Three’s a Clan (12 page)

“I’m not a wolf.” The moon’s call had never even tempted me.

“No, you’re a witch. I didn’t call this circle. You did. You called them. I just barged in, and grabbed the reins before you let it fall apart.”

My hand ripped through the membrane. I didn’t need to stay and listen to this crap. Fucking nightmare. I would get out of this and they could have their little conversation without me. I didn’t belong there. That was a family. I didn’t need family, supernatural or otherwise. I needed my men. Everyone around me started to fade to the same frail transparency Lily and Kari boasted.

The room began to rush and swirl. The cold buffeted me, and I knew it was her. Her essence slammed against me and I woke up with a whisper of her words in my ears. “They need your love to bring them together.”

I sat upright in my bed. I was dirty and bloody, and needed a drink.

The shower ran cold water over my skin. I didn’t feel it. I didn’t bother to turn on the lights and let the darkness outside match the inside. The chaos in the house was settled. No one had come to my room. Good. I grabbed my maroon carryon bag with the gold hardware. I had loved the little bag when I bought it. I thought I would take the time to travel the world with it, but Protectors didn’t get extended vacations. The price tags dangled from the zipper to mock me. I pulled off the small plastic T that held the closure and opened it. It was time to go.

I kept a human pace. I was going to be there early as it was, and I was trying to get one last stroll through the area I’d felt like I’d ruled not that long ago. I’d been so wrong. There is a benefit to being a vampire. There is benefit to being Protector. When I entered the clearing near the bird watching platform, I couldn’t think of how any of those benefits would help me. I rolled my neck from side to side. I was done. I had a game plan worked out.

Playing both sides of the Meyers/Paulson feud wouldn’t work any longer. Trevor had told Amber that mating pheromones were to the grave. The Paulsons and I needed to give in, or one of us had to kill the other. The other option was to try and run and fight the most basic instinct of their kind. Nothing like a bunch of horrible options to make a gal crazy.

I could have made the leap to the top of the birdwatching platform, but I took the ladder rungs two at a time instead. After the last step and tossing my bag to the corner, I sat on the arm railing overlooking the forest.

The sun was coming up. I sipped from my black plastic bottle. The thick liquid inside sucked at my tongue when I released the pressure. It wasn’t powerful blood. Something in me wouldn’t let me touch the witch blood again.

A bag of witch blood was served to us two nights ago. One drop and I could taste the fear. That witch had been near death when she was bled. She wasn’t one of my cataloged donors. It was probably one of the women being held beneath the house.

The chill let me know there was still a ghost with me. I had felt Lily’s presence the entire time I packed. Goosebumps were all over me by the time I finally climbed back down the tree. She was the one who had invaded my space in the other realm last night. I wanted her to know I didn’t appreciate it and bitch at her with all the curse words, but I had company. Instead I hissed, “Go away!”

“Believe me, I wish I could.”

Richard Paulson’s voice rolled down my body like melted butter. Thick and heavy, his distaste for me was evident in his attitude. Although I would be lying if I said I didn’t appreciate the view, I couldn’t say I was feeling amorous either. Knowing your lover’s dead wife was hanging around kind of did that to you.

A chill hit my shoulder and I took another drink. Having this chick around was not good for me.

Alpha broke eye contact and started to ascend the steps.

“Don’t you have a witch to feed strength to?” I tried to mumble to the visitor I knew was here, but with Alpha so close it was his response I got instead.

“Mary is fine. And with her becoming a wolf as well, she is more than capable of taking care of herself. Why are you here so early? And what’s that?”

He pointed to my maroon carryon leaning against the corner railing. Before I could start to respond to his question, a thousand bricks slammed into me and I felt the wooden floor crush and give way. A million small splinters showered down on a very angry pregnant hybrid glaring at me with starburst eyes as she held me by my throat.

I didn’t need air to survive, but pushing it through my vocal chords helped when trying to talk. Amber had such a good grip that she was making sure not a single molecule worked its way out.

