Double Trouble (Taz Bell Book 5)

by Sharon Green

  "Not if he wants to work on the team he won't," George said with his own grin. "We've already told him we refuse to carry him while going after rogues, and he knows we weren't joking."

  "I'd better keep that in mind for myself," Bari added with her own amusement. "The food in this place is so good that you kind of lose sight of what you might turn into if you keep shoveling that food in your mouth."

  Art looked really impressed by that comment, and I saw that he seemed to be wishing it was already time to eat. We probably would have changed the topic of conversation, but that was when Oldon and Harry reappeared in the front hall. Oldon was thanking Harry as he walked the man to the front door, and then our visitor was gone with a smaller package than the one he'd brought. Oldon was also carrying something, a fact we discovered when he rejoined us at the table.

  "I hope everyone will forgive me, but I've got to try this," he said, gesturing with the package. "It's pastrami on rye with pickles, and I can't tell you how often I've wondered about the tastes. Everyone who talks about the food sounds as if they're in-"

  Oldon's words broke off as he spooned some Whippe into his mouth, and then his eyes closed.

  "…sounds as if they're in heaven," he finished once he'd swallowed. "And yes, eating two of the three together does make the experience awesome. That suggestion came from Harry, and I'll have to remember to thank him."

  He took a taste of the third bowl of Whippe, and this time his brows went up.

  "So that's what sour pickles are like," he said, the words on the thoughtful side. "I don't know if I like them, but I'll definitely give them a chance. They might be something you have to get used to."

  And then he dived into the other two bowls of Whippe while the rest of us chuckled. Our teammate really was enjoying himself, a sight we enjoyed. It didn't take long for all the Whippe to be gone, and then Oldon sat back with his cup of warmed blood.

  "Yes, I'm definitely going to have to watch myself," our vampire teammate said with a satisfied sigh. "I know the rest of you won't carry me on a hunt, but I also don't want you to have to roll me along. That was incredible."

  Everyone at the table but Art knew exactly how good pastrami on rye was, so we all did our best to describe to our doctor friend just what he was missing. We also had to commiserate with his loss; the south had a lot of great things, but real New York deli wasn't one of them. Which was really too bad. Once you get hooked on deli it's hard to live without it.

  We talked about nothing important for a while, and then we discovered it was suppertime. Jack started us all with salads, also offering three different kinds of dressing to choose from. I chose the Thousand Islands, and the others made their own choices.

  The main dish was a roast, with mashed potatoes and gravy as well as corn and broccoli with a cheese sauce. We all stuffed ourselves, of course, with Art joining in enthusiastically, and it didn't take all that long before the food was completely gone. Oldon watched us eat with a small smile on his face, which gave me the feeling that he'd be trying his own dinner plate a bit later.

  After supper we sat around drinking coffee, something we hadn't had with the meal. Soft drinks were served with the food, and coffee came only with the dessert. There wasn't much room for the cheesecake Jack brought out, but we somehow managed to finish it off.

  "It's going to take a few minutes before I can get up and walk," Art said after sipping from his cup. "That was definitely one of the best meals I've ever eaten. If I didn't own a house, I'd be tempted to move in here with the rest of you."

  "I think Shell and Jack will be sorry they have such a small place," Freemont said with a laugh that most of the rest of us joined in. "Once word gets out about how great this place is, they'll need a bat to beat off everyone who wants to move in."

  "But they'll also have us to help beat back the frenzied mobs," Eric pointed out with a laugh the rest of us echoed. "Those mobs will be trying to displace us, and I, for one, refuse to allow that to happen."

  "Count me in on that," Amiol said while the rest of the team made sounds of similar agreement. "You don't have to actually destroy attackers with magic, so I ought to be able to do my share."

  "You can also call on me to help out," Art said, his smile of amusement very clear. "After all, getting to eat here every once in a while is better than not eating here at all because I don't know the new tenants."

  The conversation then went to what we would do to defend the house, every suggestion sillier than the previous one. We had a lot of fun, talking until most of the food we'd eaten was digested, and then Art sighed.

  "It's time for me to leave, even though I don't want to go," he said, looking around at everyone. "I've had friends in my life, but nothing like the bunch of you. Be careful when you go after your rogues, and if you need me you just have to call."

  We all thanked him sincerely, and then Eric and I walked him to the door. We exchanged another few words at the door, and then Art had to admit he really did have to leave. His reluctance was obvious when he walked out, and once I'd closed and locked the door behind him Eric sighed.

  "I know why he took so long to leave," my teammate said, the words carved out of unhappiness. "The closeness we all share isn't something to be found everywhere even if you aren't considered something dirty to a lot of people. If I ever had to leave…"

  "You don't have to say it, because I know exactly how you feel," I assured him when his sentence trailed off. "What we all have is very special, and if our team broke up we'd never find the same thing with others. And there's something I've been meaning to say, but just couldn't find the place or the time. I could well owe you my life, Eric, and I wish we could figure out a way for me to show you how really … grateful I am."

  Eric grinned when he understood – just about instantly – that grateful wasn't the proper word. He knew exactly what I was talking about, and his grin turned rueful.

