Nine Lives of an Urban Panther (6 page)

“Seriously, if they are going to start coming after my people, then I will not be bureaucratted into the corner and left to do nothing.”

He looked away.

“Damn it, Peter.” I slammed my hand down on the desk and jumped to my feet. “They knew you well enough to approach you, but if you can't support me . . .” I stopped myself. That foot-in-my-mouth habit was harder to break than I thought. I leaned forward on his desk and he leaned back in his chair. Slow down, Jordan. Give him that one extra chance that you give everyone else. “If you were in my shoes. If you had a broken pack that needed to be pieced back together one life at a time, would you trust her?”

Peter's gaze rose to meet mine. “She does seem to want the best for the elementals.”

I licked my lips and sighed. “Fine. Set it up. But as my new emissary, you're going with me.”

“What? I can't just drop everything and—”

I pulled at that taut twine of magic in my chest that connected him to me and he went silent. “Please set up the meeting at the coffee shop. I'd at least like a home court advantage.”

“Yes, Miss Jordan.”

I relaxed and sat down in my chair, taking my coffee from its crystal coaster. “I think I'm ready to sign those papers now.”

I called to Tucker and Chaz, who bounded into the room.

“Everything good?” Chaz settled back in next to me and Tucker watched from behind.

“No, but I'm ready to sign some papers.”

“You'd better stretch first,” Delmont said as he readied the stack again.

A
N HOUR LATER
and I was a millionaire. Seven back accounts, seven properties and seven majority stock holds. The number repetition was a little creepy.

“Is there anything else I can do for you, Miss Jordan?” Delmont asked as he placed the signatures in stacks that held some secret meaning.

“Now that I officially own it, I want to sell the Forest Farms.”

Delmont looked up from his organizing. “Are you sure? That's worth a million alone.”

“I'm sure. I just want it to go to some human millionaire who doesn't know what happened. Can't feel the scars we do.”

Delmont licked his lips. “Done. Anything else?”

“Let me know when the meeting is.”

He nodded and rose, signaling the end of our time together.

“W
HAT WAS THAT
about?” Tucker asked in the elevator down.

“Apparently the other breeds have been actively organizing and their go-to guy was Delmont to get the skinny on the shifters.”

We hit the foyer of the building and walked for the cars.

“Define actively organizing,” Chaz asked.

“As in I'm a Prima, they have an Akasha and a Clade something and a witch mistress?” When I tried to say it out loud, it all sounded wrong, which meant that it was probably right up my alley.

“How can we trust Delmont?” Tucker growled.

My feet stopped like I'd hit a glass wall. It wasn't that the thought had just finally crossed my mind that Delmont wasn't what he seemed to be; I knew that. I froze because it seemed Tucker might know part of the story that I didn't.

“I think it's okay.”

“How do you know?”

How did I know? Peter was hiding something. He purposely rubbed me the wrong way and he'd gotten me into something I wasn't sure of. But after what he had said, I was still sure that he would never turn against me.

I'm really not the brightest color in the box, am I?

“The nose knows.” I shrugged as I leaned against Chaz's car. “But I need to have a session with our resident librarian of the weird if he's not otherwise occupied.”

“Anything else?” Tucker asked?

My stomach growled in response. “A session with some food. Someone recently told me that I needed to eat more.”

Tucker almost smiled despite the furrow. “I know a burger place around the corner.”

“Of course you do.”

 

Chapter Six

“M
ISS, YOU'RE NOT
allowed to have that in here,” the librarian called across the entry.

Twenty ounces of mocha firming in my grasp, I just glared at her, and maybe growled, as I proceeded to the back, where Nash took care of the special collections. The only warning of my coming was the tendril of energy I'd sent him as Chaz dropped me off.

When Delmont had told me about the others in the city, I realized all the lore I knew on Wanderers had to do with shifters and fey. I knew the others existed, had felt their power or been at the angry end of it at some point, but I didn't know about the rest of my universe.

Suddenly, that seemed very dangerous.

Which was why I sat across the library table from Nash. “I need everything on elementals and vampires and witches.”

Nash was ready. He looked at home among the stacks of books that flanked him on the table. With only the minute and a half warning I'd given him, he still managed to have bright sticky notes stuck into the pages of the volumes.

He smiled, like he'd been waiting his whole life to tell someone everything he knew. “Elementals, even though they are the closest to the shifters, are the polar opposite. The elementals' magic can only control one element. The element isn't passed down, just the power. But like us, it takes in some and not in others.”

“So you could have a mom water elemental and a father wind elemental and what? Get a baby tornado?”

Nash reached for a book and flipped it open to some crazy-looking diagram. “Not exactly. The offspring would be doubly powerful, but ultimately would only be in control of one element.”

It was a pretty picture, but I was a little slow when it came to translating what I assumed was Latin. “So a family unit might have all four elements. Then how do they choose their leaders?”

“The elementals choose the strongest of the elements to lead them.”

“Whoever can whip up the best firestorm?”

