by K. N. Banet
“Oh my god…” Gina covered her mouth. Haley just let hers drop open.
John was uncomfortable. He was the only one who hadn’t yet spoken and seemed fidgety.
Yeah, motherfucker. I knew it.
“So, we killed them. They won’t be a problem. You’re looking at a long time without any supernaturals in those mountains.” I smiled blithely. “Heath and I hadn’t planned on staying out there. We wanted to get back out before dark. We’re lucky Jabari got to us. He had already been actively hunting the vampires when they attacked us.”
“Why were you still out there?” Haley asked softly.
“That’s the part we’re here to deal with. Someone cut the fuel line on the ATV you left us. We didn’t want to risk walking back to the car and getting there after dark because if someone was smart enough to sabotage the ATV, they would have also sabotaged the car. Turns out, we were right. When we got to the car earlier today, the electrics had been cut. We got it running, but some things weren’t working.” I stopped, deciding to change the subject for a moment. “If Heath got our saved werewolf to a medevac, that means he didn’t wreck the car. He had to drive at night without headlights.”
“Yeah, I checked in on that. It was definitely two werewolves being flown out. The Seattle pack asked for them to be taken there, then information after that is classified. You know how the werewolves are.” Haley was rubbing her hands together. “Could the vampires have cut the fuel line?”
“No. We made it back to the cabin in broad daylight. They wouldn’t have been able to.” I sighed. “Which makes me need to ask a question. John, did they offer to turn you?”
John took a step back as the human women gasped in their shock.
“What kind of offer would you-”
“You have cancer,” Jabari commented blandly. “What kind?”
“Lung,” he answered, bitterness tainting his words and features. “Never smoked a day in my life and got fucking lung cancer.”
“Life isn’t fair, is it?” I said gently. I felt for him, I did, but I didn’t let that change the cold rage that the sympathy couldn’t bury. “So, you what? Did you approach Gaia and Titan to Change you, and they said no? Then you were approached by the vampires because you had information they wanted about the locals?”
“Pretty much,” he snapped. “What are you going to do about it? Are you going to kill me? Humans are protected, right? You can’t.”
“Not today,” Jabari hissed. “We have more pressing things to do than cover up the death of a human.” He glanced at me, and I knew what to say. Deep in my bones, I knew what needed to be said, and I wondered where I heard it before.
“But one day, you’ll get a knock on your door,” I explained to him. “One day, a werecat will come to have you pay your debt, and you’ll be left wishing you’d let the cancer take you. I would recommend running. Run as far as you can and as fast as you can. You might earn yourself more time if you do it well enough.” I grinned viciously. “I make no promises that the werewolves won’t come for you immediately.”
John paled. Ignoring the betrayed women, he turned and ran back for his truck, jumping in and screaming off.
Haley looked back at me, terrified.
“You can…”
“By supernatural Law, if a human is introduced to our world, they are beholden to our Law. They face the same punishments as the rest of us, based on our species. Gaia and Titan were open to him about what they were, and he betrayed them. Not only that, he helped a pack of vampires break the Law, several times over.” Jabari’s explanation was one I couldn’t have put better myself. “Humans are generally considered innocent in our world. Werecats particularly like to protect you, but he lost that right and place in our eyes. He’s no more than another animal who will eventually have to be put down for the crimes he committed against our kind. Because he’s human, we’ll give him a chance to run.” Now my brother smiled. “He won’t make it very far.”
I wondered who he would call to fly out here and deal with it if he wasn’t going to do it himself. While I was capable of giving the threat, I wasn’t sure I was ready to kill a human.
“I asked them to Change me once…” Haley whispered. “Would either of you come back one day—”
“No,” we both answered. I looked up at Jabari, who gestured for me to continue first. “Changing someone into a werecat is adding them to your family. The werecat becomes your parent and must spend years making sure you can survive in this world. Neither of us is looking for that sort of responsibility, and you don’t want to invite either of us or our family into your life. You have a good life here. Live it. Leave the monsters to the monsters.”
“Is that why they said no?”
“Probably. Gaia seemed like she didn’t want much company, not even from her mate.” I shrugged.
“She…how do modern people put it? She strung him along for years and was constantly changing her mind like the turn of the seasons,” Jabari said softly. “Their romance was one for the ages, always back-and-forth, hot-and-cold. It was why their territories didn’t overlap. One decade, they would be the perfect mates, the next, she wouldn’t want to see him.” He chuckled sadly. “She never wanted children. Neither did Titan. They spent their centuries entertaining themselves with each other.”
“I’ll miss them,” Gina murmured, wrapping her arms around herself. “And John…how could he?”
“The possibility of death drives many to do things that seem out of character,” I said gently. “You two will be able to move on. It just takes time. Now, we have to go. It’s a drive back to Seattle, and we have things to take care of.”
“Of course. Thank you for…everything.” Haley reached out to shake my hand, and I accepted. I waved at Gina, who seemed utterly heart broken.
As we drove away, I watched the women console each other over the loss of not just two friends, but the betrayal of a third.
“What’s next?” I asked Jabari.
