15
14
I stayed up rather late with Huxley, wanting to catch up, and of course Ross and Glenn hung out with us until the wee hours of the morning. It meant we all slept in very late, which felt far more natural than getting up at some ungodly hour of the morning like eight a.m.
Ross might have a point about vampires versus mornings.
Anyway, fortunately for us, Widow wasn’t due until about three in the afternoon, so I was able to sleep in until well after noon before needing to trek back out to the airport to pick her up.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected for a young hacker, but a stunning young girl about eighteen years old with waist-length butterscotch brown hair, wearing skinny jeans and a shirt that said Sasshole, Queen of Sass was not in line with what I thought of as “dungeon hacker.” Then she grinned, and I could see not only the sass, but the mischief as well.
I was going to like this girl, I could tell now.
Ross had come with me to get her from the airport, and Widow the Hacker greeted him with a hug.
“Hi, friend.”
He hugged back, grinning. “Hi, trouble.”
“Aww, you do know me well. I’m here for mischief and shenanigans.”
“You are definitely at the right place. Let me introduce you.” Ross stepped back and waved a hand between us. “Widow, this is Jesse, of Walker Pack. Jesse, Widow.”
“Name’s Remi, but I answer to both easily,” she said with a smile and held out a pale hand.
I shook it but honestly wanted to hug her instead. “Thank you so much for coming. We’re really up shit’s creek here. Ria’s a good hacker, she can help with a lot of this, it’s just the licenses and certifications giving us grief.”
“So I understand. I’ll happily impart my knowledge. If we get stuck, I’ll call up Uncle K. He’s my mentor, and the man’s forgotten more about hacking than I know.”
“Fair enough. Let’s get you loaded up.”
She had two oversized suitcases, so I took charge of both, taking them to the trunk of my car. One of them felt definitely heavier than the other, for some reason.
“Be careful of the blue suitcase,” Remi warned me. “It’s got my computer in it, so it’s heavy—”
I hefted it into the trunk before her words hit and just looked at her. This was heavy?
She rolled her eyes. “Vampire strength. Right. Anyway, I’ll just get in the car.”
Amused, I finished loading the bags and then hopped into the driver’s seat. I got us underway, Remi riding shotgun with me. She looked me over from head to toe before turning her head to address Ross in the back seat.
“So you guys do auditions, huh?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Every vampire I’ve met has either been super hot or cute as hell. So you do auditions, right? Like, ‘sorry, you’re too ugly, hard pass’ kind of auditions.”
I snorted a laugh. “Trust me, no audition on my part. I was turned out of desperation.”
“So I hear. Love to get the story, if you don’t mind. I’m still adapting to the supernatural world, so I’d like to know what or who to avoid.”
“Fair enough.” Speaking of avoiding, I wondered how the mall fared? I hadn’t heard from my witch friend, Anthony, for several days now.
My phone abruptly rang through the car’s speakers. Speak of the devil. I hit Accept . “Hi, Anthony, what’s up?”
“ Hey, man, just wanted to tell you we finally got those revealing spells taken down. It took some serious negotiations and some promises of different wares they could display that we’ll make, but it’s finally done. I’m walking the mall now, verifying things are cool, and I think we’re good to go now. ”
“I really appreciate it, man. We all need stuff.”
“ I bet. Hey, any reason why Marissa texted me and said stay out of the desert this weekend ?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s ’cause it’s a full moon tonight. We’re planning to run around in the desert as a pack.”
“ Oh. Shit, yeah, I’d forgotten it was this weekend. I’ll pass on that experience. I’d get pounced on for sure .”
“It’s mostly the kids. They’re rambunctious on a full moon and not in control of their instincts.”
“ Yup, super hard pass. Thanks for the heads-up. ”
“I’d rather you not be collateral damage.” I laughed. “Thanks for the mall back. And let’s have that boundary meeting soon, all right?”
“ For sure. I’ll let you go .” Click.
Phew, finally. The mall situation really had taken Anthony’s coven a while to settle.
