by Lisa Olsen
His bushy eyebrows rose at that. “You feelin’ peckish?”
“No! That’s not it at all. I was just wondering.”
Lee seemed to accept that well enough. “Near as I understand it, y’all don’t care for the taste of our blood, but it’ll do in a pinch. Or maybe it’s an acquired taste like gator.”
“Have you had gator meat before?”
“I never met a meat I didn’t like.” The wolfish grin was back and I smiled with him, my thoughts running into a more personal vein.
“So, you have a daughter?”
“I got a whole lotta kin back home. I had me a couple of sons as well, and their families.”
“How come you’re not with them?” I thought wolves were pack animals, more comfortable around their own kind, but he seemed content to travel wherever he could get work.
Lee let out a long sigh. “That there’s a longer story than we got time for, darlin’.”
I opened my mouth to protest that we had plenty of time but Rob’s appearance in the hall changed my mind. Dressed in soft workout pants and a white singlet, he looked better than he had a right to and I tried to suppress the hunger I knew shone in my face. Sure, we’d decided not to sweat it too much in the privacy of our own home, but we hadn’t discussed any open showing of affection yet.
“Hey, how did you sleep?” I asked as blandly as possible.
“Like the dead,” he replied, running a hand over his closely shorn head. “Any word from Lodinn?”
“That all depends on how much stock you put in dreams.” From the look on his face I could see I had his attention and Lee’s as well. “Let’s go into the kitchen and I’ll tell you what he shared with me last night.”
We picked up Maggie along the way and I told them all about the dream I had and the text I’d woken up to.
“Do you believe that’s how it happened?” Maggie asked when I was through, her hazel eyes wide.
“I don’t know. It could’ve all been a mind game, I suppose, but he was so upset… I have to think at least part of it was true.” Which meant Jakob was an even bigger bastard than I’d thought. “So, what do we do? It’s only a matter of time before he finds out Jakob’s hiding at my place, if he doesn’t already know.”
“I say we let Lodinn know he’s there. It’s his problem how to trick him out,” Rob said after a moment’s thought.
“Oh sure, then he ends up burning my house down,” I frowned, remembering Lodinn’s threat.
“Better to lose your house than your life.”
“There’s absolutely no guarantee that he won’t come after me after he kills Jakob. And Hanna’s still in there too. It’s pretty clear we can’t count on Jakob for any help now, so we have to do something.”
“At least we know where he’s holed up now,” Maggie offered with a sympathetic smile but Lee shook his head.
“That wasn’t never the problem. He ain’t been afraid of exposing himself, he’s too arrogant to think we can do him harm.”
Was it arrogance if it turned out to be true? It sure felt true. “Like Maggie said, we know where he lives now. What if we…”
“There’s no way we’re strolling into his home territory.” Rob cut that idea off before I’d had a chance to fully form it. “It’s not like storming into a vampire’s den and cutting off his head while he slumbers. There’s no time when an Ellri is vulnerable.”
“What about yer buddies with all the firepower?” Lee asked.
“The Order?” I blinked in surprise at the suggestion. “Yes, if we had a whole team attacking at once we’d stand a better chance, but there’s no way they’d ever move against him. It’s against the law to strike against an Ellri, and if there’s one thing the Order is about, it’s upholding vampire law. What about the local weres though? Is it against pack law to attack an Ellri?”
Lee shook his head. “Ain’t no way the shifters is gonna cross an Ellri. Law or no law, he’d still make us all kinds of dead in a fight.”
“Not even for a super huge chunk of money?” It’d be worth all I had and more to see the world with one less Ellri in it.
“Kinda hard to collect a reward if yer torn apart.”
“I could kill him,” Maggie volunteered, her voice so meek I almost didn’t understand what she said at first.
“No, Maggie, you couldn’t. He’s way too powerful.”
“That’s just it, he’d never suspect me. I could try to get close to him and…”
“No, absolutely not. I forbid it,” I interrupted her before she gave it any more thought. “What’s to stop him from compelling you and then you’ll be no better off than Hanna?”
