Blackbirds & Bourbon (2 page)

“He did? When?” Georg and I aren’t exactly chatting every day, but I thought we’d settled things between us. Yet he never mentioned being questioned when I was up at the Den to check on Syana.

Jett folds her arms. “Not important, but Carly also got a visit from them. She testified the wolves kidnapped her, forcing you to act. Since they don’t acknowledge the existence of the Dark Council, the whole bounty thing was a moot point to them. They decided Owen’s attack was personal and that your response was appropriate.”

I absorb this, glancing at Carly, who blushes under her rose-gold curls, her fingers tightening in Ana’s skirt. “I didn’t want to mention it, Seph. You’ve been dealing with enough lately, and it was just a formality. Styx put in a word for you, too.” This makes me blink. Styx isn’t exactly known for giving two shits about FTC business, but his word would definitely make even the Council take a step back. Carly gives me a tremulous smile that I can’t return. Finding out I’ve been so scatter-brained from what happened on that beach that I’ve failed to notice everyone protecting me from the fallout doesn’t sit well.

Jett doesn’t help with her next words, her tone as brittle as I’ve ever heard it.

“If you’re convicted of this—they’ll make me bind your magic, Seph.” Her eyes burn into mine like cobalt fire. Only a witch can bind another witch’s magic, and as acting head of household, that task would fall to her if the Council ordered it. “You’ll be helpless. And with everything that’s been going on lately, that would effectively be …”

For once my scary-ass sister can’t seem to say the words.

So I do. “A death sentence.”

The
next morning I’m up and on my way to the South Shore by sunrise. I’m in desperate need of some bestie time. Finding out that not only does the
Dark
Council have it in for me, but the legitimate one as well…

It pisses me the fuck off.

I can feel the anger like a living, breathing entity sitting next to me, riding shotgun as the Fiat tears up Highway 13. We’ve had fresh snow the last two nights running and the South Shore always gets hit harder than Duluth. Everything sparkles under a thick layer of white diamonds. The glimpses I get of the big lake through the pine-covered hills are placid navy silk waves under a blindingly bright sky.

If anything, the beauty only heightens my foul mood. I should be able to drink it in, to bask in the one benefit of our insane winters, but
nooo
. I’m too busy worrying about a stupid trial for something I didn’t even do. I’ve never been a temperamental person; I leave that drama to Jett and Ana. But I’m getting damn sick of being on everyone’s shit list. The universe seems bound and determined to knock me on my ass. I smack the steering wheel hard, then mutter an apology to the Fiat under my breath.

Fucking Tyr. He set me up. Why?

Really…
Why
bother? He could’ve killed me. Easily. But he didn’t. In fact he said he was doing me a favor.  Right before he threw that stone. My eyes dart to the glove box. I should’ve had Carly take a look at it. She’s the only one of us who ever imbues anything.
If
the agate is imbued. It felt like a different sort of magic. Older, somehow. Which points to elemental power, but that doesn’t feel quite right either.

I put it all out of my mind as I turn down the dirt road to the Den. I’m right outside Port Wing, a tiny Wisconsin town that is completely unaware bruin royalty is within shouting distance of its borders. 

I don’t know how many acres the bears claim, but it’s a lot. Most of it covered thickly in trees. They start to clear as I ease the Fiat over the bumps in the old logging road, approaching a wide curving glade. It takes the form of a lop-sided horseshoe edged by masses of tall dark pines, all with coats of winter white on their spiky backs.

The wide expanse of snow is broken up by three gorgeous log buildings, snuggled back against the trees. The one off on the right is Georg’s, the small one on the left is the sauna, and the enormous one in the middle is basically bruin central. Most of their living, playing and eating is done in that one, though the twins have their own cabin back in the woods, as does Stephen. Those are rougher, far less pretty abodes than the one whose gleaming stairs I’m climbing minutes later. The porch is deep and wide, with a hot tub nestled in one corner. I shake my head as a few hazy memories of that tub flit through my mind.

I take a deep breath, studying the handmade door, inlaid with leaded glass in intricate diamond patterns. It’s practically a work of art.

Just because they’re bears doesn’t mean they don’t have their own sense of style. This is a ‘cabin’ only in the loosest sense of the word. It’s more like a mansion made out of wood and rock. The bruins have family money, or at least Georg does, but they actually make a good living from logging. Responsible harvesting, they would say. Georg is a delegate to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress. They also sell handmade furniture, some pieces that go for what my bar brings in on a good month. Hurting for Benjamins, these bears are not.

I’m reaching for the door handle when someone calls out, making me turn.

