A Barrel of Whiskey - (An Urban Fantasy Whiskey Witches Novel)

by S. M. Blooding

  “The rest of the pack isn’t joining us?” Paige asked.

  “We have to make sure you weren’t followed.”

  By Merry Eastwood? Why would she have Paige followed? Curiosity? Paige grabbed a small, paper napkin. “I really don’t want to bring any trouble to you or your people, Chuck. I don’t. So, I have no reason to set up a trap for you.”

  “I appreciate that, Ms—Paige.” He smiled at her, the crows’ feet around his eyes crinkling as he handed them both their mugs. “But I have a pack to protect.”

  “Understood.” She took her mug. “And, um, I think I owe you a thanks.”

  “For what?” He grabbed another mug and poured himself a drink.

  Dexx sat on the bar stool next to Paige and took a long draw. “Oh, this is good.”

  Paige studied Chuck, ignoring Dexx. “Judge Warren.”

  Chuck looked at Paige out of the corner of his eye.

  “I can see animal spirits. I could even before I got Cawli.”

  “Who?”

  “My—my spirit.” She hadn’t even thought. Was she not supposed to give him a name?

  He tipped his head, his eyes lighting up with interest. “Do you speak to him, then?”

  “Yes, I do. I can’t shift, but he can sure tell me when I’m being an idiot.”

  Chuck smiled and brought his beer over. “That is the sign of an alpha, actually.”

  “Huh?” But she was a witch.

  “Yeah.” He sipped his beer and wiped his mouth. “Alphas can speak to their animal spirits.”

  Paige looked at Dexx. “Can you?”

  Dexx pulled his head back. “You’re just now asking me that?”

  She shrugged deep, her mouth open. “We’ve been busy. And, also, you know, I just, I don’t know, thought you would.” Sometimes, she was so stupid. “Because, you know, I can.”

  Dexx’s eyes went dead as he tucked the corners of his lips in and sighed at her.

  “So, no, then.”

  “No.”

  “Well, yay.” Paige slapped the bar. “Only one alpha. Awesome.” Fuck. “So, what does it mean to be an alpha?”

  “For us, it means a lot,” Chuck explained, leaning his elbows on the bar. “My animal spirit gives me guidance, tells me what the others in my pack require.”

  She nodded. Cawli had been doing that with her as well.

  “And I have more power. I have power over those in my pack. I can subdue them to my will.”

  “Why?” The question burst out of Paige’s mouth. She cleared her throat and lowered her tone. “Why would you want to do that?”

  Chuck raised his eyebrows over a slight smile. “You haven’t touched your beer.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Did you drug it?” Not that she really thought he had, but he was using it as a conversation shift.

  “No.” He gestured to his own and Dexx’s. “This conversation requires unwinding. You are very tightly sprung.”

  Good point. Everything that had happened so far that day still had her a little thrown. She sipped her ale. The amber ale slid over her tongue and relaxed muscles she didn’t realize were kinked. She took a longer draw and sat back as the alcohol hit her system. “That’s good.”

  “You are high strung.”

  Paige shook her head. “You have no idea. I’ve had a rough month.”

  “Are you always like this?”

  “Yes,” Dexx said immediately.

  She wanted to hit him. “What does it matter?”

  “I only ask because my spirit noted it.”

  “Oh.” She frowned. Cawli was surprisingly quiet.

  “Cawli—that’s his name?”

  She nodded.

  “He is silent?”

  “Yeah.”

  Chuck smiled. “Excellent. He is allowing you to find a place within our pack.”

  “In your pack?” She resituated her weight on the bar stool. “Don’t get me wrong. I could think that’s cool,” and what the Whiskeys needed, “but is that a good idea?”

  “Why would it be a bad one? The animal spirits chose you.”

  “Yeah.” And she still hadn’t figured out why. That ‘why’ seemed pretty important. “But I’m a witch.”

  “Hmm.” Chuck tipped his head and took another drink. “You’re also the founding family that negotiated the original treaty. So, if you were to renegotiate the treaty, that could be a good thing.”

