“That’s good to know. And you don’t fool me one bit, Callum. He would’ve been of no use to you in here if I were in trouble. It’s smart to keep us apart if you want your second in command to act like a second. I wholeheartedly agree with your choices and hope you keep it that way. But now I need a little mate fix.” Marcy dusted off her hands. “It’s been a hell of a day.”
Instead of being offended, my father tossed his head back and laughed. “You’ve got a good head on you, witch. James is a lucky man.”
I turned to walk away and give Naomi and Danny some space, but she rose and moved forward, grabbing my hand. Her eyes were filled with emotion. I swallowed as she said, “I had no doubt that you could help him if it was within your power. I thank you from the bottom of my soul. I am grateful I am going to get a chance to get to know my… mate, and it happened because of you.”
“There’s absolutely no need to thank me, Naomi,” I replied. “If any one of us could’ve saved him, we would have. We love Danny and we’re all happy to see the two of you together.” Naomi had a yearning in her eyes I’d never seen. Danny was almost done shifting, most likely needing more time since he’d just been on the brink of death. “Go be with him, Naomi.” I nudged her forward. “You two deserve it. But you’ll only have moments before we have to leave.”
I turned to join Rourke and Tyler and we started to walk to where the boats were waiting. “What’s up?” I asked Tyler, whose face was lined with worry, as I linked one arm through his elbow and one through Rourke’s. It felt so good to have my family back, and for the next five seconds not feel like the world was going to crumble.
“I’ve been close to Danny since the day I turned into a wolf,” Tyler answered. “He’s been my friend and mentor all this time. But it never crossed my mind he could die—or that any of us could die, for that matter. We’re supernatural. This is not supposed to happen.” He turned to meet my gaze. “Honestly, Jess, I miss the lake. I miss my home. I miss running through the woods not thinking about anything other than the freedom to run as long as I want.” He ran his free hand around the back of his neck. “This battle is going to be tough and sometimes it feels like no matter how long we keep fighting, we’re never going to get back to normal.”
“I hear you, Tyler,” I said, understanding his position completely. What he didn’t realize was that while he might be able to go back to normal—and I was desperately hoping that was going to happen for him—my old normal was no longer an option for me. “I think all the wolves will get back to normal eventually, but for me, I’d settle for a new normal that didn’t include being under constant attack or running from the next threat.”
Rourke slid his hand around my waist. “I’d settle for getting the hell out of the Everglades. My beast is restless. We circled this island no less than twenty times and couldn’t find a way in. I want us as far away from here as possible.”
“We’re almost to the boats,” Tyler said. “I hear the motors.”
We picked our way through the trees. Marcy was in front of us, my father and a few of his wolves in front of her. My father stopped short and turned. “We’ll head back to our camp first before we depart this place,” he called. “I want to go over what happened in detail. It looks as though you killed the remaining rabid wolves. I’m leaving a few of my wolves behind to make sure their bodies are destroyed. Once my wolves arrive back at camp, we leave.”
I said, “Did you see the wolf the bokor sacrificed for the ceremony? We stopped her before she could steal Naomi’s magic and place it in a fetish, but we were too late to save him.”
“We have him,” my father said gruffly. “Two of my wolves have already taken him away. I’ll send another airboat once we get back. That particular wolf was from the Southern Territories. I didn’t know him that well, but he was loyal to me in the short time he was part of my Pack. When I killed Redman Martin, a few of his wolves joined us—very few, since most of them were traitorous, just like their Alpha. But this wolf was decent. I’ll make sure he’s given a proper burial.”
If I never saw another cypress, I’d be a happy girl. “I’m glad Redman is gone. I’m assuming the wolves of his who chose not to assimilate with your Pack went to the fracture pack and were dealt with.”
My father stopped ahead of us, reaching the channel. “Yes. The fracture pack is no more. There wasn’t a strong wolf among them.”
The airboats were a welcome sight.
