She had no idea what that even meant, especially coming from him. She turned back to the council and realized that the people she needed to talk to about keeping her children safe weren’t even there. “We’ll assess the situation.” Then, she headed for the back door.
She really didn’t have time to walk at a leisurely human pace, even if it was a quick human pace. So, she shifted into tiger form and ran.
The Whiskey lands were rather large. They had twenty-four acres and growing. They were still in negotiation with one of the farmers to the east who was looking to sell. Dexx and Paige’s pack—really it was just Dexx’s pack—lived in the woods around the main house in tree houses. Though, they were rather elaborate tree houses, she still had a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that wolves preferred to live so high above the ground.
There was a strategic advantage to this, of course. It was easier to hide from potential predators and they had the advantage. Even knowing all of that, Paige still struggled to see wanting to live up there.
Her brother did. He and his boyfriend had created a treehouse and lived in it part-time. Though, they also had a house on the ground and lived there just as often with their adopted elf child, Kate.
Paige followed her sense of smell.
She might state that the pack belonged mostly to Dexx. He certainly was the one who invested most of the time into their training, upkeep, and welfare. But she was their alpha’s mate and an alpha in her own right.
So, she felt each member in a way that was hard to explain. It was as if each one of them had somehow become a part of her. She could tell when they were in a bad mood or a good one. And sometimes, their emotions would affect her own. She could tell when they were in danger or when they needed assistance. And more than once, she had risen to the occasion and swooped in to save the day.
She found Margo with Ripley, building a shed of some sort.
Paige shifted as soon as she saw the two of them and walked up as a human. “Dexx and I have to leave to check out a situation.” What were they building?
Margo rose to her feet with incredible grace. She was a fierce warrior who preferred going barefoot and wore many scars over her body. “Where do you need us?”
Ripley got to her feet with a little less grace and a lot more attitude. Her long dark hair cascaded over her shoulders as she pushed it back, revealing a T-shirt with a slogan that would probably upset people if anyone chose to actually read it. Too often, however, they were mesmerized by her voluptuous boobs. “Let me guess. Babysitting duty.”
Paige rather enjoyed the fact that Ripley was so perceptive. She also had another gift Paige needed to utilize; her death omen ability. “Do you see anything?”
Ripley paused for a moment and then shook her head, her dark eyes slanted with worry. “Is something coming?”
If Ripley couldn’t see anything looming on the horizon, they were safe.
For the moment. “Potentially.” Paige turned around and prepared to shift and fly back to the man she loved. “Just be on the lookout for anything strange.”
“What kind of strange?” Margo asked, her tone on edge. She had protected the Whiskey lands from a wide variety of infiltrators.
Paige turned and met Margo’s vice-like gaze. “DoDO.”
Margo’s eyes widened.
Ripley’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll keep the kids safe.”
Paige knew they would. She hated leaving her kids—especially her newborns—but knowing they’d be safe with these two women made her feel marginally better. One day, she would be a good mother to her children. One day, she would be able to be there for them, would be able to raise them.
That day was not this one.
She ran back to the house on four large paws and found Dexx already in his car.
Leslie was nowhere to be found.
Paige smoothly shifted back to human form and slipped into the Ranchero—which was really Leah’s car—grabbing the lap buckle. It didn’t work, but she still preferred to at least hold it in her hand. “When are you going to fix this?”
“It hasn’t been much of a priority.” He put the car in gear and spun around the circular driveway, gravel flying. “Besides, what are you complaining about? You can just shift and fly out of here.”
He wasn’t lying, but she could also tell that he was irritated. “What happened?”
He glanced at her and wrung the steering wheel as he brought them onto the paved road, the backend fishtailing. “I told her to wait.”
He really didn’t have to finish that statement. He was talking about Leslie, who was technically a part of his pack. She was a shifter witch, like Paige, except her spirit animal wasn’t a cozy kitten like Paige’s. It was a strong-willed, over-powered griffin that, when teamed up with Leslie’s already strong personality, meant she was very hard to alpha-control.
Dexx didn’t enjoy the struggle.
Paige turned and watched the scenery of farm fields and vineyards fly by as they raced toward town. “She can protect herself.”
“I already know that. I wanted to try to curb tensions.”
Oh, boy. Her man really was growing up. “When did you ever want to do that?”
He glared at her and said nothing more as he turned onto the street that would lead them downhill and straight into town. He maintained his silence as he went under the overpass and turned toward Walmart.
Why did trouble always seem to visit them in the Walmart parking lot?
He went around to the back and parked the Ranchero with a screeching halt.
Paige put her hand out in order to brace herself against the dashboard. “Jerk.”
He grunted and got out.
Leslie stood along the back wall of the store, her arms crossed over her chest.
The wards Paige and the rest of the townspeople had put up around Troutdale glimmered with a slight rainbow hue, rippling away each time it was touched.