  "That's the problem with apartments, you have neighbors," he said softly, his hand coming toward my face even though it stopped before he touched me. "We'll figure something out, Taz, even if it happens to be finding a quiet motel. Once all the nonsense is behind us, that is."

  I nodded and smiled to show I'd be just as patient as he was being, and then we went into the kitchen to get final cups of coffee along with the rest of the team. Or most of the team. Oldon seemed to have already gone back to his apartment, and it wasn't long before the rest of us did the same.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  I read for a while as I finished my last cup of coffee, then I showered and went to bed. It didn't take long to fall asleep, and then –

  Putting down the last bundle of grass in the barn felt better than good. It seemed like we'd been working for months to gather fodder for our new villagers, an effort we weren't used to making.

  "Is that the last of it?" Regina asked, gesturing to the bundle of grass. "I hope so, because I'd really hate to fall over dead with the job unfinished."

  I had to laugh at her comment, knowing as I did that she was just exaggerating. We'd all been working for days to finish the chore, and some of the young women had helped us men. It was starting to turn cold out, and soon it would be winter. That meant we had to get the grass gathered before it died out in the fields.

  "There's one more meadow that has to be cleared, but that's not our job," I told her smile. "We can help out when they get the grass here to the barn, but we don't have to do any cutting or dragging the bundles away."

  We hadn't actually dragged the bundles, only the wagons we put the bundles into, but that was more than enough. We were all exhausted, something we definitely weren't used to.

  "I bet some of the other young men are glad about that," Regina said as we both turned and headed out of the barn. "Some of them haven't yet finished their houses the way you have. Will you be moving into the house very soon?"

  "Probably not until the spring," I said, half wondering how she knew my house was all built. "I'll use the winter to make the
furniture I'll need, not to mention cutting wood for the fireplace. And spending this last winter with my parents will help when I move out of their house."

  "Help you to miss them a little less." Regina nodded, her gaze distracted as she looked around. It had been a fairly nice day that was ending, nice but definitely on the cool side. "I haven't lived all my life with Joe and Annie, but I'll still miss them when I have a house of my own. I've been making cushions and things a new house needs, and I'll spend the winter using the loom to make material for the bed linens and tablecloths and curtains. Annie has taught me how to do that."

  "Have you decided yet if you're going to ask someone to marry you?" I ventured, wishing I knew what she was thinking about. "I know you don't have to be ready to get ready, not when having everything done makes life easier."

  "Since I've already passed through puberty I don't have to hesitate, but there's another thing about me to consider," she said, now sounding kind of down. "I need to tell you something about me, Mykel, and then give you the chance to think about accepting my proposal. If you agree, you're the one I'll be proposing to."

  The surge of delight I felt at hearing that was no surprise, not when I'd felt Regina's draw from the first moment I'd seen her. But the young woman now looked kind of down, so I touched her arm and pointed.

  "Why don't we sit down over there and talk?" I suggested, seeing that there was no one else near the wooden bench I'd gestured to. "The others have already gone home, so we shouldn't be disturbed."

  "Might as well," she agreed with a sigh, joining me in walking to the bench. "This won't be easy to say or to hear, but I'd like to get it done and behind me."

  "I can understand wanting to get something unpleasant out of the way," I said, letting her sit down first before taking my own seat. "But maybe it won't turn out to be as bad as you expect."

  "It may not be bad so much as different," she told me, an odd, wry smile now on her face. "Sometimes bad can be accepted, but different… Most people can't live with different. So here goes: I'm definitely different, because when the Silver Mother calls I have a choice in how to answer. All the rest of you change into wolves and I can do the same, but I can also … choose to be a kind of big cat. In fact, I have two cats to choose from."

  "Cats," I echoed, more surprised now than I'd expected to be. "Do they know why you're different in that way?"

  "Joe did some checking, and he found out that I was attacked by more than one kind of shapeshifter," she answered, her brow creased as she considered what she told me. "They all bit me, pretty much at the same time, which has to be why I now have the choice. But that's not all there is to it."

  "What more can there be?" I asked, distantly wondering how much the young woman was supposed to be able to handle. "If you can take more than one shape, that's only a little different…"

  "But I'm also starting to be able to do … things," she said at once, no longer looking at me. "Twice now I've been able to … tell that there's some kind of trouble ahead, and both times I've been right. Joe did even more checking, and he says I might be able to do other things too. We don't know what those other things are yet, but they could be really different."

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, staring at the dying grass for a moment, and then I looked up to see Regina staring at me anxiously.

  "I've never told what I'm about to say to anyone else, but you're entitled to know," I said, putting my hand on one of hers. "I've never … enjoyed the sameness of our lives that everyone else seems to revel in. I get bored, and then I have to fight not to show that boredom. If you can change that state of affairs for me, and I think you certainly can, then I'm delighted to accept your proposal of marriage."

  I grinned at her then, and her answering smile was like the sun coming out from behind storm clouds. I'd told her the exact truth, and she seemed to know it.

  "Let's tell Joe and Annie first, and then we can tell your folks," she said as she got to her feet and offered me her hand. "If you really do want everyone to know, that is."