“We’re getting out of here as soon as possible,” Rourke said in my ear. “I think the safest plan we have is to head home and search for Juanita. If she’s there, she’ll have answers.”
“I have a lot to tell you, but Marinette, the powerful spirit I battled, called Juanita a Hag. We’d only guessed before, but now we have confirmation.”
My father turned to me. “Are you positive?”
I nodded once. “Yes.”
Tyler was the first one to hop into an airboat and gestured us down. “I never would’ve guessed it, Jess,” he mused. “Juanita was so… normal. And she had no signature whatsoever, at least that I ever detected, and that’s saying something because I can pick up on almost anything with this.” Tyler touched his nose. He did have a killer sense of smell.
“Hags are among the most powerful of any supernatural,” Rourke said as he helped me into one of the boats. “She would be able to cloak herself well. I’ve never met her, so I don’t know if I would’ve picked up on it or not, but I’d like to think I would have.” He grinned. “But it’s unlikely.”
“You’re going to love her,” I said. “She’s a piece of work in the best way possible.”
“James!” Marcy shrieked.
James emerged from the trees and made his way along the edge of the channel at top speed. Marcy’s face was bright with happiness, and I knew the feeling. She rushed toward him and he growled his greeting. It must have killed him to stay out here, but my father had been smart.
I sat down in the front seat of the boat, Rourke next to me. My father was in the row behind with two of his wolves.
“We’re not waiting for the lovebirds,” Tyler said as he took the driver’s seat. “They can wait for Naomi and Danny.” Tyler shouted a command to another wolf to wait for the two couples and we took off.
As we sped away, I glanced back. The dead trees, which were revealed once the wards came down, stood in stark contrast to the green ones around us. “Did anyone see what happened to the old cabin?”
My father grunted. “The swamp has already taken it. I’m not worried that humans will venture in here to investigate any time soon. The pall of evil and malice will linger for a while. It will only clear up once new growth and animals start to inhabit the space again.”
“Speaking of evil and animals,” I said. “What about her snakes and gators? I hope they all disappeared.”
“They’re all gone,” Tyler called over the fan. “When you blew the place up, I watched one wither away instantly. It was cool as hell, like a slo-mo video, nothing but old, rotted bones left over. There are, however, lots of gators lingering on the outside of her boundary, attracted by the noise and action. But they were real, not possessed.”
It was funny to me that we’d be happy to see live gators after all this. But it was the truth.
I woke, gasping.
The dream had been so real. Marinette stood on another rocky crag, her face full of anger and rage, and as I watched, she turned to face me, morphing slowly into Lili, her hair changing, growing longer, her gold dress becoming the one Lili had worn in the Underworld. The one with demon glyphs that shimmered when she moved. On top of her head a crown, covered in serpents, appeared. Lili’s eyes were alight with pain. She said four words to me: “It will be you.”
“What is it?” Rourke was up next to me instantly, his arms pulling me tightly against his chest. His heart was beating fast, no doubt wondering if I was going to disappear on him again.
We’d all been up late, talking into the night. We’d go
ne over the implications of everything that had happened to me—both in the Underworld and with Marinette. I told them the loa had been our maker, the patron goddess of werewolves, who had been killed, but her spirit had endured, holding on with half a soul. It’d been a shock for everyone to hear, but once I explained what she’d told me about her connection to my wolf, and how she’d made her, it had been easier for everyone to digest.
What was done was done. There was no going back now.
We were leaving this place at first light and I couldn’t wait.
“I’m okay.” I rubbed my fingers over his beautiful tattoos. “I just had a very realistic dream about the evil ladies in my life. I guess when you become a killer, you have to deal with the fallout. No getting around it.” I snuggled deeper into his body for warmth. “Having blood on my hands is not easy for me. It still feels very strange. I know ending Lili’s life was necessary, and my job moving forward with the Coalition will require me to do things like that, but it’s going to take me some time to adjust. Marinette didn’t even have a body, but knowing I ended her existence makes it tough.”
