Char nodded in relief. Iris and Marisol flanked Wolf’s sister, hugging her tight as they settled into the limo.
“You said over the phone you pulled Wolf out of the desert, after witnessing him get shot up. Do you know any more?” Cain asked.
“I do, but it might be best if I wait till we reach Coso’s place. This is going to take some explaining.”
Bastian glanced at the Outsiders in the limo. He wasn’t prepared to talk about Shifter business in open company, not to mention the other bizarre shit he witnessed last night. Everyone was quiet as they headed out of town. No doubt they were tired after the redeye flight.
Coso met the limo as they pulled up to his adobe ranch house.
“Coso, this is Char, Wolf’s sister.”
“Thank you for everything.” Char reached out and shook Coso’s hand.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, although I wish it was under better circumstances. I expect your brother to rouse soon. He’s a stubborn one. He kept waking as my healer was removing the bullets.” Coso placed a comforting hand on Char’s shoulder, as he led everyone out of the Nevada heat.
“He is stubborn,” Char gave a wavering laugh.
“Something to drink?” Coso offered, once inside.
“Yes, please.” Bastian could use a drink, or several. “Can I talk around everyone?” he whispered to Cain.
“Yeah. Iris, Marisol and Abuela aren’t run of the mill Outsiders. Thanks.” Cain took the beer Coso extended.
Bastian looked to Coso, to confirm that he was comfortable talking around Outsiders. Coso nodded and took a seat at the end of the island. Bastian was glad everyone was here, because he didn’t think he could explain this craziness twice.
“As I told you over the phone, I saw Wolf get shot in the desert. What I didn’t say was that I think it happened because of a woman.”
“Wolf was looking for Ella. He tracked her to the Palazzo,” Char said as she popped the cap off her beer.
I knew it.
“That’s the girl Drake had with him last night at our card game,” Coso interjected.
“Oh god. You’ve seen Ella? Where is she?” Char looked from Bastian to Coso.
“She’s probably at the Palazzo.”
“Then we need to go get her,” Char insisted.
“It’s not that easy,” Coso interjected.
“The Palazzo is Drake’s stronghold. Under normal circumstances the jackal would fiercely protect his castle. But I have a feeling Drake would happily call in the whole of his clan to keep your friend,” Bastian related.
“Do you think he’s holding Ella for ransom? Wolf and I believe she came to Vegas to get money, fast, for her sister’s hospital bills,” Char frowned.
“If she got caught cheating Drake’s casino, it would explain why he’s holding her,” Coso added.
“You know that’s not why the jackals are keeping Ella,” Iris said to Bastian as she took the barstool next to him.
The pregnant brunette’s assertion surprised Bastian. His eyes widened as Iris continued to stare at him.
“What’s up, babe?” Cain pulled Iris’ feet into his lap.
“Nothing specific, just that Wolf’s girlfriend is gifted,” she replied thoughtfully. “But Bastian knows more about it than I do.”
Bastian’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
“Gifted how?” Coso asked, looking eager and intrigued.
“Aw fuck,” Trip laughed. “Poor bastard.”
Cain’s grin broadened as he gave Trip a conspiratorial look. Bastian really wanted to be let in on the joke.
“Mi Rey, what are you saying?” Marisol sauntered up to Trip. She ran her hand over his chest and Trip jumped, from the static she stirred up.
Iris and Cain snorted simultaneously.
“Hey! Easy there, Sparky.” Trip grinned as he tugged Marisol into his arms.
“I don’t think I understand. What do you mean by gifted?” Char asked.
“Yes please, enlighten us.” Coso sat on the edge of his seat.
“I can’t believe Wolf didn’t tell his family about us. I don’t know if I should be touched or offended,” Iris said to Marisol. “You’re better at demonstrations, if you don’t mind.”
“Si.” Marisol nodded and extended her hand.
“Do the snow globe,” Trip insisted, sounding as giddy as a kid on Christmas.
“Okay.” Marisol gave Trip a broad smile.
“Good thing you’re sitting,” Cain commented to Bastian.
