by Cathy Clamp
“Robert? Maggie? Hi, it’s Amber. Hey, sorry to interrupt, but this really isn’t a secure line and we need Dalvin for the next session.”
Now his mother’s voice sounded tinny and distant through the phone’s speaker. “Oh, Amber! Hi! I’m so sorry. You know how I worry. So many nights Robert didn’t call when he was on assignment and it made me crazy. You understand, don’t you?”
He still couldn’t see the councilwoman, but he felt the sting strengthen, becoming knives cutting into every pore. His eyes started watering from the pain. A fly landed on the tip of his nose and crawled around while Amber continued casually chatting with his parents. “Of course I do. The number of nights that Charles forgot to call drove me nuts too. But it’s the life of an agent, Maggie, as you well know. Just like the number of nights I didn’t come home when I was healing people in crises.”
Amber stood in front of Dalvin and stared right into his eyes. The fly buzzed away. “You just forget to call, or you”—fire burned in her gaze as she said the next words, enunciating very carefully—“can’t discuss the situation, so you don’t dare talk to anyone.”
Oh, he was in for it. The pain he was feeling was nothing, not even a mosquito bite. He knew that now.
His mother relented. “I’m sorry, Amber. I’ll try to be more mindful.”
“And I’ll keep reminding her,” his father added. “Whatever Dalvin is doing, if he’s with you, Amber, I know he’ll be fine. Right, Mags?”
Another sigh, sounding like a bird trill from this far away. “You’re right. Of course. Thank you for taking care of him, Amber. Give our best to Charles.”
“Good to talk to you and I certainly will. Gotta go. Dalvin and I have things to talk about. Bye now.” She pressed the red button on the keypad very carefully and then shut the flip phone. She tucked it into a pants pocket and put her hands on her hips. “You brought a nonsecure phone to a secure facility? Really? Now, what shall I do with you?”
CHAPTER 9
“Is what you heard what you thought you heard?” Rachel sat cross-legged on the bed in the holding cell in the basement, a pillow tucked behind her back. It was the only place in the house where nobody could overhear a conversation. The cage had been specifically constructed to hold captured rogues and was soundproofed so that the household would be able to sleep without hearing the snarls or screams of a shifter gone insane. “Is bear bitch trying to sabotage the race?”
Dani was in a similar pose at the foot of the iron-frame bed, which had been set into the concrete floor. No rearranging furniture in this room. She had to shift her head so the twisted corner post didn’t dig into her back. So far, that was the only damage a rogue had managed to do to the room.
Despite the security measures, it was actually a cozy bedroom … and a place all the kids had used as a refuge more than once, a chance to get away from the noise and confusion in their large, tumultuous family.
Dani checked that the door at the top of the stairs was shut and the inside lock bolted. “I think so. But neither of us could figure out why. Amber said she’s never seen Larissa even look at the other family except to spew insults.”
Rachel uncrossed her legs, straightening them before they cramped. “Yeah, it seems weird. Maybe if Larissa was dating one of the other sons or something. But you definitely heard her talking with the Petrovic alpha female?”
Her friend leaned back against the metal frame, couldn’t find a comfortable spot, and finally lay down on her side, facing Rachel. “It sure sounded like her. But Amber is going to do a test over at the other house, like we did here.”
“A test? What test did you do here?”
Dani let out a little laugh. “We walked through the den, talking in French, and insulted the Kasun alpha female’s dress. Amber said it looked like a cheap imitation of a bad set of curtains. Only Zara flicked her eyes to watch us.”
“So nobody else speaks French, because if they did, they would have at least looked over at you guys.”
“Exactly,” she agreed. The ozone scent of realization burst into the air. “Except that Larissa wasn’t here,” Dani said excitedly, “which might be why she can speak French freely. None of the Kasuns except Zara can understand it.”
“So now you just need to wait for Larissa to get home and test her?”
Dani shrugged one shoulder. “I think that’s the idea. But Amber decided she’d go to the other house and call her brother. The whole Monier family speaks French. I guess his wife is having a baby, so they can talk about that while Amber watches the people to see if they’re paying attention to what’s being said.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember Rabi mentioning that earlier. He’s Amber’s brother-in-law. His sister is married to Amber’s brother.”
