A Family Oath
Page 23
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“That’s for him to explain. I brought a car. If you would.”
I eye the black Navigator sitting at the curb and even through the fog of afternoon drinking, my Spidey-senses are tingling. “Okay, let me grab my jacket and my purse.”
I stroll through the house to the back hall and get ready to leave. After tying the belt of my jacket, I loop my purse over my head. “One sec. Let me turn off the kettle.”
In the kitchen, I pull out my phone and text Garnet. Anyx is here to pick me up. What’s up? Something feels off.
Here where?
My front door.
Sloan finishes with his shoes and grabs a thick sweater that he pulls on. Hello, that’s a good look for him. “All set?”
“Uh… Yeah, I guess.”
Sloan’s attention falls serious. He steps between me and the front door and magic snaps in the air around us. He pegs me with a look. “Speak freely. What is it?”
I unzip my purse and look down as if I’m searching for something. “Deja vu. Garnet was supposedly sending for me the night Liam and I got jumped at the back of Shenanigans. Fool me once. Fool me twice. You know?”
“What do you want to do?”
“Stall. I texted Garnet.”
The wooden floor creaks as we head back to the front of the house. The more I focus, the more I know the squirreling in my belly is more than too much hot chocolate. Whatever this is, it’s not Garnet.
He always calls or texts me when he needs me.
Sloan steps outside first, and Anyx backs up enough for me to get my keys out and lock up. When that’s done, my palm warms against the doorjamb.
Ward of Protection. “All set.” I point toward the awaiting truck. “Lead the way.”
When Anyx turns to descend the steps, another Anyx pops in beside me with Thaor.
I point at the one heading down the steps.
The new Anyx sees the other Anyx and does a flying tackle off the porch. He takes him down in a bone-jarring thump to the ground, and they begin an all-out brawl on my front lawn.
I must be drunker than I thought because I press my fingers under my tongue and let out a whistle that could shatter eardrums. “Huge points for air on your takeoff, dude.”
“What’s going on?” Janine picks up her barking mop-head and shouts over from her porch next door.
I point at the two men pounding on each other in the grass. “They’re fighting.”
Skippy is yipping his fool head off under her arm, and she pats him. “Are you drunk? It’s not even dinner time.”
I glance at Sloan and frown. “I fail to see what that has to do with them fighting.”
Janine scowls. “Are they twins?”
The barking makes it hard to think. I squint and try to tell them apart. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Let’s say yes.”
Thaor strides past the fight and is speed-stalking straight for the idling truck. The driver must see him coming because he peels out with the pedal to the floor and lays a giant black skid trail in front of my house.
“That maniac is going to kill someone,” Janine shouts.
“At least it won’t be me.” I flash a thumbs-up, but I don’t think she sees the humor.
“Should I call the police?”
Thaor jumps into the mix and gets an elbow to the nose. Blood sprays in the air and I wince in sympathy. “No. I’m sure they’ll sort it out. You know how brothers are.”
“My brothers would never act like—”
The Anyx bookends flash out, and everything falls silent.
“Where did they go?” Janine points, her mouth hanging open, her face screwed up. “They just—”
“Crap on a cracker.”
“I’ve got this.” Sloan poofs from my porch to hers and reforms behind her.
She screams. Skippy loses his shit. Then a ball of white fuzz bolts off the porch and heads straight toward the forest beside my house.
“Skippy!” Janine shouts.
“Feckin’ hell.” Sloan grabs her and knocks her out.
“What the hell?” Dillan snaps.
I ignore Dillan, jump off the porch, and race toward the wild space at the end of our street. Before I get halfway across the lawn, a coyote zips out of the trees and snatches Skippy up.
“Oh, nononono. That’s not good.”
Dillan catches up to me. “What should we do?”
“Any chance we can save the dog?”
Dillan blinks at me. “All signs point to no.”
“Shit. Okay, then I’ll help Sloan with Janine. You go back to bed.”
