”
“Is that your way of sending me back to Ashlynn without feeling guilty?” I huffed, and Colette laughed at me as Caroline rolled her eyes.
“Are you really that bad off?” she asked, and I shrugged.
“In bed, no—in fact very much holy cow, no. But in real life, she’s just so disappointed in me. We’re that couple that’s been together too long but doesn’t know how to end it.”
“But, Clay, it hasn’t been long at all,” Caroline gasped. “You need to make it right.”
I gesticulated wildly as I strung unintelligible sounds together, searching for words.
“I don’t know what I did wrong. How am I supposed to make it right?”
“Did you ever get around to making Ashlynn submit, Clay?” Colette interjected, and I scowled at her.
“No. I did not participate in an archaic and sexist display in front of the pack, forcing Ashlynn to submit to me before slinging her over my shoulder and taking her by force. Pack law states I didn’t have to,” I reminded them both. When I’d killed Gregor, the sadistic alpha of a tortured wolf pack, I’d proven all I needed to take over for Ashlynn, who had been unable to protect us from him.
“I bet things would be different if you did. I mean, your beast has obviously claimed her but have you?”
My shoulders sagged, and I groaned.
“I’m trying to change the laws, not feed into the old ways,” I complained.
“If Nick has shown me one truth about change, it’s that first you should show respect to the ways people understand. Then you can ask them to change.”
“I have to be a caveman and then tell people we don’t have to do that anymore?”
“Yes, Clay. Show Ashlynn and the pack that you claim her, and she’ll stop running interference on you and step in line because she won’t just be the displaced alpha in your bed. She’ll be your woman, for real. I bet it changes the way you see her too.” Caroline beamed at me from across the infant sleeping in her arms.
“That’s what I’m afraid of, Caroline,” I huffed. The phone was clattering against the keys in my pocket, and I shot her a dirty look as I dug it out again and answered. “I’m in a meeting. What’s up, Ash?”
“Rae never showed up for her fitting, Clay, and I can’t get Dirk to answer his phone. Something’s wrong,” she blurted almost before I was done speaking.
“Ash, Rae and Dirk are both grown-ass adults and werewolves to boot. I’m sure they’re in a doctor’s appointment or out of cell range. You know the area around the camp is a dead zone. Maybe they’re near to you instead of at home.” It wasn’t the first time Ashlynn had called to report a missing wolf. Each time, the conversation finally wound around to her admitting she was angry because her authority was diminished by my existence, and arguing ensued.
“Clay, Rae is in no condition to be fighting anyone. Her baby is due any day now, and if she’s hurt or in labor all alone . . .” Her voice broke, and I scrubbed my hand over the stubble on my jaw, searching for an appropriate response.
“I know you were expecting her, Ash, but things come up. We aren’t living in an autocracy anymore, remember?” Ashlynn hung up on me without another word, and I glanced up from the phone and saw twin looks of disapproval from Colette and Caroline.
“Rae’s in a very delicate and unique situation, Clay. Adult or not, maybe you should have her come here until the baby’s born since we now have firsthand experience with preternatural births.” Caroline’s bottom lip was between in her teeth in an all-too familiar gesture of concern, and I gave in to her, too worried about how things were going to be with Ashlynn when I got back to the log cabin we shared to risk pissing off the other most important female in my life.
“All right. I’ll make sure everyone has their assignments for the club tonight and check in with Rae and Dirk on my way back to camp. If they’re home, I’ll tell them to come bunk with you until the birth, and I’ll come check on them here.”
I was mostly thinking aloud, but both Colette and Caroline nodded in agreement. I turned to leave, but before I realized what I was doing, my feet led me straight back to Rowena, who was watching me from her mother’s arms, large, round eyes staring intently as I swooped in to kiss her on her soft forehead and smooth the angel-fine hair back from her face.
“Wow. Talk about a lesson in what babies want,” I laughed shakily and backed away. “I hope you figure out a way to put dampers on that kid or who knows what she’ll have us doing as she becomes more aware of the possibilities.” I envisioned the torment of endless piggyback rides through the underground hive and shuddered.
