Dead to Me (The Harry Russo Diaries Book 5)

by Lisa Emme

  Jonah shrugged. “You didn’t think Salvador left you unprotected out there in the boonies, did you?”

  “You mean you spied on me my whole childhood?”

  “Watched over you from time to time is a better way to describe it. If you hadn’t climbed that damn tree that day, you’d never have known I was there.”

  I frowned at him, not knowing what to say to that, so for a change, I kept my mouth shut.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Shut the front door!” I looked at Barbie, dumbfounded.

  “It’s true. She was incredible.” Barbie turned to Tank, her boyfriend, for confirmation.

  “She was something else, that’s for sure. I knew she was scrappy, but I didn’t think she had it in her.” He took a sip from his cup, the tiny espresso mug looking miniscule in his huge hands.

  The Gathering had ended and the new alpha had been determined with Evaine, Nash’s oldest sister, fighting her way to lead her family’s pack as alpha. Her mate, Kevin, had risen to beta and would act as her second. That Evaine had fought in the Gathering defeating all comers was a surprise, especially when you considered the fact that she was five months pregnant. But what really blew my mind was the fact that Tess had fought her way to be Evaine’s third.

  I was in shock. Tess was certainly feisty and a deadly fighter in human form, but I had never seen her fight as a wolf, nor had I ever heard her talk of aspirations of rising higher in the pack structure.

  “So, what happens now? What’s being done about Nash and Eleanor and the other alphas?”

  Barbie gave me a sheepish look. “I don’t know. I’m not very high in the pack so I haven’t heard anything other than what Martin has told me.” Martin was Barbie’s brother who worked with Nash on the police force.

  “What did he say?”

  “The SRU has been scouring the city, searching for places that could be used as a hideout for Drago and his goons, but so far, they haven’t found any sign of them.”

  “Jonah hasn’t had any luck either.”

  Barbie looked at me with wide eyes. “I can’t believe you’re friends with The Law. He’s like a legend or something.”

  I made a face. I didn’t see what the big deal was. Jonah seemed like an okay guy, certainly not the boogie man everyone made him out to be. I’d have to get someone to tell me some of the stories attributed to The Law, so I could judge for myself.

  “Speaking of Jonah,” Isaac said as he walked into the café. “Did he not tell you your presence was required this evening?”

  “I’m ready,” I replied.

  Isaac perused my attire critically and then raised a single, doubtful eyebrow.

  “Okay, I just have to change and then I’ll be ready.”

  ***

  “Harry!”

  “Tess!”

  We collided outside Dante’s, hugging one another like we hadn’t seen each other in years. Like me, Tess was dressed to kill in an LBD and stiletto heels.

  “I have so much to tell you.”

  “I heard!”

  CAW!

  CAW!

  “Lucy?" Tess gaped at the bird who was sitting on a nearby newspaper box. “What’s she doing here?”

  “She followed the car. I couldn’t get her to go back.” I’d spent five minutes pulled over at the side of the road trying to convince the damn bird to go home but finally had to give up because I was afraid I’d be late.

  “Loopy bird.” Tess shook her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t talk now. Evaine and Kevin are already inside. Can you believe it?”

  “I’m still in shock.”

  Isaac joined us on the sidewalk and gave Tess a little bow. “Congratulations, Tess. Christina told me your news.”

  “Thanks, Isaac. Listen, Harry, I have to go, but I’ll see you inside.” She gave me another quick hug and then hurried off.

  “You too, Harry. You’d better head in.” Isaac looked at me expectantly.

  “Aren’t you coming?”

  “I wasn’t invited.”

  “Oh.” I bit my lip. “What if I invite you?”

  Isaac’s lip twitched as if he was holding back a smile. “As much as I would love to see Tomas’s face when you informed him why I was in attendance, I think we should give him this chance without trying to supplant his authority quite so soon.”

  “Well, if you put it that way,” I said with a sigh.

  I started towards the door and Lucy swooped down over my head.

  CA-CAW!