He kissed my temple. “It gets easier,” he murmured, sliding his lips down my neck. “You have to look at it as a necessary evil or it plays with your mind. What you did when you killed Lili saved thousands of lives, possibly hundreds of thousands. Lili was a threat to the human race, as well as the supernatural. It had to be done. But you spared Selene, so I believe you’re already finding a balance. I think with you, there will always be balance and we’re luckier for it.”
“I can only hope,” I said. “As the Enforcer, my job criteria will only get more intense, but I’m glad I have you by my side. There is no one better to help me through it than you.”
He turned me in his arms so I faced him. “Jessica”—he leaned in for a lingering kiss—“I will happily take whatever burdens I can from you. That’s my primary focus from now on—that and protecting you, which has been hard to do when you keep disappearing,” he growled. “But you don’t have to do all the enforcing on your own. You have a team behind you, one that will stay by your side every step of this journey. No one is going anywhere.”
I knew my team would go with me, but I didn’t want to gyp them out of a normal life. “Do you think we have to live somewhere special once I take a seat on the Coalition?” I asked. “Like a remote castle built on an impenetrable fjord?”
Rourke tilted his head back and laughed. “No, I think with modern technology the remote castle on the fjord is no longer a requirement. Though the members do need solid protection. But I think this rebirth will be different. There’s no way to keep the identity of the new members a secret. Times have changed too much for that, and I think it’s for the best. That will allow us to rally around you openly and use your Pack for position and power. Every Sect will know where you belong, and if they mess with you, they mess with all of us. That will erase many threats before they even develop.”
“You make it sound easy, like taking a corporate job at a firm. It’s not going to be that smooth and you know it.” I leaned up to nip his chin. “You’re just trying to make sure I don’t implode or have some serious PTSD once things get rolling.”
“There might be some of that,” he admitted, “but I don’t think it’s going to be harder than what we’ve gone through thus far. Think of it like this. You’ve been in a Coalition boot camp, so to speak, and once you take your official seat, you’ll be ready. We’ll look at this like a new job. We’ll be together, you’ll have your friends and family around you, and each step will bring us closer to our main goal—”
“Which is peace, I hope?” I asked. “That’s what I want. I want the supernatural race to take a few minutes and breathe.” I knew there would be trouble at the start with supernatural challenges to the new reign of power, but after a few years I was hoping that the Coalition would use their power to quell the unrest and create some kind of peaceful state—at least for a while.
“I think that’s an achievable goal,” he said. “Once the dust settles, I’m hoping, like you, that there will be a period of calm for us.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep that peace once we have it,” I said. “I can almost taste the victory, and it’s delicious.” I snuggled into his chest.
“You have to remember, it’s in the nature of supernaturals to fight.” His chest rumbled in his low bass. “I’m certain it won’t be calm forever, but my guess is this new Coalition will be the most powerful one to date. That will give us a decided advantage and likely buy us big chunks of peace.”
“Why do you think it will be the most powerful?” I asked, bringing my hand up to stroke his face, loving the feel of stubble under my fingertips.
“Because you’re on it,” he said simply. “I can feel the swell of magic inside you. You have tremendous power. Not to mention Eudoxia, who is not only a powerful vampire, but also fae. I see the Coalition members coming in with their root abilities and having a mix of power—almost like hybrids. And once you all share your magic, you will be unstoppable.”
“Do you think I have more power than you now?” I teased.
“Much more. And it’s raw. Jessica, you vibrate with strength. It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable to me that you have no idea how strong you are.” He grinned as he slanted his lips over mine.
I took his kiss greedily.
I broke from him, panting lightly. He tasted wonderful. “I know I have power, I can feel the concentrated magic in my body, but my wolf is in control of it. Now that I know she’s her own being, I trust her to deal with it, and because of that—and that alone—it allows me to feel more normal. Even after all of this. Without her, I don’t think I could do this. I really don’t.”
