“Yeah.”
They put their shoes and socks back on. “We’ll be right back,” she said to Blackie.
He nodded, still watching his friends feasting on the bison.
Elain walked down the path with Lina, who wouldn’t let her touch the crystals.
“Did I really feel that power tingle?”
“Yeah. That’s what I warned you about.” They made their way to the bridge, Lina stopping at the center of it, facing downstream. She set the stones on the bridge’s handrail. One at a time and using the towel, she chucked the stones as far as she could into the rushing water. Spring melt had begun, and the water ran high. “By the time anyone ever stumbles across them, they’ll be completely inert.”
“The curse is totally gone?”
“Yep.”
“The guys can’t catch it from eating the bison, can they?”
“No, it’s not like a virus. Once the host dies, the curse is broken.” They stared at the river for a few moments, listening to the sound of the rushing water in the deepening gloom.
“I feel really unprepared for all this,” Elain admitted. “I never would have known what to do. You belong in the Triad. Me, not so much.”
Lina smiled and hugged her. “You belong here every bit as much as I do. And Mai. Even though she doesn’t see it yet. I can’t do this gig without either of you. You’re not allowed to back out on me, sister.”
“Weirdest sorority ever.”
“I like to think of it more as the sisterhood of the ever-changing weirdness,” Lina lightly snarked. “Never boring.”
“I could do with a little boring right now, to be honest. I’m sick of this shit.”
“Amen, kiddo.”
When they returned to the clearing. Callie was sitting up. Blackie had pulled on his jeans and wrapped the throw around her. Elain and Lina walked over.
“How you feeling?” Lina asked.
Callie looked dazed. She slowly nodded.
Blackie actually laughed. “I think she’s still in subspace.”
Callie nodded again.
The three predators had separated, each working on their own chunk of bison. “Please tell me it worked,” Blackie said.
Lina held out a hand to Elain. It took her a moment to realize what her friend wanted her to do. She approached Callie. “May I?”
Callie nodded.
Elain gently took her wrist in her hand and gripped it.
Nothing. The dark feeling she’d sensed before was completely gone.
“Congratulations,” Lina snarked. “One curse-free Cailleach.” She collected her backpack. “Will that be cash or charge?” she joked.
Rick and Jan had shifted back and were now pulling on their clothes. “Anyone up for bison barbecue?” Rick asked.
Elain stood. “No, thanks.”
“He can cook it for us while we wait,” Jan joked, hooking a thumb toward Rick. “It’s at least one thing he’s good at.”
Blackie had pulled on his shirt and started helping Callie get dressed. “I think we’ll pass on the meal. The floor show was enough.”
Lina snorted. “You guys were the floor show.”
“That’s what I meant.”
“Hey, it worked.”
He nodded. Elain could tell from Blackie’s slouched shoulders how much this had worn him out. She suspected all he wanted to do was get Callie safely into bed to sleep without worrying about her nightmares for the first time in months.
As much as Elain had wanted sexy time with her own men, she felt exhaustion threatening to settle in. “I’m going to head back to the lodge for dinner.”
“We’ll be right there,” Lina said
“Gigi?”
The former Immortal was still watching her mate. “I’ll be along. I’m going to wait for Oscar.”
Elain didn’t see Mai when she returned to the lodge, but Jim and Micah were sitting and talking with Zack and Kael, the three babies all asleep on a comforter on the floor in front of them.
Her men were sitting there with Lacey, Andel, Jocko, Mark, and the jaguars. “Well?” Ain asked.
“It worked. Mai didn’t come back here?”
Jim and Micah both jumped up. “What?”
“Calm down. She probably went to the cabin first. I’ll go check.” Elain hurried out, hoping that she was right. She rounded the corner of the cabin and nearly ran face-first into Lina.
They only hesitated a moment before knocking on the door. Inside, they heard muffled sobs.
Opening the door, they rushed in and found Mai facedown on the bed.
Lina dropped her backpack. Together, they flanked her on the bed, holding her.
“I’m sorry,” she finally said a few minutes later.
“Too much gore?” Lina asked. “Sorry about that.”
Mai rolled onto her back. “It’s like…it’s like I could hear it screaming,” she whispered. “In my head. I didn’t realize it at first, but I was hearing it think. It was wondering what we were doing, then started ignoring us and went back to grazing. Then…” She shuddered.
The idea popped out of Elain’s mouth before she could overthink it. “Maybe one of your skills is that kind of empathy,” Elain said.
“I’ve never had anything like that before.”
“Baba Yaga did warn us our powers would grow,” Lina reminded her. “I know it was unsettling, but think about the outcome. Callie’s safe, the curse is gone.”
“I know. That’s the only reason I was able to keep myself from breaking the circle,” she softly said. “I didn’t want to screw it up.”
“You did good.”
“I don’t feel like I did.”
“You did,” Elain agreed.
“How am I supposed to deal with all this? I barely finished high school because of everything I went through. I wanted to go to college, but I couldn’t. I’m an idiot.”
“Stop,” Lina ordered, taking Mai’s hands in hers. “You’re not stupid.”