  Their conversation was all over the board, touching on this and that and another thing. She needed concrete conversation on at least one topic, something to ground her emotion-drowned mind. “What can you tell me about what led up to it? I’ve asked Grandma. I’ve looked through the old journals. I can’t find anything about it.”

  “Okay.” Chuck glanced at the ceiling. “A hundred and fifty years ago, there were three major witch families in Portland.”

  Three. So, if the other witch families had joined forces, there were only two of them to contend with. Good to know.

  “The Whiskeys, the Eastwoods, and the Blackmans.”

  Blackman. As in Paige’s father.

  “One witch, Merry Eastwood, was particularly upset when a Whiskey fell in love with a shifter. She thought the union tainted the witch line. So, she started imprisoning the shifters, binding them to her will. However, a few shifters killed a witch and discovered they could devour a witch’s soul.”

  Paige bit the inside of her cheek.

  “Hundreds died after that. Merry and her coven stopped at nothing to decimate the shifter population. Entire packs were destroyed. Nearly the entire Blackman line was eliminated, since Merry used them as her foot soldiers.”

  “All that over love?”

  Chuck shrugged. “The Whiskeys didn’t relent, though. They didn’t necessarily side with the shifters, but they didn’t stand with the Eastwoods and Blackmans, either. However, when the death toll became too high for them, Opal Whiskey brought both sides together and drew up a treaty. Once the treaty was signed, Merry went after Opal and her entire family.”

  “Then, why’d Merry sign it in the first place?”

  “Probably because she didn’t have the numbers anymore.”

  “But…” Paige glanced at Dexx. “We survived. How?”

  Chuck’s face screwed up in disgust. “Opal put all of Merry’s sons in thrall.”

  “Huh?” asked Dexx.

  “It’s a little like voodoo,” Paige explained. “Kind of. Well, it can be. That’s how Grandma taught me, anyway. Um, you create a doll of them, name it, then you control the person through the doll.”

  Chuck agreed with a flick of his eyebrows. “Anyway, Opal took her remaining family here. A lot of the packs moved out here as well, and we’ve kept a distance between each other ever since.”

  “Was Opal the one in love with a shifter?” Dexx asked.

  “No.” Chuck winced. “Her sister. But Merry made sure she was one of the first killed.”

  Good information and it was helping to ground her a little. “I’ve actually been thinking of moving back to Portland.” Paige sucked air between her teeth. “Taking the fight to her.”

  Chuck bit down on his bottom lip for a moment. “Having you, with your family and Cawli, could be a huge help in Portland. I’m not going to lie. Texas is getting shaky for us. A lot of us are moving out.”

  “Is that the reason this is a ghost town?”

  “Largely. I asked the few remaining others to leave just in case this meeting did not go as planned.”

  Paige nodded.

  “But if you went to Portland, you could inject the Whiskeys back into the political landscape up there.”

  “Politics?” That wasn’t something high on her priority list.

  “Yes. Everything of power is either controlled by one of the packs, one of the paranormals, or by the Eastwoods.”

  “Paranormals?” Dexx asked.

  “The creatures that cannot be classified as a shifter. They don’t all run in packs, but we do, typically, sta
y together. Though, in Portland, they don’t necessarily enjoy those ties with shifters. There’s a large gathering of them around Troutdale, though. They call themselves the Shadow Sisterhood.”

  “That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

  “It’s how many of them survive. The sisterhood claims no connections to the pack and the Eastwoods don’t penalize them as harshly as they do others. Merry controls a lot, mostly banks.”

  “Oh. Crap.” Paige was barely keeping it together with everything she had going on. Add politics to the mix? The kind of ‘she owns all the banks’ kind of politics? It suddenly wasn’t a great idea. “I don’t know.”

  “It could be good. I could relocate the rest of my pack back home.”

  Had that been his ulterior motive all along? It kind of felt like it had been. She recalled his reactions at their original meeting. Granted, a lot of things had happened between then and now, but still. She was fairly certain she was playing right into his hands.

