Triple Cross

by Tymber Dalton

  They’d been back from Maine over a week and settling into a new routine with Connor. Despite Elain’s impending delivery in a few weeks, there was still work to do on the ranch, work that Ain had been putting off.

  One of these jobs was changing the spark plugs in three of their big tractors. That was what he was doing out by the barns at the far side of the property when Brighton sauntered up.

  “Are you doing all right then, little brother?”

  “I’m not that much younger than you, you know. No reason to call me that.”

  “No reason other than it annoys you three when I do it,” Brighton said. “Why do you think I do it?”

  “Figures.” Ain straightened and leaned against the tractor he’d been working on. “So what do you want that you tracked me all the way out here?”

  “I wanted to talk about something, and not in front of Brodey or Cailean.”

  “Okay. Shoot.”

  “I know when I tried to talk to you about this before that you didn’t wish to. But I need to settle this. I wanted to talk about the day our sisters died.”

  Ain clenched his jaw as the swirling, foggy grief rolled through him. He’d spent a lot of time trying to forget the day they lost their sisters. “What about it?”

  “The cockatrice you killed.”

  “Yes?”

  “I don’t know any way to say it other than to come out and ask. Why did you never tell anyone?”

  He frowned. “Tell anyone what?”

  “After Brodey and Cailean took you back to the house, I retraced your path. I found the bodies. I know. It’s all right if you wish to talk about it. You no longer need to bear this burden alone.”

  “Bodies? Know what? What are you talking about? I killed the thing’s mate. I told you all that.”

  Maybe his brother really had taken one too many off a horse in his day.

  Brighton stared at him. “Just the mate?”

  “Well, yeah. That’s the only person I found there.”

  “Brother, you cannot lie to me.”

  “I’m not fucking lying, geez, what the hell brought all this up?” The swirling, foggy grief of his sisters’ murders threatened to engulf him. “Did you come all the way out here just to dredge up really bad memories? Because, seriously, of all the days of my life, that’s one I’d really like to forget and Goddess knows I’ve tried.”

  * * * *

  Brighton stared at his younger brother. No, Ain was incapable of lying to him.

  Knowingly.

  He’d seen the change in his brother immediately following the deaths of their sisters, due to more than just their shared grief.

  And he knew exactly why. In the burned-out remains, he’d found the cockatrice woman’s body.

  Along with the body of the baby next to her.

  Had the baby not belonged to the cockatrice woman, surely Aindreas would have rescued it, or at least mentioned it.

  It didn’t make sense. His brother was an honorable man. Brighton had respected him all these years by not bringing up the fact that Ain had killed that baby, despite knowing what a toll it had taken on Ain to hold back his private guilt.

  Brighton had never wanted their parents to know, and he hadn’t seen Ain, Brodey, or Cail since their funeral. But it was time for his brother to finally know he didn’t have to carry that burden alone, that what he did was all right, that a cockatrice baby wasn’t worth spit, and Karma would never hold it against him…

  Unless someone had removed the memory, or bewitched him, charmed him, to forget it.

  He had his suspicions.

  Aindreas shook his head at him. “So say what you want to say and let’s get it over with.”

  “Eh, you had more contact with them. Did you ever run across any other cockatrice who smelled like them? Brodey said you all have been working closely with Kathleen Blackestone.”

  “Is that what you wanted to ask?” Ain shook his head at him again in obvious disgust. “You could have been a little more tactful about it, Brighton.”

  “Yes, well, sorry. I suppose I could have.”

  “No, unfortunately, I haven’t. Brodey usually goes on runs with Elain and the others. That’s his forte.”

  “Right.” Now at a loss for words, he reached out and patted his brother’s shoulder. “Thanks.”

  “Why was it so important to do it away from Brodey and Cail?”

  “What?”

  “You said you didn’t want to talk in front of them.”

  Brighton scrambled for a way to answer without lying. He settled on, “I knew this could be upsetting.”

