by M. L. Briers
Well, there went my brain on spin cycle again. Nope, a thought popped into my head – those two new werewolves. Could the poor stupid ninja sheep not catch a break? Wasn’t it enough that they were being mowed down by hapless tourists in camper vans? For the love of everything un-holy…
“Well, don’t look at me like I’m the one out there doing the slicing and dicing!” I shot back on a hiss, suddenly feeling a little more defensive than I probably should have done, but Jack did have a rather annoying habit of laying the blame for the world’s woes on my doorstep.
His face took on a sour look. “Did I accuse you…?”
“Actually, your tone was very accusing, and yes, you accused me of lying to you, when I didn’t – I thought it was over, less lying on my part and more not knowing the whole truth, or that it just started up again with our new visitors.” I took a big breath as he opened his mouth to speak. “So, don’t you feel like a numpty?”
“I…” he looked like his brain was on spin cycle, and I could have done a Highland Jig that it was his turn to experience the washing, rinsing, and spinning of thought.
“Hmm?” I demanded in a slightly superior tone. I was on a roll and felt like keeping the momentum going. When you have the upper hand, why be graceful about it?
“Apologise if I came off like…”
“A numpty?” I grinned. “Accepted, don’t let it happen again.” Fine, I’d had my fun for now. I let the noose around his neck loosen.
“But the fact remains…”
Oh, did he never learn?
“That you’re male so it will happen again, I know, but I can’t forgive all your stupid’s in advance, because, let’s face facts, men take liberties where being an idiot is concerned.” And that told him.
I didn’t think that he was going to let sleeping dogs lie, it really wasn’t his style.
“We do…”
“Thank you for recognising that fact…”
“I wasn’t.”
“It sometimes feels like you have a split personality.”
“How do you not drive everyone around you insane?” Jack asked, looking a little frustrated that he couldn’t get the upper hand as usual.
“Pot – kettle.” I shrugged.
“Let’s talk about those sheep, because the last time…”
“It didn’t end well for the sheep, I know…”
“It didn’t just end badly for the sheep.”
“The last time was different — I hope.” Obviously, with the appearance of the two werewolves from Lachlan’s pack I couldn’t put my hand on my heart and say that nothing bad was going to happen again.
“See, that doesn’t fill me with a sense of confidence.”
“Well, I’m sorry I can’t brighten your day, but I am a witch, not a psychic, Jack. I don’t know what’s going to happen any more than you do.” I hadn’t had a premonition since the one with Jack where he fell from the Point, and I didn’t want anymore either.
“I still have some questions about what your grandmother said about me last night.” Jack looked uncomfortable; he even shuffled his feet.
“About you being a faerie?” I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I’m glad you find it funny. I can’t share your strange sense of humour about it,” Jack grumbled.
“Oh, come on, didn’t you always wonder about the wee people?” He shot me a look from under his eyebrows, and they were doing the caterpillar mating dance again, “your people.”
I couldn’t help saying it. Who wanted to miss an opportunity like that? It was an open goal, and I just scored, and I have to say that his eyebrows were doing a much better job of talking than his mouth.
“So what is happening with the two — werewolves,” he leaned in and whispered the last word. “The ones that were fighting with Ross and the vampire yesterday?” Jack lifted his hand and rubbed his fingers across his forehead, before trailing them down his cheek, and all while shaking his head — who said men couldn’t multitask? “That is such a stupidly surreal question to ask.”
“Do you really want to know the answer to that or were you just deflecting from you being a faerie?” If I’d been in his position I probably wouldn’t have asked it, and give him his due; he did take a moment to think about it before he nodded.
“We’re not quite sure, but we think they’re here to challenge Ross.”
They could say that they come in peace, but I didn’t believe them — especially after yesterday’s fight. If they respected Ross as the alpha, then why would they fight him?
“Ross?”
“The alpha.” Now he looked even more confused.
“Alpha?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” I asked again. He didn’t look like he wanted to know, but I guess that his nosy detective nature took over.
CHAPTER EIGHT
~
“Yes.” Jack nodded, and yet, there was a part of him that didn’t. I could tell from the fleeting grimace. This Malachi watching for clues thing was awesome.
“Okay, hold onto your panties because this is complicated. Fraser, Ross’ cousin, killed his father, the alpha, Lachlan, and tried to blame it on Ross, so that when he killed Ross, he would be the alpha of his pack. Ross killed Fraser when Fraser tried to kill Moira, making Ross the alpha of the pack. Are you with me so far?” He looked a little constipated, but I’m sure that was his thinking face.
“I don’t want to be, but I think I am,” Jack grumbled.
“The two from yesterday showed up looking for Ross, the alpha, claiming that Ross needed to go back to the pack with them or face a challenge. My money is on the challenge part.”
“So they’re going to try to kill Ross?”
“Maybe — possibly — probably,” I grimaced at the thought.
Over my dead body would anybody hurt Ross, and Moira’s too. Gran certainly wouldn’t be able to stand on the sidelines and let that happen, and then there was dad, probably bat-boy and Eileen, and I believe Malachi was on our side as well, but it was Malachi, so all bets were off.
