I puffed out a derogatory burst of air. "My very intelligent mate, who likes to say how up-to-date he is, doesn't trust modern medicine? If it were up to you, you'd keep me in bed or parked on the couch with a doctor hovering nearby until I gave birth."
He hesitated a moment before smiling. "I'd be lying if I said your statement was completely false." When I didn't smile back, he added. "I do trust your instincts, although you may not believe me at this particular moment."
"Sometimes I think you're the fragile one." As soon as I said it, I felt bad. "I don't mean weak. I mean..."
"I understand. Having lived through almost losing you has made me less arrogant when it comes to my ability to always keep you safe."
"You can't protect me from the truth. The truth isn't going to kill me. Give me the facts and then advise me. I want your opinion, but I get to be the one who decides what's best for me."
"It's not just you anymore." He let his hand move across my belly.
I took in a deep breath and let some of my anger go. He looked so vulnerable. "I love that you worry about me and that you want to protect me with your strength and your love. I worry about you too, but I'd never withhold information that you'd need to make an important decision."
He arched an eyebrow. "Jacqueline." I knew that tone. "If we're being truly honest, you must admit that you have withheld information. You didn't tell me when Kennet called you to come and rescue Bridgett. You didn't wake me when your grandmother invited you to her realm. Shall I continue?"
I winced. He was right. "Okay, that's true, but I also didn't sit down with Liam and discuss how I shouldn't tell you those things because you're too fragile."
"Because he would have told you to tell me immediately. Those were life and death circumstances. This information about Kennet's trial could have waited."
"Oh yeah, they'd be wheeling me into the delivery room and you'd say, oh by the way..."
He laughed, which made me laugh. I couldn't stay angry with Garrett for long. "I think I would have told you long before that."
I sat up and crossed my legs like a pretzel, feeling somewhat normal again. "Am I an adult to you or not?"
He took his time looking me over and smiled in his very hot way. "Very definitely an adult, mon ange."
"Not just physically, mister mind-on-sex."
He laughed. "Yes. You are an adult in every way."
"Good. Remember that." I turned to get off the bed, but he pulled me down beside him again, this time flat on my back. He quickly moved so that he was hovering above me, his hands on either side of my shoulders
"Tell me I'm forgiven." He whispered. His eyes were enormous, and his smile was so sexy. I was toast.
"What if I don't want to?"
"I may have to tickle you."
"Oh no, please, not that. You're forgiven." I smiled and touched his cheek which felt cooler than it should have. "And you need to feed." Garrett had volunteers in town that he fed from, having decided that he wouldn't take energy from me while I was pregnant. In fact, while we'd been in Carmel, he'd still traveled the lines back to Crescent City to feed. In fact he was only gone for around thirty minutes at a time. Ley Lines: the only way to travel.
"I would first ask for proof of your forgiveness. A kiss, s’il vous plaît. A sweet—," he kissed my ear, "—delicious—", he nibbled on my neck, "—kiss from my mate." He brushed his lips very gently across mine. "My very beautiful, sexy, adult mate."
My lips were already parted and my hands were in his hair, pulling him closer. When his lips pushed against mine I closed my eyes and lost myself in the incredible feel of his soft yummy lips and his body pressing against mine. I moved my mouth, exploring and tasting, our tongues dancing together in their erotic tango.
When he started to pull away I bit down on his lower lip, yanking on it gently in protest.
He laughed and kissed my bare shoulder. "Try to hold onto that thought. I'll be back soon."
"Je t'aime." I sighed and smiled up into his silver-dotted eyes. The cat in me loved that I was responsible for those tiny sparkling stars, a sign of his desire.
"Je t'aime. Tu et ma vie. You are my life." He gently kissed my mouth once more and was gone, leaving behind his amazing scent and a mate who was wishing that he could've stuck around for another kiss, even though she'd been really angry with him five minutes ago.
A very smart vampire.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Rob and Maya arrived on time. Rob greeted me with a warm hug and Maya a curt nod, then they disappeared into Garrett's office along with Garrett. The vampires and Isaiah were already here and our other two team members showed up only a few minutes later.
