I was about to open my mouth to make up some excuse, when my phone dinged in the center console between us. I had one of those moments you get when you knew something was wrong before you got the news. My hand shook as I slowed down and pulled into one of the parking spots by the exit and grabbed my phone.
Mom HELP
I slammed the car into reverse and squealed the tires, backing out of the space while hitting the call button on Karl's text. I didn't breathe, and I was pretty sure my heart didn't beat until he picked up on the third ring.
"Mom?"
"Where are you?"
"At the park by the house. McGuinness."
"What's wrong?" I swerved through traffic and yanked the wheel to turn onto Brickham Road, stomping on the gas as we hit the straightaway.
"Rynnie…"
"Is she hurt?"
"No. She um…"
"Karl. If you don't tell me what the fuck happened in the next three seconds..."
"She uh. Just get here. I don't know what to tell you."
"She's not hurt?"
"No."
"Are you?"
"No."
"Good. That's all that matters."
"The cops might not see it that way."
Fuck. "Be there in two minutes." I ended the call and stuffed the phone back in the console.
"Everything okay?"
"The kids are in some sort of trouble."
"Need help?"
Images of my daughter with fangs and claws flitted through my red hazed brain. "No. They're at the park, and I have to drive by the house to get there. I'll slow down enough for you to jump."
"Okay. But if you need me, call."
"Deal."
True to my word, I slowed down enough for her to get out of the still moving vehicle. As worried as I was about the kids, I probably slowed more than I needed to. I might suck as a parent, but I was a good friend. She didn't even fall.
It took less than a minute to get to the park at the end of our street. It was really easy to spot with the three police cars, firetruck, and ambulance parked around it. The flashing red, blue, and white lights were very illuminating and patriotic. I skidded to a stop by one of the squad cars parked away from the others.
"What the hell are you doing, lady?" A cop was walking around his patrol car to give me shit.
"My kids called. They're at the park."
He crooked his finger at me and motioned for me to follow him to his car as I slid out the door of my SUV. "Can I check on my kids first?"
"No."
"Listen, Officer…"
"O'Malley."
"My kids called and said something was wrong. While I appreciate that you have a job you think you need to do, I'm checking on my fucking kids first." I started to walk away.
He decided to stop me. "Look, lady–"
He was on his back on the ground looking up at me in complete shock before he even felt my hand grab a fistful of blue polyester and swing him over my shoulder.
I knelt beside his head. "Kids first. Talk later."
He blinked and nodded in understanding.
When I stood up and resumed my journey toward the throng of people in the middle of the park, the other two officers had their weapons drawn and trained on me. They must have seen my pseudo judo cop flop and felt I was a lethal force worthy threat. All five-and-a-half feet of me. I put up my hands and kept walking. Toward my kids. Who were being questioned by another officer without the presence of a parent or guardian.
He blinked at me in surprise when he noticed me, looking up over Rynnie's shoulder. Then he saw his partners trailing behind me, shouting at me to get on the ground with my hands behind my head. His hand moved toward his gun, but he didn't draw it.
"Mom?" Karl actually ran over to me and threw his arms around me.
The cop he'd been talking to held up his hand to the other two behind me. The tension that had been at my back the whole walk eased minutely. "Mrs. Dell?"
"Yes," I answered without looking up at him. "What the hell happened, Karl?"
"That's precisely what I was trying to find out. One of the kids they were with stopped breathing."
"So, you were questioning my children without a lawyer or me present? My fifteen-year-old children?" I shot him a death glare.
"You seem to be under the assumption that your kids were in trouble. They're not. I was just asking them if any drugs were involved to help the other kid." He narrowed his eyes angrily.
"Karl. Answer him."
"I already did."
I turned to the cop. "You have your answer. I'd like to speak to my children now, please."
"If you tell me why two of my colleagues have their weapons drawn and another is hobbling toward us." He tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow at me.