It’s Dominic, emerging from the sauna. The Schade brothers don’t actually look like twins, except for the red hair. Twins are common to bruins, when they’re able to breed at all. Dom’s the smaller of the two, barely six feet, which is positively teensy for a bruin, but that doesn’t make him any less intimidating.

Except for the towel wrapped casually around his waist, he’s naked, showing off most of a hard body that belongs on the pages of some drool-worthy calendar. Steam rises from his bare skin to twirl in the air that’s hovering somewhere right below freezing. Bruins are almost as immune to the cold as Jack.

“Hey, stranger.” He preens a little. Dominic has always been an attention-whore who knows exactly how good he looks. If I don’t give him a once-over, he’ll be offended.

So what the hell, I look.

Dom is ridiculously clean-cut for a shifter. No beard, no tats, no piercings, just red hair, buzzed short, a killer smile and generous acres of lightly-freckled muscles. But delicious as Dom is to look at, he doesn’t do anything for me. Apparently my stupid hormones only go gaga for long, lean and dark-haired. The thought of Jack sends sparks skittering down my spine. I wrap my arms around myself and avert my eyes from Dom’s physique.

“I was here last week,” I protest, feeling a touch defensive. Which is silly. I didn’t do anything wrong. Georg is the one who had
me
kidnapped. Turns out his heart was in the right place, but still. I’m not the one who should feel awkward here.

“Yeah, but before that, it’d been what? Least a year.” Dom’s words are a trifle cool. Those rich amber eyes hold an edge, as does his tone. Obviously, nobody here has forgotten my dismissal of their king’s attention. One for all, all for one, that’s the bruin style. As Georg has apparently forgiven me, though, Dom and the rest will follow suit.

I hope.

He uses the second towel slung around his neck to wipe casually at that powerful chest that glistens ever so slightly in the morning sun. But all I can think is that I wish he’d put a shirt on.

Something is definitely wrong with me if I can’t appreciate good manflesh anymore. I scowl at my feet and turn back to the door.

“We both know why I wasn’t coming around,” I say impatiently, turning the door handle. “So, where’s Sy?”

“In the gym. With Jax.”

Something in his tone has me glancing back over my shoulder, but his face gives away nothing. I wonder what Ajax’s intentions are toward my bestie, but I also know better than to think I’ll get the scoop from his twin. Dom is an open, friendly guy most of the time, but when it comes to him and Ajax…well, those two are a closed loop.

We go inside, Dom leading me through the huge living room with an open-air loft above, down the wide hall to the bears’ impressively equipped gym. I hear them before I see them. Syana cursing over the low rumble of bruin laughter.

They are going at it when we step into the room. Not
that
kind of going at it, thank goodness, but the sparring kind. It smells like wood, vinyl and sweat in here and it’s uncomfortably warm. Despite their tolerance for cold, the bruins prefer it steamy.

Sy, clad in a thin white tank and black yoga pants, is sweating and facing off against a red-headed man who is at least three times her slim width and damn near a foot taller. The sight is more than a little scary. The appearance of the bruin she’s facing doesn’t help.

Ajax looks every inch the bad boy that his brother doesn’t. Colorful and swirling tattoos sleeve one full arm and most of the other. He’s pierced in both ears, one eyebrow and his upper lip. And probably other places I don’t need to know about.

Several inches taller than Dom and at least thirty pounds of pure muscle heavier, he sports a close-cut beard that highlights the sharp planes of his face. The beard’s a deeper red than the hair on his head, which is buzzed short on the sides and left tousled on top.

Ajax sees me over Sy’s head, gives a nod and drops his hands. Instantly, she’s on him. Sy cups a huge bicep in one palm, steps in close to the bruin’s ripped bod and does a little pivot, feet shifting as she presses her ass low down against his hip. Like magic, Ajax lands on the mat seconds later with a floor-rattling thump, cursing loudly.

“Dammit, woman!” he groans to the sound of his brother’s laughter. “Seph is here, and she wants to talk.”

“What?” Sy looks up, seeing me for the first time. Tucking her swing of dark brown hair behind one ear, she winces, then extends her hand to Ajax, whose lips are starting to twitch. “It’s your own fault,” she scolds him as his big paw swallows hers. “Never drop your guard.”

“Yes, ma’am.” His tone is somber as he gets to his feet, but that grin is anything but.

“If you call me ma’am one more time, I’m gonna hurt you.” I blink at this. Sy is nice to almost everyone. Like super-duper Pollyanna nice. I’m the only one she threatens with bodily harm.

Or I was.

