Call of the Raven (33 page)

“Why would Kennedy be uptight about Elle,
she’s a girl just like she is.” Asher was trying at least to
understand. Usually he didn’t care enough to even pay attention or
call Kennedy by her name, let alone ask.

“Well that’s just it.” Nixon pulled out a
white jacket and pushed it at Asher. Mechanically Asher took the
garment. Ari wasn’t even sure he noticed. He seemed intent on
watching Nixon for a response instead.

“Kennedy’s had to deal with her face for the
last year when she’s use to being the only girl around us,
especially around you Asher.” He glanced up to see them staring.
Things were making sense to Ari but he wasn’t so sure about his
less experienced brother. “I mean I could be wrong but I think
she’s just jealous.”

“What do you mean especially around Asher?”
Asher asked third person, again Ari wasn’t so sure he even noticed
what he did.

This time Ari decided to interject because he
knew something Nixon only thought he knew. “He means because
Kennedy knows the possible significance of Elle to you, and ever
since Kennedy was a child, she’s done nothing but crush on
you.”

Asher’s eyes widened and then narrowed again.
Ari wondered if things were finally making sense to him now. Asher
had the tendency to be a little dense when it came to relationship
matters. Behind him, Nixon grabbed a stack of clothes he had
selected and laid on the dresser top and headed for the bathroom to
change. When the door slammed shut it must have broken Asher out of
his thoughts because suddenly he looked down at the jacket and
shirt in his hands in confusion.

“Pants Ari,” he said.

Figuring he needed to be alone to digest the
blow, Ari started to back out the door. However, the second Asher
looked up Ari hung back because he knew Asher wanted him to.

“I won’t pretend to understand about
Kennedy,” he said, “if what you say is true. I do know this in
regard to Elle though. I’m shaken by the matter, hence my behavior
in all of this. But the truth is…I believed that woman in my
drawing to be a grown up version of Grant’s child—my future mate. I
believed that image I had, the one in the drawing, the one in my
dreams was Mary. There never was any Elle.”

“What?” Ari stepped back into the room,
closer to Asher. “You have got to be joking? What possible basis
did you have to believe such stupidity?”

Asher looked toward the bathroom door and
then back to him. “Please keep your voice down. No need to
humiliate me further. I’ve known about Mary’s birth a long time.
I’m a wolf how could I not. I put Robert in charge of taking care
of her and her mother.”

“Well obviously he hasn’t done a good job in
that. The kid was living in poverty and the mother’s a deserting
drunk. My God Asher,” Ari rubbed his hand through his hair. He took
the last drink of whiskey and forced himself to calm down.

For the first time in his life, Asher seemed
genuinely ashamed. He just stood there biting the corner of his lip
as Nixon reappeared fully dressed with the rejected clothes he
didn’t want in his hands.

“It’s okay guys I heard just like I do every
other time you two have your little bro-talks. I’ll pretend like I
didn’t hear though, same as always, so never mind me as I put these
clothes away.”

Asher’s head lowered. “I don’t care that you
know. I would have eventually explained.” With that comment Nixon
directed a questioning stare his way. “I just didn’t want any of
your smart remarks at this precise time,” Asher told him. “I feel
stupid enough.”

“I just don’t get it,” Nixon said. “So she’s
not the right babe. I kind of mean that literally
and
rhetorically too since Mary and Elle both are in essence
babes
, just two entirely different kinds.” At that Asher
threw up his arms in full protest. The clothes fell to the floor
and his raised hands planted firmly on his head on the way back
down.

Nixon shrugged, “But honestly Ash, what’s so
hard to understand. Ari’s right, now that I’ve thought about it,
and I think you should listen to him. Facts are facts,” he
said.

Asher set two very interested eyes on Nixon.
He invited him to finish in look alone.

