Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
We left the codex with Jareth. He was the only one who could read it and now that I knew what it was, I no longer felt protective.
We headed to one of the beach restaurants for a group dinner. I heard the others chatting in low voices for the walk, but I was in my head. There was so much to think about.
The hostess seemed happy to see us. She flirted with Galen and Booker, which was normal, and paid no attention to the rest of us. When we got to the patio, we found Julian, Lucinda, Taylor, and Flip sitting at a table. From the looks of it, they had just sat down.
Surprise registered on Julian’s face but he recovered quickly. “This is a nice surprise,” he said, sounding sincere.
Galen hesitated, but only for a moment. “Would you like to join us?”
“Absolutely.” Julian smiled and bobbed his head. “I want to hear how Hadley’s serial killer hunt is going.”
The hostess glanced between us, likely trying to understand what was going on. Ultimately, she asked us to give her a moment to push tables together.
“If you guys are eating here, the food must be good,” Julian said.
“It is,” Galen confirmed. He leaned back in his chair and draped his arm over the back of my chair. “Hadley is a foodie, so I have to keep her fed if I want her to be happy.”
I gave him a dirty look. “You make me sound like a glutton.”
“We’re all gluttons in our own way,” Galen replied. He looked at ease, but I could tell he was fighting his nerves. “How is the house hunt going? Are you going to agree to Mosley’s terms on Declan’s old house?”
“I didn’t think it was anything to worry about at first,” Julian admitted. “Now I’m not so sure.” His eyes moved to me. “Do you think he’ll be back?”
He was looking for information from our end, not that I could blame him. “I don’t know,” I replied after a drawn-out silence. “We believe he’s trying to come back. That doesn’t mean he can just slip into his old life.”
“Where is he?” Lucinda asked.
“Another plane.”
“Do you know which one?”
“Do they have names?” I was honestly curious.
“I believe someone designated them with numbers but they don’t have official names,” Lucinda replied. “The locals sometimes name them. You were over there, right? I thought you might have heard it.”
I shook my head and held out my hands. “I have no idea what it’s called. It’s barren. Everything is dead, as if it never sees rain. I saw a volcano in the distance.”
“Was it active?”
“There was smoke.”
Lucinda pursed her lips. “I once heard about a plane like that. I never knew a name. It was a hellscape, so the individual who saw it called it Hell.”
“I can see why someone would think that,” I acknowledged. “It felt like a terrible place to live.” My mind went to my mother. “It’s kind of a fate worse than death.”
“That’s what Hell is supposed to be, right?” Lucinda prodded.
“I guess.” I leaned my head against Galen’s shoulder and he dropped a kiss on my crown just as the server approached.
She was young, maybe twenty-two but no older, and wispy thin with a shapely butt. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and she wore very little makeup. Only her eyes were done up, and they sparkled at Galen as she singled him out.
“Hi, Sheriff,” she chirped.
“Hello, Sadie,” he replied. He was friendly but not gregarious. “Anything good on special tonight?”
“There’s prime rib. I know you like red meat.”
All of the shifters other than Brody made appreciative noises.
“That does sound good,” Galen agreed.
“We have crab legs too,” Sadie added. “A pound of king crab legs with sides.”
Galen glanced at me. “Oh, look,” he teased, poking my side in an attempt to cajole a smile out of me. “They have something for both of us.”
That was good news. I looked up to find the server glaring at me.
She schooled her features quickly when she realized I was staring, but too late to hide her disdain.
“I’ll have a pear margarita, frozen, and a glass of water,” I said.
“And the crab legs with mashed potatoes and the house vegetable.”
“Great.” Sadie’s tone was clipped as she jotted the order in her pad.
She seemed happy to be done with me. She couldn’t stop smiling when taking Galen’s order and she gave Julian the same treatment.
He was a new face on the island, which made him a curiosity, but Sadie seemed to like what she saw.
Booker and Brody got wide smiles too. The rest of us were merely inconveniences.
“I don’t like her,” Aurora announced when she was gone.
I slid my gaze to her. “Who? Sadie?”
“She was rude to all the women and tripped over her tongue around the guys.”
“She’s young,” I replied. “She can’t help herself. Plus, Booker and Galen have built up their mystiques so they’re larger than life figures on the island. She’s only reacting as she’s been conditioned.”
“That’s an interesting way of putting it,” Julian noted. “Did you study psychology?”