They'd arrived in Kyle's SUV, Kyle blasting the Muse CD so loudly that Ethan had a pained expression and probably a headache to match. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed my shifter team mates until they ran over and hugged me enthusiastically, commenting on how big Charlie was getting and how great I looked.
Ethan was dressed nicely in a leather jacket, dark jeans and a button down shirt, looking as hot as ever. With his thick chestnut colored wavy hair, his golden brown eyes and his adorable smile, Ethan always looked like one of those Hollywood red carpet hunks. Luckily he was as far from stuck-up as you could get. Only a year older, Ethan and I had trained together on Solo Island with Rob and we'd helped each other through some difficult times. I loved him like a brother, and he teased me like one, too.
Kyle on the other hand was more the what-you-see-is-what-you-get-so-deal kind of friend. Always honest, sometimes painfully so, and legitimately confident in his amazing skills as a martial artist and weapons expert. Dressed in his usual black jeans and graphic tee, Kyle's hot Asian features, lean muscles and spiky bleached blonde hair would have complemented a more professional outfit, but if you mentioned that to him, he'd just hit you with some smart-assed remark. He was funny as hell and I loved him to death, when he wasn't annoying the shit out of me.
"Where's Sinc?"
Kyle answered. "She's still hanging with Aaron's pack in Oregon. I talked to her last night. She said that Aaron is helping her recover faster." He snorted out a laugh. "If you ask me, I think her ex lover boy Gabriel is the one doing the healing mojo."
Gabriel, the son of an alpha werewolf. had been her first love, but when she'd shifted into her snow leopard form the first time, his father's pack had kicked her out. Rob took her in and trained her, then sent her off to college where she quickly earned a masters in forensic science.
She and Gabe hadn't kept in touch, but when our team was hired by his father to find three missing teen boys, they'd reconnected. We discovered that the boys had been kidnapped by Gabe's younger brother, Karl, who'd tried to end our investigation by blowing up the house we were staying in. No one was killed, but Sinc's foot had been so badly damaged, the doctors amputated it to save her life.
"I don't care who's helping her, I'm just glad that she's making progress." Losing a foot was a devastating injury. In animal form we experienced tremendous joy in the hunt for prey, but Sinc could only sit on the sidelines now and watch. Also, as a member of our team, she'd be limited as to how she could contribute. With her scientific background, the lab was her playground, but it would be difficult for her to gather the physical evidence herself and that would frustrate her. When our team faced off against our enemies, it would be practically impossible for her to participate in any battles.
Kyle saw my guest for the first time. "Who the hell are you?" Kyle had such tact.
"I am Isaiah, little leopard."
"You don't look like a demon. You look a little like Stu, the guy who owns the pizza place on Del Norte."
"This is not my true form and I have agreed not to transition, however..."
"I saw pictures Kyle. Trust me. It's for the best."
"The pictures you saw were of demons in warrior form, not true form."
"Oh. So you have another form? You're a bunch of chameleons." I smiled, hoping he wouldn't flip out
over my next request. "Isaiah, perhaps you could go downstairs? There's a large TV and 'Underworld' is on channel nine tonight. I'll send down food."
"Fine. But make sure you tell them all about your new skill. You can thank me after you find the killer." He left, taking the stairs down to the finished basement. All eyes turned toward me.
Ethan laughed as they sat at the table. "Another new ability? You'll be leaving us and joining The Avengers soon."
I smiled at him, saying, "Not likely, although Thor's kinda cute."
Kyle asked, "You like a man with a big hammer?" I threw a roll at him and he moved incredibly fast to avoid getting hit. "Hey, I think he's hot too." Kyle had a lifemate, a black leopard shifter named Peter, but like most felines, he still loved to flirt.
Flynn had caught the roll and had already eaten half of it. "Is dinner soon? I'm hungry."
"Lay off the carbs, chubby." Heinrich teased him.