“All I wanted was to see my mother.” Her hiss of words was barely audible. Her message was just for me. So she made sure I was the only one who heard it. “You couldn’t take a few fucking moments out of your night—when you were sleeping mind you—to let me have a few minutes? You ripped that wall down and it all went away.”

Tears made Amber’s grey and gold starburst eyes shine. Amber’s eyelids were held wide to try and hold the tears in, but she couldn’t contain them. She only released me to wipe her eyes.

That was when I realized she wasn’t just holding me in place by her sadness. Her eyes held remnants of a glow that shouldn’t have affected me. Those same flashes are what we used on humans to keep them from remembering what they couldn’t know. The miasma lit up with the new information. I’d almost been dazzled.

I didn’t have time to get upset with her. I knew the difference between pain and rage. It was a fine line I walked frequently. I was the closest thing Amber could beat on. She could have hit Mary, but they had that werewolf connection going on, and I had a feeling causing her Clan pain caused Amber just as much hurt.

She also liked Mary more than me. I understood that Amber might need to beat on someone. As long as she didn’t have a stake or try and behead me, I didn’t mind letting her strangle me a little. Beat the hell out of her trying to call me on the phone and cry about unicorns. Moms were serious shit. I never knew mine. If you ask me, that was better than what Amber went through.

Then it wasn’t being compelled I was worried about. I felt the familiar reach into my brain, and knew that Amber wasn’t the only one with strength. Damn witch was trying to get back inside my head.

When I flashed a fang, she retreated, but not near as quick as I would like. Who knows how many blood vessels she was marking with her witch mojo so she’d hit the perfect spot next time.

“Are you two done wrestling? We need to discuss what happened last night.” Mary stalked toward us, but at least she kept her damn brain to herself.

Craig and Trevor closed in behind. Doc had a look like he was going to be ill.

“Do we really need to talk about last night?” Trevor pleaded to let us know he would rather not. “I know it’s confusing and making things difficult, but we are all adults here. What happened last night doesn’t need to be discussed right now.”

Oh, someone shut the poor man up before he embarrasses himself.

A thump shook the ground as Richard’s feet hit with a jump from the tower. “I agree. What happened last night has no bearing on the mission. Knocking out the driving force behind the harvesters should take priority. Amber, attacking Shelly is not going to accomplish anything. What’s done is done. I’d think of all people, you’d be more understanding.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Dad? I think what happened last night was pretty damn important. You of all people should agree. We need to make it happen again. Now, if we can. Shelly. Go on. Do what you did last night.”

Trevor and Rick’s jaws gaped. Richard closed his mouth and arched one eyebrow at me. Trevor was still about to embarrass himself and Amber. I was still on the ground after being assaulted by the woman both Alpha and Beta considered a daughter. I put my hands behind my head and rolled my eyes up to the sky.

I should really set them straight. But letting the bullheaded men think Amber was asking them to get it on with me, for side show amusement was just too much fun. They needed to squirm a bit more. Entertainment like this couldn’t be bought.

Trevor was the first one of the two who was able to force words past the embarrassment. It was worth the wait.

“Amber, I hardly think asking your father and I to tag-team Shelly is something you should say. You might be his daughter, but he’s still an Alpha. Show some respect. Why would you want to see that, anyway?”

“Dude.” Amber looked at me.

I just grinned back. She kicked my side before she added any more words to the awkward situation. It hurt like a bitch. I stayed on the ground while my rib healed. Both Trevor and Rick made moves like they were going to come to my rescue. I waved them back. Last thing we needed was a big argument because their daughter did minor damage that would heal in seconds.

Then she kicked me again and hit a different rib.

“I get the point.” I groaned.

“The second one was for my nose, Barbie.”

“That’s fair.” I did break her nose. At least the bones she broke on me didn’t cause blood stains. I had worn some of my nicer clothes. I didn’t have much room in that carryon to take second string wardrobe choices.

“Obviously, you all did some things I really, really don’t want to know about. What I did last night might be of interest to you. I talked to Mom.” Amber’s hands unfolded and one went to the leather satchel at her throat. The other to her stomach.