“Ooo! He’s Rabi now, is he?” Dani said with a grin. “He is a hunk.”
Rachel felt her face heat up. “It’s not like we’re on a first-name basis. We’ve barely even talked. I just feel weird using all these formal titles. In my head, I think of them as regular people.” She paused and then smiled. “He is hot, though, and that disappearing trick—scary, but very cool.”
Dani wiggled her eyebrows. “Maybe you should show Rabi the cat course, instead of Dalvin. Quiet woods, hot guy … who knows what might happen?”
The snort wasn’t intended. It just came out. “Better than fighting with Dalvin again.”
A bump on the sole of her shoe. “Sorry, Sis. That must have sucked. And now you’re stuck with walking him through the course? Any chance of appeal?”
“Nobody to appeal to. Rabi and Liz looked at something online and decided that’s what would happen. And that was after I told them why I can’t go back home.”
“What do you suppose they saw?” Dani’s hair fell forward and covered one eye. She pushed it back and tucked it behind her ear. “Hey, what if we go look? I’ll bet they didn’t delete the history on the computer.”
That might be useful, but … “What if we get caught? That wouldn’t be pretty.”
Dani thrummed her fingertips on the bedspread for a second, then snapped her fingers. “Not all the college portals work well with tablets, and the computer in the town hall really is the only desktop around with Internet access. We could say we’re looking at our class schedules. We need to print out the syllabuses and look into buying the books.” She paused, then added, “Which we actually do need to do. And soon.”
“There’s nothing saying we can’t have two tabs open in the browser…” Rachel said, almost laughing.
Nodding, Dani got to her feet, brushing fur from the last occupant off her pants. “Man, we have got to throw this stuff in the wash. Yellow fur everywhere.” She tapped Rachel’s leg, motioning for her to get off the bed. “Help me get these sheets in the laundry and then we can head over. I know where Dad keeps the spare key to the Community Center.”
The two women began to strip the bed. Dani said, “I’m surprised Mom didn’t change the bedding once Tammy starting sleeping back in her own room.”
“I think she left it as a negative reminder, so Tammy would really work hard to get better. But it’s been a week now with no relapses or hints she’s going rogue again. Claire’s done amazing work with her. And with Darrell.” Rachel didn’t tell Dani what Asylin said. It still didn’t feel like she’d done anything to help.
Dani nodded. “I heard Marilyn say that calls to the suicide hotline have dropped to nothing.” She gathered up the sheets, shaking her head at the havoc the dead alphas had wrought. The angry, burned-caramel scent of anger that always reminded her of day-old coffee filled the small, barred room. “Bastards.”
Rachel’s own anger was still too close to the surface not to agree. “Yeah. Monk was a total bastard. But not nearly as bad as Lenny.” She picked up the pillowcases and bedspread and followed Dani up the stairs. “Both of them deserved to die.”
“Yeah,” Dani agreed. “I don’t know who was worse … Lenny for the weird bondage games or Van for covering them up and forc
ing people to forget what happened. We need to buy Claire flowers or something. It would still be going on if she hadn’t dug out the truth.”
The women walked out of the cage, across the room, and up the stairs. Dani unlocked and opened the door, revealing Asylin on the other side, reaching for the handle. Dani backed up so fast she nearly pushed Rachel right down the stairs.
“Ah, there you two are,” Asylin said. “I’ve been looking for you. We need to go over to the school and help set up for the delegate dinner.” She stepped aside so they could get through the doorway, touching each woman on the shoulder as she passed. “Thank you for getting the sheets. I was just about to start a load of laundry. Why don’t you give me that stuff and head over to the school? Tell everyone I’ll be there in just a bit.”
Laundry wasn’t Rachel’s favorite thing, so she was happy to be rid of the smelly bedding. “Use bleach. Freaked-out cat is tough to get out of cloth.”
Asylin took a delicate sniff of the sheets and wrinkled her nose. “Maybe I left them down there a little too long. Cat and musty. Never have been able to get the damp completely out of that basement.”
Dani added her items to the pile. They could barely see Asylin’s eyes above the towering mound of laundry. “You sure you don’t want help?”