“I’ve spent the least amount of time with her
but from what I’ve learned and from what Ari has told me,” Nixon
went on. “I can see it. She was there at the right time—the very
minute we swooped in to save the day. She can see you’re
blue
magic. She accepts us. I’m around you every day and I
still get afraid of your fire-darts, and she didn’t even blink.
She’s not frightened of you in the least…well except for when you
yelled at her. I get the impression she doesn’t like being yelled
at. She’s just as beautiful as in your drawings and Ari said she
told him she dreamed that such a world as ours existed. Asher,”
Nixon walked to where he stood, “she read your books man—all of
them. Don’t you see the irony in that?”

“It?” Asher appeared dazed. “Just what
it,
do you see?”

“That whatever
it
may be, she’s
supposed to be with us,” Nixon boldly stated.

“Look,” Asher lowered his hands and looked
back and forth between the two of them. Ari thought his face looked
a little flushed. “I know I’ve behaved differently and I admit at
first I pretty much felt the same. I recognized her right away and
not even finding out she wasn’t Mary’s mother who I figured Mary
would grow up to look like, could have stopped me from wanting to
cart her away from that abusive boyfriend, but when it comes to
me—her possibilities to me, that has changed. Mary’s on the other
hand has not changed. I’m a Keeper and I need an heir and you two
both know that’s the only reason a female wolf is born. They’re
born to provide an heir when one hasn’t been provided or the Keeper
hasn’t taken a wife to produce one.”

Ari had taken the time to pour himself
another drink and stood sipping on straight whiskey as the
conversation unfolded, content to let Nixon handle things but he
could see out of the corner of his eye that they had both turned to
look his way. Apparently they wanted his opinion now. Ari wasn’t so
sure either of them was going to like what he had to say
though.

“Fine you wait for Mary.” He gestured to
Asher with the empty glass. “You wait till she’s old enough to
marry someday—go ahead and produce that heir. More than likely
that’s the safer approach anyhow given the alternative is taking a
wife which you absolutely refuse to take without love, and falling
in love for you means
death
. I don’t want you to die. I will
never
want you to die, but I can’t see how you could just
waltz through life without knowing at least how love feels.”

“Yeah, well speaking of that, I meant what I
said about being sorry for keeping Mary a secret and missing you
guys.” Asher was struggling with words and emotions and he wasn’t
trying to hide the fact that he was exposed. “But I also came
because I talked to Grant. He told me it was time for my destiny to
unfold, so I came looking for her—the woman in my drawings.”

Ari rubbed his thumb over his eyebrow.
“You…talked to Grant…after all this time.”

“Yes,” Asher nodded, “he told me that the
only reason he hasn’t been able to get in touch with me before is
because I wasn’t in tuned with my wolf nature, and my magic was too
strong.” He studied him, and then inclined his head. “I understand
Ari if you don’t believe me about Grant, because you never have,
but this is about Elle now. I will admit that after a year of
dreaming about her I slowly began to accept the fact
she
was
my destiny. And even though I thought I had more time, since I
thought she was a little girl that needed to grow up, discovering
Elle today made me feel relieved. I suddenly didn’t want to wait
any longer.”

“So what’s the problem?” Ari curiously
asked.

“Ari regardless of what I thought Elle meant
to me and the perverted customs of our world, I will only take one
woman, and Elle can’t be that woman because she doesn’t
qualify.”

Ari pointed out the door. He couldn’t believe
what he was hearing. “How in God’s sweet name could that woman
not
qualify? Have you taken a good look at her?” Ari put up
his hands when Asher opened his mouth to speak. Ari didn’t want him
to explain just yet.

“Look, all I know is I’ve dated many women
and their fancy designer clothes, fake boobs and strong perfume,
don’t even come close to what she has. That woman soaking in my tub
has a heart of gold. That boyfriend of hers should be shot because
he had no clue what he had. But if you want to reject her because
of stupid standards or some misguided belief then go right ahead
because that means she’s suddenly free and available. And I’m quite
positive any man could easily fall for her if that’s not happened
already to at least one of us in this room.”

He put his back to the door and discounted
his brothers penetrating eyes. “But what it all boils down to,” he
went on, “there’s a very young fragile women in my room who’s not
lived the best of lives. She’s been beaten and taken advantage of,
so screw everything else. I’m not about to let her undeserving
gangster boyfriend find her again so he can put another bite mark
on her neck.”