“Did I see Skippy get taken by a coyote?” Mrs. Graham asks from across the road.
“Yeah. It happened so fast. Sad, eh?”
“If you say so. In my day, a dog came up higher than your shin.” I know where she’s coming from, and yeah, coyotes gotta eat, but I feel totes responsible for this one. “Hey, Dillan. Lookin’ good, sexy boy.”
Yep, Dillan’s in his boxers on the front lawn. “Hey, Mrs. Graham. Thanks for noticing.”
He’s still tossing her a wave when I turn him around and push him toward the porch. “Stop flirting with old ladies.”
He snorts. “Hey, I’m all about community service. Besides, cougars are in.”
“She’s not a cougar. She’s a sabertooth tiger.”
“Ouch. Harsh.”
By the time I get Dillan back in the house and climb Janine’s porch, Sloan has her sitting up, and Mark’s coming out. “What happened?”
“Skippy got away from Janine and ran off. I’m sorry. A coyote got him, and she fainted.”
“A coyote?”
“Mrs. Graham saw it.” Yeah, I totally pass the buck on that one but don’t even care.
Mark takes Sloan’s place and helps Janine to the porch swing. “We were reading in the paper last week about another case where the coyote took a dog right off the front lawn while the owner stood on the porch.”
I nod. “It’s a thing.”
“I…I can’t believe it.” Janine’s still visibly foggy from Sloan clearing her memory of two shifters and a wizard teleporting off my front lawn. “Why would Skippy run off?”
“No idea. It was a cray-cray moment. Maybe you should go in and lie down. It’s been a shock.”
Mark nods and pulls Janine under his arm, then ushers her into the house.
* * *
When Sloan and I get back to my house, I sit on the top step and drop my face into my hands. “What a shit show. I can’t believe I killed the neighbor’s dog.”
Sloan groans. “Ye didn’t, and ye know it. That was beyond yer control and a circle of life moment. I agree with the shit show part though. That was classic Cumhaill chaos.”
I run my fingers through my hair, shake that off, and stand. “We’ll worry about that later. Right now, I want to go to Garnet’s and find out who that guy was and check on how Myra’s doing.”
“Then I’m going with ye.” Da comes down the stairs. “I’ll not have ye goin’ to that man’s home like yer a friend of his. If ye don’t have the sense to keep him at arm’s length, I’ll have to do it for ye.”
I fight the urge to stomp my boot against the floor but settle for crossing my arms with a bit more steam than usual. “Da, I’m grown and capable of watching my back.”
“I’m goin’, young lady, and I’ll not hear another word about it.”
“Why aren’t you at work? Don’t you have a shift in the stakeout van tonight?”
“Och, the stakeout got canceled on account of a cross-gang shootout. The men we were watchin’ got themselves in more hot water than catchin’ our notice. That case is closed.”
“Oh, sorry. You spent a lot of time working on taking those guys down.”
Da shrugs. “Sometimes they take themselves down too. No bother. Besides. We’re one step closer to riddin’ the city of the men who killed yer brother.”
“I won’t mourn them, that’s for sure.”
“Awesome. Just please don’t get standoffish. I’m trying to build a relationship with him and the Lakeshore Guild that doesn’t put us in the crosshairs.”
Da arches a russet brow. “I’ll try to contain myself. Ye do remember that it was me who taught ye the art of makin’ nice with people, don’t ye?”
“Yeah, and you also taught us how to get behind an unsuspecting opponent and choke them out with a sleeper hold.”
“Another valuable life skill.”
I eye him and wag my finger. “Play nice, Da. I mean it. If ye can’t behave, I’ll not trust ye to take ye back.”
Da chuckles. “I think an extremely wise man might’ve said that a couple o’ times or so.”
I take my father’s hand, then hold out my other hand to Sloan. “Ready when you are, hotness.”
Sloan squeezes my fingers. “Aye, blossom. As ye wish.”