Remi gave me a quirked brow, questions clearly over there percolating. “Mall? Revealing spell?”
“New age store with problematic merchandise. Local witch coven stepped in to take care of it. We’re still trying to settle boundaries with everyone in the city. The witches are sometimes hotheaded, and recently, the vampires have been pushing for more space, so it’s become this giant headache. ”
She snorted. “You don’t consider yourself a vampire, do you?”
“Er…not really?” Hearing her say that, it felt obvious to me. I was a vampire only on a biological level. My thought patterns and responses were all wolf. Ha, funny how that had happened.
Ross muttered something in the back that sounded like “Poor Huxley,”but I ignored him.
“Well, Remi, let’s introduce you to Ria. You two have lots of fun government sites to hack.”
“My favorite thing,” she said brightly.
Her sincerity was a little scary.
I’d asked our vampire guests if they wanted to come out into the desert running with us, but all had declined. Even Ria had stayed back with Remi, having far too much fun with girl talk and hacking, apparently. She’d promised to join in later, only wanting to hang back for an hour or so.
The rest of the pack, though, me included, very much looked forward to cutting loose tonight. It was a glorious Saturday night with no responsibilities in sight for the rest of the weekend, and I wanted to take advantage of it.
The desert wind was sharp and cool. Not cold, not yet, although it would get there around midnight. I lifted my face into it and breathed deep, appreciating the crispness of it. Sounds of rustling Buffalograss, lizards skittering over rocks, and birds chirping at each other drifted along the wind. I took them in without processing, just letting it all flow over me.
As I stood there in this barren patch of nowhere, almost two hundred people stripped off clothes and shifted into their furry forms. I supposed nudity came with the territory for werewolves, and I tried not to let it bother me. I’d get used to it, assuming I did this often enough with them. Since I wasn’t shifting, I kept my clothes firmly on. I’d need them later.
When everyone had changed, they started howling at the moon and yipping at each other. I did not speak wolf but had to assume this was some sort of signal.
Barrett was not the largest of the wolves, but he still stood as tall as my shoulder even on all fours. He padded over to me, snuffling at my neck and then rubbing his head against my chest. Smiling at him, I scratched behind his ear, as he seemed to be asking for it. His fur was softer than I’d assumed it to be, and a rich dark brown, bordering on black. Or maybe the pale lighting of the moon made it seem that way. I enjoyed burying my hands in the softness. His tail wagged at the attention, but he didn’t stay in the position for long. Lifting his head, he gave a loud howl.
The signal was clear. Time to run.
They didn’t go full speed—we had kids with short legs in the pack, after all—but they certainly set a good clip. I ran at about half speed without strain, matching pace with Barrett. It was nice to stretch out like this. Half speed for a vampire was about the same as full speed for an Olympic runner. I couldn’t really run in the city or at a gym, not like this. It would draw too much attention.
The upside to it, though, was the ability to run and run without getting winded. The desert floor wasn’t smooth or level—there were little dips and rises, random outcroppings of boulders—and my pace got thrown as I cleared these obstacles. Still, navigating them and still keeping up was half the fun. I also hadn’t had this kind of energy in a long time, years in fact, so it felt liberating to just go. The wolves had their tongues lolling out of their mouths, a sure sign of their enjoyment as they ran.
For a moment—an insane and thrilling moment—I felt incredibly liberated. I felt a connection to the people I ran with, deep inside of me, an instinctual thing I couldn’t describe with words. In that instance, I gained a sense of belonging I’d never had, not since I was a small child.
We ran in a giant circle, staying within a fifteen-mile radius, and then on some signal, slowed to a halt. I didn’t understand why, not until I realized it was a field of sorts. A large rectangle had been cleared out, with white painted boulders marking the boundaries at all corners. The wolves split up, some of them spectators as they sank to their bellies to watch, others lining up along the far edge of the field. One wolf—I think it was Tanner, judging from the size—stepped into the middle, tail wagging, his head down low, clearly ready to pounce.