Thinking about it like that made me feel better. Ross had his own pack right here on the island, and anyone stupid enough to mess with us was going down. I hoped.
“Okay, this is going to possibly sound like a stupid question — do I need silver bullets?” Jack looked as if he’d just dropped a fart in an elevator.
“You need to keep out of it,” I offered back. “I highly doubt that they will come after you for any reason, don’t put yourself in the middle of anything that doesn’t concern you.”
“Turn around and walk away?” Jack didn’t look as if that was an appetising thought.
“Run — drive — curl into a little ball and protect your head and neck,” I teased, I was, in my own strange way, trying to lighten the moment, but I don’t think he appreciated it too much.
“You’re serious?”
“I like to think I can be on occasion.” I shrugged. “While it’s true that you’re a manly–man, even you must know that there are some fights you need to walk away from.”
“I need to know how to kill a werewolf,” Jack said, leaning in and whispering the last word once more.
“With magic, claws, fangs, and superhuman strength and abilities — all of which, unfortunately, you don’t possess. Ergo, the running, driving, curling into a ball on the floor and protecting yourself stance seems like the way to go.”
“But the silver thing?”
“Would you give up on that already?” I tossed back.
Yes, silver killed werewolves, it didn’t do much good to vampires either — but what would be the point of telling him that? That would just give him a fake sense of security, something which I didn’t want to provide.
I had a horrible image in my mind where Jack was standing there with a spray gun of holy water in one hand, and Wolfsbane in the other. That wouldn’t end well — for him.
“Okay, another stupid question, maybe,” Jack said. I wanted to sigh, but he had a
right to know most things, now that he was in the loop.
“Go for it.”
“How do you kill a vampire?”
I groaned. “Seriously?”
“And why are they called nightwalkers when they can venture out in the daytime?” He hooked a thumb back over his shoulder, and I followed the direction that he motioned towards.
There was Malachi, standing beside a large treetrunk, not exactly hiding from view, but not exactly easy to spot unless you are looking for him either.
“Myth — legend — lies. Look, just stay out of their way, and no harm will come to you. You left before, you can leave again,” I said.
I firmly believe that. If Jack stayed out of whatever trouble was headed our way, then no harm should come to him.
“But, what if they come to me?”
That was a good question, but I couldn’t see it happening. Not if Jack stayed out of the fight and kept his mouth shut.
“You know that old adage of keeping your nose out of other people’s business?” I left it there. Jack nodded.
“Just turn a blind eye?” He didn’t seem happy with that.
“Turn off your busybody detective brain and keep your head down. It’s all that you can do.”
I gave it to him straight. There was no point in sugarcoating it.
He knew about us now, all of us, and if he was stupid enough to get involved, then there wasn’t much I could do about that.
He’d been warned — several times — he needed to heed that warning for his own sake.
~
“You — me — bone picking,” I said, as I stalked toward Malachi. He hadn’t attempted to leave his place beside the tree trunk, and kudos for that, but the man had a cocky grin on his face that I wouldn’t have minded wiping away.
“You know, you keep denying that there is something between us, and yet, you keep seeking me out.”
“Maybe because you keep doing stupid stuff like stalking deputy dog,” I shot back. That gleam of amusement in his eyes annoyed me so.
“And what would you say if I told you that I was trying to keep him safe from harm?”
“Oh, I don’t know — liar – liar, gonna set your pants on fire.” I offered him a cocky grin of my own.
“Okay, you caught me. I’m stalking detective Dolittle so that I can find him doing something nefarious and have a reason to drain him of every drop of his blood and leave him dead on the ground for the crows to feast upon.” He offered me a small shrug of his shoulders. “Does that fit your opinion of me better?”
“Now that you mention it — yes.” I knew his game, and I wasn’t playing it. If he wanted to make me feel guilty for doubting him, accusing him, it wasn’t going to work.
On the one hand, I trusted Malachi, and on the other hand, I didn’t. It felt as if I was standing there trying to balance the scales of justice where he was concerned, but if anyone felt as if they had a split personality, then it was definitely him.
“Ouch,” he grimaced, and I hated that I couldn’t tell if that grimace was real or not.
“Oh, I’m sorry did I dent your pride?”
“Yes, a little.”
Now he was looking at me as if I did him a really big wrong. The problem with that was; where Malachi was concerned, I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t. The man was a coin with two faces; I guess it just depended on which way he was going to land in any given situation as the mood took him.
“Oh, poor baby,” I offered back and was rewarded with a slow to boil, sexy smile that lightened his face, played in his eyes, and sent my X-rated brain off in a totally wrong direction.
“I like it when you show your true feelings for me.” Now he looked teasing but smug, and these were the moments that threw me the most. I know he liked to keep me off balance, but that was unhelpful on so many levels.
“I like it when you do that stealthy vanishing act thing that you do, let’s see some of that.” I deflected because being off balance wasn’t what I wanted to be when I was around him.
“Deflecting.” His melodic tone grated on my nerves as he busted me once more.