  But was that bad? They had mutual goals.

  Maybe. But she didn’t want to be played. “Right. Well, slow your roll. Okay? I can’t leave for at least another two months.”

  He frowned. “Why?”

  “Ask Judge Warren.”

  Chuck sighed and straightened, propping his foot on something behind the bar. “She wouldn’t tell me even if I asked. She holds to the letter of the law, even to me.”

  Awesome. “Oh, well, that’s nice to hear.”

  “Anyway.”

  “Anyway,” she said. “I’m in a custody battle over my daughter.”

  “Oh. I thought her father had been killed.”

  “You seem to know an awful lot about me.”

  “I’ve done my research.”

  “Yeah, well. I’ll be doing mine. I’ll need your date of birth before I go. A social security number wouldn’t go amiss.”

  He chuckled, but lowered his head.

  He deserved an explanation. “It’s my mother. She won custody five years ago, but I’m fighting to get her back.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “Angels.” Dexx waved away further questions. “Trust me. You don’t want to know more than that.”

  Paige took another draw of her beer. “So, yeah. I’m stuck here for at least two months.”

  Chuck nodded. “Well, if you’d be willing to at least entertain the idea of returning to Portland, helping us. All of us.”

  She didn’t like it. She and politics didn’t mix well. “The whole point of potentially moving to Portland was to keep my family safe by going directly to the source.”

  “But if you were to help us, you would be making Portland safer. You could align the witches, the shifters, and the Shadow Sisterhood. Imagine how safe things would be then.”

  Yeah. And all she had to do was keep her children away from the prying eyes of the angels and demons while trying to put a Band-Aid on a war. Easy. “I’ll least consider it. What about this treaty? You know, the one we’re breaking just by speaking?”

  Chuck licked his top lip. “I believe I mentioned making a new one.”

  He had, but she had no idea what she was doing. “That’s not a bad idea.”

  “It would be between only my pack and the Whiskey witches, something that modifies the original treaty so that we can speak and not declare war on one another.”

  “That would be great.” If that was even possible.

  “I agree. Your cat could use more help with his shift.”

  Dexx glared at the alpha. “’Your cat.’ That’s cute.”

  “He’s a really big cat,” Paige added with a smile.

  “Yes.” Chuck’s expression grew serious. “This is the reason he will need continued assistance with his shift.”

  Paige couldn’t ignore how the thought of someone else helping him eased her mind a little. And not just someone. A regional high-alpha. Who didn’t seem like a complete asshole, or, well, any kind of asshole, really. He seemed—well, her gut said he’d make a good ally.

  “You are an alpha,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “But you are not a shifter.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You could use some guidance and direction as well.”

  Paige drank more of her ale and set down her mug. “That is a true statement. Okay. What did you have in mind?”

  “We can sign it today?”

  “No. I’ll have to bring it back to my family so we can discuss it.”

  “Hmm.” Chuck took in a quick breath and held it. “I would say that should you relocate your family to Portland, that Alma might wish to step down as head of family.”

  That was more than a little heavy-handed. “Why is that?”

  “Because,” Chuck reached under the bar and pulled out a laptop, “Merry is still alive and she’s stronger than ever. Alma is no match for that witch.”

  If there was a witch out there that outmatched Alma, the Whiskeys were in a lot of trouble. Maybe more than Paige could handle. “You mentioned you know why she’s in town.”

  Chuck nodded, his gaze distant.

  “Care to share?”

  He sighed, grounding his jaw. “She is buying another company.”

  Great. She owned banks and bought other companies. In what kind of sandbox would her and this Merry Eastwood ever be equals? “How worried should I be?”

  “With Merry, you should always be worried. But, I assure you, she is quite busy at the moment.”

  “I didn’t realize buying companies was such a big thing.”

  Chuck smiled, his pale eyes giving off a ruthless gleam. “She is purchasing one of my companies.” He raised a dark eyebrow. “And I am keeping her…very entertained.”

  Oh. “Oh.” Well. “So, I wasn’t the first to break the treaty?”

