"Look, it's the stupid jerks from the restaurant," Dori said before Sali could stop her. "Didn't your mother tell you it was rude to refer to women as body parts? Oh, wait—you don't have a mother. You have a zookeeper. Escape the leash today?" Sali was doing his best to keep Dori back—she was about to land on her tormenter.
"You let her do the talking for you?" Sali was being taunted, now. The young man looked to be around twenty-two or so, as did the others. All wore swimsuits, no shirts. Ashe imagined they thought highly of their abilities if it came to fighting. Sali growled.
Dude, settle down, Ashe hissed mentally. Sali could likely take on all four of them; as a werewolf, he was stronger than he looked. Dori, too, could hold her own against humans. Ashe didn't want to start a fight with four drunken frat boys on the public beach, though. He stepped forward.
"Man, what's wrong with his eyes," another of the would-be assailants asked when Ashe came to stand before them.
"You will leave," Ashe commanded. "And you will forget you ever saw us." All four turned obediently and walked away. Ashe and the others watched as they climbed into a car parked a short distance away. Spinning tires sprayed sand in their haste to get away. Sali pulled Dori close and they resumed their walk on the beach, but the day had soured after the confrontation. Ashe was silent, pondering a frightening new ability as he walked beside Wynn. He'd only meant to scare the young men away—he was taller than all of them and hoped his presence might seem intimidating. Instead, he'd commanded and they'd obeyed. As much as he hated compulsion, it had turned into a blessing in this case.
* * *
No mention of compulsion was made during the trip home. Sali draped his shirt over the back of the driver's seat and leaned against it, shirtless, to drive away from the beach. Ashe had slipped his on again, hiding the medallions on his arm. "You okay, Wynn?" Ashe turned to her as Sali navigated his car onto the ferry.
"I’m fine, Ashe. I thought it would be enough to ignore those jerks at the restaurant." Wynn brushed platinum hair behind an ear and gazed out the window.
"They were drunk," Ashe said.
"Yeah. It wouldn't have been a fair fight. I wanted to punch that blond one so bad." She'd named their main adversary.
"Wynnie, maybe you and Dori should work out with Sali and me," Ashe said. "Trajan can teach you self-defense."
"Really? You think Trajan would do that?" Wynn turned and flashed a smile at Ashe as they opened the doors to get out of Sali's car. The ferry flew smoothly through the water as Ashe and Wynn searched for dolphins again.
"I think he would," Ashe smiled back.
* * *
"Dude, was that compulsion?" Sali asked after they'd dropped off Dori and Wynn at the Anderson home. Sali parked in his driveway but walked with Ashe toward the Evans’ home.
"I guess," Ashe shrugged. "It could be the weakest thing in the world, though. Those guys were pretty drunk. Even I could smell them."
"Yeah. They were blitzed, all right."
"Dude, I know you would have beaten all four of them to a pulp," Ashe turned to Sali. "But we don't need the notoriety. And your dad doesn't need to come bail us out of jail."
"I know. But it might have been nice to punch ‘em a time or two."
"Yeah. I feel the same way. There's no cure for rude or stupid, Sali. Come on, let's go to my house and get something to drink."
"What are you going to do when your dad leaves?" Sali turned his glass of iced tea around, watching the damp ring it left on the granite island.
"What can I do? He won't be here. I’ll have to live without my dad." Ashe had been avoiding that subject throughout the day. Sali was now asking about it directly.
Sali's phone buzzed with a text. "Dude, I better go," Sali said. "Mom's texting."
"Yeah." Ashe agreed. He followed Sali to the door and waved as Sali trotted toward his home.
* * *
"Ashe?" Adele walked into the kitchen looking a bit rumpled. She was dressed in an old T-shirt and jeans—something she used to wear when gardening.
"Mom, are you all right?" Ashe hurried to get a glass of tea for his mother.
"I’m fine. Is there anything to make a sandwich?" She sat at the kitchen island.
"Yeah. Ham okay?" Ashe pulled ham and mayo from the fridge.
"That's fine. Hand me the tomato and I’ll slice it." Ashe slid a plate, knife and the requested tomato toward his mother while he spread mayonnaise on two slices of bread. Adele had a sandwich in no time.