“But he wouldn’t if he didn’t suspect…”
“You have to give him credit for being smarter than that. How would it look if you suddenly switched camps?” Rob said gently and I nodded, grateful for his support.
“Even if he didn’t know about your connection to Marcus, he has no reason to trust you. No, he’d probably use you as a bargaining chip against me like he did with Hanna.”
“So then our chances are…”
“Pretty much fuck all,” Rob sighed, leaning back in his chair. “I still say we should point Lodinn in Jakob’s direction and let them settle it between themselves. Then you, me, and any who’d care to come with can make ourselves scarce if need be.”
But what kind of life would that be, on the run? Then I realized that was exactly what Rob had been living with off and on for the past sixty years or more. Wasn’t that pretty much Jakob’s existence for even longer, trying to escape Lodinn’s notice? Even if Rob hadn’t understood why they’d been on the move, he was used to the nomadic lifestyle, never putting down roots. I agreed, it was better to live like that than to wind up as goo on the bottom of Lodinn’s boot, but I wasn’t ready to pack it all in yet.
“How about we call Mason and see how things are at the house? Maybe Jakob’s gotten over his case of the shivers and is ready to man up,” I suggested, reaching for the phone. He answered right away, which I took as a good sign. “Hey, Mason, how’s things?”
“It’s all quiet on this front,” he answered breezily. “I haven’t heard a peep from him since he stomped down and made a mess in the kitchen about an hour ago. I get bonus pay for playing houseboy, right?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I said, suppressing a smile. “Then he hasn’t made any sudden declarations of bravery or anything, has he?”
“Nope, not to me at least.”
“How’s Hanna? Is she still ticked off that I left her there?”
“Oh, you mean banished her to isolation with a couple of cavemen? Yeah, I’d say you’re not her favorite sister right about now. She’s not up yet though. I’m letting her sleep as long as she wants to.” That made sense, I’d want to limit my exposure to her cutting tongue if I was him too. “Hey, listen, I got a call from Frost that some of our new equipment is on the way and I told him to go ahead and have it delivered to your offices like you said. You don’t mind if we take over your conference room, do you?”
“Take it over?” I didn’t mind them using my offices temporarily, but setting up hardware wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind. “How much equipment are we talking about here?”
“Ah… I don’t know, our server room was pretty state of the art before, I can only assume this would be comparable. Plus, there’s weapons lockers, other kinds of tech… it’ll pretty much take up most of the space I’d imagine.”
All of a sudden I was struck by a flash of brilliance. “Hey, why don’t you guys come and set up in Jakob’s building? There’s plenty of room, you could take over one of the floors and there’d be tons of space left. And there’s strength in numbers, for all of our sakes.”
“Ah… I’m not sure he’d like that.”
“Then let him come out and enforce it. If Jakob’s going to hide himself away then he gets less of a say what goes on in his territory.” Okay, so maybe I liked the thought of sticking it to him, but Mason sou
nded less than convinced.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Fine, if I get his permission to let you guys use the space, will that be good enough?”
“Oh… sure, that’s a horse of a different color. Do you want me to put him on the phone?”
“No, I’ll send him a text.” Who knew what kind of a mood I’d find my Sire in? I wasn’t up for a lecture. “I’ll text you once I know which way the wind is blowing.”
“Sounds good. Later, sis.”
“Later.” My fingers flew over the keypad, sending a text explaining the Order’s needs. “Sounds like Jakob’s still a no go,” I reported. “In the meantime, you need to feed,” I said, with a pointed look to Rob.
“I’ll be alright for a while yet.”
That might be true, but why push it? “Why don’t you slip out and eat someone while I’m waiting to hear from Jakob?”
“I don’t want to leave you here.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, amigo,” Lee drawled.
