Dead to Me (The Harry Russo Diaries Book 5)

by Lisa Emme

  Evaine turned to Tomas. “You have the support of the Tri-River pack.”

  “The Alder Creek pack as well. What can we do to help?”

  “There’s nothing more we can do, but wait,” Tomas turned to me. “And then it’s all up to Russo.”

  CAW!

  Lucy flapped across the room taking perch on my shoulder as all eyes turned on me.

  Geez, no pressure.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “We don’t even know where she’s supposed to go,” Tess complained. “You can’t expect her to go by herself.”

  With the abrupt exit of Carl, the meeting had come to a close. Max had sent his entourage home, as had Peter. Tess had remained because, well, it was Tess, but also, I guess, as a representative of Evaine, who had left with Kevin to get some sleep at his and my insistence. Those who remained, adjourned to Salvador’s penthouse to hash out a game plan for when I was supposed to meet with Drago, but it was difficult to figure out a plan when we didn’t even know what game we were playing.

  “I don’t see how we avoid it. Drago said to send me.” I watched as Lucy, perched on Jonah’s lap, preened herself and then pecked at his hand, encouraging him to pet her. She had decided he was her new best friend, by the looks of things. All it took was a seemingly never-ending supply of jerky.

  “But he didn’t say you had to go alone,” Tess insisted.

  “She won’t be alone for long,” Tomas replied. He was being much more tolerant of Tess’s outburst than I would have thought and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of her newly-won status in the pack. “Wherever they send her, we’ll be close behind. Now that the wolf guard is back,” he nodded at Peter, “we’ll have troops ready to send in at a moment’s notice.”

  “We will do our utmost to ensure Harry’s safety.” Isaac stared directly at Jonah as he said the words.

  “I’ve always have your back, Harry,” Jonah replied. He rose to his feet, sending Lucy squawking into the air. She hovered beside him and then landed on his shoulder. “I’ve got a lead I want to follow up before tomorrow. I’ll be back before sundown.” He attempted to get Lucy to leave his shoulder, but she simply flapped into the air and landed right back down in the same spot. “I guess the bird is coming with me,” he said.

  “What did you expect? You bribed her with food.” I grinned at him. “She’s your responsibility now.”

  After Jonah left with Lucy, I turned to the rest of the group. “Well, we’re not getting anywhere here. I’m going home.”

  “Don’t you think you should stay here again for the night, Russo?”

  “No, I’m going home. Drago isn’t going to try anything tonight. He wants the big show, whatever it is, tomorrow.”

  “I’m going with you,” Tess said in a manner that implied she expected no protests.

  “That’s fine with me.”

  “But we haven’t made any sort of plan,” Peter said, his face betraying his confusion.

  “What’s there to plan?” I asked. “Drago will call tomorrow to tell me the meeting place and to insist I bring the brooch. He’ll use his goons to kidnap me and take me back to their hideout. Isaac and Jonah will find me, sending in the cavalry to stop them.” I ticked each step off on my fingers. It was as much a plan as we ever had.

  Peter put up his hands in surrender, a slight grin on his face. “Okay, don’t fault me. I’m just the new guy.”

  “You’ll get the hang of it,” I said, returning his grin.

  His face sobered. “I hope not.”

  I gave him a sympathetic look. I wasn’t the only one who had a loved one missing. “We’re going to get them back,” I said, hoping I was right. “All of them.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The waiting was the worst. It was the day of Drago’s sundown-ultimatum, and I was puttering around in the garden trying take my mind off everything, but it wasn’t working. Not even Lucy’s antics were enough to distract me.

  The crazy bird had found a plastic head off an old doll and had immediately plucked out all the hair and then poked out the eyes, an act that I admit left me feeling a bit leery about letting her anywhere near my head ever again. The opening of the doll head was wide enough that Lucy slipped her own head inside, promptly getting it stuck. She flapped around the roof, her squawking muffled by the restricted space, with the plastic head flopping around like she was some sort of demented creature from a horror movie.