“Not caring,” I used a singsong tone right back at him.
“Liar – liar.”
He was back to teasing me again, and I was back to wanting to stab him with a fork. Not to cause him pain, which obviously it would, and that would just have been a bonus. Not because I was evil and mean, which I could be, anybody could — but, just because it annoyed me that he could get to me so much and on so many different levels, and I still hadn’t figured him out yet. It sucked.
“You keep thinking that and I’ll know the truth,” I said as I turned on my heels and started back toward my car.
I hadn’t got Malachi to agree to stay away from Jack, and probably never would, but I did need to make my escape before Malachi hit on something that neither of us could take back.
“The lady doth protest too much,” he called after me, and that was a loaded statement. So, I flipped him my middle finger and kept walking.
~
“Let’s be honest, Ross, you need the goon squad that the pack sent to be gone,” Dad said as we sat around the dining room table and allowed Gran’s sticky toffee pudding to settle.
Highland food was designed to fill you up, heat you up, and keep you going. Couscous and rice dishes weren’t really on the menu anywhere other than in the towns and restaurants unless the rice was in a nice hot pudding with nutmeg. If I’d served stir-fry to my elders, they’d probably want to know where the leg of lamb and the tatties were hiding.
“Aye, it’s like a black cloud hanging over your head,” Eileen said, somewhat absently as she played footsies under the table with bat-boy, and thought nobody was going to notice, der.
“Well, aren’t you little Miss Sunshine tonight?” Moira bit out, back on the defensive again now that Ross was in the firing line once more.
“I think Ross should stay here,” I said, and all eyes turned to me.
“Excuse me?” Dad choked on his own tongue.
“That’s really not a…” Mother got out.
“Hello?” Moira piped up. She looked kind of shocked, but at the same time, she looked very interested in that idea.
“That’s…” That was the total of what Ross had managed to push out his mouth as he slowly shook his head from side to side.
“Taking this pet adoption thing a little far, aren’t you?” Malachi asked with so much amusement in his eyes that they held my gaze for a long moment.
CHAPTER NINE
~
“Sounds like a plan,” Gran piped up from the other end of the dinner table, and we all turned to look at her. You could have heard a pin drop. “What?” Gran demanded as she scowled at each one of us in turn.
“Should we build a kennel for his wolf?” Dad asked, and Moira’s gasp made him squirm in his seat. “I was just agreeing with Malachi in some small way.”
“Let’s not make a habit of that one,” I said, and dad shot me a sheepish look.
“And where is he going to sleep, because he’s not sleeping with…?” Gran tutted so loudly that it stopped my father in his tracks, and he turned raised eyebrows in her direction, “oh, you think he should sleep in Moira’s room, do you?” He snorted his contempt for that.
“Did I say that?” Gran snapped back.
Here we go, World War Three was about to erupt around the dining room table. I flicked a look at my mother and watched as her shoulders raised and then dropped like a brick.
“Well, what are you saying?” Dad said, tapping his fat fingers against the wood of the table as they faced off against each other.
“Don’t try and read between my lines, putting words in my mouth won’t win you any points. Ross is family, and the family is protected,” Gran said, eyeing him with the look that dared him to challenge those words, and it would be a brave man that did.
“I never said family wasn’t protected,” Dad tossed back. I had a feeling that he m
ight just have been digging himself out of the really big hole with that one.
“There you go then,” Gran said tossing up a hand in his direction, “it’s settled.”
The look on my father’s face was one of disbelief. Gran was a dab hand at getting her own way, and ending a debate, argument, or challenge by tying people up in knots. Job done.
Dad huffed, and he did mumble something under his breath, but I’m sure only the people with exceptional hearing at the table made out what he had said.
“He can have Eileen’s room,” I said, throwing the cat among the pigeons once more, because why not?
“Why my room?” Eileen’s full attention was back on the conversation as she protested.
“Why not?” I said, with a big beaming, teasing smile for my sibling.
“Because it’s right next to Moira’s room, that’s why not,” Dad bit out.
“I’m not staying,” Ross said.
“And you think there’s going to be shenanigans in the middle of the night?” Gran chuckled.
“Well, if Ross is sleeping on the sofa then there won’t be, will there?” He tossed back.
“I’m still not staying,” Ross said, but nobody was listening to him except for Moira and me.
Dad and Gran were locked in one of their battles again, and everyone else was watching with interest to see who would win. Not that we didn’t already know the final outcome, but my poor father never seemed to realise it, bless him.
“Hush, Ross,” Gran said, berating him like he was a five-year-old child as she turned her attention back, my father. “And what does it say about the level of trust you have in Moira?”
“Well, that’s not…” Dad hesitated over his words. His eyes flicked toward Moira, and she tilted her head and challenged him with those raised eyebrows of hers.
“No, please don’t stop, tell me how you think I’m the debauched one of the family when Eileen is sitting there playing footsie with the vampire,” Moira said.
“Am not!” Eileen snapped to attention once more. Her cheeks were starting to fill with a nice red hue, and her eyes were wide like saucers. She looked decidedly guilty.