“It ain’t about your ability to protect her, mate. It’s…”
“Yeah, I get it. I’m no match for the likes of him.” His sigh was heavy. “Well then, if y’all will excuse me, I think I’ll get some shut eye.” Lee shuffled off, his shoulders bowed.
“I think you hurt his feelings,” Maggie whispered and I nodded in agreement.
“Really, Rob. You hired him to watch over me and you’re not letting him do his job.”
“But he can’t protect you from Lodinn.”
“Neither can you.” I didn’t know how else to say it. “You could think about developing a taste for bagged blood, you know.”
“No thanks.” He made a face and I offered him an olive branch.
“We’ll both go out together then.” I didn’t need to eat yet, but I didn’t mind going with him if it made him feel better.
Rob let out a long breath. “How’s about this, I’ll pop round the corner and take care of it. I’ll be back in two shakes, yeah?”
“Sure, sounds good. I honestly don’t mind coming with you though.”
“You sit tight,” he smiled, reaching out to touch my cheek with the back of his fingers. The simple gesture warmed me down to my toes and it had nothing to do with his soaring temperature for needing to feed and everything to do with the fact that he’d done it in front of Maggie. I wasn’t sure she picked up on it until after he left and it was just the two of us in the kitchen.
“So, you took my advice where Rob’s concerned then?” she said, hiding her smile behind the cup of tea.
“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” I said loftily, though I didn’t bother to try to hide my smile in return. “We’re still keeping it quiet, but yes, we’re experimenting with deepening our relationship.”
“Oh, is that what all that ruckus was last night? Experimenting…”
My cheeks flushed three shades brighter as I realized what she meant. “You heard that?”
“Was hard not to, this place isn’t as well constructed as the house.”
“I’m so sorry.” I buried my face in my hands, I couldn’t look at her.
“I think it’s lovely, the two of you finally finding your way to each other.”
Sneaking a peek, I found nothing but approval on her face, but it was still embarrassing. “Thanks, but we’ll try and keep it down.” Or maybe I’d have to send someone around to the house to collect my vintage records to drown out the noise.
“Don’t worry about it, I only wanted you to know I wish you well.” Maggie rose and collected the cups, setting to washing them in the sink even though there was a fancy dishwasher in the ultra modern kitchen.
My phone chirped with a text message from Jakob, brief and to the point, telling me that the Order was welcome to use any of the first five floors above the lobby. He didn’t mention anything about either of his calls or ask about when he’d see me again. Maybe he really was starting to get the message?
At least some things were starting to look up.
*
Everything was falling apart.
I wasn’t even sure I’d heard Mason correctly when he called the next night. Still in bed, I’d been barely conscious enough to hear the phone ring and Rob was still passed out hard.
“Did you hear me? I said Hanna’s missing.”
“What do you mean she’s missing? How could she be missing? You’re supposed to be protecting her.” My soggy brain had trouble even processing the words. Maybe he meant something else?
“Sure I am, from anything trying to get in, or from Jakob, but not from her running away. She took off before I woke up.”
“Damn it, Mason, I gave you one job!” Almost the instant the words were out of my mouth I regretted them, I knew he probably felt even worse than I did. “I’m sorry, I know it’s not your fault,” I added quickly when he didn’t try to defend himself. “Are you sure she ran away and no one slipped in and stole her?” My mind did a hurried count of all the people who had access to the house, people I’d invited in who could be compelled to sneak in and take her, but his next words threw that theory out the window.
“She left me a note. I’ll spare you the biting wit, but the gist of it is, she doesn’t care about whatever deal you have going on, she wants to be with Lodinn.”
“Great. It’s a cinch she’s already told him about Jakob staying at the house then.” Cool beans on toast.
“What are you going to do? Go after her again? If so, I want in.”
“No, no I need to think this out first. Is Jakob there?”
“Yeah, he’s down in the kitchen doing his impression of a vacuum cleaner on what’s left of your fridge. Do you want to talk to him?”
“No. Sit tight, I’ll call you when I know what our next move is.”