Marisol opened her palm and they all watched as a blue ball of lightning emerged from her fingertips. Bastian’s mouth dropped open as he stared in awe at the orb.
“What the fuck?” Char stammered, expressing the same sentiment Bastian was feeling.
The shifting ball of lightning grew until it resembled a large bubble. If that wasn’t freaky enough, inside the bubble a storm began churning. Tiny lightening flashed and rain pelted against the walls of the strange sphere. Everything shifted, turning into snow and ice. Marisol wiggled her hand, shaking the orb, sending the snow careening inside. Bastian now understood why Trip called it a snow globe.
Bastian was nearly startled out of his seat, when a blast of electricity shot out from nowhere. The white-hot bolt pierced the sphere, sending the handful of snow cascading onto the counter.
“Hey,” Marisol declared as she glanced past the group.
Bastian followed Marisol’s gaze, to see Abuela giving her granddaughter a cheeky smile. It wasn’t just Marisol who possessed the frightening gift.
“I’ve seen just about all I can for a good long while,” Bastian insisted when he found his voice.
“What, you guys can go all feral, but we Outsiders can’t have our little quirks?” Iris looked from Char to Bastian, then to Coso’s stunned face.
Bastian was glad he wasn’t the only one with his hair standing on end.
“Amazing.” Coso stood and approached Marisol in awe. “It makes sense that others would have the same pua that also lives in the Shifter breeds.” Coso nodded.
Bastian agreed. If Shifter existed, then there had to be others with similar quirks in the world. But the fact that Coso was unaware of gifted individuals like Marisol and Abuela was disconcerting. Coso was the go-to authority on all things unusual. It was no secret that the Paiute held the knowledge of Shifter origins.
“Of course,” Abuela replied with a matronly pat on Coso’s back. The way the old woman made the comment, it was as if this should be common knowledge.
Bastian chuckled at the flummoxed sheepish expression Coso cast the old woman.
“I can’t believe Wolf knew about this and didn’t say anything. What’s your quirk?” Char asked Iris.
“She makes Cain’s shitty moods disappear,” Trip laughed.
Bastian chuckled.
“Nice. Thanks,” Cain replied.
“My gift is a bit more difficult to see.” Iris wiggled her piggy toes at Cain and he started massaging them. “Will you hand me that pen and paper, please?”
“Sure.” Bastian passed her the items.
“Thanks.” Iris quickly sketched something. “Does this mean anything to you?” Iris showed the picture to Bastian.
“That’s the playing card.”
Bastian gawked at the drawing, like he was staring at a ghost. It wasn’t a perfect sketch, but oddly it contained all the details that stood out in Bastian’s mind. The way Iris scrawled the word help, in the same diagonal direction, was uncanny. She even got the large capital H right.
“Disturbing, isn’t it?” Cain interrupted his thoughts.
“Hey!” Iris kicked Cain with her tiny barefoot. Cain grinned as he caught it, then kissed Iris’ instep. “Stop,” she giggled. “I see things. It would take too long to explain more than that.”
“You don’t want her to step foot in your casino, ever,” Trip interjected.
“Behave,” Marisol admonished her man, though she wore a smile.
“Yes mam,” Trip qu
ickly replied. He then leaned toward Bastian. “I pissed Marisol off once, and she lit my ass up. The electricity arced through all my piercings. And let me say, the one below the belt stung like a son of a bitch,” Trip whispered loud enough everyone could hear.
As unpleasant as that sounded, Trip didn’t look the least bit worried as Marisol touched him.
“TMI man.” Cain shoved his friend.
The group got along well for being so unusual. Bastian now understood why Cain and Trip latched onto these women. Drake latched onto Ella for the same reason. But Bastian doubted the woman felt more than loathing for the jackal.
“You said you saw the picture Iris drew.” Coso brought them back on track.
“Yeah, at last night’s card game. Ella tried to reach out to me for help. Somehow, she wrote help on one of the cards in my hand. I didn’t know what was going on, so I followed Drake when he left,” Bastian explained. He took a big swig of his beer before continuing. “Drake took Ella out in the desert to meet a van with four jackals and Wolf. When Wolf was shot, it was like Ella exploded.”