“Oh, no.” I laughed at the suggestion. “I did take one course in college. I just like gauging people. One thing I’ve learned is that machismo still exists on the island.”
“What’s machismo?” Taylor asked on a giggle.
“An exaggerated sense of male pride,” I explained. “It’s when men puff themselves out for what has been designated as male behavior throughout the years, like bar fights to protect their women and that type of stuff.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Julian asked. He didn’t look offended as much as interested.
“It depends on how the machismo is displayed. In Galen’s case — and Booker’s — they show off by being overprotective of their romantic partners even though their romantic partners can take care of themselves.”
Galen gave me a pointed look but didn’t say anything. I continued as if I didn’t have a care in the world.
“Part of it for Galen is the pack culture,” I explained. “Men and women have clearly defined roles in the pack. Even you do it.”
Julian’s eyebrows hiked. “I do it? What does that mean?”
“Hadley.” Galen said my name on a growl and there was a warning there.
“It’s okay,” Julian assured him. “I’m fascinated to hear what she has to say. She’s … delightful.”
“Yeah, only to a certain point,” Galen replied. “She can be a real pain in the ass if she decides to fully commit to an idea.”
“I still want to hear her.” Julian smiled. “It’s okay.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Galen muttered before he reached for his beer.
I ignored him. “Your head of security is male.” I pointed to Flip. “He’s a giant. He’s meant to intimidate people before he even opens his mouth.”
“He’s very good at his job,” Julian said.
“And that’s fine, but you have Taylor in an administrative position,” I continued. “That’s a traditionally female role.”
“I don’t think she would like being on the security team,” Julian said. He said he wanted to hear what I had to say but it was obvious he was leery.
“Are there any females on your security team?”
To me, it was a reasonable question. Julian didn’t seem to like it. “I’ve never had one apply,” he hedged.
“Would you consider her — be honest — if she did?”
He opened his mouth, then shut it. That was all I needed to see.
“It’s not your fault,” I assured him. “The pack is mired in machismo. Galen can’t help himself from trying to protect me for the same reason. He doesn’t spend a lot of time with the pack, but it was the ‘normal’ he was raised with.”
“There was nothing normal about the way I was raised,” Galen replied.
“I’m just saying that you are who you are. You and Booker treat your competitions like games. The others on the island see them as something else.”
“Very interesting.” Julian grinned at me. “There’s just one thing wrong with your hypothesis.” He pointed at Lucinda. “She’s in a position of power in my cabinet. How do you explain that?”
The fact that he called it a cabinet was interesting. I filed that tidbit away. I flicked my eyes to Lucinda and considered her.
“You’re a smart pack leader above all else,” I replied. “You believe men are stronger than women physically. You don’t use that to your advantage but you do believe it.”
Julian merely stared.
“Lucinda is powerful and she can get you what you want,” I said. “She is not on your security team but she is a different form of security. You’re comfortable with it because she uses magic, not muscle, to obtain her goals.
“If she needed to use a dagger or sword to offer you the same protection, you would treat her differently,” I continued. “You respect her but you keep her in a neat little box because that’s easier for you.”
“Interesting,” Julian mused, his eyes going to Lucinda. “Is she right? Do I keep you in a box?”
“She’s intuitive,” Lucinda replied. “I don’t know that I would say she got every detail right, but she’s not wrong.”
“I guess I’ll have to work on that.” Julian tilted his head as he regarded me. “Does Galen keep you in a box?”
I shook my head. “Galen recognizes my inherent worth to his cause,” I replied. “He wants me to help. He wants to see me as an equal.”
“Hey,” Galen protested. “I do see you as an equal. In fact, there are times I elevate you well above myself because of what you can do.”
That was true. I didn’t want to slight him.
“Galen only falters when fear takes over,” I explained.
“Love is his primary motivation. When he thinks he might lose his love — whether it be me or his friends — he reacts from a place of fear. He can become overbearing in those moments. Thankfully, they don’t last long. ”
“I’m never overbearing,” Galen growled.
Multiple snorts erupted around the table.
“I'm not,” he insisted. “I also don’t react from a place of fear when Booker is threatened. You need to take that back.”
There was no stopping my eye roll. “He and Booker are BFFs,” I offered when Julian’s forehead creased. “They put on a show that they hate each other but should be wearing matching bracelets.”
Everybody at the table other than Galen and Booker broke out into raucous laughter.