“Both of you had successful careers, college degrees. I’m just…” Her voice broke. “I’m just an idiot who got knocked up, and now I’ve got a daughter I have no idea how to raise.”
“Hey,” Elain said, “you are twenty times stronger than me, believe me. You’re a fantastic mom. I don’t know how you’re doing as well as you are. I don’t know if I could have handled it as well as you are. Quit putting yourself down.”
“I feel completely unprepared,” Mai said. “Like I’m a stupid poser. Everyone here this weekend, they’re all successful.”
“No, not all of them,” Lina said. “And hey, many of them are over a hundred years old, so they’ve had time to amass fortunes. The three of us, we’re practically babies ourselves compared to them. Listen, if it makes you feel any better, once we get back to Florida, look into taking college courses. There are a lot of remote schools where you can do online classes. When she’s a little older, there are several good schools around.”
Elain tucked Mai’s hair back behind her ear. “You were smart enough to get away from Rodolfo Abernathy and keep you and BettLynn safe. That’s anything but stupid.”
Mai looked at them, doubt not just painted on her face but washing from her in brownish-grey waves. “You’re not just saying that?”
Lina sat back. “Okay, seriously? When have you ever known me to pull a fucking punch?”
“True.” She looked at Elain. “I’m sorry.”
“About what?”
“Being a burden on you two.”
“Oh. My. Goddess,” Lina said. “Stop it or I’ll spank you myself.” They both hugged Mai. “I think the three of us need a girls’ weekend at a spa or something. No men, no babies, and lots of alcohol.”
“Do you really think this will get easier?” Mai timidly asked.
“Yeah, I do. Because Baba Bitchhead hasn’t lied to us.”
Yet, Elain thought. That we know of. But there’s always a first time.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Elain f
elt immense gratitude that none of her men decided to question her about what happened. She was still trying to process it, and frankly, didn’t have the words.
The irony that she was a trained journalist did not escape her. She wasn’t that out of it.
Securely locked in their cabin, she collapsed on the bed and stared at her men. “I don’t know how in the mood I’m going to be right now. I thought I was earlier, but maybe not so much.” The full enormity of what had happened was starting to sink in.
“I have powers of persuasion,” Brodey teased.
That managed to coax a smile from her. “I know you do, sweetie.”
“Callie will be okay now?” Ain asked, leaving it at that.
Elain nodded. “Lina thinks so.”
He sat next to her on the bed. “That’s good, right?”
“Yeah. It’s good.”
“Then why aren’t you happy?”
She reached up and touched his tag, visible under his shirt collar. She loved that they still wore them, every day, as did she. “I am happy. I’m just…” She tried to pick her words carefully. “You weren’t there. I can’t explain it. I’m not sure I want to explain it. It was…” She didn’t even know what word would begin to fit in the slot, so she gave up trying. “It was intense. And Yellowstone is now minus one bison bull.”
“Ooh, bad girl,” Brodey teased. “Breaking federal fish and wildlife laws.”
She giggled.
“Aha! I told you I was persuasive.”
She leaned in to kiss him, feeling her dark mood lifting. “Yes, you are very persuasive.”
So persuasive, in fact, that they had her naked and spread out between them just moments later. Brodey and Cail were licking and sucking her breasts, while Ain knelt between her legs, his tongue working on her clit.
Very persuasive…
She buried her hand in Brodey’s and Cail’s hair and tried not to howl out in pleasure as Ain’s skilled tongue quickly drove her to her first orgasm.
Then he held on and made her ride out two more before finally giving in to her pleas to fuck her.
Ain sat up between her legs. “Well, since you asked so nicely, baby.” He lined up his cock with her well-prepared cunt and easily slid home. Hard and fast he fucked her, while Brodey and Cail kept her busy with their mouths on her nipples. Brodey reached between her legs and fingered her clit, making her moan with another orgasm.
That triggered Ain’s release. He’d barely finished when he swapped places with Brodey, who quickly started fucking her hard and fast. Cail’s fingers found their way between her legs, and Brodey, too, got to feel her come while fucking her before adding a load of his cum to her already slick cunt.
One more time. Cail took Brodey’s place. Ain reached between her legs and played with her clit, drawing one last orgasm out of her before Cail finished and fell still on top of her.
“I think I’m done,” she mumbled, already wanting to fall asleep.
Ain chuckled. “I hoped we’d put you to sleep.”
She nodded, snuggling close to him, darkness quickly taking her to a deep, dreamless sleep.
* * * *
Mercedes flew into Spokane late in the evening and drove all night straight to Yellowstone from there. She wished she had more time to sightsee, but she was there on business, not pleasure.
Maybe Marston and I can bring the baby here.
That thought made her smile. They would be a family. With Rodolfo’s fortune squirreled away, they’d be a wealthy family. Able to spend time with their daughter, pamper her.
Raise her right.
After she got checked in that morning, she was crossing the distance between the Old Faithful Lodge and the Old Faithful Inn in search of an open restaurant when she heard Lacey’s voice call out to her.
“Mercedes.”
She stopped and turned and waited for the old Seer to catch up. With so many shifters attending meetings, they had the area to themselves.