  “You got that right.” Ain bent to his work again. “We can talk later at the house if you think of anything else.”

  “Right. Thank you.”

  He quickly headed back the way he’d come, deep in thought.

  To remove a memory like that would take a lot of power. Maybe even dark power.

  No, Aindreas would never stoop to that. Especially not after what we went through.

  A memory like that also couldn’t be removed successfully without his permission. Not without risking ripping the very fabric of his soul apart in the process.

  He thought about the way he’d followed Elain into the woods and swore he saw her disappear and reappear a few feet away.

  Someone with a lot of power.

  He couldn’t accuse his brothers’ father-in-law of being in cahoots with the cockatrice, or Rodolfo Abernathy, without proof. They’d all think he was more barmy than they already did. He’d hoped to talk to Elain, try to trip her up, possibly get her to admit something he could use to find out who she really was.

  But if she could do that, he needed to drastically rethink his approach.

  Who the bloody hell did my brothers marry, anyway?

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Elain didn’t feel right telling Lina and Mai about her new powers yet. It would be too hard to explain the dramatic leap in abilities, combined with Gigi’s sudden self-imposed hermitage.

  But as the wife of the head of the Clan Council, as well as her friend, Callie would keep the Clan Seer’s confidence, if Elain asked her to.

  That was why Elain waited until one afternoon ten days after their return from Bolivia, when her men were all out doing chores, to drop in on her friend. Elain claimed she was locking herself in the bedroom for a nap. Mai had Connor over at her house, giving Elain the house to herself.

  She called Callie. “You alone?”

  “Well, alone except for a sleeping baby. Why?”

  “Hold on.” Elain sat on the bed with her legs crossed. Well, as crossed as she could get them with her belly. She closed her eyes.

  I am on Callie’s couch.

  When she opened them, a shocked Callie was staring at her, jaw gaping before she let out a happy squeal that echoed through the cell phone in Elain’s hand. She barely had time to hit end when Callie rushed over and engulfed her in a hug.

  “Congratulations! You figured it out!”

  “Yeah, but don’t tell Lina or Mai or anyone else yet, please.”

  Callie straightened. “Why not? This is great!”

  “I…have my reasons. Please? As Seer, I’m begging you.”

  Callie’s expression clouded over. “Okay, yeah.” She sat on the couch next to Elain. “But this is a good thing.” She grabbed Elain’s hand as dawning realization washed across her face. “Oh…wow,” she whispered, stunned shock once again filling her expression. “Gigi?”

  Elain nodded.

  Callie hugged her again, long and hard. “I wondered. She hasn’t been around since the fight, but I’ve talked to her on the phone. Which is very weird. She hates phones. She’d rather just show up and talk to you. I’m guessing you don’t want to talk about that, either.”

  “I can’t, sorry. Wish I could.”

  “Okay. Believe me, I did the gig long enough, I get it.”

  “Do you think Mai will be able to do it, too?”

  “Oh, yeah, of c
ourse. Gigi was more powerful than me, so it might take her a little while, but she’ll get it. When did you figure it out?”

  “It’s…a long story.”

  “What do your guys think?”

  When Elain shook her head, Callie’s expression fell again. “You haven’t even told them?”

  “No, and don’t tell them, please. I don’t want anyone to know right now. Preferably until after Mai starts doing it. If that doesn’t happen for a while, well, I’ll figure out something else.” She squeezed her friend’s hands. “Are you really okay?”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” She grinned. “I bruise a little more easily now when Sir wants to cane me, but I’m still pretty dang tough. To be honest, I think He likes it when He can leave a mark on my ass that lasts more than a day.”

  “TMI, sweetie.”

  Callie brightly laughed as she fingered her collar. “Hey, I see what you’ve got around your neck.”

  “That’s just a necklace.” Elain fingered her tag, the one that matched the ones her men wore. “Just a necklace.”

  “Suurre,” Callie teased. “That’s what they all say.” She patted Elain’s thigh. “You want some tea or something?”