Bastian shook his head in confusion and disbelief. He would’ve felt completely absurd explaining this, if he hadn’t witnessed the other women’s bizarre skills.
“What do you mean explode?” Char demanded.
“Explode. Shockwave. She tossed Drake’s sports car and tipped a van. But Ella was unhurt.”
“The earthquakes,” Char mumbled. “Ella can move things. That’s her gift.”
“You hit the nail on the head. That feels right. That’s why Drake’s holding Ella, and attempted to bump off Wolf when he came looking for her.” Iris nodded. “I hate kidnapping assholes,” she added.
“Me too amiga,” Marisol agreed.
Cain repressed a growl. Trip wore a similar foul expression as he held onto Marisol. Bastian was certain there was a story there, but it would have to wait.
“So, Ella can move things with her mind,” Coso mused out loud. “If that’s true, then I think she saved Wolf’s life.”
Char’s hand covered her mouth to repress a sob.
Bastian didn’t know how Ella saved Wolf, when the explosion leveled everything around her, but then again, he didn’t know how any of this was possible.
Wolf
“Char, stop yelling at me,” Wolf groaned.
“He’s awake,” Char said to someone. “I can’t believe you went rushing into a jackal stronghold. You should’ve brought me along, like I told you.”
Wolf cracked his eyelids to see his sister’s peeved face.
“I didn’t know the jackals were holding…Ella.” Wolf struggled to sit up as her name crossed his lips.
“Don’t be stupid,” Cain growled as he pushed Wolf back down. “You’re going to open those wounds back up.”
“They’ve got her,” Wolf snarled, as he glared at his friend.
He didn’t know why Cain was here, or even where here was. What Wolf did know was that he had to rescue Ella from the jackals.
God only knows what that bastard’s done to her.
“I would suggest you calm down.” Wolf recognized Coso, the desert alpha. “You were all but dead in that canyon. The Great Wolf looked kindly on you once, but don’t test Isa’s favor. One of those bullets struck you in the heart, then reversed course, and your ticker knit back together before you died. So, don’t throw your second chance away being stupid.”
“Ella,” Wolf whispered. He’d felt her intense energy surround him before he passed out in the desert.
“Yeah, it was Ella,” Iris confirmed as she smiled sympathetically.
Wolf knew Ella was amazing. Apparently, everyone else knew too, now.
“We’re going to get her back,” Cain promised.
“Damn straight we are,” Vick rallied.
Wolf was happy to see who all had come to his aid.
“I know we will,” he growled.
“We need to be cautious with how we move forward,” Coso insisted. “Jackals may not outnumber the wolf and feline breeds across the territories, but most of them reside here in Nevada. That means they pose a formidable force in this region.” Coso paced back and forth. “Drake’s not going to let us just walk in and take the female he covets.”
“It would be just like Drake to use this as an excuse to start a war. All his people would back him if they thought the other breeds had stolen his mate,” Bastian snarled.
Wolf nearly leapt off the couch, at the mere suggestion the fucking jackal wanted to mate his Ella.
“Seriously man?” Cain smacked a hand on Wolf’s forehead, affectively pinning him to the couch.
A deep feral growl rumbled through Wolf’s chest, but it petered out as a wave of dizziness struck.
“Wolf, we’re going to get her,” Iris said sincerely.
Those words gave Wolf the most comfort yet. If anyone knew it was Iris.
“Drake may not let a Shifter into his casino,” Iris said as she tapped her chin with that funny look Wolf had seen before.
Iris glanced pointedly from Abuela to Marisol, her smile widening.
“Iris, I know you’re hatching something. The answer is no,” Cain snarled vehemently.
“I agree, it’s too fucking dangerous,” Trip growled.
“Mijo, I think I’m old enough to make my own decisions,” Marisol’s grandmother admonished Trip.
“Mi amore, I don’t ever get to have fun,” Marisol pouted. “Let the girls play, and I’ll let you do that thing you’ve been begging for,” she demurred seductively.
Marisol played Trip like a fiddle. Wolf could only imagine what she was bribing him with. Knowing Trip, it was something raunchy.
