“We don’t have enough people to fight them,” Maggie said. “We need more bodies.”
“I know.”
When Jonah hung up the phone and joined them back in the living room, Maggie turned to him. “We need to make that phone call,” she said, reminding him of the conversation they’d just had a few hours before. “Try the werewolves and see what they say.”
He nodded his head. “Call your father. He’s the only one we know in Cantor. He needs to approach Declan Azarov. His father Malcolm is the werewolf faction leader in Boston. He’ll have a straight line to him.”
16
Of course, out of all the times she needed her father, he wasn’t there to answer the damn phone. She repeatedly tried, leaving him numerous messages, only to throw up her hands in defeat. Where could he possibly be at five in the morning?
Travis and Rick showed up after a few minutes and began their in-depth discussion with Liam and Jonah as to possible attack scenarios in the kitchen, which left Maggie and Heidi to dial Duncan Alfieri over and over again, but with no success.
“We have to try someone else, Maggie. We’re running out of time.”
“Who would you call?”
“Who do you know that isn’t going to be scared or take shit from anyone? Someone who you trust with your deepest, darkest secrets and has never screwed you over? Not even once.” Heidi tilted her head and looked at her as if she were stupid.
“Lila.”
“Yes, Lila. Now dial that stupid phone.”
Maggie hated to ask her to do this, but it was indeed a life or death matter. And honestly, Lila probably wouldn’t mind. Of course, she’d have to explain the whole werewolf and shifter thing, but once she calmed down – and hopefully that would be quick – she’d be willing to help. Maggie hoped, otherwise she could be making a huge mistake.
She dialed the phone and held it to her ear, praying silently that she answered. When the phone connected with a live person on the other end, she almost jumped for joy.
“Lila! Thank god you’re home!” Lila worked night shift and while she was supposed to be on vacation this week, Maggie had doubts that she’d actually take the entire time off before going back to work.
“Maggie?”
There was so much she needed Lila to know. About Jonah. About Heidi. About the fae. About what happened since she and Heidi saw her last at the girl’s night a week and a half ago, but there wasn’t enough time. Not right now, anyway. “There’s so much I have to tell you, but it can wait—”
Lila cut her off, her voice hard. “What is it?”
“Damn it, you’re not going to believe me…”
“Try me.”
Taking a deep breath, Maggie said, “I’m still in New Freedom. Lila, we’re under attack.”
There was a pregnant pause before Lila asked, “What do you mean, you’re under attack?”
Biting her lip, Maggie didn’t know where to start. She paced in the kitchen, Heidi staring at her as she wore a groove in the floor.
“Don’t hang up on me,” she started.
“Why the hell would I hang up on you? Just spit it out.”
Lila would believe her, Maggie knew it in her gut. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything.” There was no hesitation in Lila’s voice.
“I need you to find Declan Azarov,” she said, repeating the name of the Malcolm Azarov’s son. The one man, Jonah had told her, who could get to Malcolm and ask for reinforcements. “I need you to find him and tell him that we need his help and the help of anyone he can spare. Can you do this for me?”
Lila cleared her throat. “You want me to find Declan?”
“You know him?” Cantor may be a small town, but she didn’t think Lila was familiar with him. It would certainly make things easier if she knew him already.
“Declan’s not in Cantor,” Lila said and Maggie’s heart sunk. “But his cousin is sitting right next to me.”
“Who’s his cousin?”
“Gabriel Azarov.”
That was someone they all knew. The man made the best Long Island Ice Teas on this side of the Mississippi at the bar in town – the Wolf’s Den – where he worked. “The bartender? What are you doing with him? And at five in the morning? Doesn’t the bar close at one?”
Lila laughed but then she sounded far away.
“Maggie?” Lila’s voice had been replaced with Gabriel’s hard and masculine tone. It was strange hearing him over the phone.
“I’m here.”
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Err…are you a werewolf?” She was almost one hundred percent sure he was just from her experience with him over the years and his relationship to the other Azarovs, but she also didn’t want to assume. Heidi giggled at the awkward question, hands clamping over her mouth.
He laughed. “Are you a shifter?”
“I’m not. Well, not really. It depends on how you look at it.” Great, now she was being struck with verbal diarrhea.
Luckily he brought her back to the topic at hand before she tried to explain herself further. “What’s happening in New Freedom?”
“The fae are set to attack the town.”
There was a silence on the other end for a long moment. Just as Maggie was about to see if he was still on the line, he spoke. “When?”
“I don’t know exactly. Late tonight or tomorrow morning sometime, but we’re outnumbered.”
“How bad?”
“They have at least six hundred with more coming and we have about two hundred if that.”
“Do the shifters know you’re talking to me?”
“Umm…they know I was going to try to talk to my dad about finding Declan. Not you, specifically.” She glanced into the kitchen from where she stood in the bedroom and spotted Jonah talking with Rick. “I don’t think they believe you’ll actually come to their aid, but Gabriel, we need help.”
“Put me on the phone with someone in charge.”