“More like who can squelch the other contenders.”

I winced. I didn't want to be squelched.

“Do we know anything about their way of doing things? Do they brush each other?” I didn't know if I wanted to send my animal power out into a burning ring of fire, but weirder things had happened.

Nash shook his head. “I know they don't commune like we do but they have their own set of rules. I think you have to have all four elements to even have a Kiln. I tried to find something written down, but elemental manuscripts don't survive well.”

“Can't weather the ages?” I smirked.

Nash's dimples flashed for only a moment before getting back to business. I tried to keep the smart-aleck remarks to a minimum so he could do his thing.

“What do you know of Inez Walker?”

His eyebrows jumped. “She's who they chose as their Akasha?”

I frowned. “Do you think she was one of the ones Carlisle would have needed to defeat to take over the Pride?” I asked. It was a harsh question. Carlisle had systematically killed or conquered everyone else in the Pride before our showdown.

Nash shook his head. “He wouldn't have seen her as a threat. She isn't a legacy.”

“What's does that mean?”

Nash licked his thin lips again. I was thinking that I needed to get the boy a water and some lip balm. “She wasn't born with a legacy. Her parents weren't Wanderers.”

I was just about to point out that Tucker's parents weren't Wanderers, but I had a feeling it was more than that. When I didn't say anything, Nash filled in the blanks. He looked down at his long fingers and rubbed them together. “The fire chose her.”

“Like the earth gave her magic?”

“It's been recorded a few times.
The Mother chooses her children
, I think the phrase is.”

“Like the Mother who created the Wanderers?”

Nash nodded. “There are several viewpoints about what her name actually is, but the all-seeing, all-powerful who created the Wanderers as harbingers of the earth chose Inez to harness the fire. The Mother has a plan for us all.”

“Oh.” And I thought I was the only chosen one in Dallas. Guess I really am part of the few and the proud. “Now that's a story.”

Nash smiled. “And if she is the one the elementals chose as their Akasha, it's going to be an interesting meeting, from what I remember of her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don't take this the wrong way, but we have proof that you don't play well with others. Need I mention Sully and the warthogs?”

I faked a gauf at his suggestion that I wasn't the perfect negotiator. But the encounter with a rogue pack of warthogs had landed Nash with a pretty wicked scar and cursed Shadow to his furrier form.

“Inez isn't exactly the warmest personality.”

“Ironic. Don't you think?”

I didn't even get the briefest of smiles from Nash.

“I'm being serious. If she thinks you're a threat, you're toast. Nothing figurative about it.”

I sighed. I knew this was serious. I also knew I needed sleep and coffee was no longer doing the job of keeping me awake. Exhaustion ached along my shoulders and in my hand as I grasped my—what was this—fourth coffee for the day.

“Got any books in this place on how to make friends and influence evil?”

Nash shook his head. “No. I can only point out what you already know. The elementals are like their elements like we are like our animals. You think you're catty, she's the embodiment of fire.”

“So keep calm and carry water. Got it.”

Nash's chin dropped down to his chest again. I'm sure this was not what he envisioned this moment being like. He probably saw himself as Yoda, and I was turning this into a session with Jar Jar.

“What's the sitch on the vampires?” I leaned back in the chair and waited for the info dump.

“Nothing you've ever written.”

“Seriously?” My entire world view just turned on edge. Half the stuff I was known for at Cloak & Dagger was on vampire covens.

Nash chuckled. “No. There's actually a lot of truth in what you wrote. Your brain really was wired for this stuff.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “You had me going there for a second.”

Proud of himself, he went on. “Vampires are actually closest to fairies. They can control others' perceptions of them. It's what makes them so perfect-looking and always so suave. And the inviting-them-in thing is about half true. ”

“Which half?”

“They can come in, but not for long. It sucks their power if they are not invited.”

“What about the stake thing? Please tell me the stake thing is true.”

Nash looked at me like I was an idiot. “What doesn't die when you ram a stake through its heart?”

I pouted. “I guess you're right.”

“But if you really want to kill them, you cut off their heads with an iron sword, which, ironically enough, is their preferred weapon of choice. Iron really works on all fairies. ”

“And the blood thing?”

“Totally true. It's how they get their power, by taking it from the blood of others. It's not really a hunger thing, more of an energy thing. They need the energy to keep up appearances, their super strength. The longer they live, the more power they get.”

I grimaced. I was so glad that I was just a panther. “Who do you think their Clade leader is?”

“Their Clade Seat or Source. The translation is a little off.” Nash reached for another book and opened it to a page with a sticky note. He pointed to a picture of a small terra-cotta bowl with what I knew to be the ancient Wanderer language scrawled across it “The Clades are like family blood lines. So their leader is not only the one who probably turned them into vampires, but also the head of the family. For Dallas, it is probably Emilio. He is the oldest. It usually works like that.”

“How many are in Dallas?”

“Six? Really didn't participate too much. I only saw them at the monthly moons, but I know they were running some company somewhere.”