“I will. But until then, you’d better keep your distance. You’re the first person other than me who she has this kind of pull with. I’ll keep you informed about Rae. You just get her here. I’m afraid to use my call with the baby so close. It’s not a skill she needs to learn yet.”
The look on Colette’s face mirrored my shock and horror at the potential for harm that the sweet-smelling, fragile little creature already had. I shook myself hard and waved as I left them to care for my goddaughter in the safety of the vampire enclave, grateful that vampires, it seemed, were immune to her budding mi
nd control abilities.
I stopped to speak with Fin, the wererat who shared control of the security detail with me, and let him know I’d be sending a pregnant werewolf and her overwrought mate for him to deal with. He agreed to let me know when they were settled in and to keep them as far away from Rowena’s nursery as he could, both to limit the disturbance to her routine and to prevent accidental bonding between the infants.
The last was, in my estimation, the most important task. We had enough growing pains as it was as a pack, and the worst thing that could happen to us was making the first natural-born generation of wolves on the American continent slaves to the first natural vampire.
At least, that was the worst thing I’d considered.
CHAPTER THREE
Rae didn’t pick up her phone and neither did Dirk, so I stopped by the little house they’d bought in Ravenna when Dirk was asked to teach at the University of Washington. It had been a great bit of news for them both because they had to give up their high school teaching jobs before they were outed accidentally as wolves. College kids didn’t pay enough attention to their associate professors to notice if they happened to be gone a day or two a month and neither did the school as long as the aide didn’t complain.
At the house, the car they shared was missing from the driveway and no one answered the door when I knocked. I looked in the windows, saw nothing out of the ordinary, and texted Caroline that I’d have them go to her when I located them. Then I texted Ash to let her know nothing was amiss around their house. I would’ve preferred talking to her, but it wasn’t the first time she’d hung up on me, and I already knew that until she chose to forgive me, I’d be getting the silent treatment.
There was a tickle on the back of my neck that raised my hackles and had me scenting the air for magic, but whatever it was remained faint to me, and I wrote it off as just another anomaly I was experiencing as my own power grew. I went around the back of the house one last time and peered in through the windows like a stalker, but nothing seemed out of place in the kitchen either—not a dish on the counter or a chair pushed back from the table. Something shimmered in my peripheral vision and I spun around, but when I surveyed the postage stamp of a backyard, I was alone.
Disturbed by the faint, lingering scent of magic, I opted to head back to the Red Dagger. Maria could help me place the strange scent of magic that seemed to cling to me, or the air in the Ravenna neighborhood, and I could let Caroline focus on little Rowena, whose sweet newborn fragrance still filled my nostrils and whose magic still made my brain feel a little fuzzy in the aftermath of what was very nearly a forced bonding.
I shook my head and smiled to myself as I considered the reasons no one let vampires or werewolves breed. Their offspring were powerful and incapable of controlling their hungers and reactions to physical needs. If anyone was going to take on that kind of challenge, I was glad it was Nick and Caroline. They were a force to be reckoned with, and we were all on high alert for a visit from the last of their enemies among the vampire council. As for Dirk and Rae, they had convinced the pack leaders of the United States to not only bless their union and turn Rae after Dirk was attacked so they could stay together but had managed to get pregnant and stay that way, despite the difficulties that faced female wolves when they shifted.
The shimmering at my periphery refused to let up, and I called Maria to ask if it could be a spell aimed at me that might endanger me while driving or cause me to lose control of the beast within. I knew she could sense dangerous power at double the distance, and it made me feel safer to go back to the dojo if I wasn’t bringing something bad back with me.
“Stay there, Clay. Do not move from that spot, and I will come to you,” she snapped before hanging up on me.
What is it with women and bad phone manners? I thought to myself and very clearly heard Caroline in my head again.
Clay, something is pushing at you and getting through. I just forgot Rowena existed for the last five minutes. Wherever you are, GET OUT. Get out of there immediately. Something is terribly wrong. I could feel the panic in her voice and stumbled a few feet away from the house, putting me squarely in the middle of the street. A driver honked at me, and I made it the rest of the way across and stood staring at Dirk’s place from the opposite sidewalk.