The tiny hummingbird heartbeat softened everyone. The life inside her stood for something. It was more than a chick who lost her mom. This little baby was the start of something radical among supernatural beings. Permission to change the hard and fast rules. More than that, the baby would demand acceptance, and that little hybrid’s parents would settle for nothing less.

“You talked to Lily? How?” It was Trevor who spoke. He asked the question Richard was obviously dying to know the answer to.

Alpha Paulson’s hands formed fists inside his pockets. A sniff of the air told me he had pierced his skin by digging his nails into his palms. His face was still. No tick to his jaw, no tears in his eyes. Just his eyebrows moving inward toward each other. There wasn’t much expression in his face, but that pinch between his brows could have crushed small men. Lucky for us, there weren’t any of those here.

“Ask Vampire Barbie here. According to Mom, she is the one who dragged us into dreamland for our little chat. So spill, Barbie. What the hell happened last night?” Amber thought about her statement for a second and rolled her eyes around the circle touching on Rick, Trevor, and then landing on me. “And let’s keep it PG rated. I have no desire for a replay of what happened before we were all in the dream.”

Thank the gods the miasma finally had something positive to contribute. I let it draw back onto alternative knowledge. Somehow it seemed to draw additional insight from the witch blood I had ingested over the years. The knowledge wasn’t just vampire anymore. New information was cataloged. New images flashed behind my eyes that seemed to close on their own when the miasma movie theater started up. The voice that came from my mouth was my own, but not the words. The words held wisdom from the beginning.

“I called. I used my inner voice. I called a circle, and those who were meant to be in my circle came. Those who need me as much as I need them. Those who I am meant to form the new world with joined me. We are sisters in all ways that count. We can join in the circle where no one else can reach us, and we can find the truth that needs to be told. We can break down the walls. We can lead.”

The miasma pulled back as Trevor and Richard came to stand beside me. I shook my head. This Protector crap sucked.

Amber wasn’t one to let me come down from Mount Crazy slowly. “What the fuck kind of
Lord of the Rings
monologue crap was that?”

For once, I was grateful for Amber’s foul mouth. It shook away the last remnants of wherever the hell I had just been. Everyone in the small group was looking at me like I was starring in
Beetlejuice
and had just done a musical number around the dinner table. Everyone but Mary. I did not want to hear what she was about to say.

“There is a rumor I heard in Chicago. Kari said something similar when we were cleaning her off too.” Mary didn’t look like she was about to welcome me with open arms, but I got the feeling she was less inclined to make my head explode. “Well, more of a saying than a rumor. I only heard it a couple of times. I’m pretty sure the coven was high when they talked about it. Kari wasn’t, but she was a little off at times.”

Craig’s hand found his mate’s.

I envied the comforting stroke of his thumb against her pulse as he told her, “Just say it. Now’s not the time to hold any information back.”

Mary looked only at her mate as she recited something that sent chills down my skin far deeper than the cold. “Dark times are coming, but find the circle where the newly formed stars join the lives of the sisterhood. The circle will lead the way.”

“Ooookay. Anybody got any ideas what that means?” Both Amber’s hands were on her belly now.

Jake looked at me. Something in his expression said he at least thought he understood what was going on.

He grabbed Amber’s face. His big hands cradled her from ear to chin. “Amber, your eyes. You have stars in your eyes.”

Normally that line would be more at home in a cheesy romantic comedy. There was nothing funny or romantic about what my brother was saying.

Amber stepped out of his grip. “This is not all up to me.”

My brain was wrapping around the not so welcome package I was putting together. “Nope. It’s you, me and Mary. We were all in the circle. Mary is the only witch. Sisterhood in wiccan lore usually indicates other witches. I don’t understand how I called the circle, or how Amber was there. We aren’t witches.”

“What does this have to do with the harvesters?” Jake had moved his hands from Amber’s face to her waist. He wrapped himself around the bundle in her belly. I couldn’t blame the guy for adding another layer of protection to something so precious.

Dang. If I still menstruated, I would have thought I was getting PMS. What was up with all the touchy feely crap lately?