Barrett stayed next to me, and while I had no idea what was going on, he acted like he was the referee. He let out a short yip. At his signal, the wolves flew into the field, running and trying to dodge Tanner. Tanner was quick to pounce, though, and more than a few “died” in an exaggerated manner, flopping onto their sides before dragging themselves good-naturedly toward the sidelines.
I watched this play out and thought I knew the game, although normally I saw it played in a pool. “Is this Shark and Minnows?”
Barrett gave me a deliberate nod, not taking his eyes from the players.
“Really, you play games out here? Not just run around?”
He snorted in amusement and rolled his eyes at me.
It did make sense. Running was fun, but if you were going to be out for most of the night, might as well play too. “Can I be the shark next?”
Barrett canted his head at me, clearly in question.
“I’ve never really tested my reflexes,” I explained, anticipation kicking up a notch. “It’ll be fun to see how many people I can catch.”
My boyfriend thought about this for a moment before giving a very human shrug and another nod.
“Sweet.”
I dove into the fray, and it was immediately apparent that while I wasn’t outmatched, I had definitely met my match. Especially in Marissa. Who cheated.
Still, we went several rounds with the game, and I had a lot of fun. It didn’t leave me in a sweaty exhausted mess, but I felt the exertion of trying to catch very athletic, agile werewolves.
Eventually, I came back to the sidelines and grabbed a Gatorade from the pre-arranged refreshments. Just because it felt like the appropriate reaction, even though I technically couldn’t get dehydrated. Unless I was super low on blood.
Barrett shifted back to human form, quite comfortable in sitting next to me naked. Wolves apparently didn’t subscribe to this whole modesty thing. It somehow suited them better than clothes did, although it took me a minute to get used to it.
“You’ve now spent two days with other vampires who aren’t douchebags.”
I had no idea where this opening statement was going, so I made a noise of agreement.
“Are you tempted to go back with them?”
It took a second to hear the insecurity underlying those words. What the hell was this man saying? Why would I be tempted? Or was this just some fear preying on him? I had a bet it was the latter.
I snagged his chin with two fingers and brought him in close enough for a lingering kiss. When our lips parted, I saw his eyes dilate with hunger. I hadn’t meant to rile him up, only to reassure.
“I am not at all tempted,” I promised him.
A blinding smile broke over his face.
To be sure I hammered this point in, I added, “Huxley, Ross, and Glenn are becoming amazing friends whom I’ll always cherish. But you, Barrett, are home. That, my heart is very sure of.”
This time, he kissed me, and I felt the tight grip he had on the back of my head like a brand of possession. I kissed him back, happy to do so, and hoped any insecurities he’d harbored died to ashes.
There were a few wolf whistles, but I ignored them. Reassuring my man took priority.
After staying up most of Saturday, I understandably slept in on Sunday.
Besides, sunlight. Ewww. I’d much rather stay cozied up with my werewolf boyfriend in our bed.
It was probably late afternoon, maybe edging toward early evening, when I felt him shift at my back and start nuzzling my neck—a sign he had woken up feeling frisky. You know, vampires were accused of neck-romancy, if you will, but I had a lot of hickies on my neck. Just saying, Barrett could give me a good run for my money in that department.
Still, if he was all ready to rumble, I was up for it. I smiled into my pillow before wiggling my ass against his groin.
“Mm,” he growl-slash-groaned in delight. “So you are awake.”
“I’m supposed to somehow sleep with you gnawing on my neck like that?” I teased.
“Speaking of gnawing, don’t you want to feed from me while I’m fucking you?”
Barrett’s hand slid around to tweak a nipple, the firm tug sending delicious sparks through my chest.
I’d fed from him once during sex and now the man was absolutely addicted. I had to admit, mixing blood and sex felt utterly natural to me, and it made our lovemaking tip over into hot jungle sex territory. Couldn’t complain about that.
“I’d love—”
My damn phone rang.
It lay on my nightstand, vibrating a little with each ring, and my eyes skewered it. How very dare you ring in this moment.
Barrett sighed and reached over me to fetch it. “Just answer.”