* * *
“What happened?” Garnet asks as his men usher us into his compound home. He’s coming out from the back bedrooms, and he looks a little more frazzled than usual. He sees my father with us and nods. “Niall, welcome. Come. Eat. Make yourselves at home, and Fiona can start at the top and tell us her latest tale.”
I scan the buffet spread laid out, and it blows my mind. Does he always have this much food set out? Does he feed his whole pride of feline friends?
“I think you got the whole story. Anyx One showed up on my front porch to pick me up and said you needed me. I didn’t like the vibe, so I texted. Then Anyx Two came with Thaor to stop whatever was happening.”
“How’d you know it wasn’t me?” Anyx asks.
“He didn’t feel like you. He lacked your swarthy feline swagger.” Anyx’s mouth quirks up at the side, but my father seems less amused. I ignore his arching brow and continue. “Thanks for the save, by the way. Next time, try not to flash out in front of the muggles next door.”
Garnet gives Anyx a scathing glare but his second doesn’t respond in any way.
“But ye got yer man, right?” Sloan asks.
Anyx nods. “We’re interrogating him, but he’s still wearing my face and hasn’t said anything so we haven’t been able to identify him.”
“What sects do ye have in yer community that can take another man’s form?”
Garnet points at the food and hands me a plate. How sweet. He’s learned I never say no to food twice. “Witches, mages, and wizards could do it. A few fae species could cast a glamor. The Greek could do it. We have a few followers of Freja who could.”
I grab a croissant and a stack of roasted turkey. “Nikon was drinking with us all afternoon and has no beef with me. I can sense fae glamors, so I don’t think it’s anyone from that crowd. My guess is we’re dealing with the wizards who’ve been harassing Myra, or the witches.”
Garnet frowns. “Why did you add witches to the list?”
“Um, because witches be bitches.”
Garnet ignores the wisdom of my words and finishes his drink. “If you gentlemen will excuse us for a moment, I think Fi might like to take her snack into the back to eat. There’s someone eager to see her.”
I finish hogging all the specialty cheeses and squeal. “Myra’s awake? You didn’t tell me.”
“Just now, and I just did.”
I take my plate, grab a can of ginger ale from the ice bucket, and follow his lead. “You made my night, Garnet. Seriously.”
He chuckles. “I had nothing to do with it.”
I follow Garnet to the back and find Myra sitting up in bed. I rush inside, set my plate on the dresser, and jump onto the mattress with her. “You’re here! You’re back!”
Myra giggles and hugs me. “Thanks to you, I hear.”
I ease back and take a closer look at her. “Are you all right? Did the antidote fix you up completely?”
“Completely and totally. I thought I’d have a shower and get back to the world.”
“Shower, yes. Back to the world, no.” The growl in Garnet’s voice leaves no confusion as to his opinion about that. “You’re my guest until we get a handle on who’s involved in this demon-raising plan.”
Myra stares past me. I’m not sure what unspoken conversation they have, but Garnet wins. She rolls her eyes and points at my plate. “What have you got on there? I’m starving.”
“I asked you if you wanted anything,” Garnet protests.
“I didn’t then. I do now.”
He huffs, but there’s no real heat to it. “I’ll make you a plate. Chat amongst yourselves, ladies.”
I wait until Garnet leaves before I burst out in a fit of giggles. “Ohmygosh he’s so cute when he’s all growly and protective.”
Myra rolls her eyes. “I know. Stupid lion.”
“So things are good then? Between the two of you?” I lean back and reclaim my plate and my soda and get us started on the gossip session.
Myra rips off the end of the croissant and snags some turkey. “He told me what you did, clearing our grief. That was sweet of you.”
“Sorry. I know that maybe I shouldn’t have—not without your permission at least—but I wanted you to feel better, and I could feel the pain weighing you both down. I’m sorry about your son.”
She smiles. “Me too. Grant was the light of our lives, and when we lost him, it consumed everything. I couldn’t look at Garnet without seeing my little boy, and Garnet couldn’t look at me without taking on the guilt of losing him.”