  “Lucy, you bird-brain, you can’t come with me.”

  “CAW!”

  She launched herself at me, landing on my shoulder, clacking her beak in my ear.

  “Seriously, bird. I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “Harry,” Isaac intoned, “you’re going to be late.”

  “I can’t go in there with a bird on my shoulder,” I replied.

  Isaac shrugged.

  “Fine,” I said, pointing a finger at Lucy. “You’d better behave or a wolf might eat you.” I headed to the door.

  “Harry, the other door.” Isaac pointed to the entry that led up into the building rather than down below it. “Fourth floor meeting rooms.”

  “Oh. Thanks.”

  ***

  The elevator doors opened and Lucy flapped out with a squawk. So much for trying to keep a low profile. With a sigh, I stepped out into the crowded foyer expecting the worst, but luckily, everyone was too busy talking amongst themselves to notice the big black bird. And, another plus, I guess I wasn’t late if everyone was milling about outside the room.

  I spotted Tess and Evaine and gave them a little wave. They were the only werewolves I recognized, besides Kevin, who was across the room talking to Max. From the looks of things, the other two packs were again led by male alphas. And in fact, Tess, Evaine and I were the only females in attendance. So much for gender equality.

  I searched the room for Lucy, spotting her under a table, wrestling with the wrapper on a candy bar. Where the hell did she find that? We’d been here less than a minute. It was like babysitting a toddler.

  I hurried across the room and ducked under the table.

  “Give me that, you silly bird. You’ll make yourself sick.” I grabbed the bar from the squawking bird. She managed to tear off a piece of the shiny silver wrapper and hopped away out of reach. I shoved the rest of the bar into my purse.

  “Russo, looking fine, as always.”

  I jumped at the voice nearly banging my head on the table, and craned my neck to find Tomas standing beside me, eyes firmly planted on my ass.

  “Put a sock in it, Sparky,” I said, using the nickname I had given him after Tess and I made a joke about him sparkling now that he was a full vampire. I crawled out from under the table and got to my feet.

  Tomas’s eyes narrowed at the use of the name he hated with a passion. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing. I dropped a contact. I’ll see you in there.”

  I brushed past him, but he put a hand on my arm.

  “You wouldn’t happen to be wearing an invisible sword, would you?”

  I shrugged. Of course I was, and he knew it.

  “Try not to take off anyone’s head tonight,” he replied wryly.

  “I’ll do my best, but no promises.”

  Tomas gave me a look that said he had doubts about my best, but merely sighed. “We’ll go in together,” he said. “Sit on my right. It would be best if you were seen but not heard, if you know what I mean.”

  Scowling, I pulled my arm from his grip. “As a matter of fact, I don’t. If you didn’t want my opinion at this meeting, you shouldn’t have ordered my attendance.”

  “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Russo. I only meant the meeting will probably be heated enough without any of your cute remarks.” He leaned in closer to me, to speak directly in my ear. “Things are going to be tense. We need to show a united front.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” I replied. I had no inte
ntions of rocking the boat. As long as I liked the direction it was going, of course.

  My answer satisfied Tomas, who held out his arm for me to take. “Shall we?”

  I allowed him to escort me into the room, surreptitiously glancing over my shoulder at Lucy, who seemed content to play with the shiny bit of paper she had stolen.

  The meeting room was laid out with a large table set up in the middle of the room. When I saw its shape, I had to physically slap my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Leave it to Salvador to have a specially made table so his council of supernaturals sat at his own version of the Pentagon.

  Tomas led me to one side of the table – they were all equal – and indicated I should take a seat. I slid into my chair beside him and waited as the rest of the company filed in, my eyes almost popping out when I noticed the large, black-feathered party-crasher swagger into the room at their feet as if she had every right to be there. I began to rise so I could try and herd the damn bird back out into the foyer before anyone noticed, but Tomas, oblivious to Lucy, put a hand on my arm and shook his head. I glanced back to where I’d seen the troublesome raven, but she was nowhere in sight. Panicked, I scanned the room, sighing in relief when I spotted her under a table along the wall, playing with the end of the tablecloth that was dangling over the edge. I’d just have to hope Lucy stayed distracted and out of trouble.