“We get to Seattle and contact the family. After that, shower, sleep, and spend a day taking care of ourselves. We haven’t eaten properly in days. Hasan will notice and chastise us both for not taking better care of ourselves.”
“After that?”
“We need to visit the Seattle nest and have a discussion with the Master. He threw out his vampires knowingly and left them to be someone else’s problem when he should have executed them himself.”
“All of that sounds fun. Care if I sleep on the drive?”
“No. Go ahead.”
I let the lull of the engine take me under. I was tired, but we weren’t done yet. A small nap wouldn’t kill anyone now.
28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jabari woke me to ask what hotel I was staying at. I yawned as I told him, then stretched out.
“Why? Where are you staying?”
“I never got a hotel room since I wasn’t planning on staying in the city.”
“Of course,” I muttered, shaking my head. “My room has one bed, but there’s a couch that might pull out into a bed. I didn’t pay attention when I booked.”
“Thank you. Do you have any way to contact our family?”
“Yup. A laptop. Did you forget one of those, too?”
“I brought a cellphone and a satellite phone. I didn’t need a laptop. I was only going to report in nightly with Hasan.”
“Then the cellphone was out of service, and the satellite phone was broken. This is why you have backups,” I told him, crossing my arms.
“Says the one who walked into the woods and her ways out were sabotaged,” he retorted. “We’ll tell Father all of it, and he’ll judge us accordingly.”
“Joy, but since it’s my room with my money, I call the shower first.”
He sighed heavily. “But I was out there longer.”
“I don’t care.” Well, I did because he probably looked and smelled the worst. I was pretty sure we both reeked, but, in the end, I was getting my shower first.<
br />
He silently shook with laughter, something I wasn’t expecting. When we pulled up to the hotel, it all stopped as we saw several obvious werewolves hanging out at the front. I stepped out first, frowning.
“Can we help you?” I asked loudly. It probably seemed out of place, but I wasn’t walking closer or letting Jabari get near them. Not because I was worried about his safety—I was worried about theirs.
“We were just in a shift change…You’re Jacky Leon?” When I nodded, the wolf who spoke stepped closer to me, straightening up to seem more professional. “Alpha Lewis asked us to wait here and report when you arrived, so Alpha Everson knew you were okay. He should be here soon. He’s debriefing Alpha Lewis on what happened.”
“Thank you for the report. You can clear out now. I’ve got an edgy, pre-War werecat who probably wants to come inside without having to deal with you.” I tried to sound like I was joking, and I kind of was, but the wolves also knew that no matter how casually or teasingly I said it, the threat of a very old, cranky werecat wasn’t to be taken lightly.
“We’ll head out, then. Thank you for everything. I know you guys only brought back one of our boys, but it’s good hearing at least one came back.”
“It was my…” I almost said pleasure, but nothing about the last few days was a pleasure. “It was my honor to help,” I decided on, smiling at them kindly.
Once they were gone, Jabari went to find a parking place while I waited at the front door. He was carrying both bags as he approached and gave me the one without the heads. Together, we walked into the hotel and got up to my room while I explained where Heath was. I had booked it for a month, so I knew it was still mine.
Upon getting in, I threw Jabari’s gear bag on the table and went to the bathroom, jumping in without giving anything else any thought. I needed that shower, and I was going to have it.
I could hear him moving around in the room, and it died off while I was shampooing my hair. Finally, something surprised me.
“JABARI!” Hasan’s voice came through my laptop speakers, loud and crackling. And he was both relieved and angry. “You’re alive! Where’s Jacky? Why are you on her laptop? Answer me while I tell your siblings—”
“Here, Father!” Zuri said quickly. I heard the jumbled mess of the rest of my siblings all jumping on. Had they been waiting around for us to contact them? Most were excited to see Jabari on, but after Hasan asked about me, I only heard Zuri and Niko wonder where I was.
“Quiet! I can’t tell you anything while you’re all yelling,” Jabari snapped. It went silent. I began to rinse the shampoo from my hair, and once it was out, I leaned on the wall of the shower to listen better.
“So, continue,” Hasan ordered. “Where’s Jacqueline?”
I wanted to snicker as he went back to calling me Jacqueline. Jacky was apparently only for the rare slip.
“We’re back in Jacky’s hotel room, and she’s in the shower. I decided to get this call moving so she could talk to you when she gets out. Now, I’ll get the report done for both of us. I know the majority of what went on with them, so I’ll relay that.”
“So, them. The wolf was out there too and survived?” Niko asked quietly. I almost didn’t hear him.
“He was.” Jabari was getting annoyed at being interrupted. “It was four vampires thrown out of the local nest, pointed toward the mountains to cover up their killings. Has happened before and will happen again. These nest Masters and Mistresses always have a hard time killing their creations. They were riding death highs and juiced on supernatural blood. You know how it goes. Stronger and faster than usual.” Jabari snorted. “We’re going to need another night here to handle the politics with the nest. I’m going to take Jacky, so she can experience it—”
“Inside a vampire nest after you accuse the Master of a crime is not safe. I don’t want Jacky going,” Hasan snapped. He must have been insanely worried about me, which made me feel a little better.