"Mom, I have a proposition for you," Ashe breathed while his mother ate. He'd been thinking furiously ever since Sali left.
"What's that, hon?" Adele looked up from her meal.
"Pack a bag. Go with Dad for a couple of weeks. You can clean out his house or something. Mr. Winkler can find somebody to watch over Victoria's until you get back. Just give me a little time to work on this. Dad can't just leave. They have to reconsider."
"Your father says they won't," Adele dropped half her sandwich on the plate and dusted crumbs off her hands.
"Finish your sandwich, Mom. Give me two weeks. Give Dad two weeks. Then you can come home and we're no worse than we were. I think Mr. Winkler would have my head if I don't behave while you're gone."
"I don't know," Adele lifted her sandwich again.
"You could come home anytime, but two weeks is sort of standard for a vacation, don't you think? You can take pictures with your phone and send them to me. There's plenty of time to mess with the restaurant here and with Victoria's when you get back. Come on, I'm sure we can come up with something in two weeks. I think the Council just wanted to do this quick so they could catch us off balance. They're counting on our emotions getting in the way of reason. If they send Dad out right away, then you can do some sightseeing during the day and shoot anybody that walks through the door at night. Unless it's Dad."
"How much time do I have before sunset?" Adele glanced at the kitchen clock.
"You have nearly two hours," Ashe said. "Enough time if we hurry."
* * *
Adele was dressed nicely and had two bags packed and ready by the front door when Aedan hauled two bags of his own from the bunker beneath the garage. "What's this?" He frowned at Adele's bags.
"I’m coming with you. For two weeks. I haven't been to London since we met, Aedan. I’m taking a vacation now. If those vampires don't want me on their jet, I’ll find a flight out tomorrow and follow anyway," Adele said. "Ashe said two weeks. I’m taking his advice."
"Ashe," Aedan was now frowning at his son.
"Dad, there's a way around this. There has to be. That old piece of shoe leather isn't breaking up my family."
"You're calling the Head of the Council an old piece of shoe leather?"
"Yeah. Mom should go with you. If nothing happens, she’ll come home after two weeks. I already booked a flight from London; here's the ticket information." Ashe handed an envelope to Aedan. "I’ll miss you Dad, but I’ll miss you more and I’ll kick myself if I don't at least try to get you back. Now, I have one question before I drive you to the airport."
"What's that, son?" Aedan stared at Ashe.
"Was I born with pointed ears?"
"The doctors said it was just a slight deformity. You had surgery when you were two," Adele said on the way to the airport. "I put away all those photographs so you wouldn't see them and think you were abnormal."
"But I am—abnormal, that is." Ashe sat in the back seat—his father elected to drive on the first leg. Ashe would drive back.
"Son, we don't know much about what is normal or abnormal for the Elemaiya. I hope to learn more while I’m in London."
"I hope you learn more, too. Some of this stuff is driving me crazy."
* * *
Radomir waited at the bottom step leading to the large jet sent by the Council. "Those vampires must have some money," Ashe breathed as he pulled one of his mother's bags behind him.
"Good to see you again, young one," Radomir smiled slightly
at Ashe. Ashe handed the bag to his father.
"Mr. Radomir, I think about you sometimes," Ashe said. "And I hope you're doing all right when I do think about you."
"That is kind of you," Radomir inclined his head. Ashe wondered how old Radomir really was. His father was pushing nine hundred, after all. "Are you not coming with your parents?" Radomir asked politely.
"No. I have things to do. Mom's only coming for two weeks. She's taking over a restaurant and building another. And just so you know; taking my dad away like this is bullshit." Ashe turned and walked away. Sorry, Dad, Ashe sent mentally. He could almost see his parents staring in shock at his retreating back as he strode toward Aedan's SUV.
* * *
"You're not half, you know," the brown-haired man was back—appearing in the passenger seat beside Ashe as he drove toward Star Cove. Ashe did his best not to jump and wreck his father's vehicle in the process.