I rolled my eyes. "Sash, could you take drink orders and pour the wine?"
"Of course, Mistress."
"Please..."
"Of course, Jackie." His light blue eyes glittered as he got the glasses out of the cabinet. The vampires didn't eat, but they'd usually sip some wine or have a beer while we talked. William got up to help Sash.
"I'll have a beer." Flynn said as he sat at the table.
Heinrich sat down next to him. "In your dreams, Simba. Get him a coke, Sash. I'll have the usual."
"I don't like coke." Flynn glared at Rick.
"Ok, then get him a nice cool glass of iced water."
"Fine, I'll have a coke." He shoved the rest of the roll in his mouth with an annoyed grunt.
"Don't complain, Flynn, They make me drink decaf coke. Ugh."
Ethan walked over toward the stove where I was heating everything up, and started pulling out plates. "Kyle and I'll have cokes too." He was trying to make Flynn feel better, a typical Ethan move.
Kyle snorted, copying Rick's words and tone. "In your dreams, Ethan. I'll have a beer...or two." Kyle was 26 in real years, although he looked about 18. Ethan, who actually was 18, started to mouth off to Kyle, but I interrupted them.
"Children, I think next time I'll put out a pitcher of iced tea and call it a day." That got a laugh from all three vamps and a glare from Kyle.
"I don't drink iced tea."
"Iced water for you, then."
Ethan and Will helped me dish everything out and I sent Rick downstairs with a plate and a glass of wine for Isaiah. Even though he was in the basement, we knew he could hear every word we said up here. It was just that I didn't want to have to watch his face while we discussed business. He tended to look at the rest of us as if we were a science experiment he was working on, and it annoyed the heck out of me. Also, I preferred to keep him away from Maya, who had trouble with any of us inviting dangerous creatures into her community.
When Maya, Rob and Garrett came out of the office we finished dishing out the rest of the food so everyone could sit down together to enjoy another one of Liam's culinary masterpieces.
After a sip of wine, Maya, a cheetah shapeshifter high up on the Shifter Council, didn't waste any time annoying me. "Garrett said you have a new skill that might be helpful in the investigation. He didn't go into specifics so I thought that you might let us in on the big secret."
The room grew very quiet as everyone waited for me to answer. I took my time because even though she expected it of almost everyone, I wasn't ever going to jump through her hoop.
As it happened, Maya and Garrett had a history. She and Garrett had been lovers forty years ago and it had ended badly, leaving them barely civil. Garrett and I were already pledged to each other when I'd met her under very difficult circumstances.
Ethan and I had been brought before the council on charges that we were potentially dangerous to the shapeshifter community. However, because of my magical abilities and the training I'd received from Garrett, and also because of my upcoming duel with Antoine, Maya had been forced to re-evaluate me and then recommend that I be accepted. She'd pitched in and helped to train me for the duel and I'd always be grateful to her for that, but we'd never be friends and I didn't like her using this patronizing tone with me in my own home.
I saw Garrett start to say something, but I sent to him, "Mine." He smiled and kept his mouth shut. Such a smart vampire.
"Since you haven't actually discussed the investigation with me, I can't really say whether my new skill will be useful or not, but I have no intention of keeping it a secret. I've been trained by Isaiah to communicate with shades."
"What the hell are shades?" Kyle blurted out, making Ethan elbow him in the ribs.
I gave Kyle an angry look that made him shrug sheepishly. "Isaiah explained them as soulless spirits left behind because they're either trapped here or they have something they still need to do. They're kind of carbon copies of their former selves."
Maya looked at me like I was nuts. "Your demon conjured up an illusion and you obviously fell for it." She was pushing the food around on her plate but hadn't actually eaten any of it. However, she was on her second glass of wine.
Garrett sent, "Jackie, take it easy, we have to keep the peace. We know how she can be." He got up and dished out more food for Flynn, who was still looking hungry. Then he leaned against the counter with his arms crossed.
"Screw peace. She's calling me a liar." And anyway, I was having fun.
