19. Marilee
Marilee
Boris surged forward and for a split second I thought the guy in front of me was going to piss his pants. Then he remembered that he had a gun. He lifted it towards Boris and I dove for him, driving my shoulder right into his solar plexus. The air whooshed out of him, and we fell to the ground.
That’s when all hell broke loose. Allie was already vamped out, but Martha shifted into her…
creature. It was the only way to describe the bizarre wolf vampire combination that her inner animal was.
Deep inside me, my vamp and wolf were fighting for control.
My vamp won. Barely. I drew up to my full height, making myself big and scratching my claws at anyone who came too close.
The humans were shooting wildly, starting to panic as we attacked them. One guy feinted to one side, then went the other way, escaping the fray and heading for my mate.
He grabbed her left wrist, tugging her towards him, but before I could get there she punched him in the face.
My mate had a solid right hook. He reared back, clearly not expecting her to resist him.
She followed the guy, grabbing his arms for leverage as she brought her knee up and nailed him right in the nuts.
He dropped with an inhuman groan of pain.
After that it was over quickly. My coworkers and I had all six men subdued and zip-tied in moments.
We heard sirens, and then the cops were flooding the area.
Boris and Martha shifted back to their human forms, their clothes in shreds on the floor.
If the cops were surprised to see naked people on the scene, they didn’t show it.
“Everyone freeze! Hands where we can see ‘em!” one of the cops called.
It was the second time men had ordered us to freeze today, and I wasn’t happy about it. They were still trying to sort things out when Lois marched in, Bella, Angie, and Wanda fanned out behind her. The temperature in the space immediately dropped.
“Pierce.” She approached the lead cop, a glare on her face that made every supernatural in the room want to cower. “This is my operation.”
“We need to figure out what’s going on here, Lois. We received multiple panicked nine-one-one calls reporting gunmen and wild animals up here.”
“You’ll have a full report within two hours,” she said dismissively. “My team caught the bad guys for you, how about you lock them up and I’ll deal directly with your captain.”
He wanted to tell her off, we could all see it, but it only took about twenty seconds of alpha eye contact from Lois before he lowered his gaze, anger flushing his face.
“Fine, but don’t make us wait for that report.”
“We wouldn’t dream of it,” Lois said with exaggerated sweetness.
She waited for the local cops to drag the guys out before turning her attention to the rest of us. “Get cleaned up and report to the office in an hour.”
“Yes ma’am,” we said in unison.
Boris and Martha dipped into the ballroom to grab some tablecloths, wrapping themselves up sarong style so they could move through the lobby.
To avoid attention – or maybe because they were still freaked out about being trapped in the elevator last night – my two coworkers headed into the stairwell.
Taking Hazel’s hand, I threaded my fingers through hers and pulled her over to the elevators. No sense schlepping up those stairs again.
I knew something was wrong the minute we got to our hotel room. I could smell humans, two of them, and their scent was familiar. Kicking the door open, I moved into the room with Hazel behind me.
Colm and Elizabeth sat on our love seat, having helped themselves to drinks from our minibar. They looked completely casual.
“What are you two doing here?” I demanded.
Colm shot up, drawing himself up to his full height. He was strong and an experienced fighter, but he was still a human. He posed no threat to me.
“We came to see our daughter.”
Hazel stepped forward. “I’ve been clear I don’t want to see you two,” she reminded them.
Elizabeth’s eyes dropped to our intertwined fingers before returning to her daughter.
“Who’s the vampire, Moira?”
That’s when I realized I’d partially shifted when we walked in the door and sensed danger. Inhaling deeply, I willed my vamp to recede.
“I’m her girlfriend,” I answered before Hazel could mention me being a bodyguard.
Elizabeth plopped onto the couch with a smile, suddenly relaxed.
“That’s good news. I was afraid you’d be dating someone awful, like an accountant or a cop.”
“What do you want, Mam?” Hazel asked, the exhaustion in her voice telling me she was entering an adrenaline dump.
“There’s a group of heavily armed Italians looking for you here,” Elizabeth said. “Our sources tell us they’re here at the hotel.”
“They’re in jail now,” she replied. “But thanks for stopping by with that information – twenty minutes too late.”
“Moira, we need to talk to you alone,” Colm ordered.
I waited to see what Hazel wanted to do. I could hang out in the room next door with Martha and Allie. With my super hearing I’d be able to monitor the situation.
“Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of Marilee,” she said, squeezing my hand. “She knows who and what you are.”
Colm sighed with exaggerated patience, his fingers twitching like he was trying to hold himself back from hitting something – or someone.
A low growl rumbled through my chest, a clear warning from my wolf that he’d better keep his hands off our mate.
I could tell by the way he visibly relaxed his muscles that he got my message loud and clear.
I’d half expected my wolf to come out when we were threatened on the mezzanine just now, but she’d sat back and let my vampire be in control after the vamp reminded her that she had more experience fighting.
“Can we all sit down please?” Elizabeth asked, “I’ll get us a little drink.”
“Not the mini bar,” Hazel said firmly. “You know that stuff is way overpriced. If you want a drink, we’ve got water in the fridge.”
It wasn’t the only thing in the refrigerator, which Elizabeth figured out when she picked up a bottle of blood from the door. I watched her hold it up to the light, a frown creasing between her brows as she looked between me and the bottle, making the connection.
“Easy with the blood,” I said. “It’s also very overpriced.”
Hazel’s mom shuddered but put it back without a word.
Hazel and I sat on the edge of the bed, facing her parents as we waited for whatever they needed to say. They didn’t make us wait long.
“It’s very important that you come back home, Moira,” her father said.
“Why?”
“So we can put you on a diet, for one,” Elizabeth muttered.
“Rude!” Hazel chastised.
“She’s perfect just the way she is,” I growled at the same time.
“Enough!” Colm shouted. “We’re in deep shit Moira Elizabeth O’Brian, and it’s partly your fault, so you owe it to us to come back and fix it.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“When you ran away like a petulant child you angered the Murphy family.”
Hazel shrugged. “That was years ago. And I told you right from the beginning I didn’t want to marry him, but you ignored me.”
“Donny was humiliated by your leaving. His parents forced him to marry another girl to save face, and she was barren.”
Barren? Who talked like that?
Hazel waved her hand impatiently. “What does that have to do with me?”
“Donny needs an heir. Now that his wife is… out of the picture, he’s looking for a new wife.”
I knew instinctively that the woman was out of the picture because Donny killed her.
“I’m sure there are lots of dumb women who’d jump at the chance to marry a misogynist abusive asshole like Donny,” Hazel sneered.
Yeah, that confirmed it.
Did that man hurt our mate? my wolf asked. We will kill him.
For once the wolf speaks some sense, my vamp added.
I made a mental note to ask her later what happened.
“He doesn’t want another woman, he wants you,” Colm said. “And I told his family we’d make this right.”
“First of all, I’m a lesbian,” Hazel said, ticking off on her fingers. “Second, I didn’t want to put up with his temper back then, and I certainly don’t now. Third, I have a life in Canada.”
“You’re not going to have a life at all if you don’t get Donny off our backs,” Colm said. “And neither will we.”
Hazel’s eyes narrowed. “Since when are you two afraid of the Murphys? Or anyone?”
“Since they turned some of our most loyal associates against us,” Colm said, a trace of dejection in his voice. “And cut off most of our money.”
“I don’t understand,” Hazel said.
“We’re broke, Moira,” her mother burst out. “Those damned Murphys have outmaneuvered us. And you’re going to help us fix it by giving them the grandchild they’ve been waiting for.”