"A quarter? I thought you said I was immortal. Halves are immortal." Ashe might have thought the man was lying, except Winkler said he couldn't lie.
"Quarters are most certainly not immortal. Think for a moment. What else might be immortal?"
"Only a half-blood or better," Ashe scoffed. "I’m half."
"No. You are not half."
"The only thing left is a pure-blood," Ashe pointed out.
"Now he gets it." The man smiled and disappeared.
* * *
"Where are those papers?" Ashe searched frantically through the records his father kept in a fireproof safe. It wasn't hard to mist inside, gather everything he needed and then mist right out again. He finally came to the folder he wanted—he'd scanned through it once before but he didn't have as much information then as he did now. "Ah, here it is—dang. Both donors listed as anonymous." Ashe flopped the paper onto his father's desk with a sigh.
Winkler expected Ashe to sleep at his temporary home—it was one of the conditions his father had set before he'd allow Ashe to stay behind in Star Cove. Ashe would have given anything to go to England with his parents. On vacation. Perhaps that might happen someday. Ashe strode from his father's study to pack a bag.
* * *
Ashe ate tacos at Winkler's kitchen island with Trace, Trajan and Winkler. "Trajan, Dori and Wynn want to come and work out with us," Ashe said as he dumped taco sauce on a third taco. "They want to learn self-defense."
"That's a good idea," Trajan agreed. "They're welcome anytime. As are any of the others."
"Mr. Winkler, I had another visit from that man. He showed up while I was driving home from the airport."
Winkler carefully set his taco down—he'd been about to take a bite of it. "What did he do this time?" Winkler's dark eyes were concerned.
"He says I’m not half."
"He said the last time that you were immortal. That spells half, Ashe." Winkler cursed softly to drive home his point. "You're not a quarter, I'd bet money on it."
"He said I wasn't a quarter, either."
"But what's left?" Trajan grabbed another packet of taco sauce.
"Full." Winkler had gotten there first.
"Yeah. I went through the folder of information my parents have locked up and both donors are listed as anonymous," Ashe muttered.
"So the egg was donated by a female and then fertilized by a male Elemaiya. That's the only way this might have happened," Winkler observed.
"Yeah. I was born with pointed ears and everything. Mom said they did reconstructive surgery when I was two. The surgeon said it was only a slight deformity."
"A slight deformity." Winkler rose and went to the fridge to pull out a beer. Trajan and Trace got one, too. Ashe asked for another soda.
"Will it bother you that I’m not a half?" Ashe asked.
"Kid, I don't care if you're a stink-eyed humpback," Winkler said, making Ashe laugh. He had no idea that Winkler had gone to see any of a popular movie series, which depicted many fictional characters.
"Read the books, too," Winkler said. "To my kids. They couldn't get enough of that stuff."
"I caught him reading ahead—several times," Trajan whispered theatrically.
"How's Marco doing?" Ashe asked.
"He's fine. Coming to terms with his place in the world," Trajan opened up the box containing their dessert—a pineapple upside-down cake from an Aransas Pass bake shop.
Ashe accepted his slice of cake with a glass of milk. He cleaned up the kitchen afterward, too.
"Have everything you need? Clothes? Toothbrush?" Winkler stuck his head inside Ashe's office, where a cot had been set up for him.
"Yeah. I got it," Ashe said.
"Don't stay up too late," Winkler warned. Ashe was flipping through one of his study guides.
"I’ll be in bed by eleven," Ashe promised. Winkler closed the door.
* * *
"The father and mother are in transit," Wildrif bowed before Baltis. I will tell you when they settle for more than three days. Then you may send your guards, my King."
"Do so. Leave me now, I wish to think on this in peace."
"Of course, my King." Wildrif bowed a second time.
"Send word to my brother. Have Dauntless brought to me. I will send you, Dauntless and four others after the boy's parents as soon as they remain stationary." Baltis extended the royal seal to Fearless, his personal guard.
"Shall I carry any other message, my King?" Fearless asked.
"Yes. Tell my brother to remain hidden. We will take the boy for our own and Beldris will instruct him in our ways. He will either obey us or die."
"You do not believe the H’Morr?" Fearless asked.