“She handled herself well out in the park. All her injuries are minor, and she stomached some traditional executions. I even saw her go into a frenzy for one of them. Had to haul her away and force her to back off to get the information I needed. She’ll be fine in the nest, and I want the back up.”
“You want Jacky as back up?” Davor snorted. “What the hell happened out there?”
“I met our sister,” Jabari answered softly. “And I saw the loyalty she commanded from the werewolf, Heath Everson. He’s a werewolf, and I hate him, but he’s one of the best I’ve ever met.”
“You hate him, but he’s the best of them?” Zuri sounded incredulous. “Please explain.”
“Don’t worry about it, sister,” Jabari said in a calming tone. “It’s not important. What is important is, I think she’s completely capable of handling a trip to the Seattle vampire nest with me. Maybe Heath can join us to represent the wolves. I’ll inquire with him on his return. I told him I would handle it but I hadn’t known everything then.”
“Where is he?”
I closed my eyes. He respected me as backup now? It hadn’t felt that way the entire time out there. Looking back, I remembered how he had started to teach me things, started to listen to me, and stopped making rude comments.
Jabari quickly gave them the same explanation I had given him. Then he backtracked and began his tale about what happened in the woods.
I purposefully took the slowest shower of my life, listening in. I wonder if he knew what I was doing, or if he wasn’t paying attention to the time. There was one part I was most interested in hearing, and when he finally got to it, I finally had to move on to rising off the soap all over me to get out of the shower.
“I had to make a rune of power to protect the cabin. They didn’t have one and had been completely vulnerable when I arrived and helped them against the vampires.”
“Why didn’t she make one?” Hasan demanded. “All of you…” The snarl that came from those speakers made me want to sink to the bottom of the tub and hide.
“I never went to teach them to her,” Jabari answered softly.
“Neither did I,” Zuri admitted as well.
“Damn you both. Your mother gave you one job. She gave you one of her most valuable skills to help protect our family and…” The restraint it took Hasan to stop was more than I could have ever mustered. “We’ll talk about this. You’ll both fly to me, and we’re going to discuss this.”
“Can she even do them?” Davor asked, derision in his voice. “Talentless—”
“You’ll show up too, so I can put you in your place,” Hasan snapped. “Actually, all of you will be coming home in the next three days for a long talking to. She is my daughter, just like all of you are my children. You might not care about her as your sister, and that’s fine, but I am done with this level of disrespect and lack of care for her safety.”
“Father, we have lives—” Mischa tried to say, but Hasan wasn’t having it. My heart was racing.
“You will put them on hold. That’s an order.”
“I was going to stay on her territory for a couple of weeks to make sure it’s safe and teach her. She had some choice words for me when we last talked about the runes of power.” Jabari sounded like he was completely willing to take the beating. “I’ve failed her as an older brother enough already, and that was made very clear to me. I’m not going to continue to do so.”
I had to close my eyes. Tears unexpectedly threatened me, and I couldn’t figure out why those words meant so fucking much. I hadn’t come on the mission expecting I would get that much.
Damn you, Jabari. You heard every word we said about you out there and never told me.
“I’m proud of you,” Hasan said, much gentler than he had just been. “I won’t accept more neglect from any of you when it comes to her safety or inclusion in this family.”
Jabari launched back into the talk, how we planned the next couple of days, what our game plan was. I finished cleaning off and stepped out of the shower, grabbin
g a towel. I dried off slowly and didn’t use the hair dryer, wanting to keep the ability to hear. I was able to check my injuries in the mirror, wincing at the nasty bruising on my jaw and face. It would wear off quickly, but it looked pretty bad. They would know when they saw it that something had nearly happened. The rest of the cuts were scabbed over, and since nothing was deep or fatal, I didn’t worry.
Slowly, Jabari got to where we were now, in my hotel room and how the next few days would go. My clothes were in the room, so I finally left the bathroom, and his head jerked, his dark eyes landing on me.
“Good shower?” he asked.
“Hi, Jacky!” Zuri called. “Glad you’re alive!”
“Yup, good job out there!” Mischa said next.
“Thanks,” I tried to say as the rest of the brood tried to talk at once. Davor was the only one who didn’t say anything…not yet. “Good shower. Let me put some clothes on, then you can go, and I’ll talk to them, so they can see I’m alive.”
Jabari only nodded before looking back at the screen to continue talking to the family. I honestly didn’t want to talk to any of them, but once I was dressed, I switched places with Jabari.
“Hi, everyone,” I said, aiming for cheerful.
“Jacqueline,” Hasan whispered in a sad and concerned tone. “What happened during those fights that led to that?”
“One of them got a good grab on me and tried to tear my head in half, using my snout as the starting point,” I answered, swallowing. One of them gasped at my explanation, but I didn’t catch who. “So, Jabari left something out.”
“What?”
“I have a fae gift,” I said softly. “And before any one of you freak out like he did, I didn’t ask for it, nor did I trade for it. It was a gift. Ran into this fae that decided I needed some help last year when I was protecting Carey.”