  “No, I’m okay. I just…needed to talk to someone for a few minutes. I don’t know how you did this for all those years. Did you feel this overwhelmed?”

  Callie smiled. “Other than the new baby you’ve got, and another on the way, yeah, pretty much.”

  “Tell me it gets easier. Please?”

  Callie’s smile faded. “It never gets easier.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that.” She mulled over her words for a moment before continuing. “You start learning more, which leads you to figure out more, that leads you to learning more… You get what I mean?”

  “Sort of, kind of, but not really.”

  “There’s always going to be a learning curve. But once you start to gain confidence in yourself, see how much you can do, you start to realize what you need to do. What you’re supposed to do. Better?”

  Elain thought about Rodolfo, and how she’d sensed the darkness building in Ortega. “I guess. But why weren’t you and Gigi as strong as Babs?”

  “She was the oldest. She was called first, long before me and Gigi. I’m not sure if that’s why she became so much stronger than us or not. It wasn’t always like that. There was a while, in the beginning, where we were pretty evenly matched.”

  “Was there any triggering event? I mean besides what we learned about her.”

  She slowly shook her head. “No, it was long before that.” She chewed on her lower lip for a moment. “I really don’t know. But she did have more responsibilities from the start that we didn’t have, came from a different Clan line, so in a way it makes sense.”

  “See? And that’s another thing,” Elain said. “How are we supposed to know what our responsibilities are? No one’s given us a manual. Other than being Seers, we don’t know.”

  The baby cried out in the nursery. Callie stood, a serene smile on her face. “You’ll know. We started out as ‘just’ Seers, too. It evolves.” She turned and walked toward the hallway, pausing to cast a look back at Elain. “We all evolve. You either evolve, or wither on the vine and die.” She continued down the hall to take care of the baby.

  Elain sat back on the couch and thought about it. Everyone either offered them pithy quips or meaningless encouragement.

  Well, meaningless in a practical sense, not an emotional one.

  In a way, she felt worse that everyone was so encouraging when she herself felt utterly fecking clueless, as her dad might say.

  Utterly.

  She looked down at her enormous belly and her huge boobs. Or, maybe it should be udderly, at the rate I’m growing.

  A few minutes later, Callie returned, carrying Elise. “Look, it’s Auntie Elain,” Callie said.

  The baby smiled.

  Nut up.

  Elain reached out her arms, waggling her fingers at Callie.

  “You’re sure? I know you’ve been avoiding the issue.”

  Elain’s face heated. She’d suspected Callie understood the why’s of her reluctance to hold the baby. But being that Callie and Blackie lived in Maine, it’d been easy over the Christmas holidays and during their very brief trip to Maine for the recognition ceremony for both Elise and Joss for Elain to avoid holding Callie’s daughter.

  “Yeah,” Elain said. “It’s time for me to ‘see.’”

  “I understand if you don’t want to.”

  She waggled her fingers again.

  Callie brought the baby over to her and handed her to Elain. Elain settled her in her arms, smiling down at the baby.

  She had Blackie’s black hair, Callie’s green eyes, and would likely grow up to be a gorgeous little girl. Elain touched her fingers to the baby’s temple and closed her eyes.

  Peaceful feelings flowed through her. Familiar, warm, gentle. So much so that she almost lost sight of what she’d originally meant to do and had to refocus. Elise was a wolf, would be a shifter.

  An Alpha.

  Then, she found the list of names.

  Elain’s eyes popped open. “Holy crap,” she whispered, staring down in shock at the baby.

  Callie, who’d knelt on the couch next to her, looked worried. “What? Is she okay?”

  Elain nodded.

  “Tell me! Elain, you’re scaring me.”

  It took her a couple of times to get the words out. “You know as well as I do that people come back.”

  Callie nodded. “Over and over.”

  Elain struggled for a way to say it gently and couldn’t. “Ysimel.”

  “Holy crap,” Callie whispered.