I’m at Dirk and Rae’s house, Caroline. I can’t leave. I’ll try to shield better. I felt the line of magic that connected us as fellow psychics and from years of friendship and trust. It made me feel stronger against the strange magic that seemed to surround me and blur my vision, and I finally shielded the way I should’ve before I ever walked up to the house in the first place.
Magic was still new to me. I hadn’t grown up shielding myself from magical attacks because I hadn’t truly believed in them. To me, magic was the science of chemistry and physics, the capability to manipulate physical objects and matter. It wasn’t until Caroline had spoken telepathically to me for the first time that I had to admit there were other kinds of magic.
Now I was supposed to use it every day and understand it, but I was a decade older and two decades behind other magic users in experience and self-control. The opaque cloud at the edges of my vision cleared as I used Caroline’s tie to me to strengthen my shields. I still performed best when tied to her magic, which didn’t help my standing among other Fae at the dojo or in the underground Maria was slowly introducing to the wolves.
But Caroline shared her strength freely, not just with me but with any creature who wished to learn and wasn’t trying to harm another. Even other Fae had remarked on the irony of a half-breed mated pair—a vampire and a former Venatores necromancer—leading the way to a utopian society for Fae.
I felt Caroline shore up her shielding as well and felt a stab of something near fear of suddenly being utterly alone with whatever was pecking away at my eyes. I shuddered as the thought of “pecking” conjured a mental picture of Portia in her bird form, nipping away at me like so much meat.
She would too, I thought, just in time to see Maria pull up with the avian in question. I stepped easily into a fighting stance, balancing on the balls of my feet, ready to strike or evade her as necessary, and she sneered at me as she slid off the back of Maria’s Vespa.
“There will be none of that, from either of you,” Maria snapped, and Portia instantly dropped her head and looked away. Clearly their discussion had continued without me, and Portia was still feeling the heat of Maria’s wrath for one reason or another.
“My apologies, Master Shedu, Master Cetan. I’m experiencing a new magic I don’t recognize, and I feel . . . defensive,” I said, bowing to both women. Maria nodded, but Portia glanced up with a stunned expression before accepting my apology with a curt nod of her own.
Maria surveyed the street, and before I could point out the Woods’s family home to her, both she and Portia swung almost in unison and focused on it. I rubbed my hands against my judogi as I watched them, electricity in the air crawling down my spine and making my palms damp. Portia was the first to walk up the path to the little craftsman house, her hands out and to the sides fingers relaxed and dangling by her hips. She looked completely unconcerned by the magic prickling at my skin, but I knew better. She could shift those fingers into deadly talons with a thought, faster than even my preternatural eyes could see.
She reached the balcony, and automatically I jogged across the street to put myself between Maria and the house, but she just patted my arm and chuckled at me.
“Not this time, pup,” she said, using Portia’s insulting nickname for me. From her, it was affectionate, and I knew she was indicating my novice status among the Fae, not my halfling lineage.
“Even so,” I replied and gave her my left arm so I could still draw blood with my right if necessary. She took my arm, her own soft, dark one even darker against the white of my sleeve. She patted my hand again, looking to all the world like a beautiful, aging grandmother on my arm, but I felt the sharp sting of her magic as she broke away at the
shell of whatever had been pressing against me.
As she forced the foreign magic away from me, the cloudiness at the edge of my vision cleared ,and for the first time I saw the disarray of the front porch. There were claw marks in the doorframe and blood on the door itself as I approached, and just inside the door, instead of the clean, well-decorated house I knew, was toppled furniture and bloody walls, and as Portia pushed her way in through the partially obstructed doorway, I saw Dirk lying in a pool of blood, unconscious or dead.
I rushed past Portia to my friend, cursing my stupidity as she insulted my brashness. I felt a sharp sting as something invisible tried to stop me from reaching him and glanced down as a thin line of crimson bloomed on the starchy white fabric above my black belt. I hissed at the pain and pushed my hand against the bleeding slice across my stomach and knelt by his side as another whisper of air past my cheek warned me of another blow I’d narrowly missed.
Maria started chanting behind me, and Portia leaped over Dirk and me, her scarlet and gold feathers brushing against my cheek like strands of silk as she met the invisible foe and lashed out with talons and her black, curved hawk’s beak. I heard the clang of metal against whatever those talons were made of and a soft grunt and thud as her aim found its mark.