“That,” she said, “was a vampire. I’m beginning to be able to tell the boys, at least, because you’re all horny all the time.”
Jason took her hand to lead her inside. “We’re called Primes,” he reminded her. “And you are absolutely correct.”
“This is not going to be pleasant,” Mike whispered as they took their seats on a leather sofa in the large central room. There were no windows and only one door, with Clan Primes standing guard on either side.
“Scared?” Cathy asked. She took it as a good sign that he sat beside her. It was a bad sign that every werewolf in the room glared at him when he did so.
She twined her fingers with his as he gave her a nod.
Sofia and Jason Cage were the last people to enter. Once they were inside, the door was closed and the Prime guards moved to stand in front of it.
“I guess no one’s leaving until the vampires say so,” Cathy whispered to Mike.
“You know how they always like being in charge,” he whispered back. “And I’m not sure that’s a bad thing right now. I might have killed you if they hadn’t interfered.”
“We’ve talked that through already. Just don’t try it again.”
He patted her on the knee. “Yes, dear.”
Sofia and Cage joined them on the sofa, and Cathy wondered, Now what? as the stares from every point in the room grew even more fierce.
“I welcome all of you to my citadel,” Lady Juanita said, drawing everyone’s attention. “First, Jason, will you please explain what you know about the Hunyara to everyone.”
Cathy was deeply interested in this. “Yeah, Jason, Mom never told me anything.”
“Wait for it,” Sofia whispered. “It’s like going to a movie, only—”
“Ladies, please,” Jason said. “Since I can’t touch everyone in the room, I must concentrate very carefully to communicate telepathically to all of you.”
Chapter Forty
C athy found out what Jason meant as his memories of everything he knew about her mother’s family filled her mind. Everything she found out tallied with what she’d learned from Eric.
When Jason was done, Cathy stood up. “My turn,” she said.
She explained about how she’d been captured and what her captors wanted from her. She didn’t tell them everything, since there were people who needed to be rescued, and she wasn’t sure if the werefolk would want to help or destroy the Hunyara. There was certainly plenty of hostility from the werewolves as they listened.
“The people who took me are a threat to all of us,” she continued. “They aren’t just a gang of crazed feral werewolves. They’re organized, fanatical, well funded, and high-tech. They want to destroy werefolk and vampires and anyone else who stands in their way. They have their own agenda, but I have the impression that they’re working with allies. Supernatural kind has enemies, but we Hunyara aren’t among them.
“There’s a full moon tonight, and as a mortal who suffered a werewolf attack, I should be howling at that moon right now. Everyone knows that bitten werewolves turn into mindless monsters during the full moon.
“Thanks to Sofia Hunyara’s wolf-taming gift, I’ve learned to control the madness. I am now no different than any natural-born.”
Her claim was greeted with hostile silence. Maybe she shouldn’t have put it quite like that, but damn it, it was true!
“What is the matter with you people?” she demanded. “The Hunyara aren’t the problem.”
“Tracker,” one of the werewolf elders finally said. “Why is this creature still alive? It admits to being feral, but you do nothing.”
“Even worse,” another werewolf said, “you have shielded a feral and protected it. You of all—”
“What a bunch of jerks,” Sofia interrupted.
“Destroy the feral!” the elder shouted at Mike.
“The hell I will!” He sprang to his feet and looked around, challenging all the others. Most looked away. “Our world has changed, and I’m not your damn Tracker anymore.”
“Haven’t you listened to a word Cathy’s said?” Sid spoke into the sudden shocked silence. The vampire female walked out of a shadowed corner of the room to stand beside Cathy and Mike. She glanced toward Lady Juanita. “With your permission?”
“Say what you wish,” the Matri answered. “The opinions of all are welcome.”
Sid knew very well that the werefolk resented her interference, but no one was going to argue with the Matri.
“I respect werefolk,” Sid said. “I work with the Bleythin pack and count them as my friends.”
She forced herself to remain calm and reasonable in the face of building animosity. She even sensed Joe’s anger at her.
“I am an outsider to the pack structure, but because I am a vampire of the Wolf Clan, which is affiliated with werewolves, I’ve observed and studied werewolves my entire life. I know that while vampires and werewolves are longtime allies, our methods of coping and dealing with the mortal world have taken drastically different directions in the last century. We agree that hiding from mortals is the safest means of protecting ourselves. Vampires have turned to science and technology as a means to hide in plain sight. Werefolk have taken a very different road. I think that it is a narrow, dangerous road that will lead to your extinction.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Harry chimed in.
“Traitor!” a female elder snarled at him.
“I’ve never done anything against the laws of our kind,” Harry pointed out. “Marrying a mortal is not forbidden.”
“It should be,” the elder shot back.
“Why?” a white-haired representative of the werefolk chimed in.
“Continue, Sidonie of House Antonia,” Lady Juanita commanded.