Men and women in black tactical uniforms fanned out around the town. They stood just outside of the protections of their wards.
Dexx walked over to Leslie and said something in a low tone Paige couldn’t hear.
She didn’t need to. Whatever that conversation was, it was between her sister—who could take care of herself—and their alpha—who could take care of himself.
Paige needed to handle this situation.
She walked to the ward’s edge and called out to the men and women in black. “I assume you have a leader over there. How about he comes forward?”
The line parted and a man stepped through, only he was dressed in a grey business suit with a steel-blue tie. He had pale hair, nearly invisible eyebrows, and piercingly blue eyes.
Of course he’d be here. “Mario. Wish I could say I was surprised to see you.” But she wasn’t.
He smiled and straightened the front of his suit jacket. “I only wish we were meeting yet again under better circumstances.” His voice rang with a soft English accent she knew would deepen as he grew emotional.
“When are you going back across the water?” Paige didn’t ask that question to be a jack-hole. She asked because he was on loan from England. As far as she had been able to determine, Europe had their own Department of Delicate Offairs and he was a part of that branch. Why they decided to team up with the U.S. was completely beyond Paige. But she severely hoped they didn’t decide to create a home office on American soil.
That was the question she was really asking. DoDO was bad news.
“Really, Ms. Whiskey. With the current state of affairs? I really don’t think we’re going anywhere.”
That made Paige’s warm and fuzzies turn cold and prickly. “What can I do for you? And why are you blockading the town? Again.”
Mario shrugged. “President’s orders. You made quite a fuss last week. The president just wants to ensure that the situation remains… contained.”
Contained. This certainly wasn’t going to end well. “We’re still recovering from saving the world.” Wh
ich they had. If DoDO had saved the world, they’d be getting awards. But Troutdale was just getting blockaded. Again.
“You really didn’t save the world, Ms. Whiskey. You just made a mess of it.” His smile was smug.
She wanted to punch it off his face. She knew they needed to fight this, but how? With peace? That was anti-fists. “We will need supplies.”
“I’m sure you will. Which is why we will keep them back until you are ready to register.”
That was a pretty heavy threat. They were going to hold the entire town hostage until the paranormals were registered? Because that’d worked so well in the Marvel universe. “We’re talking now. So, you don’t have to hold the town hostage anymore.”
He tipped his head to the side. “Mmm.”
“Why don’t we just stop beating around the bush?”
“Such a curious turn of phrase.”
“Not really.” Especially when that was exactly what they were doing. “Just tell me your terms and then we can be done here. You never know. We might actually accept them.”
His smile was cold. “I sincerely hope you do.” He clasped his hands behind his back and hopped up on his toes. Then, he walked across the ward and up to Paige.
The wards simply made those who were magically evil a bit uncomfortable. It wasn’t as if those wards really protected the town against anything physical.
Not yet, anyway.
Mario was of average height, and usually, he looked down at Paige.
But Paige was a witch shifter and that meant she could alter her own height, which she had actually done without realizing it, forcing him to look up at her ever so slightly.
A flicker of uncertainty entered into those pale blue eyes.
She wasn’t about to shift herself shorter. She rather enjoyed having him look up to her.
“Each paranormal shall register with the federal government,” he said succinctly. “They will be put under careful supervision, and we will assess their danger level.”
Paige knew there were many different ways his words could be interpreted.
He could mean that the paranormals would register and then they would be hauled off to internment camps and jail.
Or it could mean they would register and then they would be treated like sex offenders.
Or it could mean that they would register and then DoDO would sweep through, placing cameras everywhere, keeping the community contained, and allowing the president to watch this grand experiment like rats in a lab.
Paige didn’t really enjoy any of those options. “Details.”
Mario’s expression lightened with muted delight. “Well, Ms. Whiskey, I really hadn’t anticipated a willing ear. Motherhood really does change a person.”
He knew she had already been a mother. So, she wasn’t going to take the bait. Her twins were a valuable resource, and it was quite possible that Mario had his sights set on obtaining them and their shifter witch powers.
“Where are the twins?” His pale eyes roved the parking lot. “I had rather hoped to see them.”
That only made Paige more suspicious. “They’re napping. Now, details.” She ended with a growl.
Mario clamped his lips shut in a tight smile as he pondered his next words. “The registration process will be rather painless. A simple form to fill out, allowing us to know which type of paranormal each person is and what type of danger they might present.”
“You do realize we’ve been living in peace for hundreds of years. I don’t know how much of a danger we are.”
“On the contrary, Ms. Whiskey. We caught the danger on video. The world is aware of just how brutally dangerous your kind can be.” His eyes shone with a note of victory.
Your kind? “Are we forgetting that you’re also a witch?”
He raised an eyebrow. “There is so much you do not know.” He raised his chin and continued. “After the registration process, each paranormal will be equipped with a collar that will assist them in repressing their more dangerous aspects. And they will be surveyed.”