Rourke lay back and brought me with him, rolling me on top of him, his arms crushing me in their grasp. “You are perfect, you know that? You are handling this,” he murmured, “with your wolf. You’re a team, like we’re a team. I’ve never heard of a shifter and their beast being separate, sharing one body. Mine is very much a part of me—an extension of myself. I have feelings and lots of animal instincts that rear up inside me without warning, but it’s still just me. It makes us decidedly different, but I like that. I think having your wolf separate will keep you levelheaded and able to make good, solid decisions in a stressful time. That’s an asset.”
“It’s strange, because I don’t feel separate from her. I still consider her ‘my wolf.’ But having the knowledge that we’re different, each with our own soul, makes it easier moving forward. I felt that immediately. It lessens any competition for control on my end when it comes to supernatural issues. I can trust her to think for herself, and she knows a lot more than I do, and there’s no way to put a price on that. But we still don’t agree when it comes to my human issues. Her tendencies are decidedly supernatural, mine are not, and I’m not willing to give up my control on that. I will keep my humanness, whatever happens.”
“It makes sense you’d push back on that and hold your ground, and, Jess, your humanness is what makes you who you are. Your wolf will come to see that. And even though she might be irritated with you, she will respect you for it in the end.”
“She might, grudgingly.” I laughed. “I already feel like we understand each other better and it’s only been a handful of hours since it happened—”
“Ma Reine.” Naomi’s voice was quiet in the darkness but I jumped nonetheless. “We are sorry to bother you, but we must have a word.”
19
“Well, we’re not exactly sorry to interrupt you, per se,” Danny added as I scrambled to stand, Rourke right behind me, a very low chuckle rumbling under his breath, “but I am, however, apologetic it’s the middle of the night. See, we heard you chatting, even though you were doing your best to be quiet, and my girl and I”—his face broke into a huge grin as he beamed at Naomi—“would like your permission to get the hell out of here.”
“But only if that’s okay,” Naomi added hastily. “W
e know you will need us, but in light of what happened, we were hoping—”
“—with me almost losing my life and such,” Danny interjected smoothly, “we decided we have some catching up to do. And here”—he glanced around the planking and the trees—“is not the bloody place to do it.” He cleared his throat. “The kind of catching up we need to do is of a delicate nature.” Then he winked.
Rourke started to laugh openly and Naomi stiffened.
She blushed so hard, it resonated in the moonlight. I slapped Rourke on the chest with the back of my hand and inclined my head. “I hope Naomi is well aware that she’s going to have her hands full with you, Daniel Walker. And of course you can leave. You have my permission to get out of here ASAP. We’re going to be heading back at first light, and we’ll meet you at home.”
Danny replied, “Oh, Naomi knows what she’s in for, and she’s told me herself she’s in.”
“He speaks frankly,” Naomi said. “I am definitely… invested. But our duty to you comes first. We would not leave you knowingly in danger, but if you feel you are safe for a time, we would appreciate a few days away.”
“Well, let’s not be hasty. It could take weeks to complete the—” Danny said.
Naomi elbowed him in the ribs and he smiled like he’d just won the lottery.
“Of course, take your time. You two deserve it,” I said. “We’ll rendezvous at home. If anything happens, I’ll get word to you. Check the Pack phones daily.”
“We will, Ma Reine.” Naomi’s face broke into a wide grin. “I swear to it.”
Danny moved forward and took my hand, surprising me. “There’s just one more thing I must do before I leave.” He knelt down on one knee in front of me. “You are blood-bonded to my mate already, and we were bonded as well, until my untimely semi-death wiped the troth away. I would swear another one to you right now before we leave. Before all gathered here, I choose you, Jessica McClain, to be my Alpha. I was meant to serve you, and you alone, and I will continue to do so until I take my last dying breath.” He put his other hand over his heart.
Pure Blooded Page 16