“Werefolk have hidden so long and so deeply that I don’t think even they know what they’re hiding from anymore. You don’t allow werefolk to change their mortal lovers; you even discourage them from having mortal lovers. When mortals do somehow get bitten, you don’t allow the bitten mortals into your packs, even though the natural-born birthrate gets lower every generation—”
“The bitten can never be trusted!” an elder proclaimed.
“They’re abominations,” said another.
“Bullshit!” Cathy yelled.
“History shows that bitten werefolk can learn to be calm during the moonchange given time,” Sid went on.
“It isn’t the law to kill the bitten just because a feral attacked them,” Mike pointed out. “But it has become the custom. A custom that I’ve been expected to carry out. I’ve become sick of killing people who were victims themselves, and you’re angry with me because I stopped doing it.”
“Your council has decreed the destruction of all ferals, even the ones that could be tamed,” Sid said. “But you can use the Hunyara to—”
“We have to protect ourselves,” an elder interrupted. “These Hunyara are outsiders.” The elder pointed at her. “You’re an outsider. Vampires have no business interfering in our dealings with these Hunyara.”
“I think you might be wrong about that,” Cathy spoke up.
She turned to Lady Juanita. “My captor told me something that I didn’t believe at the time, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. He told me that the Hunyara are descended from an offspring of a vampire and a werewolf.”
“That’s not possible,” Joe declared.
“We don’t know that,” Juanita answered. “Continue.”
Cathy noted that the vampires looked as stunned at this revelation as the werefolk. They didn’t look as offended, though. Primes, she concluded, would make it with anything that moved.
She gestured at Sofia, who stood and looked around. There was telepathic power in that look that registered on every psychic in the room. None of the werefolk could meet her gaze for more than a few seconds.
Cathy let out a long breath and rubbed her forehead. “Werewolves can’t do what she just did, but vampires can. She used the unders
tanding of werewolf instincts and the psychic power of a vampire to save me.”
“Maybe the Hunyaras are a cross between the best of both our kinds,” Sid said, taking up Cathy’s argument. “We need to study them to find out how their gift works. More important, the werefolk need to start thinking like they live in the twenty-first century and let the Hunyara use their gift for the good of all of us. In the meantime, I request that the Matri of the Wolf Clan grant the Hunyara protection.”
This sent the werefolk into a frenzy of argument. Cathy, Sid, and Sofia looked at one another and silently agreed to stay out of it. Jason and Mike stood protectively next to them.
“Nothing’s getting resolved,” Sofia whispered.
“I know,” Sid replied. “But we’ve made a beginning. There’s so much that has to be brought out into the open, it’s going to take a long time to settle.”
“In the meantime, we’ve got more pressing matters to deal with,” Cathy said.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Jason asked.
“That most of the bad guys got away with Hunyara hostages.”
Sofia swore; Mike roared. Suddenly everyone in the room looked their way. The psychic interference from the vampires as well as the others’ shouting had kept their conversation quiet, but Lady Juanita wasn’t the only one to give them shrewd, suspicious looks.
When the Matri spoke into the heavy silence, everyone paid attention. “Since there is clearly so much more we need to learn from these Romany, I grant all members of the Hunyara bloodline the protection of the Wolf Clan.” She looked around, but nobody was stupid enough to argue. Her gaze settled on Jason. “Will my protection be enough to bring the Hunyara out of hiding?”
“I believe it will,” Jason answered.
“But how—” Sofia began.
“It’s the twenty-first century, remember?” He took out his cell phone. “I’ve got Uncle Pashta on speed dial.”
Chapter Forty-one
S ofia didn’t like it when the Matri took Jason off for a private chat after the meeting; being separated from Jason was almost physically painful for a few moments. Annoyed with herself for being so needy, she went outside in search of privacy, cutting through the garden on the way back to their room. She noticed Sid Wolf sitting on a bench by the fountain and started to pass by with only a nod of greeting.
But the vampire woman looked so forlorn, Sofia couldn’t help but stop and ask, “What’s the matter?”
She’d always made a point never to pry into other people’s business and had avoided making friends, but a lot of her emotional barriers were melting away lately. As for never falling in love—well, she’d certainly screwed up that intention. Damn.
“You’re scared,” Sid answered. “Terror is coming off of you in waves.” She patted the bench beside her, and Sofia took a seat.
“You don’t look so happy yourself.” She glanced around the garden. “Who are you hiding from?”
Sid sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“Sordid?”
“Completely. What are you scared of? You can’t lose Jason, you know. That’s what bonding’s all about.”
“But do I want to keep him? Or anyone? What if I have to spend my life defending the Hunyara from all those werefolk?” The prospect of battles to come made her doubt any possibility of settling down and living happily ever after.
“You might have to do that,” Sid agreed. “But does doing your duty really have to interfere with you and Jason? Do you think he’ll let it?”
“I don’t know. No. But what about what I—”
“Mortals have free will, don’t they?”
Sofia nodded.
“Primes do, too. You two will be fine.”
Sofia didn’t know if that was true, but she still found it reassuring. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. Sofia enjoyed the jasmine-scented evening breeze and the splashing of the fountain. “Do you live here?” she asked after a while.