She hustled over to her mate and interrupted his conversation by thrusting the phone in his direction. He looked from her to the phone, questioning.
“It’s Gabriel Azarov. He wants to talk to someone in charge,” she explained.
He took the phone from her and lifted it to his ear. “This is Jonah Cowan. I’m lead enforcer.”
Jonah listened for a long moment before touching her hair and turning his back to her. He walked away, listening intently to the conversation and giving short replies to Gabriel’s questions.
“He’ll do what he can,” Heidi said, coming up behind her when the other men drifted after Jonah, curious about the conversation going on between the shifters and the werewolves. “Gabriel’s always been good to us.”
“I’m scared.” It felt good to admit that to Heidi. What if something happened to Jonah? To Heidi or Liam?
“I know you are, Maggie,” Heidi said, hugging her. “We all are.”
The sound of a vehicle out front had Maggie moving toward the window. She sucked in a breath when she saw the familiar truck outside, driving up the driveway as the sun began to crest over the horizon. She hadn’t wanted to have the much-needed conversation with her father, but there wasn’t going to be any avoiding it now. He was outside Jonah’s home, his face red with anger as he slogged toward the front door.
“What is it?” Heidi asked her, peering outside and catching a glimpse. “Oh…have fun with that. I’m going to go find Liam.”
Maggie took a deep breath in preparation, wondering if her father realized what he’d rolled into. Before he could bang on the door, she went outside, closing the door quietly behind her, and met him on the front porch.
“Dad,” she said as a way of greeting when she opened the door. He stopped in front of her, a visible sigh of relief when he saw her. He took her in, head to toe as if assessing her for damage.
“I went to the cabin and you weren’t there,” he said. “I stopped at the diner when they opened for breakfast and Imeld
a said you were here.”
“There’s a lot I need to explain,” she cut him off before throwing her arms around him. As irritated as she was for his interference all those years before, he was still her father and she was happy he was there especially in their time of need.
Duncan took a deep breath and tensed. Maggie pulled away from him, realizing then that her father had more shifter qualities than she’d realized. “You mated him,” he accused.
“Yes.” There was no denying it. She didn’t want to. She was proud to be Jonah’s mate.
“Why?”
The question threw her off-guard. “Why? Because I love him, Dad. I’ve loved him since I was a kid.”
Duncan sighed. “I know.”
Maggie couldn’t help the anger that was building in her chest. “If you knew that, then why did you lie to me all those years ago?”
“I heard the fae were coming,” he said. “Just now when I was at the diner, Imelda told me that you were preparing for an attack and the town had been evacuated. Martin’s store is boarded up.”
“Yes, but—”
“Maggie,” he said, “do you think I wanted this for you? To be caught up with the politics of the Netherworld? To be caught up in the fighting in and around New Freedom? The issues with the fae started when I was a child and they’ve only gotten worse since then. As much as I love this town and love the people, I knew I couldn’t raise you here. My being an Incapace gave us a reason to leave and to try to have a normal, human life. I wanted more for you.”
“I don’t want a human life, Dad. I spent my entire life being different, feeling different.”
“You are different,” he said. “I’ve always told you that.”
Maggie sighed and wrapped her arms around her middle, warding off the early morning chill. “Dad, eight years ago I’d already made my decision. I wanted to stay here with Jonah, regardless of the politics or whatever was going on with the fae, but you took that decision away from me. I trusted you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone else in my life and you lied to me.”
It felt good to get it out, to say what she needed to say to him. To convey her disappointment in him. He’d broken her trust and that devastated her. Duncan’s face fell when she spoke, seeming to realize the gravity of the situation.
“I’m sorry, Maggie,” he said. “I should’ve talked to you then. I should’ve…” He shook his head and rubbed a palm over his face. “You’re my little girl and to be honest, no one is going to be good enough for you. If you want a life with the Cowan boy, then I wish you all the best. More than anything else in this world, I want you to be happy.”
“Dad, I am happy.”
“I know, sweetheart,” he said, giving her half a smile. “Your mother would approve, I think.”
The door behind her opened and Jonah was at her side. He was stiff beside her, his arm winding around her waist and hoisting her against his side.
“I should’ve known there was no way to keep you away from her,” Duncan said, his voice soft when he looked to Jonah. Maggie felt Jonah relax slightly next to her. He’d been ready for a fight with her father and she was thankful it wouldn’t come to that. “You told me once that you loved her. Do you still?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation in Jonah’s voice which made her smile. “Nothing’s changed.”
“You may already be mated,” Duncan said, “but you better take care of her, young man. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Duncan nodded, satisfied. “Then tell me what’s going on with the fae. What do you need me to do?”
Jonah filled Duncan in on what was happening, as well as their plan. The werewolves were organizing in Cantor with the hope of being in town by early to mid-afternoon. It would take time for Gabriel to call his uncle and start recruiting volunteers before making the two-hour drive. Gabriel had assured him that Malcolm would give his approval and Jonah believed him.