"He told me I couldn't see my children. I put him on the ground." I cocked an eyebrow back at him, daring him to arrest me.
"Talk to your kids, Mrs. Dell. Then you and I are going to have a chat." He motioned Ryn toward me and gave another hand signal to the other cops before walking over to the paramedics.
I put a hand on both of my kids' shoulders. "What the hell happened?"
"We were um…" Karl paused to think of an excuse.
I looked at Rynnie. "What happened?"
"We were at the park with Jason and Mandy."
"Who are?"
"They live on the other side of Karen's. Jason is in our class, and Mandy is a year older."
"And what where you doing?" I had a feeling I already knew the answer.
"Kissing. That's it. I swear!"
Yep. "And Jason stopped breathing," Karl supplied helpfully.
"Yes!"
I sighed, nodding in understanding and hugging her to my chest. "You're coming into your power. Did you feel more alive after you kissed him?" I whispered the words into her ear.
"Yes," she whispered back.
"You fed from him. I don't mind that you were fooling around, but you need to be careful. Is the boy going to be okay?"
She nodded as she pulled away. "Karl performed CPR until the ambulance came. That kept him alive until they could hit him with those electrical paddle thingies."
"Defibrillator," I supplied.
"Yeah. That."
"Thankfully." I stepped closer to my offspring, pretending to look over their shoulders at the EMTs working on the Jason boy. "No drugs were involved. You don't know what happened to him," I whispered to the two of them to set their stories straight. I felt bad for the boy, but with him surrounded by paramedics, there was no way I could get close enough to him to slip him some life force back. Especially after assaulting a police officer.
Instead, I waved the cop back over. "Is he going to be okay?" I nodded toward Jason on the gurney.
The cop shrugged. "I don't know."
"Kids, go sit on the swings."
They nodded and wandered the short distance to the newish looking wood structure with swings dangling from one of the crosspieces.
I gave the cop a once over, finally seeing the man instead of the badge. Truth be told, he looked like a male stripper in a cop uniform. Nobody should be that buff. I could almost see his abs under his bulletproof vest. His hair was short, like most policemen, but it wasn't a flat-top, thankfully. I definitely would have liked to meet him under better circumstances. "Sorry about before. I was worried about the kids."
"Understandable. But you assaulted a police officer."
"Who was more worried about throwing his power around and keeping me from my children than actually worried about what was going on. Right before two other officers drew their weapons on an unarmed woman trying to get to her children. Who were being questioned by the police without a lawyer or guardian present. Should I call the evening news now, or wait until I get home? Unless I'm under arrest, then I would like my lawyer present at the station when I get there."
"Seems like you've had a few brushes with the law."
"I'm a stripper. Of course, I have
."
"You've been arrested?"
"No. They were my biggest clients. They're very chatty when they get lap dances."
Good cop chuckled. Bad cop limped up to us with his handcuffs out. "You're under arrest for assaulting a police officer, bitch!"
I looked at good cop.
"Thompson. Did you try to stop this woman from getting to her possibly injured children?"
"Of course, I did! The little junkies gave something to Marissa's kid!"
He was on the ground again with a chest full of angry stripper mom snarling in his face before he blinked again. Good cop had his arms around me and was yanking me off of him when the other two surrounded us with their guns drawn.
"Mrs. Dell! Calm down!"
"Fuck him, fuck you, and fuck them. He called my kids junkies! Gimme my fucking phone, I'm calling the fucking news station!" I let good cop drag me off O'douchebag but broke his grip on me with my arms. He made a surprised sound and let me go before pushing the guns of the surrounding officers toward the ground.
"Everybody, calm down!" He turned and made calming motions toward me and put himself between all of us. When I made a huffing noise and pretended to inspect my nails, he turned to the cop on the ground. "You get in your car and get your ass back to the station. I'll deal with you when I get there."
"Are you fucking kidding me, Lieutenant? She assaulted me twice!"