Paige knew about those collars. She’d experienced the effects in Alaska. DoDO had been handing them out to paranormals for a while. And the only thing they really succeeded in doing was to push the shifter animal to the background until the shifter spirit was forced to power through. The experience had been rather explosive.
DoDO had no intent on keeping the population safe. They were working to create a much bigger situation. She was almost certain that if Sven hadn’t forced her hand to make a big international TV situation, DoDO would have. And she was pretty confident they’d been the reason the TV crews had been there in the first place.
Once the shifter—or paranormal—overwhelmed the collar, the “threat” would be blasted out on world news for everyone to see.
Justification for the president to do something even worse, she was sure.
Paige wanted to say no immediately, but she needed more information. “And our supplies would come in?”
“Life would continue per normal. Everyone could get back to their jobs and their lives.” He licked his lips and looked at her in surprise. “We have even changed the look of the collars. They are quite stylish now.”
She was sure. “But they’re still collars.”
“Honestly, Ms. Whiskey. Don’t you put them on your pets?”
He was baiting her again. “And how long would this go on for? When would this end?”
His left eye twitched, and his gaze darted away before he righted his expression. “As soon as the president can assure the nation they are no longer in danger, then we can alter the arrangement.”
Which meant they would be living this way for an eternity. Or until they got a new president. Perhaps. “And what about our rights as citizens?”
A frown flickered across his brow. “You would still pay your taxes and serve your country.”
But they would lose their rights. They would lose the right to vote. They might lose their ability to receive medical treatment and more. Paige could read between the lines. However, she could not give him the answer then and there. She wasn’t the spokesperson for the entire paranormal community. If she said the wrong thing at this particular moment, she could send the nation into war.
Before they were ready for it.
She was starting to realize there might not be a peaceful solution to this after all. But there had to be. Right? This was the United States of freakin’ America. “I will take this information to the council.”
That gained his interest. “Council?”
Paige gave him a smile of her own, beating down her fear that she’d just given him information he shouldn’t have. “Did you expect us to be wild heathens? If there are any other terms, now’s the time to set them.”
Several emotions shifted across his features. Doubt. Intrigue.
And uncertainty.
The last emotion was quickly replaced by confidence. “No. That really is everything.”
She was sure it wasn’t. She’d bought a house once. It’d seemed simple enough until they got into the details of the agreement, and then things had become rather complicated. She was certain this would be no different but on a much grander scale. “Sounds simple enough. I have your number. I’ll call you when we have an answer.”
Mario smiled. “I wouldn’t take too long, Ms. Whiskey. You only have four days. The president is not a patient woman.”
Paige gave him a smile of her own and leaned forward. “Neither am I.”
Mario’s smile warmed. “Aw, there she is. I was wondering when you would grace us with your presence.”
Paige calmed herself. He and the president had counted on her rising to the occasion and handling the situation the way… well, the way she handled things. With magick, power, and finality.
She took a step back and gave him a cool gaze. “I’ll call you. Until then, please get out of my town.”
He smiled tightly and returned to his side.
Things weren’t going to
be this easy for much longer. They needed a better game plan.
Fast.
4
Dexx was still having a conversation with Leslie by the time Paige made it back to the car. They both turned to her when she approached, neither of them looking overly pissed.
That was a good sign, right?
Right. Yeah. Of course. Right.
No. It wasn’t. Those two were getting really good at hiding things from her, and she was starting to get the feeling that it wasn’t a good thing.
“What did he have to say?” Leslie asked before Paige could mention anything.
Another not good sign. “Nothing good. We’re being forced to register.”
Leslie rubbed her brow, her brown eyes closed momentarily before they opened with an orange flare to them. That was her inner griffin raising his head, threatening to spill out. But the orange receded back to brown as Leslie let her hand drop. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I know.” But it might. What other course did they have? They couldn’t afford to have a stand-off like this against the United States government. Demons from Hell? Sure. But the government? No. “But until then, they’re blockading us in.”
“Supplies?”
They’d really just been through this last week. “We’ll have to get the supply chains up again.”
Dexx took in a deep breath. “I’ll have Kate—”
“No.” If things really were about to get bad, she needed Dexx on his A Game and not relying on an elvin tween to open illegal passages through Underhill. “People are going to get scared.”
“More scared than when they were facing demons?”
“Probably. This is a bit more real. Demons are…” Paige shrugged, having a hard time finding words. “They’re superstition and religion.”
“People were hit real hard by that ‘superstition.’”
Agreed. “But a lot of us voted for this president.”
Dexx pulled a twisted face. “Did you?”
“Yes. I thought she was a great candidate.” And she’d never thought anything would go this far. “But that doesn’t matter. Right now, I need you being the face of trust.”
Whiskey Storm (Whiskey Witches Midnight Rising Book 1) Page 3