  The others all filed in and took their seats. Evaine and her team sat to my right, which put Tess, who was on Evaine’s left, immediately beside me. She grinned at me, but then sobered, doing her best to act business-like, I supposed.

  Max and the two mages accompanying him took seats immediately to the right of Evaine’s group. I recognized the two men with Max from my days living with the Coven in Aldergrove. Both had been members of the Conclave, the ruling body of witches, when I had lived there, so I assumed they were still members. They were good choices on Max’s part because I remembered both men to be highly skilled mages and equally tolerant of other supernaturals.

  The final two sides of the table were taken up by the remaining werewolf delegations. I didn’t know which group represented which pack, but since one of the men looked like a dead ringer for the missing James Martin, I hazarded a guess and decided he was James’s son and now the new alpha of James’s former pack.

  The final alpha, the one replacing Charlie Harris, was a bit of an anomaly in the supernatural world – at least when it came to werewolves and vampires. He was butt-ugly. It was hard not to stare, it was so unusual. From his cragged square-jaw and Neanderthal-like forehead, to his buggy eyes, it was like watching that kid show where “one of these things is not like the other”. More concerning was his fierce demeanor and the fact that he had thicker than usual hair on his arms and even his forehead, a sure sign his wolf was close to the surface. It would be a safe bet he was the reason Tomas thought the meeting would be tense. One look at the guy and you could tell he was going to be trouble. The two werewolves with him, his lieutenants, looked like they wished they could be anywhere else rather than sitting with their new alpha. And even more telling, they both appeared to be afraid of him.

  While everyone was taking their seat, several servers bustled around the table pouring water and coffee. I wasn’t paying attention to them until a familiar voice said, “Coffee, miss?”

  “Don’t let on I’m here, Harry.” Jonah’s voice immediately sounded in my head.

  I turned to glare at him as he leaned in beside me holding a coffee carafe but then quickly schooled my face. “That would be easier to do if you didn’t keep popping up everywhere unannounced,” I replied silently.

  “No, thanks,” I said out loud. “I’ll take some water if you have it.”

  “Does Tomas know you’re here?” I continued in my head.

  Jonah gave a quick nod and then said out loud, “I’ll get you that water, miss.” He backed away and I lost sight of him behind me.

  Tomas rose to address the group. “Good evening. Thank you for coming to this special meeting of the Cimmerian Council. We’ll skip the usual formalities to keep things brief. There are new faces tonight so we’ll go around the room and you can introduce yourselves.” He turned to me.

  Crap! Way to put me on the spot. I gave the group a little wave. “Hi, I’m Harry Russo, I’m–”

  “Salvador’s get. Aye, we all know. Let’s get on with it. I’m Carl Mullins, alpha of the Mullins pack.”

  Although no one else had been speaking, the room suddenly fell into a palpable silence while the werewolves on either side of Carl traded looks of absolute shock akin to horror. Traditionally, the packs took their names based on the range of their territory, not the name of the current alpha. For Carl to make such an pronouncement, was not a good sign for the fate of Charlie Harris’s former pack.

  After a moment of strained silence, the other pack leader, the one who reminded me of James Martin, cleared his throat. “I’m Peter Martin, alpha of the Alder Creek pack.” He gave Carl Mullins a look of pure contempt before turning his attention back to the rest of the group.

  Evaine sat forward as if she was about to speak, but Carl made a sound of disgust. She paused, giving him a look that could sour milk.

  Oblivious, or at least choosing to ignore her, the alpha began speaking again. “Enough with the small talk. What are you doing to find our people?” he demanded.

  Tomas, nonplussed, gave him a condescending look. “As you know, our resources have been limited due to the withdrawal of the werewolf guard. The SRU has similarly been hampered until earlier today. Regardless, we’ve had our best tracker hunting Drago and his servants, but as of yet, they continue to evade detection.”