  That wasn’t what had stunned Elain, although she realized there was a better than odds-on chance that her son and Callie’s daughter just might hit it off really well when they were older.

  “There’s more,” Elain said, hoping she’d said it out loud.

  “More?”

  Elain nodded, and now her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes. “I can see more than one past name in people’s souls. She was also Maureen.”

  “Maur—” Callie clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

  Elain nodded, adjusting the baby’s blanket a little. “And she’s an Alpha wolf. Just like both those women were.”

  Do I tell her or not?

  “What else?” Callie mumbled from behind her hand. “You saw something else. What is it?”

  “Not about her.”

  Callie dropped her hand. “Just tell me everything. Dammit, I can handle it.”

  “You can’t tell anyone else. Not yet, anyway. Especially not Blackie.”

  Callie blinked. “You know I can’t make that promise. I can’t keep things like this from Him.”

  “I know.”

  “Is it bad?”

  “No. And it was something I saw a little while ago, not just now. But it relates to her in a way.”

  “But it’s not bad?”

  “No. Not bad at all.”

  Callie chewed on her thumb for a moment before sadly shaking her head. “Don’t tell me. If no one can know yet, it’s better that you don’t tell me.”

  Elain smiled. “How about I make you a deal? If what I saw becomes a big deal at some point, or makes an impact, then I’ll tell you.”

  “But you’re sure it’s not bad?”

  “I swear, it’s not bad.”

  Callie paused. “It’s about who another baby was, isn’t it?”

  Elain thought about how to answer her, knowing her friend was smart enough, and knew enough about their Clan, to connect the dots. “Do you really want to know?”

  “Yeah, that much I do want to know.”

  Elain nodded.

  “Well, your dad’s still alive, so it’s not about him. Charles Lyall?”

  Elain shook her head.

  “Rodolfo?” she asked, her tone dark.

  Elain snorted.
“Definitely no.”

  “It…” Callie trailed off as she stared at her baby. “I know the history, Elain,” she softly said. “This wouldn’t be such a big deal to you otherwise. You saw another baby is Eiselman, didn’t you?”

  Elain nodded.

  Callie breathed out a relieved sigh. “Okay, don’t tell me any more than that. You’re right, it’s not bad, and I’d rather be surprised if they end up hooking up.”

  Elain kissed the baby on the forehead and handed her back to her mom. “There you go, kiddo.”

  “I take it you’re going home the way you came?”

  “I hope so. Otherwise, it’ll be kind of hard to explain how I got here in the first place.”

  Callie giggled. “Yeah, it would.” Her smile faded. “I do want to know bad things in advance,” she said. “Please?”

  “I haven’t seen anything bad, but yeah. I’ll tell you. Because you’re speeeecial.”

  Callie’s smile returned. “Thanks, buddy.”

  Elain gave her a one-armed hug made even more awkward by her baby belly and the baby in Callie’s arms. Then Callie sat back as Elain arranged herself on the couch again and closed her eyes.

  I’m on my bed.

  When she opened her eyes, she let out a little scream. She was on her bed, all right. Just not the bed in Arcadia.

  She was in her Venice house.

  “Fuck!”

  It hadn’t sold yet, but she’d kept it staged for when real estate agents wanted to show it, and for the occasional times she and her men wanted to use it as a private getaway.

  Luckily, there weren’t any real estate agents showing it right then.

  Heart racing, she tried to calm herself. Taking a few deep breaths, she closed her eyes and tried again.

  I’m on my bed in Arcadia.

  This time when she opened her eyes she let out a soft, relieved gasp. She was, indeed, on her bed.

  In Arcadia.

  She laughed as she fell back, the cell phone clasped in her hand.

  I did it!

  Her phone rang, displaying Callie’s number.

  “Hey,” Elain said.

  “You make it back all right?”

  “Finally.”

  “Finally?”

  “A slight goof the first try, but I got here.”

  “Yeah, you need to be explicitly clear in your intent when doing that.”