"Faugh—that worthless bit of prophecy? You saw what happened to its author, did you not?"
"Saldis, my King? Of course I know what happened to him. He died at the hands of Diamond, the Queen's Chief Sentinel, when he refused to serve her after the coup against her predecessor."
"Didn't see that coming," Baltis laughed at his own joke. "Go now and visit my brother."
"As you say, my King." Fearless bowed respectfully before relocating.
Chapter 8
"What happened?" Ezekiel Tanner asked Josiah. Zeke contacted Josiah after the relocation of Zeke's compound outside Juarez was complete.
"Dexter managed to get himself caught, that's what," Josiah grumbled. "But my source says that the vampire didn't question him about anything other than his little indiscretions. We're still in the clear on that quarter."
"But we were going to pair him with your other source," Zeke muttered angrily. "Who do you have to replace him?"
"Nobody available at the moment. I may go myself."
"Might be risky. Winkler may suspect the Amarillo Pack. The Grand Master didn't ask any of you to help take down my brother. Find someone else if you can. If not, then go to Corpus Christi but remain hidden as long as possible. I want Winkler's head hanging in my trophy room—wolf or man, doesn't matter."
"I’ll arrange it, Mr. Tanner," Josiah promised.
* * *
Ashe was already on the weight bench the following morning when Sali walked in with Wynn and Dori. Ashe was surprised that Wynn didn't bear animosity toward Dori or Sali, but she didn't. Trajan put the new arrivals to work right away. Sali worked out with the butterfly machine while Wynn and Dori lifted dumbbells. Trajan wanted to build their arm strength before setting them harder tasks. Ashe thought Trajan might be underestimating Dori—she'd hit him with a good right hook.
Trajan pushed them hard that morning, with Trace working with Sali and Ashe while Trajan watched over the girls. Ashe thought Dori might balk when it came to running down the beach, but she gamely kept up with Wynn, who was used to running on the full moon. Dori, as the ocelot, went prowling with her mother's lioness and Cori's panther, when Cori was home.
"You're running better, bro," Marco ran up at the last, Cori trailing him gamely. Ashe spared a grin for Cori, who'd been noticeably absent for the past two days.
"Went to enroll for the fall semester at Corpu
s Christi University," Cori said. "Got everything transferred down, I just had to finalize my classes."
"Good for you," Ashe said. "I’m going to take online courses with the University of Texas. Winkler insisted, and since he's paying," Ashe shrugged.
"Have to pass the GED first," Sali poked Ashe in the ribs.
"Sali, wait up," Dori moaned behind him.
"Sorry, baby," Sali dropped back to run with Dori.
Baby? Ashe mentally poked at Sali.
"You had your chance, dude," Sali grinned.
"Don't forget to stretch again," Trajan called after Dori, Wynn and Sali as they walked toward their respective homes later. Sali, nearly out of breath, waved at Trajan and kept walking.
"So—a man now and all?" Ashe stretched beside Marco. Cori was nearby, listening.
"A calculated risk, Ashe," Marco huffed as he pulled a leg up from behind to stretch it. "He wasn't going to live, one way or another. I decided to take it."
"He was a terrible person," Ashe nodded. "I’m still glad I didn't see it."
"Pack law dictates that executions are all Pack, unless someone from another race is instrumental in the capture. You could have gone if you wanted, Ashe. We didn't figure you'd want to."
"Yeah. You were right." Ashe shivered in the early-morning light. He still had a few screams in his head he couldn't easily banish after seeing Dexter Beesley's memories. "Marco?"
"What?" Marco was pulling the other leg up this time.
"Who killed Paul Harris?"
"Ah. Well, Dad took that one himself."
Ashe nodded. "I’ll get in the shower," he walked toward Winkler's house. "Oh," he turned back to Marco one last time. "I still don't understand how Billings thought he could take on your Dad. I don't know much about him, but if I were a werewolf, there's no way I'd make a challenge against Marcus. Unless I wanted to commit suicide."
"And you'd be right to think that," Marco agreed. "I’ll see you for lunch, maybe."
"Yeah." Ashe walked through Winkler's front door.
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