Their mom shook her head. “You go on ahead,” she said, and added, “Oh, Rachel, I told them you’d sing a couple of songs at the dinner.”
“Mom—!”
“Don’t Mom me, Rachel. You have a beautiful voice and they expect entertainment, like at a banquet in their home country. Scott is going to do some card tricks, and Dani, maybe you could repeat that interpretative dance number you did at the recital last fall?”
Well, there went any hope of getting a chance to dig through the computer! Rachel and Dani looked at each other with resignation. They could refuse, but they’d never hear the end of it. Dani sighed. “Okay, we’ll think of something to do. But now we’re going to have to dress up and practice.”
Asylin eased past them on her way to the laundry room. “Just pick out something pretty and don’t worry about the details. I don’t think they’re expecting a Las Vegas revue.” She took a couple of steps, then stopped again. “Definitely not a revue. Come to think of it, everyone is already riled up. Do something that will keep them calm and happy. Dani, stick with ballet, and Rachel, maybe some R and B. Slow beat, but nothing sad or angry.”
Rachel threw up her hands and let out a sigh. “Would you like to just pick the song?”
Asylin tapped one foot, like she was thinking. “How about ‘Dock of the Bay’ to start?”
Actually, that wasn’t a bad suggestion. The Otis Redding song was one of her favorites for kicking back. “And maybe ‘Georgia on My Mind’ to finish?”
Lowering the laundry so she could peek over, Asylin nodded. “Good. You sound just like Ethel Waters when you sing that.”
Dani raised one finger, excited. “Oh! I just remembered. I learned a dance from India in my class, set to a song called ‘Peace One Day.’ I think I have the music for it on my iPod. It’s really an ensemble piece, but I could work it up as a solo.”
Asylin smiled. “That’s the spirit. It would be nice to send these families home with an actual agreement so that they can live side by side, like we do here. So it will help to have them in a peaceful frame of mind.”
It wasn’t quite what Rachel had had in mind for her evening, but it actually might be sort of fun. Tomorrow was likely to suck, so might as well have a few laughs. Plus, it gave her a great idea. Sanctioned snooping!
“C’mon, Dani. Let’s go over to the town hall and download the instrumentals for my songs. We can run them through the iPod to the amps at the school.”
Dani’s eyes lit up as Asylin nodded in approval. “That’s a wonderful idea, Rachel. It’s probably locked, though. Dani, the key’s in the drawer in the kitchen—it’s the one on the blue key ring. Now get moving, you two.”
“Okay, Mom. Thanks.” Dani ducked around the laundry and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. “See you later.”
Once they were outside and headed down the road, Dani held up her hand for a high five. “You are brilliant! I never would have thought of that. Of course, you realize we’ll have to actually download the music.”
“Fine with me. It sounds sort of like fun, if you and Scott will be there too.”
The temperature had dropped to near freezing, but the cold felt amazing to Rachel. She inhaled deeply, letting the frigid air tingle her nostril hairs and lungs. To her, everything had a scent in the cold. Every leaf on the ground, every building and car. Summer muddied the scents, but come winter, the whole world came alive.
They’d just reached the hair salon when Dani grabbed Rachel’s arm and pulled her into the doorway. “Ooo, look!” Dani pointed toward the school. Dalvin was standing stock-still while Amber walked around him, talking on a cell phone.
“Crap, he’s being held. I can feel the magic from here. Man, that stings.” Rachel had been frozen by magic enough times in her life that she didn’t wish it on anyone.
She turned her head so she could hear better, trying to figure out what was going on. Amber stopped right in front of Dalvin and spoke very carefully into the phone. “But it’s the life of an agent, Maggie. Just like the number of nights I didn’t come home when I was healing people in crises. You just forget to call, or”—she got inches from Dalvin’s face, probably spitting on him as she spoke—“can’t discuss the situation, so you don’t dare talk to anyone.”
Maggie? As in, Maggie Adway? Holy God, Amber was talking to Dalvin’s mother. Amber knew Dalvin’s mother!