According to the scouts it would be dawn before the fae reached the town, but they’d also learned that the numbers were closer to eight hundred rather than six. “They can’t know we’re aware they’re coming or this isn’t going to work,” Jonah said.
They were still in Jonah’s kitchen, discussing different options. Clyde and the other elders had been informed of the approaching attack and word was spreading quietly via phone. “They’ll have scouts of their own,” Rick said. “They have to be watching us.”
“The fae who killed Gerald was probably a scout,” Duncan said. He’d been upset to learn about Gerald Martin’s murder when Rick had broken the news.
“Probably,” Jonah agreed.
“That’s good they have scouts,” Liam interjected. “That’ll help us lure them into a central location.”
“Where?”
“The church. Ring the bells at sunset,” the dragon suggested.
Jonah thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. It was a sound plan and probably the best they could come up with considering the circumstances and what they were up against.
“We’ll convene there now and let everyone know what the plan is,” Jonah said before turning to Travis. “Make the calls.”
Travis nodded and picked up the phone, dialing Clyde. Clyde would call the next person and down the list it would go, each person calling several more until the entire town was alerted to the next step.
They loaded up in the vehicles and relocated to the church a few minutes later after changing into more appropriate clothing and grabbing a quick bite of food. Father Benson swung open the doors as soon as they pulled up. Before long cars lined the street. Men and women crammed in the church, waiting for news as Jonah found himself once again standing before them. He’d spoken to Dan once more over the radio and so far, everything was happening as he expected it to.
Hundreds of eyes were on him. The room was silent as he took a deep breath, looking once at Maggie who stood a few feet away from him before clearing his throat and addressing the crowd.
“The fae are on their way,” he announced. “We expect them to reach the town just after sunset tonight.”
There was a collective gasp, but to his relief, no one interjected or asked questions yet. They were all waiting for him to finish speaking, aware that he wouldn’t have called them all to the church if there weren’t more to say.
“We’re outnumbered four to one. If hearing those numbers change your mind about staying, I wanted to let everyone know that now is the time to leave.”
“Are you leaving?”
He didn’t see who asked the question but answered it regardless. “No, never. I also wanted to use this opportunity to let you know that some werewolves from Cantor are on their way here. Gabriel Azarov wasn’t able to promise a lot of men, but they’re willing to help.”
There was another collective gasp and he heard a few different people voice their concerns quietly among themselves. The reaction didn’t surprise him. His people had every right to be concerned on some level. It was his job to ease their fears.
“Our species aren’t so different. At one time we shared a common ancestor,” he informed them, repeating what he’d learned from his father so many years before. “We’re the closest genetically out of all the factions.”
“They’re too wild!” he heard someone say. “Their beasts cannot be controlled.”
“They’ll attack us as well as the fae,” a woman cried from the back.
Jonah shook his head. “It’s true that they lose conscious thought while in beast form, but they can be directed toward an enemy. Azarov gave me his assurances that the beasts can be controlled by uttering their name. It brings them out of the bloodlust and will help bring back their two-legged forms.”
“All we have to do is say their name?’
“Get their attention by saying their name. I will call the man back to the surface,” he replied with a nod. “Werewolves can climb, leap, run, and tear a man apart much easier than any of us can even in the deadliest shap
e we can take. The new moon is only a few days away. They’ll be much easier to control that we’re so far away from the full moon and they’re willing to help us. We’d be foolish not to accept. We cannot do this without their help or without the help of our dragon neighbor.” He nodded to where Liam stood off to the side.
The townspeople still hadn’t accepted the dragon with open arms, but they were beginning to realize the value of having him on their side. And if everything went to plan, it would be Liam who did most of the work.
“What do you want from us?” one of the men in the front row asked.
“What I need is for everyone to go about their business as usual. We expect the fae to also have scouts and the biggest thing in our favor is that they don’t know we know they’re coming. Everyone is to be on the lookout and report any suspicious activity to us.”
Travis handed Jonah the notebook they’d scribbled over earlier that morning, outlining where they wanted everyone placed when the attack finally did happen. Jonah glanced down at the paper before meeting the eyes of the congregation once again.
“Howards, Buckleys, and Baxters,” he said, starting at the top. “Where are you?”
From there it was one family after another, each was given instruction as to where they needed to be. Questions were asked, answers were given, and people accepted their assignments. As he had expected, no one planned to leave the town. All wanted to stay and fight.
By the time he was done, the town was prepared as they could be. This was going to be no easy feat by any means, but they were strong. They could defend this place and be victorious, he knew they could.
“Let’s head over to the diner,” Travis said to him when he stepped away from the podium and the town began to disperse.
He nodded and took Maggie’s outstretched hand. Worry gnawed at his gut. They’d set up their plan of attack. They knew how they’d defend themselves and while the fight itself may not last very long, he knew there was no way to avoid bloodshed. They would try to keep the casualties to a minimum, but some loss of life would happen. He’d be damned if it happened to his mate, however.
When Sparks Fly (Netherworld Series Book 3) Page 22