But I don’t want to. Fuck, guess I had to. I swiped Accept before I fully registered just who was calling. Why was Anthony calling? “Hey, what’s up?”
Anthony sounded beyond distraught. “ Jesse, I need backup over here. The vampires are throwing their weight around, and we can’t get them to back down .”
My lust instantly faded, and I already had my legs over the side of the bed before he could trot the full sentence out.
“Where are you?”
“ Northeast side of town, at Buffalo Park. We’re up the trail a little bit. We were out here doing some ritual prep, and they just appeared. It’s supposed to be public domain, but they’re arguing they have priority and are trying to kick us out. ”
Why the hell would they do that? Buffalo Park was mostly flat grassland with a small mountain on it, meant for hiking, mostly, or to do some fun outdoor picnics. There was nothing fancy about the place.
This reeked of a power play.
“On my way. Sit tight.”
Barrett had already gotten out of bed and put his pants on.
Please note this made me very upset. I preferred my boyfriend sans pants, thank you very much. Still, I supposed if we were going to be in public, pants were a thing. Groaning, I followed suit, also finding clothes and pulling them on.
“I’m getting Glenn,” Barrett informed me.
He was halfway out the bedroom door already, but I still called after him. “Why?”
“Because he’s got more seniority as a vampire!” he called back.
Oh. Good thought, that. Actually, hadn’t Ross mentioned something about Glenn normally mediating vampire clan conflicts? He might be the best choice to bring along regardless.
By the time I got downstairs—I had epic bedhead I had to deal with first, which I did expediently by ducking my head under the shower spray for a second—Barrett already had Glenn and Ross up to speed. Huxley, too. They were apparently awake and had been chatting in the kitchen.
I snagged keys from the keyring as I moved. “My car. It’s the only one that can fit everyone. We’ll talk strategy on the way.”
All of us moved quickly, as we had to get there fast. From what Barrett’s mentioned, boundary conflicts had a tendency to get ugly in a second flat, and no one wanted that to happen here. Buffalo Park was on the very edge of town, granted, so if something went wrong then it wasn’t likely to be seen by humans. But it was also a weekend, so odds were good people could be there and just oblivious to the danger.
I didn’t obey a single speed limit, my little car zooming along. It was a relief when the park came in sight, the bronze stagecoach and horses barring the road in a clear indicator. We paid the fee to enter the park quickly, then hightailed it farther along the gravel path. Fortunately, the sun was starting to set, so it wasn’t high enough in the sky to cause ouchiness. Still, I’d rather not be out in this for very long.
I called Anthony the second I was free of the park entrance. “I’m here, how far along the path?”
“ We’re up on the mountain trail, just above the base. ”
I heard a male voice snarling something in a different language, but the tone was enough to go off. Unhappy vampire, check.
I whipped into the first parking spot I could find and quickly got out. I didn’t see any humans in sight, so I started running. Of course, everyone else easily kept up with me.
Glenn ran at my side to speak into the phone. “Anthony, is it? I’m Glenn ó Riagáin from Salem. Who’s the vampires with you?”
“ I don’t know, no one’s saying names. There’s four of them .”
Glenn glanced at me, but I shrugged ignorance. I’d not actually met any of the vampires here, except Blondie, the vampire who’d tried to take me out on first meeting, and Oscar, the pseudo head honcho vampire of this area.
“We’ll be there in a minute.” I ended the call, mostly because I wanted to throw a warning out without the vampires hearing me over the phone. “Look, I have to tell you, the vampires here are pretty volatile.”
Barrett let out a growl, lips curling up to reveal his canines. He hadn’t shifted, but I could tell he was damn close to doing so. “When I first met Jesse, I called the local vampire lieutenant, as I felt like it was the right thing to do. Oscar sent someone to my house, and the idiot tried to treat Jesse like a rogue. If not for my intervention, Jesse would have been killed on the spot.”
Sadly the truth. I’d been too weak to fight him off then. I might still be too weak to really win an all-out fight. Scary thought, that.