Amber nodded several times, listening to Maggie, but Rachel couldn’t hear the voice of the woman who had been like her second mother in Detroit. While her own parents were always working, Dalvin’s mother was the lemonade and cookies mom. She was the “in case of emergency” contact for probably a dozen kids in her class. Always the worrier, she kept track of everyone’s movements. Knew more about the kids than their own parents did. God, she missed that.
Amber nodded. “Good to talk to you and I certainly will. Gotta go. Dalvin and I have things to talk about. Bye, now.” She closed the phone, put it in her pocket, and set her hands on her hips while staring at Dalvin. “You brought a nonsecure phone into a secure facility? Really? Now, what should I do with you?”
Dani elbowed Rachel in the ribs and whispered, “C’mon, there’s nothing we can do for him. And aren’t you mad at him anyway? She’s probably going to read him the riot act for yelling at you. Wolven agents aren’t supposed to yell at people for no reason. Maybe he’ll lose a strip of hide.”
Crap, he looked scared. She remembered that feeling, the helplessness of being unable to move while someone did things to you. And even though she was still mad at Dalvin, nobody deserved to be held. It was mental torture. No wonder the humans decided they’d had enough and fought back. Before she even realized what she was doing, she shook off Dani’s grabbing hand and sprinted toward the healer and her prey.
The street was empty except for them, and Rachel quickly realized why. Amber had put up her own personal aversion spell. The itch she’d felt at the hair salon became ants and then wasps. She closed her eyes and ignored the pain.
“Amber, don’t!” she yelled.
Taking a deep breath, Rachel let out a screech that stopped the cat shifter cold. The woman recovered in seconds, but by then Rachel had reached them. Amber had a finger in her ear and was moving it in circles while opening her jaw wide, probably trying to pop her ears. Her scent was definitely anger, with confusion mixed in. Dalvin staggered, nearly falling, so Rachel guessed Amber’s magical hold on him had vanished. He started rubbing his arms like she always did after getting the feeling back in the muscles.
“Man, that was loud!” Amber shook her head again. “That is one heck of a screech you have. Best I’ve heard since Angelique. You don’t have strong magic behind it, thank goodness. She coul
d blow out eardrums. Mine only sting a little.”
Wow. Angelique Calibria was the Council representative for all the raptors. It was like being compared to Beyoncé or Alicia Keys. If screaming could be compared to singing, of course. “Sorry! I didn’t want you to hurt Dalvin. I guess I panicked a little.”
Amber tipped her head to the side. “But you were concerned that he might tell people you were here, and he nearly did just now.”
Shaking out the kinks in his legs, Dalvin said, “No, I stopped myself. But you’re right. My parents make me nuts sometimes and I blurt out stuff. You were right to take the phone.” He looked at Rachel. “Chelle, I’m sorry for yelling at you. You have good reasons for wanting to hide away up here. It was just a shock, y’know? So do whatever you need to do. I’ll stay out of your way. And I won’t say a word to your folks.”
Stunned, Rachel couldn’t say a word. Dalvin walked the few feet to the school. Just before he opened the door, he snapped his fingers and looked back at the women. Focusing on Rachel, he said, “Please don’t take sides in the race.”
Without another word, he stepped into the school building, leaving her and Amber standing there, dumbstruck. Dani came up the hill to join them now that the aversion spell was gone.
Amber raised one eyebrow and asked, “What did he mean by that? Were you planning to do something stupid? Like sabotage?”
Rachel looked at Dani, who shrugged. “No, of course not. I bet Larissa talked to Dalvin and smack-talked me. She tried to push me down the stairs earlier, but I grounded myself and she nearly fell instead. Pissed her off.”
Amber shrugged. “Yeah, then she’s gunning for you. Watch your back.”
A surprised laugh bubbled up out of her chest. “That’s it? Watch your back?” She used air quotes to acknowledge the absurdity. “You were about to kick Dalvin’s butt, but you’re just going to let Larissa throw down on me?”
Amber opened her mouth wide again and shook her head. “I’m not a Council member. I’m like everyone else in town, a bystander. I’m just here to patch people up if the peace talks go south. I got tapped because I was close by. I don’t have any authority to kick butts. And I have to tell you, I’m really looking forward to having this settled by omegas. Lots easier to heal.”