“I can’t ask you to do this,” Wolf insisted.
Wolf appreciated the offer. He knew what the three amazing women were capable of, but he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself, if anything happened to them.
Wolf clenched his fists. He hated how useless he felt. He needed more time to heal from getting riddled with bullets, but Ella needed him now.
“Cain, this is the only way, without starting a war,” Iris insisted sweetly. “Just hear me out. We won’t be alone.”
“Fine. Tell us what you see,” Cain rumbled, as he threw his hands up in defeat.
Iris giggled with maniacal glee, her pregnant belly shaking.
“I think I’m frightened,” Tony commented.
“You should be,” Wolf replied, though silently he said a prayer of thanks.
11 Jackpot
Wolf
“It’s called Skype, Abuela, not skape,” Marisol explained as they sat in the back of the cargo van.
“Netscape. Skape. Skype. I don’t know.” Abuela shrugged.
“This is from the woman who can use the internet like a pro,” Trip chuckled.
“It has everything. Did you know you can look at grandfather Tlaloc ‘s mountain ruins from space? I never imagined.” Abuela shook her head in amazement.
“She calls the internet amazing, when she and Marisol are descended from an Aztec rain god,” Char whispered in disbelief to Wolf.
“Coso thinks we’re descended from Isa the Wolf, the Paiute god of creation. But I don’t think it really matters much. We all exist. That’s all the explanation I need,” Wolf replied with a shrug.
Wolf overheard Coso talking with Bastian. The desert alpha had a lot of theories about why the unusual women had found their way into Shifter circles. Wolf didn’t know if he believed the clandestine talk about reinvigorating the Shifter breeds. If anything, Wolf believed kindred souls gravitated toward each other. People like Ella, Iris and Marisol, needed others who understood them. Ella wasn’t a blooded Shifter, but no matter what happened, she was family, and would always be welcome.
“Alright kids, we’re here. Time for business,” Cain announced as he parked in the lot beneath the Palazzo hotel.
“I remember my part. I get out and make the cameras fuzzy,” Abuela related.
“Yes, but don’t zap the pho
nes you’re carrying. And don’t permanently knock out the hotel’s cameras,” Marisol reminded her grandmother.
“Yes, mija, I know. We don’t want the jackals to become suspicious. I do have a measure of control over grandfather’s gifts,” Abuela teased.
The old woman had more than a measure of control over her skills. Wolf had seen Abuela and Marisol in action. They could control more than electricity. The women could wield all the powers of the ancient Aztec god. Making a few cameras go fuzzy was child’s play.
“Everyone check your phone. Make sure your Bluetooth earbud is working, and you’re signed into the Skype conference call,” Wolf instructed as he pulled up the app on the tablet.
“Got it.” Iris fit her earpiece then adjusted her hair to cover the small bud.
“I’m going in.”
Abuela straightened her hotel uniform, grabbed her giant purse and the package she was assigned, then got out of the van. With her phone clipped to her waistband, Wolf had a clear view of her walking through the parking garage and into the hotel.
“Our turn.” Trip smiled to Marisol and Iris.
Trip was the only Shifter going into the hotel, at least until the signal was given. The brother was considered unusual, even among Shifters breeds. It was comforting that he would be close to the women. Still, Cain looked like he was ready to come unglued as he kissed Iris, before she waddled out of the van. Wolf sympathized. He felt so close to Ella. He wanted to rush into the hotel, kick some ass, and retrieve her.
“Now we watch, and wait,” Bastian spoke through their Skype connection.
Both Bastian and Coso were monitoring the action from the other vehicles parked in garages around the Palazzo.
Char, Cain, and Wolf’s betas, gathered around, staring at the split screen on the tablet. Abuela was already inside the hotel, heading toward the employee corridor. She touched the badge sensor and the door instantly unlocked, as if she had official access. They watched her reach the security room and again repeat the move.
“Excuse me. This area is for authorized staff only,” the security guard said.
Wolf had a good view of the male from Abuela’s phone. He could also see the security monitors in the room.
Beautiful Moves: A Motorcycle Club, Shifter, Romance (Shifting Steel Book 3) Page 16