  I glanced across the room where Jonah had taken a position, ready to serve, along the wall with the other waiters. He noticed my attention and smirked.

  “And the missing item? The one this Drago seeks? What of it?"

  Tomas’s composure slipped minutely and I realized Jonah hadn’t told him about our adventure this afternoon.

  “There wasn’t time, luv.” Jonah supplied, rudely following my thoughts.

  “Will you keep out of my head!” I replied as forcefully as I could. Jonah winced.

  “I can answer that,” I replied, glancing at Tomas. He nodded so I continued. “We recovered the item late this afternoon. It’s a brooch. Some sort of family heirloom.”

  “You have it? Where is it? Show it to me.” Carl sat forward eagerly, almost too eagerly.

  “Well, that’s interesting,” Jonah said, his voice sounding thoughtful. I agreed, equally intrigued, so I didn’t even mind the uninvited commentary in my head.

  “I don’t have it here. It’s locked away safely.” Honestly, it was in a ziplock bag in my purse, hanging over the back of my chair, but for some reason I didn’t want Carl to know that.

  Carl glared at me, the hair on his arms bristling. “Don’t play games, witch,” he growled.

  CA-CAW!

  CAW!

  Lucy landed with a thud on the table in front of me.

  “What the hell?" Carl sat back surprised.

  “Yours, I presume,” Tomas said calmly, turning to give me an impatient look.

  Lucy strutted back and forth along the table. I glanced at Tess and then immediately wished I hadn’t because she was ready to burst into laughter. I choked back a giggle and turned to Tomas.

  “You could say that. She was integral in the recovery of Drago’s missing artefact.”

  “Flying vermin,” Carl scoffed. “Bad omens.”

  Apparently taking offense, Lucy squawked and launched herself across the gap between the two tables.

  CAW!

  CAW!

  She flapped at Carl, skimming over his head close enough to ruffle his hair and landed on the table against the wall where she continued to chew him out, clacking and cawing angrily.

  “Actually,” Max replied, raising his voice to be heard over the noise, “the raven is closely associated with wolves in the
wild, not to mention being a favoured messenger of Hecate, so I would think she is a sign of good luck.”

  “Russo,” Tomas leaned over to speak directly to me. “Can you shut your bird up?”

  I started to rise from my chair, but Lucy suddenly fell silent. I glanced over and gratefully spotted Jonah feeding her a strip of jerky. The guy must carry that stuff everywhere.

  “Enough nonsense,” Carl growled. “We’ve only come here to tell you in person that the Mullins pack no longer supports the accord.” He pushed himself up from the table and his lieutenants belatedly followed suit, looking less than enthusiastic. “All the trouble we’ve faced of late has been the result of our pact with Salvador. We’ll no longer take part in your vampire politics. We withdraw all support.”

  Evaine rose from her seat. “That is not a decision you alone can make. The Triad determines the role of the packs.” She glared at Carl.

  The tension in the room rose tenfold as the two alphas stared each other down. Peter, the remaining alpha, pushed his chair back and rose to his substantial height. “Evaine is right. You’re premature in your announcement, Carl. We have not yet met on the subject of the accord. We should table this discussion until the Triad has a chance to deliberate these new circumstances.”

  A wave of angry power flowed across the room, emanating from Carl, and it became clear how he’d won his place in the pack. Neither of the other alphas appeared to be affected, although Tess winced.

  Evaine, power bristling off her, stepped closer to Carl. “We can settle this right now, if you’d prefer.” Her voice had taken on a deeper, huskier tone, and she suddenly seemed larger than her five-six frame.

  Kevin and Tess rose as one, standing at her back.

  Carl glared at them, hands fisted at his sides, his angry breath the only sound breaking the silence.

  “Bah!” he finally scoffed, pushing his chair with so much force it flew backwards, tipping over. “I’ll not air pack matters in front of outsiders.”

  The power levels in the room ratcheted down several notches but didn’t completely dissipate. Carl growled something to his entourage and stalked out the door.