  “Definitely not.”

  Paige frowned at the bar. Then was the edge off?

  “But she will make sure you are the last.”

  With her daughter back, a new son, Dexx by her side, and her family back in her life, Merry was going to find it extremely difficult to bring that level of despair back into her life.

  Chuck smiled. “Excellent. Now, about this new treaty…”

  “That,” Dexx said as they made it back onto the two-lane highway, “did not go nearly as badly as I thought it would.”

  “No, it did not.” Paige put her hand to her head. “Though, I feel like a bit of an alcoholic, drinking before six.”

  “Yeah. You’re a real alchy, Pea. You had one beer and you’re buzzed. True sign right there.”

  “Shut up.”

  Dexx smiled at her. “So, about tonight.”

  “Yes?” She smiled at him.

  He wiggled his eyebrows. “I brought my pretty underwear.”

  “You mean your Sponge Bob boxers?”

  He batted his eyes at her. “So you have seen my sexy underwear.”

  She laughed. “Oh my god, Dexx. Those things are hideous. Hideous.”

  “Just because you don’t understand the love and supreme joy of Sponge Bob…”

  “There was study done on Sponge Bob—”

  He snorted. “A study? Like someone actually spent money on this thing?”

  “There are words coming out of my mouth. Stop talking and listen.”

  “Oh.” He grinned and zipped his lips closed.

  “There was a study and it showed that Sponge Bob makes people stupid.”

  “When my penis is awake, I assure you, I am always stupid.”

  Paige finished her laugh with a happy sigh. “Who would have thought a week ago that we’d be here and that things wouldn’t suck so bad?”

  “Right? You and Alma aren’t trying to kill each other.” He gestured with his hand as they entered the four lane highway. “That would have been entertaining, but I do appreciate the fact that you ladies were able to get past the ‘whoops’ and right into the ‘hey, I love you’ part of the conversation. That was very adult of both of you.”

  “I’m not saying
I fully trust her.” Or was completely over the betrayal.

  “Right?”

  “But I’m happy right now.”

  So was she. “Happiness changes a person.”

  “Oh, gods, yes.”

  They drove the rest of the way in relative silence. Dexx turned on the radio and sang along, inviting Paige to join him. She didn’t even know the songs playing, so there was very little she could do. However, the fact that he knew country blew her mind a little. He was so old school hard rock, she didn’t think he had any country in him.

  When they pulled up to the house, there were about three more cars than needed to be there. Paige frowned, but walked through the front door anyway.

  Rachel’s twisted face greeted her in the living room.

  Leah sat on the striped sofa. It looked like she was trying to disappear into it.

  But Rachel wasn’t paying that much attention to Leah. She had her eyes glued on Bobby.

  Bobby! Fear ram-rodded Paige’s spine.

  Becky, the angel social worker, sat on one of the chairs opposite the floral sofa, Bobby in her arms. “Ah, Ms. Whiskey. There you are.”

  Paige stepped into the room. That name. Again. She walked past Rachel and took Bobby a lot more gently than she thought she’d be capable of. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m assigned to Leah’s case. Rachel requested visitation and I’m the court ordered supervisor.”

  “But I decide when she has visitations.”

  “Yes.” Becky’s eyebrows rose painfully, her smile tighter. “Yes, you sure do.”

  Paige gritted her teeth. “Can I offer you any coffee?”

  “Tea?”

  “Excellent. We have a wide variety. Why don’t you come into the kitchen and pick one?”

  Alma moved from her position at the table near the door of the dining room. “I’ll stay with Rachel and Leah.”

  “Thanks, Grandma.” Paige ducked into the hallway and walked to the kitchen that way. “We’ll be right back.”

  “Take your time, hon,” Alma called.

  “I really do need to watch them,” Becky said quietly.

  “Yeah.” Paige filled the tea kettle and put it on the stove. “Why is Bobby down here?”

  “I came to check on him. She just showed up.”

  “And you couldn’t send her away?”

  “I’m court ordered, Paige, but only you have the authority to send her away.”