I bit my lower lip. “If they had a company, I probably own half of it now.”

Nash's jaw hit the ground. “You took the estate?”

“You are now looking at the newest millionaire in Dallas.”

Nash leaned across the table. “Can I give you a list of books to get for the library? This place doesn't even have a complete set of
Lord of the Rings
.”

“Blasphemous. Consider it done. Who are we missing? Oh, witches.”

Nash nodded and pulled forward another book. I knew he was just doing it for show. But again, I was respecting his information flow. “There was one coven in Dallas, but no one has heard from them in ages. If they were here, they didn't advertise.”

“But is it all I hoped and more, with the symbols and the dancing naked?”

“No, but thanks for the visual. Shifters are born with their magic on the inside. Witches can collect the raw magic of the earth and form it to their will. Anything they can imagine—if they have the will and the knowledge to harness it, they can do pretty much anything.”

“So they are the ones to watch.”

“They all need to be watched, Violet.”

I sat up in my seat and set my coffee aside. “I know. When Delmont sets up the meetings, I want you and Tucker there.”

“Delmont?” Nash said as he pulled his hand away from mine.

I felt more than just Nash's furrowed brow. He'd chilled and hardened when I said Delmont's name. “What is it, Nash?”

He shook his head. “No.”

I didn't have to give him more than a look before he confessed. “Delmont was a big part of the reason that . . .”

Nash couldn't say his name but I didn't have a problem with my blood brother's name. “Spencer. Delmont was a big part of why Spencer . . .”

It took him a moment to get it out. “Of why Spencer had to protect us in the first place. Delmont is vicious and did everything he could to destroy us.”

“ ‘Destroy' is a very harsh word, Nash.”

Nash struggled and it killed me. Nash was our heart and if he was in pain, then I was in pain. I opened up my hand to him and rested it on the table between us.

“Thank you for telling me, Nash. Tucker just growled at me when I mentioned his name.”

There was a twitch on Nash's lips.

“And frankly, the guy's had me on edge since our first meeting. He's too perfect. It's annoying.”

“Tell me about it.” Nash finally reached out and took my hand.

I squeezed his long fingers. “I don't trust him a hundred percent. But he knows things and—”

“The evil you know is better than the evil you don't,” he finished.

I smiled. “You know, I never fully appreciated that statement until recently.”

Nash brought his wide hazel eyes up to mine. “You changed us from the zombies we were. Maybe you can turn him into something that isn't a complete dou—”

“Nash,” I chided. “Language. You're in a library.”

I
WAS AT
home for exactly thirty minutes before Jessa knocked on my door. And I was so looking forward to a nap.

“Hello bride-to-be,” she greeted as she sauntered into my living room. Her black hair caught the rest of the daylight as she posed, her big bag swinging on her arm.

I sighed. In all the hustle of the day, in all the flipping through that blasted planner, I'd forgotten that Jessa and I had plans. “I need coffee.”

Jessa frowned as she followed me into the kitchen. There wasn't much protein in there, , but damn if I didn't have the best coffee station this side of Oak Lawn.

I started to grind the beans.

Jessa waited to speak until after the beans were properly pulverized. “What's up? Why are you so tired? You and Chaz enjoying the you-and-Chaz a little too much?”

I grimaced. “No. But good to know you're warped.”

I snapped the beans into place and flipped the switch to brew them. “It seems that along with playing Prima, almost having my house broken into, not to mention the Legacy, I at some point became a millionaire.”

I ran her through the meeting with Delmont.

“Seriously?” Jessa smiled.

“Seriously.”

“And Stalker Boy?”

“He's completely on board.”

Jessa's eyebrows jumped. “Wow. That was a little unexpected.”

“Why?”

“I'd thought he'd tell you to distance yourself from it as much as you can. It's practically blood money.”

“Thank you!” I flipped on the steamer. When I stopped, I pulled two to-go mugs out of the cabinet. “I've been saying that the whole time and he's still all supportive and
you can do this
.”

Jessa looked down at her hands. “He doesn't understand the temptation.”

My skin tingled. It was a very un-Jessa thing to say. “Huh?”

“I think you forget we're linked sometimes. I know what you go through. Hell, right now, I can feel how tired you are and he won't understand that. I don't think Chaz fully appreciates just how fine a line you walk, because he's never had to walk that line.”

“Which is probably why I love him. He will always be squarely on the good guy side.”

“Thank God, because I don't want all this wedding planning to go to waste.”

I was just about to sip my latté when I got the gist of tonight. I don't know why it took me so long to put all the pieces together. She had a bag that was bigger than normal. She was wearing comfortable shoes instead of the in-style espadrilles. “Are we going wedding planning?”

A smile spread across Jessa's face and she beamed. Literally. Part of the fairy-princess gig. “I've got the whole evening set.”

“Joy,” I snarked.

“I
LOOK LIKE
a cream puff.” I was trapped in a prison of tulle and satin. The corset dug into my ribs and the feathers along the top tickled my nose.