In a very unnatural calm, Huxley said, “So it’s fine for us to kill them if they get too rambunctious.”
Glenn sighed, deeply. “Don’t you start.”
I eyed my sire over my shoulder. He did look mad enough to kill. Well, damn, my warning might have backfired. I hadn’t meant to rile him up, only give him a heads-up.
Finally, we reached the mountain after what felt like years. With our speed, we were up the trail in seconds, and after rounding a curve in the trail, I finally spotted our quarry.
Anthony was easy to spot, wearing tennis shoes, shorts, and a white tank. With him were three other witches, or at least they smelled of magic, all wearing similar clothing and with backpacks in hand.
Facing off with them were four vampires, not a single one I knew. Barrett did, I think, as he let out a snarl of aggravation. Well, this didn’t bode well.
Anthony turned to see who approached and lit up in relief. “Jesse.”
“Yup, I’m here.” For all the good I’d do. Really, this was Glenn’s show, not mine. “Let’s do introductions, shall we—”
A tall vampire with a very emo look to him—I mean, he was in full black, trench coat and all, despite the heat—stepped forward a little and snapped at me. “I won’t listen to some barely turned child!”
Glenn stepped forward immediately, getting right into his face. His voice was a dark, throaty timbre that sent a shiver up my spine. “You’ll listen to me.”
Emo actually backed off half a step, notable fear in his eyes.
Could I be like Glenn when I grew up? Like, holy hell, I didn’t know you could intimidate a person by just standing there. He radiated authority, like a king would. I could almost see the crown.
“I am Glenn ó Riagáin of Clan ó Riagáin. I am the Mediator.”
The whatsit? I edged back a little and whispered to Ross, “What?”
“It’s an official title,” Ross murmured back. “Vampires have their own hierarchy, with designated titles for those they recognize. Glenn’s done so many negotiations with the different clans, he was recently officially recognized as the Mediator. Even if you hadn’t called us in, Jesse, he would have been obligated to step in and deal with this because of it.”
Huh. News to me. It was awesome, though, because that meant he really did have the authority to shut them down.
Emo actually looked ready to piss his pants, so he recognized the title, at the very least. He fell back to whisper with his buddies, all of them now looking nervous as hell. Ha, served them right. Damn, this promised to be a good show. Where was the popcorn?
Look, I was petty, I’d never claimed otherwise.
Now that he had them cowed, Glenn turned and gave an eloquent bow to the witches. “I’m here to mediate. Who am I speaking with?”
“Uh, I’m Anthony.” Anthony turned and gestured to the rest of the witches. “This is Mel, Ellis, Valerie, and Trish. None of us are high up in our coven. We’d need to call someone to negotiate with you.”
“That’s fine. I don’t feel negotiations should take place here, either. Let’s choose a neutral ground. Somewhere far from humans. We can choose a different location and reconvene in an hour.”
In case things got explody? That was my suspicion.
Emo was already on the phone with someone—sounded like Oscar from the British accent—and relaying what was going on. Glenn strode right over to him and took the phone out of his hand before once again introducing himself and asking, “Negotiations on boundaries needs to happen today, where would you like to meet?”
Yup, I could see why he was the negotiator, all right. Man was smooth.
I couldn’t help but ask Ross, “Does he use that voice on you in bed?”
Ross gave me a naughty little grin. “He does.”
“I see why you married him.”
“That was, admittedly, one reason.”
I turned to ask Huxley, “Are we even necessary right now?”
“I feel superfluous,” he admitted with a shrug. “I do want to see this play out, however. I do not want to live in fear of a boundary conflict hurting you.”
He was such a protective father, seriously. I had to give him a quick hug, because while I still had to adjust to the idea of having a father figure in my life who gave two shits about me, it was nice to have one. He hugged me back, smiling, but his eyes were on Glenn. He really was paying close attention.
I was with him, though. I wanted to see this played out with my own eyes. Somehow, I felt like with Glenn in charge, the boundary issue that had plagued this area would get resolved today.