Good cop didn't say a word, just pointed at the cop car sitting next to my SUV. "You two, take the girl and see if you can find the boy's mother," he said with little room for argument.
When they holstered their weapons and walked toward the ambulances, he finally turned back to me and let out the breath he'd been holding.
"I though you said cops liked you."
"They do. When I'm mostly naked."
He couldn't help it. His eyes flicked down over my body and he smiled. "I'm sure they do. Look, Mrs. Dell. I'm sorry for my officer's behavior. He's dating the boy's mother. It's why I had him away from the scene when you stumbled across it. Would you like to file a complaint?"
"No. But tell Officer O'Malley, next time he comes between me and my kids, I'll put him in the ground instead of on it. Got it?"
He sighed. "While I appreciate you not filing a complaint… Please don't threaten the lives of my officers in front of me. Or at all," he added thoughtfully. Thankfully, he was making light of the situation instead of being a dick about it.
"Fine." I laughed it off like I'd been joking.
He pulled out a notebook. "Take your kids and go home. Do you have a phone number I can reach you at if I need anything else?"
"Like what?" I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. He was hot as fuck, but I didn't trust cops. At all. I'd given too many of them lap dances. They were very handsy.
"In case they find drugs in the boy's system. Or, God forbid, he doesn't make it and we need to continue our investigation. A detective might want to talk to your kids again. With you present, of course."
I took the notebook from him and jotted down my phone number before tucking it back in his shirt pocket. "There. Are we free to go?"
"Of course."
"See you, Lieutenant."
"Have a good evening, Mrs. Dell."
I motioned toward the car to the kids and started walking. They caught up. Halfway across the park, my phone started ringing. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw an unknown number flashing off the screen. Turning around, I looked at the lieutenant holding his phone up to his ear.
"Just checking," he said loud enough for me to hear, and shut off his phone.
Chapter 17
"It wasn't your fault. Hell, it's more my fault than yours, Rynnie." I reached over the counter and ran my hand over her head, soothingly. Or at least I hoped it felt that way to her.
"You should have seen his eyes, Mom. He was panicking, and I couldn't stop. I felt whatever was inside him pouring into me, and I liked it. Now I want to throw up." She started sobbing and put her forehead down on her arm.
I looked at her brother helplessly.
"Ryn… I'm sure you'll learn to control it."
"I don't want to. I'm never kissing another boy again as long as I live."
"I should have warned you. You are unique, Ryn. Most cambions don't exhibit any characteristics of their dam. You shouldn't have been able to change. To steal the essence of a human is…unheard of. I am truly sorry."
"Why Ryn? How come none of this is happening to me?" Karl almost sounded disappointed.
"Because you might be a true cambion. Or because boys develop later than girls. You be careful, too. Let me know if you start to grow scales in strange places."
"Scales?" He looked horrified and covered his crotch with his hands.
"Kidding, boy child."
"That's not funny."
"Yeah, it was." Ryn was giggle sobbing. Still upset but taking pleasure in her brother's discomfort.
"Well, starting tomorrow," I paused, and ruffled Ryn's hair. "You and I are going to start working on controlling your powers."
"Okay."
"Get to bed, the both of you."
They nodded and headed upstairs, Karl moving a little faster than his still upset sister. "Night, Mom," Ryn said with a small, sad smile.
"Night, Child."
"Love you."
I repeated the words without thinking. Only when she was out of sight, did I clutch my chest with my left hand, an unfamiliar ache ripping through my heart. "I love you." Words I had spoken less than a dozen times in my entire existence.
"I need to fuck something." The words made me feel a little less…dirty.
Grabbing my phone off the counter, I dialed Daniel.
"Kara?" He picked up the phone on the first ring, sounding worried.
"Can you come over?"
"Everything okay?"
No. I just told my child I love her. "Rough night."
"Be right there."