“No. I’ve got my own place. That might change soon, though.”
Sofia sensed that Sid didn’t want to pursue that subject. She recalled Sid’s part in the meeting and said, “You’re quite the politician, aren’t you? I was impressed by the way you worked the situation around so that the Matri offered to protect my family.”
“That was more Cathy’s doing than it was mine. She provided the vital information; I used it. I was raised to be a diplomat. I’d rather be a warrior, but I’m likely to end up being a Matri.”
“Then watch out, world.” Sofia grinned.
Sid gave her a conspiratorial smile. “Maybe. I need to have a few kids first, start my own house.” She shook her head. “That’s going to be complicated, but having children is important.”
Sofia considered the vampire for a moment. “I like you, Sid,” she said. “But I won’t if you try to play me. Why don’t you tell me straight up what you want?”
Sid smiled at her. “I’d hate to sit across a negotiation table from you.”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing? Your conversation with Jason about wanting his baby wasn’t something I dreamed, was it?”
Sid looked around as though frightened of being heard. How much of this “dream” conversation do you remember?
I want you to father my child. Sex is not necessary for what I have in mind, Sofia remembered. “You’re looking for a sperm donor.”
Sid nodded. Then she proceeded to telepathically whisper her reasoning into Sofia’s head.
It gave Sofia a great deal to think about, but they were interrupted by Joe Bleythin’s arrival before she could ask any questions.
“I’ve been looking for you, Sidonie.”
He sounded calm, but the furious wolf Sofia sensed beneath the surface made her skin crawl.
Sid stood. “I thought you might be.” She looked like she was prepared for the worst.
Sofia knew she didn’t belong here. Dealing with this werewolf was Sid’s business.
As she walked away, she heard Joe say, “Lucy, you got some ’splainin’ to do.”
“What can I say?” Sid asked. “I’m as surprised as you are.”
“Do you know that you blink when you lie?”
“I do not!”
Joe gave a harsh laugh. The air around them seemed to grow colder. “So you are lying.”
He knew her too well—except for the things she’d made him forget. Sid turned away. “I do not want to have this conversation with you, Joseph Bleythin. At least not here and now.”
“What did you know?” he demanded. “When did you know it, and for how long? And exactly what have you not been telling me?”
“About the Hunyaras? I don’t know any more than you do about the bad guy’s claims about Cathy’s family.” That was true, even if…
“Your species didn’t seem repulsed by the idea of mating with members of my species when the subject came up. Why was I the one who protested?”
Sid shrugged. “Well, you know Primes…”
“How much have you lied to me? Why?”
His anger was shredding her. “It’s complicated.” She sighed. “Maybe the lesson should be to never do anything for anyone else’s own good—because it’ll only come back and bite you in the ass.”
“Explain that to me.”
“Okay.” She looked up at the moon rather than at Joe, then took a deep breath. “I love you.”
He was silent for a long time. She heard him pace around the fountain, then come back to her.
“I don’t love you,” he said.
Sid made herself look him in the eye. “Yes, you do. You just don’t remember.”
After that, the shouting started.
Chapter Forty-two
S ofia was surprised to find Jason already in their room when she reached it. He’d changed into black silk pajama bottoms, in which he looked mighty fine, and was lying on the bed reading a book. She instantly wanted to climb on beside him and toss aside the book.
“And you a lo
ver of literature,” he said, looking up and raking her with a hot gaze.
“Some things are more important than a good book.” She chuckled. “That would be considered heresy if I posted it on my blog. Then again, it would be considered porn if I posted what I’m currently considering—and I’d get a lot more hits than I do talking about books.”
He put the book on the nightstand and patted the mattress beside him. “Come here.”
“Give me a minute.”
She smiled and went into the walk-in closet. If he could wear black silk, so could she. She found a sexy, lacy confection in a lingerie drawer and quickly slipped into it. She gave a brief glance in the full-length mirror to check the effect, then shook out her long curls so that they rested on her shoulders and framed her face.
“How do I look?” she asked, stepping back into the bedroom.
He looked her over, eyes lighting with lust. “Wanton,” was his response.
“What a lovely, old-fashioned word.” She slinked forward, and he rose to meet her. “George and Gracie aren’t likely to disturb us, are they?”
He took her in his arms. “They’re kenneled up, and the evening is ours.” He nuzzled her throat, kissed across her collarbone and down between her breasts.
Sofia curled her toes in the deep carpet. “That feels sooo nice.” She ran her hands over his shoulders and arms, relishing the feel of sculpted muscles and warm flesh. “What did the Matri want with you?”
He gave her a look that said this wasn’t the time or place for conversation, but after a moment he gave in to her curiosity. “She’s concerned about Sidonie. She wanted to know if I knew any Prime among the Families that might spark Sid’s interest.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That I’d think about it.”
“Um…”
Jason drew away from her. “What?”
“Can we talk? About Sid.”
He looked almost panic-stricken. “I don’t know what you overheard, but—”
“I know she wants to have your baby. Rather, she wants you to father her baby.”
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