“I’m sorry, Anja. So fucking sorry…”
“No, it’s okay, Mason. I know how much you love her. Don’t worry, we’ll get her back, I promise.”
I was getting better at the whole lying thing.
Chapter Nineteen
“You know this is a bad idea, right?” Lee’s voice was devoid of any opinion, his eyes staring straight ahead as we rode down the elevator.
“Yep.”
“Long as you know, darlin’.”
Despite the lack of judgment I got from the seasoned bodyguard, I couldn’t help but feel like I had to make him understand. There were reasons why I’d snuck out of Jakob’s apartment leaving Rob still fast asleep in the bedroom and Maggie in the dark as to where we were headed so she couldn’t spill the beans. “It honestly wouldn’t make a difference if we showed up at Lodinn’s place with Rob and Mason or not. Besides, it’s not like I’m going down there completely alone, I’m taking you with me.”
“I thought we already established I couldn’t protect ya from him?”
“But I’m not going alone, I’m hoping that keeps the vein from popping in Rob’s forehead.”
“I know that vein,” Lee chuckled, sobering as the doors opened to the main level and we stepped out into the lobby.
We remained silent until we got to the car. I’d swiped Rob’s keys, probably something else he’d be ticked off about. “I have to keep him safe, that’s all,” I said softly as he started the car.
“He feels the same way about you. I expect that’s what’s liable to send him through the roof.”
So he’d noticed after all. “I guess we’re doing a pretty crappy job of keeping it ourselves then, huh?”
“Naw, I just know him better’n most. That and I ain’t as heavy a sleeper as you might think.”
Wode tìan. Was there anyone who hadn’t heard our grindy noises? And we’d tried to be so careful last night too…
“Never you mind about that, you got bigger fish to fry. How’re we gonna play it?”
“Straight up. No sneakiness, no subterfuge. Rob’s right, this is Jakob’s problem. I offered to find Jakob for him in exchange for my sister. Well, now we know where Jakob is
, and I want my sister back.”
*
You’d think an all powerful being like an Ellri would have commandeered a multi-million dollar mansion or a penthouse suite somewhere, but Lodinn’s hideaway in the coastal town of Pacifica, was far more modest. Painted a bright, beachy aqua sometime in the seventies with a red brick foundation, the house couldn’t be more than a thousand square feet, tops. Its proximity to the ocean meant the tiny bungalow probably still cost over a million dollars easy, but the Ritz, it was not.
There were no servants, no security guards, the front door wasn’t even locked. Where the heck was Gunnar? Lee’s hand closed over mine on the doorknob, his head canted to one side as he sniffed at the marine breeze. “Out back,” he drawled, pointing with two fingers and I caught the faint murmur of gentle conversation.
The gate around the side slipped open easily enough, the golden flagstones leading us to a well manicured back yard, completely open to the private beach. Hanna sat next to Lodinn on a free standing glider swing built for two, her golden head lying against his shoulder as they looked out at the waves crashing over the rocks below. A stone fire pit glowed with banked coals, sending the occasional spark up into the sky. It would’ve been the ideal romantic getaway if not for the controlling jerkwad at her side.
I didn’t bother pussyfooting around, but continued on to the fire pit, blocking their view of the water. “Jakob is in my house. There, I’ve told you where he is, now release my sister.”
Lodinn’s head tilted to one side as he peered up at me, neither surprised nor disturbed by our sudden arrival. “I would’ve been more impressed if you’d told me before I heard it from your sister, but I’ll let it slide. However, that wasn’t the deal. I can hardly get in there to go after him,” he pointed out.
“It wasn’t the deal for you to steal Hanna away again either. You said she could stay with me.”
“I can’t help it if she wants me,” he said with a tight lipped grin, leaning down to kiss her temple.
“Of course you can,” I scowled. “You know it’s not real.”
“It sure feels real,” he leered, and I had to bite my lip to keep from trying to smack his smirky face in.