The phone clicked dead, and a minute later, there was a soft rapping noise on the front door. I threw the latch and opened it. Daniel and Brady were both standing there in gray jogging pants and slippers, rubbing their bare arms against the cold. I paused to enjoy the show.
"Can we come in, or are you waiting for our nipples to shatter first?" Brady gave me an imploring look.
Shaking my head to break the spell, I stepped out of the way and let them in. "You're staying at Daniel’s already?"
"After class, we watched the game, and I was one too many beers into the wind to drive home."
"Lucky me." I grinned and motioned toward the kitchen. "Coffee?"
"It's twelve o'clock at night," Daniel answered incredulously.
"I'll have a cup," Brady said with a huff.
I put three cups up to brew, and Daniel reluctantly took one. "Let me guess, I'm going to need my energy."
"I made it with Red Bull instead of water." I laughed to let him know I was kidding. If I was going to add anything to his coffee, it would be Viagra. He didn't need an erection that lasted four hours, I did.
"I only half think you're kidding."
"So, what happened?" Brady's curiosity got the better of him.
"Let's just say that my daughter is a little more like her mother than is good for the neighbor boys."
"And girls?" Brady grinned at me.
"If that was a cheap shot at me dating your sister…"
"It was."
"I thought you were okay with it?"
"I am. Doesn't mean I'm not going to tease you, or her, about it." He took a sip of his coffee, smiling over the rim.
"You're a shit."
"Big one."
Daniel was hiding his smile and trying not to laugh by hiding his mouth behind his hand. "Guess that explains the noise in class tonight."
"Don't blame me. I am innocent."
"A regular saint."
I hissed and gave him an evil look. Then my phone started ringing. Sighing, I grabbed it off the counter and saw the lieutenant's number
flashing on the screen. I hadn't memorized it, or anything like that, but it was fresh enough in my memory for me to recognize it. "Lieutenant?"
"Mrs. Dell?"
"Yes?"
"Your dance studio is on fire."
∞ ∞ ∞
The three of us spilled out of my SUV onto the wet street as the fire department battled the blaze burning angrily through the bottom floor of the studio. The walls and wood floors giving it ample fuel.
"Fuuuuck," I screamed, my breath fogging in the cold air, even with the heat from my dreams going up in smoke.
The lieutenant made a beeline from his police SUV toward me. "There's somebody trapped on the second floor."
"Sage! Why didn't she get out the fire escape?" I started running toward the building, but the lieutenant stopped me with a hand on my arm.
"Mrs. Dell! It's over a thousand degrees in there! Your friend is just waiting on fire rescue to get the ladder truck here from another station. This is the third fire tonight."
"Is she okay?"
"She's in the bathroom, in the tub with the water running. The firemen had her open the window and stuff a wet towel under the door. She's okay for now."
The building started to creak.
The metal struts in the walls were giving. Gasping, I tore my gaze from the lieutenant’s chiseled features and shrieked in horror as the front of the studio shifted. It didn't collapse, but it was enough for the plate windows in the front to shatter and a few of the surrounding bricks get pulverized into rubble.
The grinding didn't stop as the building settled on the remaining brick. "Fuck this."
Ignoring the shouts of protest from the lieutenant, I charged at the building, wishing I could shift in plain view, but as a human, I jumped through the shattered front, ignored the flames as they licked my skin, and headed for the stairs in the back. It reminded me of Hell. The heat was blistering my skin, and I smiled as the familiar pain sent a shiver down my spine. Safe in the flames, I changed. The blistering heat turned into a gentle summer breeze as I marched through the flames and took the stairs two at a time.
One thing was for certain, Sage was going to need a new place to live. Her apartment, and everything in it, was already ash. As was the center of the floor over the studio. Luckily, the bathroom she was in was in the corner of the building and still safe for a few more minutes. I was under the vague impression that the lieutenant was blowing smoke up my ass about the direness of her situation.
Succubus Soccer Mom: A Reverse Harem Tale Page 16