She remembered Lacey thought she had an accent. Fortunately, she remembered that before she spoke. “Yes?”
“Let’s walk, dear. I’d like to speak with you.” They started off again. “I’m so glad you were able to join us here.”
“Lacey, what’s on your mind?”
“You don’t mince words, do you?”
“Not usually.”
Lacey put a hand on her arm. “I’m not your enemy, believe me.” Mercedes looked down into the Seer’s eyes and recognized a fierce and deep hatred there.
Not directed at her.
“Will he hurt?” Lacey asked. “Will he bleed?”
Mercedes frowned. “I beg your pardon?”
“Rodolfo,” Lacey spat. “I will keep your secrets—all of them, including who you really are—so long as you make me a solemn oath.”
She dropped the fake accent. Why bother when Lacey knew? “And that is?”
Lacey moved closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Make sure he suffers. Swear to me.”
Mercedes slowly nodded without speaking.
Lacey curtly nodded back before smiling. “By the way, I know they’ve been scarce around here, but I wanted to give you something I’m sure you’ll find useful.” She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Mercedes.
Mercedes unfolded it to find several phone numbers, some of them apparently overseas from the country codes.
“At least one of those numbers should put you in touch with Ortega Montalvo and his brothers if you can’t find them while you’re here,” Lacey said. “I’m sure they will be more than willing to help you. I suspect you already know about the bounty they have on his head.”
Mercedes glanced around to make sure she wasn’t being set up. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Lacey gave her a hug. “Just promise me. Make him suffer. And make sure that during his suffering he’s reminded about Colleen. The bastard will know who she is.”
Mercedes nodded, now fully understanding. “I swear it. I take it you loved her?”
“She was my cousin. I loved her like a sister. She was a Seer who refused to lie to him to make him feel better.” Her smile faded. “Rodolfo butchered her because she predicted one day his daughter would come back to cause his downfall and be the death of him.”
Mercedes let out a laugh. “Sorry. I’m not laughing at your loss, but at the irony of the situation.”
“I understand. I also suggest you steer widely clear of Elain Lyall while you’re here. One of the wolf Seers.”
“Why is that?”
“Her strength is via touch. If forced into close contact, I suggest a quick fist bump and claiming you’re germophobic.”
“Point taken.”
“And one more thing,” Lacey said.
“Yes?”
She gently laid her hand on Mercedes’ baby bump. “It’s a girl. Healthy and strong. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, stunned.
Mercedes watched as the old Seer walked off.
Well, now what the hell do I do?
Something about the elderly woman’s way comforted Mercedes. That the old woman hated Rodolfo for cause as much as she did meant she couldn’t dislike Lacey even if she tried.
Will she really keep my secret?
It was doubtful the woman had gained as much respect from her people by not keeping her word when given. And since Mercedes still wanted to gather some more information, she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to stick around.
* * * *
Lacey walked away from Mercedes, her body trembling. As a Seer, she was by tradition and heritage a sworn enemy of the cockatrice.
Mercedes, however, did not consider herself part of the cockatrice, regardless of her genes.
And Lacey wasn’t exactly worried about Mercedes causing too much trouble in her remaining time walking the mortal realm.
No one will be harmed by keeping this secret to myself.
Leastways, no
one who mattered to her heart. If she revealed to Lina who Mercedes really was, and who her brothers had been, Lina would go tearing off without giving true consideration to the larger picture. Lina would want her revenge for what Lenny and Edgar and Marston did. She’d want to kill Marston. Not to mention so would Elain and Liam, the Lyall men, and Kael.
Lacey couldn’t have that baby’s father killed. He had a child to raise.
Lina also might want to kill Mercedes. I definitely cannot allow that to happen. That baby needs to live.
By helping Mercedes, it meant Rodolfo would finally receive the Karmic justice long overdue him.
She smiled as she returned to her cabin. Yes, this was a good day, indeed. Until the day came she knew Lina could restrain herself and see the bigger picture, Lacey knew she would keep her mouth firmly shut on the matter.
Even if it means I have to distance myself from those I love.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The next morning at breakfast, Lina tried to contain her nerves. Uncle Andel had stopped by the cabin early, before she’d even gotten the Beasts up and changed, to tell her Arnost wanted to see the three Seers and Lacey that morning after breakfast.
Lina knew Lacey was friends with the old Seer, considering Bertholde had been her best friend.
What she didn’t understand was the nervous undercurrent that ran through her brain and refused to settle down. No, she’d never met Bertholde’s brother face-to-face. That he was older than Bertholde, and perhaps had a few answers they needed to figure out their current problems, led to the confusing soup of emotions roiling through her stomach.
Lacey met up with the three women. Lina, Elain, and Mai followed her from the lodge back to the cabins. With Jim, Zack, and Kael babysitting the Beasts and BettLynn, they didn’t have to worry about the kids for a little while.
The old dragon Seer had a private room to himself in one of the cabins at the Old Faithful Lodge complex, not too far from the room where his sister had been murdered just a couple of years earlier.
Lina didn’t want to think about that. It made her too sad, and angry.
Lacey stepped up to the door and knocked while Lina, Elain, and Mai stood back.
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