At that Asher’s eyes glowed red. Ari had no
choice but to continue on—prove his point. “I’m gonna go get your
pants so you can get dressed but maybe you should reflect on my
words. Maybe Mary was born for the purpose you believe but maybe
just maybe, Elle has her own purpose, no matter how frightening
that may be, not just to you but to all of us.” Ari met Asher’s
gaze as he neared—watching as the red faded back to blue. “All I’m
saying is, maybe you ought to not judge too quickly and give her
some time before you send her packing.”

“She has nothing to pack,” Nixon
interjected.

Asher overlooked the comment. “I wasn’t
planning on sending her anywhere. I agree with everything you’ve
said so far and I was trying to tell you that. I don’t know how to
be anything but what I am. I don’t know how to say things but just
hear me out while I try. How I feel about her has nothing to do
with any outsider paranoia on my part or some major grand
disillusionment either. I wanted to find another way to go about
this but I don’t have any other choice.
You
have given me no
other choice. I have to tell the truth. Just like everything else
in my life—every choice that was made before I was born, this has
nothing to do with me anymore, but not as a man but as a Keeper.
The rules were written long before and I’m obligated to uphold
those rules or suffer the consequences. I’ve already done that in
the past. I don’t want to go through that ever again. When I chose
to ignore the laws of the archives and the Council, it’s not always
me that pays the price.”

“Asher just say it man,” Nixon urged when he
stopped talking.

Asher lowered his head as the sound of a blow
dryer could be heard in the other room. “I can be such a fool
sometimes with my big words and over explaining things but the only
thing I needed to say is two simple words to make you understand,
so here you are. She’s pregnant.”

The words hit Ari hard. At that precise
moment all he could see was her doubling over, clutching at her
stomach before she passed out in the alley. “How do you know
that?”

Asher lifted up his right arm so he could
see. Ari noticed several long scratches on his forearm along with
one very impressive bruise. “I found out in the abandoned building
right after I made the decision to take her away with me. She likes
to fight and talk in her sleep. Now if you don’t mind I would like
to get dressed now.”

Ari put a hand to his shoulder. “Life seems
so confusing and unfair doesn’t it?”

Pulling away Asher gathered up the items of
clothing on the floor and headed for the bathroom. That was enough
of an answer for Ari and everything he already knew. Stopping
before the door, Asher turned back and looked at Nixon.

“While Ari’s showering, since you seem to be
so perceptive, I thought maybe you could give me some pointers. I
would like to have a conversation with Elle in a more
civil
manner.”

Nixon nodded. His hanging mouth and blinking
eyes were evident enough that Asher had taken him by complete
surprise. Ari knew exactly how he felt.

Asher sighed, debating his next words, but
then looking up he seemed determined to speak them. “I do have one
idea. She needs a home and we need a nanny, someone to look after
the children. She already has a relationship with Mary and she
reads to kids at the library, so that means she must like working
with them.”

“That sounds all well and good,” Ari moved
closer to him, “but you just mentioned the laws of which you have
to uphold and she’s not a Lake.”

“But she could be, I have that right to give
her the Lake name.”

Ari searched Asher’s face and he could tell
that he wasn’t meaning to be contradicting. He knew Asher had no
plans to take her as his wife, but even then the alternative wasn’t
an option. Ari didn’t want him to see it as an option. “In other
words you’re going to ask her to sign a contract…with you.”

“Dude, I think that’s an awesome idea. I’m
for it,” Nixon announced. The intensity in which he delivered the
words not only surprised Ari, they took Asher just as equally off
guard.

“But I’m not,” Ari said. “I think knowing
what she’s been through with her jerky boyfriend that’s a little
unfair to her. You can’t ask her to do that Asher.”

“What if I merely give her the choice and let
her decide,” Asher uttered, not looking at him. “In the meantime
she could come home with us and I can’t see how that would bother
you in the least.”

“You do what you want. You ask her to sign
your contract but leave me out of it.” Ari slammed his glass down
on the bar and since Elle was still in the bathroom he went to his
room to grab clothes.