“Promises, promises.” He smirks and brushes a kiss over the top of her head.
Hmm.
I know they’re hot and heavy and all, but the casual affection gives me pause. Ajax’s eyes lock with mine. Something in that sable brown shifts. He turns away from me to roll his eyes at his brother’s appearance.

“Let’s get you some clothes, these ladies need a moment.” Ajax gives Dom a shove and the twins leave, though I catch the concerned look he shoots Sy before the door closes.

“Pretty perceptive, that one.”

“You have no idea.” Sy smirks and wipes her forehead, waving me over with a perceptive look of her own. “So, what’s wrong?”

“I need to learn how to fight, Sy. For reals this time.”

She eyes the purple lump on the side of my head that I neglected to heal on purpose. I need the reminder. “Tyr kicking your ass gave you some motivation, eh?”

“Carly call you?”

“Not me.” She shrugs, but won’t quite meet my eyes. “Georg knows everything that goes on with you, Seph.”

I purse my lips, but decide to ignore that, though my sister will be getting an earful later. “How about it, are you up to this? Training me?”

Her mouth thins. “Of course I’m up to it. Do I look like some delicate feminine flower?” Slicked with sweat, her toned muscles pumped from her match with Ajax, hazel eyes bright and angry, Sy looks as kick ass as ever.

Still…

“You’ve been through a lot, Sy. It hasn’t even been a month. You can’t be at one hundred percent yet.”

For a second I think she’s gonna lay into me, but then Sy sighs, rubbing the back of her neck where only a silvery scar remains from what Owen did, thanks to bruin healing. “No, I’m not. It pisses me off, Seph. It was one night, only a few hours really, but it changed me… And I’m not just talking about being bit by that crazy dickwad either.”

Ajax walks back in and Sy’s voice trails off. Her face softens as he grabs his water bottle with an apologetic wink. I watch her watch him, feeling uneasy, for more reasons than one.

Carly got bit by Owen that night, too. But since Carly’s a fully realized witch, we’re pretty sure she’ll be safe from turning. Her innate magic should be enough to counteract the werewolf kind. Styx is keeping a close eye on her, just in case, but my sister is likely in the clear. Syana, not so much. There’s no way to tell for sure until the next full moon. Which is a bit over a week away.

I can’t think about that. Not now. At least she has the bruins looking out for her.

My eyes trail Ajax warily, because even if Sy hasn’t realized it yet, I have an idea why the bears are being so protective. Bruins are chivalrous enough, when they want to be, but this is more. She’s an unattached human female, in their home. For all intents and purposes, she’s living with them. And she knows their secrets. There’s only one reason they wouldn’t have sent her on her way as soon as she was out of danger.

I fold my arms, as that reason sidles out of the room. I’m feeling torn. Dominic’s a player, always has been, always will be, but Ajax, despite his wild appearance, is the serious brother. The down-to-earth one. If he’s decided Syana is his…

Well, I have some experience with possessive bruins.

But right now, the safest place for Sy is here, especially since I’m already dealing with multiple clusterfucks.

“What’s going on there?” I jerk a shoulder at the door closing behind Ajax. “I mean besides the obvious.”

“It is pretty obvious, huh?” The corners of her mouth curve. “Some days I can barely walk in the morning.” Her grin fades into a pensive look.

“He’s been good to me, Seph. And good
for
me. That night …” She swallows. “I thought I was going to die. Like seriously, this is it, last stop, everybody off, end of the goddamn line. When Ajax showed up, him and Dom, it was like somebody had sent me a pair of sexy, ginger angels. You did that, Seph. You found a way to save me.”

I shift my weight from one foot to the other. “Well, me and Georg…and Jack.” And if it hadn’t been for me, she never would have gone through that nightmare anyway. “Don’t go thanking me for saving your life and shit, we’d both get embarrassed.”

“As if.” She punches my shoulder lightly, her grin back. “I just wanted to haul you back from that guilt trip you got going on. I like Jax, Seph, I like him a whole fucking lot.
Too damn much
.” The last bit is said in a near-whisper as she glances out the window. Ajax and Dom, now halfway decent in a pair of jeans, are stacking wood.

My lips tighten. I’ve only ever heard Dom call Ajax ‘Jax.’ No one else would dare, not even Georg. Curiouser and curiouser.

Sy has always been a love ’em and leave ’em type of girl. She’s never been serious with anyone that I know of. My daddy issues are nothing to hers. I’d take faceless and absent over Syana’s piece of shit father any day. Any day. Even the thought of Connor Norgaard makes me want to toss a nice incendiary spell at something.