  "Let's also set the date for the spring," I said, getting to my own feet and taking her hand. "That way I'll work really hard all winter to get our furniture done. But this winter will be ten times longer than the others I've lived through."

  She laughed at that, a laugh I joined in, and then we went to make our announcements.

  * * *

  When I woke up I felt filled with delight and happiness, something I wasn't very used to. Of course it wasn't my own happiness I was feeling, but that didn't make the experience any less enjoyable.

  But then I realized what Regina had said to Mykel and a bit of personal excitement entered the picture. Regina was able to know things because she had more inside her than just wolf, exactly the way I did. So did that mean it wasn't my paranoia that made me do certain things, but a kind of talent I didn't know I had?

  That idea made me sit still for a couple of minutes, but thinking alone wasn't giving me any answers. Realizing that truth got me out of bed and into the bathroom, and once I was washed and dressed I went downstairs to see if any of my teammates had already come down.

  Walking into the kitchen showed me Eric filling a cup of coffee, but no one else was around. That, of course, included Jack, so the breakfast I'd been anticipating wasn't going to be available.

  "No, we don't have to do without," Eric said when he saw me, obviously reading my mind. "Shell is in the dining room setting out a warmer filled with waffles, made by Jack last night. Apparently Jack likes to sleep late on Sunday, but Shell is a morning person who doesn't sleep late. We'll be able to eat, but we have to serve ourselves."

  "Not a problem," I said as I moved up to take his place at the coffee urn. "Helping yourself is worlds better than doing without. And if Shell is joining us for breakfast, let's go to my apartment when we're through eating. I had a dream I'd like to discuss with you."

  Eric raised his brows to show his interest, but since Shell came into the kitchen right then my teammate didn't add any words.

  "Ah, now there are two of our roomers to share breakfast with," Shell said, showing his usual smile. "The others will probably sleep late the way Jack always does, so we won't have to fight to get to the food."

  "I'm feeling too lazy to want to fight," Eric told him with a grin. "Especially since it would be my teammates I'd be fighting against. Let's get to the food."

  Shell chuckled as I quickly followed Eric into the dining room, but he didn't take his turn with following. I realized he was probably going to get a cup of coffee first, so I went to the table to put sugar and cream in my cup while Eric left his own cup on the table to go to the food first.

  A wide and odd-looking warmer held an equally wide – and piled-high - platter of waffles, with plates and forks on the table near the warmer. Eric did a good job with reducing the height of the piled waffles, and when he stepped away from the warmer I was ready to take his place. Shell came in from the kitchen with his coffee, stopping at the table the way I had to fix the drink before getting on line for the food. By then I was carrying my plate back to the table, my mouth already watering.

  Maple syrup stood on the table with other syrups close to it, but maple was the one I wanted. Eric used the blueberry syrup and Shell opted for the strawberry, so none of us had to fight one of the others. Before the syrup came the butter, of course, but that should go without saying.

  The meal was on the silent side while we stuffed our faces, and only once our plates were clean did we sit back to finish our coffee.

  "Yesterday Freemont said something about playing a game this afternoon," Eric commented after taking a good swallow of coffee. "Since most board games don't allow more than four or five players, I wonder what he has in mind."

  "Either he bought two versions of the same game, got something that allows for more players, or he knows some of us won't want to play," I answered after thinking for a moment. "I'm sure we'll find out later. What about you and Jack, Shell? Will yo
u guys be interested in joining us to play some game?"

  "I'll be delighted to play, and Jack will probably join in until it's time for him to cook," Shell answered with a chuckle. "Jack and I used to play cards to pass the time, so maybe it's a card game your teammate has in mind."

  "Freemont doesn't play cards, not when he knows the rest of us won't play with him," I said. "You have to remember that playing cards with a sensitive isn't the smartest thing to do, not unless you enjoy losing."

  "Ouch, I hadn't thought of that," Shell said, his flinch real rather than being a put on. "So cards are out, no argument about that. I'll have to talk to Jack, to see if we can't come up with a game or two that a lot of people can play. After all, as your hosts it would only be fitting if we provided some entertainment."

  We talked about games for a couple of minutes after that, but the three of us had emptied the carafe of coffee as well as our cups. When Shell grabbed the carafe with the obvious intention of refilling it, Eric and I followed him into the kitchen.

  "I'm taking my refill up to my apartment," I announced to both men without looking at them. "If we're going to be playing a game later, I'm taking some laying around time first."

  "Good idea," Eric agreed as he followed me to the coffee urn. "There are a couple of things I've been wanting to do, and now would be a good time to get to them."

  "As soon as I refill this carafe I'm going to do some lazing of my own," Shell decided out loud. "It's a good day for it, and there's no knowing how long the peace and quiet will last."

  Eric and I agreed with that last thought, so I headed upstairs slowly enough for Eric to catch up. Once he did I entered my apartment, then closed the door behind him.

  "So what did your dream tell you this time?" Eric asked softly as soon as the door was closed. "Something the rest of us can make use of, I hope."

  "Actually, this time it was something for me," I answered, going to one of the chairs and sitting. "Do you remember how more than once I seemed to know something that no one else did? Well, it could be a talent I was exercising without knowing it."