"They weren't illusions. I helped to free some of them from the villa. The strongest one there was Garrett's sister, Marie. She's my familiar now."
Maya's eyebrows shot up, and she glanced at Garrett for confirmation. "This is true?" He nodded and she whipped her head back in my direction. "You made her your slave?" Her mouth had twisted down in disgust.
I kept my voice very calm."I gave her the choice and she accepted. She's not tied to me in any way, other than that she comes when there's something important that I need help with. Like a murder investigation. Since you haven't told us what's going on, maybe Rob could fill us in on the details. Then I'll have a better idea whether or not Marie can help." Our attention shifted to Rob.
He nodded. "Sure..."
Maya interrupted him. "Rob and I have discussed it with Garrett, so he'll fill you in." She'd dismissed the rest of us, deciding that it wasn't worth her time or Rob's to explain anything to the team. I didn't reply. It was probably better for everyone's digestion if she left as soon as she was finished eating.
She wasn't quite done, however. "Jackie, there is something I have to tell you, strictly in my role as a representative of the Crescent City Shifter Council. Would you prefer that I speak to you privately, or shall I tell you now?"
Rob looked upset. "Maya, you never mentioned anything..."
"This only concerns Jacqueline and the council."
"You can tell me in front of everyone." I glanced around at the others, and they all looked as baffled as I felt. Garrett leaned back against the counter with his arms crossed, waiting to hear what she had to say.
"As you prefer. A motion has come before the council which would ban the fae from settling in Crescent City. They may work here or visit here temporarily, but they would not be allowed to live here permanently. This is obviously for the safety of the community and is the result of a valid concern by many of the residents."
I sent to Garrett. "Did you know?"
"No. Neither did Rob, by his expression." Rob looked shocked, then angry.
"I bet I know who brought the motion before the council."
"I agree, but I don't understand why." Silver dots were starting to pop in his eyes as his anger grew more pronounced.
The room remained quiet as everyone digested this new information. Everyone here understood the implications if this law passed. "Liam just bought a house." Ethan said.
"Yes, that's unfortunate." She didn't look like she gave a shit, even though she'd known Liam for over eighty years.
"And what of our son?" Garrett asked in his ic
iest tone.
"He isn't yours. That murderous fae lord is the father. If he takes after him, then he could turn to the dark arts. We can't take that chance."
Rob was furious. "Maya, this is ludicrous."
She ignored him. "If the law is passed, and I believe it will be, there could be exceptions made. You could present your case in person before the council. Perhaps we could allow your son to live here six months a year under strict supervision."
"It's the green-eyed monster, little demon." Isaiah was speaking to me from the basement, having heard everything.
"I thought she was over me and Garrett being together."
"It is the child. She has wanted one for decades. She is barren and you are ripe with a son."
I hadn't bothered putting up my shields, because I knew Isaiah could read everyone else except for Garrett, so why bother. "Normally I'd be pissed that you went into our heads, but tonight—not so much."
I stood up. "Actually, I think I would like to speak to you alone. I have something to show you." I led her into the nursery.
She was shocked at first when she saw where I'd brought her. "Why are we here?"
She stood stiffly and looked around the room. As she did, I noticed how thin she'd gotten. She hadn't eaten one bite of our meal. There were dark shadows under her eyes, so she might not be sleeping. Either that or she was stressed about something. Maybe Isaiah was right.
I pointed to the mural of my teen-aged son riding his horse, since she wasn't able to see the mural of Faerie. "That's Charlie, almost grown. He's a cheetah like us, Maya, and according to his demi-fae guardian, he's going to fight a war to protect our shifter community and all the supes who believe that we have a duty to protect innocent lives and a right to live as we wish and where we wish."
Her expression was stony. "That's a pretty speech, but you can't predict the future."
"Not often. Sometimes I see something in a dream, but it's always something current. However, I've heard that you're quite adept at it. Use your power to See. You'll find that Sinlae's prediction is probably true." I ran my hand over the arm of the young man in the painting. "It isn't the future I'd have wished for him."
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