“What happened?” I raise my hand. “Sorry. That’s none of my business.”
She shakes her head. “It’s okay. Sometimes hybrid Moon Called don’t survive their transition from human to their base animal. Grant’s mixed blood brought complications, and we lost him. It happens. That’s why Moon Called don’t often mate with other sects. It was doomed from the start.”
“But you love each other.”
She nods. “Sometimes love isn’t enough.”
I finish a wedge of cheese and shrug. “Sometimes it is.”
Myra blushes. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Garnet and I are ancient history. Nothing to see here.”
I snort and swallow a chunk of cheese. “Keep telling yourself that.”
She grabs another wad of meat and pops it in her mouth. After she’s done chewing, she grips my hand. “Seriously, Fi, you’re a lifesaver, and I love you for it.”
“Do you know who all the players are? Do you think Garnet and the Guild can round them up and figure out what this demon resurrection stupidity is about?”
“I told him what I know.”
“Which you should’ve done weeks before now.” Garnet returns with a plate heaped with food. “Maybe this could’ve been avoided if you trusted me enough to take care of things.”
Myra reaches for the next plate of food and wrinkles her nose. “You don’t have to take care of things for me, Gar. I’m an independent female.”
“You’re a stubborn female, and you miss the point. I wouldn’t take care of things because I have to. I want to.”
“So cute. The big, scary lion man is a pussy cat in love.”
Garnet growls at me. “Why do you think you can get away with saying shit like that to me? A week ago, you accused me of being the head of the Toronto crime syndicate.”
I snort and grab a couple of grapes from Myra’s plate. “No. I told you my father said that. I’ve always seen the true heart of the lion.”
He growls again.
Myra giggles. “I told you she’s special.”
“She’s a thorn in my paw.”
“No, I’m the little mouse who took the thorn out of your paw, remember? Squeak, squeak.”
Garnet chuckles. “So you say. If that were true, why have I never had so many problems and so many bodies within the Guild membership? Ever?”
“You’re blaming me?’
; “If the massacre fits… Oh, and speaking of massacres, how did you deny the responsibility of cursing the altar stone and get away without getting caught in the lie?”
“Because I didn’t lie. I didn’t curse the stone.”
Garnet frowns. “Please don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying. Hypothetically, it might’ve been my idea, and I might know who did it—but it wasn’t me.”
“A fine point of distinction but an important one.” He relaxes a little.
“It’s just desserts as far as I’m concerned.”
“It really does offend you, doesn’t it?”
“They call themselves druids, but druids are keepers of nature. They slaughter innocents for power. They harness fae creatures and siphon power, desiccate forests, and suck living things dry of their life forces. That’s not being a druid—it’s the exact opposite. And then, to take a sacred site like the Drombeg Stone Circle and use it for ritual sacrifice? It’s disgusting. Seriously. Yes—it offends me.”
Garnet nods. “Point taken, Lady Druid. Consider your objections noted.”
I look from him to Myra and back. “Sorry. A little of the old Irish ire leaked out on that one.”
Myra chuckles. “Don’t be sorry, duck. The Lakeshore Guild could use a few more ethically passionate people. It’s gotten a bit heavy with complacent dead wood over the decades. Present company excepted.”
“Speaking of…” Garnet gestures at the door. “It’s time we pay a visit to the West Village Wizards and get to the bottom of things. I assumed you’d like to come along.”
“Yes, please. You assumed right.” I kiss Myra’s cheek and roll off the bed. “Feel better.”
She lays back and gathers her plate into her lap. “I do, Fi. Better than I have in years. Be careful. The men who did this to me are a nasty, vile bunch.”
I cast a backward glance as I join Garnet. “Don’t worry. We’ve got this.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Garnet, Anyx, Sloan, Da, and I pile into Garnet’s big black truck and head out. Another truckload of men in another big black truck pulls in behind us as we drive away.