  “I don’t know which is funnier. Lucy hopping around or you trying to catch her,” Tess guffawed.

  “Ha-ha, so funny. Will you put a cork in it and help me get her? She’s going to hurt herself.”

  Tess reluctantly got to her feet and helped me to corral the squawking bird. You’d think it would be easy to catch a bird that has something stuck over its head, but with the eyes missing, there were two holes big enough for Lucy to peer through. It was disconcerting to have one beady eye staring at you through the doll head as Lucy turned her head back and forth to look around. It didn’t help that the loopy bird thought it was great fun to evade our attempts to assist her.

  Finally, I’d had enough and grabbed an old blanket from the storage bin. While Tess acted as a distraction, I snuck up behind Lucy and threw the blanket over her.

  “Gotcha!” I cried, grabbing the lump under the blanket.

  CWA! CWA!

  Lucy’s squawks sounded more like duck quacks, coming from inside the doll head.

  I wrestled the head off and pulled back the blanket. Lucy turned one beady, black eye to me and then pushed off into the air, landing on the roof of the greenhouse where she proceeded to tell me off like it was all my fault she got her head stuck. The ingrate.

  Still laughing, Tess helped me to my feet, taking the doll head from me. “That was pretty funny, but you know what would be hysterical?” She eyed the plastic head thoughtfully. “If we spread some peanut butter inside and then hung it really low to the ground.”

  “Why on earth would we do that?”

  “So then a squirrel would come along and stick his head in it.” She laughed. “Can you imagine? It would be a riot.”

  I snorted, imagining a squirrel running around with the plastic head. Tess was right, it would be pretty funny.

  Tess glanced at her phone, checking the time, and frowned. “I’ve got to get going if I’m going to teach my class.” She gave me a long look. “Are you sure you’ll be okay? I could cancel.”

  “I’ll be fine. Go to class. You’ve already had to cancel a whole day’s worth. There’s no point of you hanging around here with me.” I gave her a one-armed hug. “Thanks, though.”

  Tess squeezed me back. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get Nash and the others, you’ll see.”

  I let out a long breath. “I know. We have to.”

  After Tess left, I puttered around some more, filling Lucy’s bath tub and tidying up a bit. Finally, I couldn’t take being alone any longer so I headed downstairs to the coffee shop, hoping it would offer the distraction I needed because sitting around waiting for sundown and Drago’s call was driving me crazy.

  ***

  When the call finally came, it came earlier than expected. Much earlier.

  The late lunch crowd was finally thinning out and I had grabbed myself a sandwich and a drink, and slid gratefully into my booth. I was halfway through my chicken pesto panini when my phone rang. I don’t usually answer “unknown number” calls – that’s what voice mail is for – but today I thought I should make an exception.

  “Hello?”

  “Harry, darling. It’s your mother.”

  “You must have the wrong number,” I replied, hanging up. I immediately regretted my childishness. I’d been waiting for a call from Drago all day and then hung up on the call I’d probably been waiting for. I couldn’t help myself, though. She was NOT my mother.

  Luckily, the phone rang again immediately, putting me out of my misery.

  “Hello?”

  “D
id you just hang up on me?" Deirdre screeched in my ear.

  “It must have been a bad connection. What do you want, Deirdre?”

  “I am your mother, whether you like it or not, Angharad.” She made a little sound of disgust. “Although I never would have saddled you with that atrocious name.”

  I scowled at the phone. “I quite like my name, thank you very much. Gran gave it to me. You know, the person who loved and raised me.”

  “Whatever you say, Harry,” she scoffed, but then her tone changed. “That’s ancient history now, darling. Can’t you let bygones be bygones? I was young and foolish then. I made a mistake. Surely you can bring yourself to forgive your own mother.”

  “What do you want Deirdre? Why are you doing this? Didn’t you learn your lesson backing the wrong horse when Catalina died?" I frowned. Why did I care? She was only my mother because of biology, but I still wanted her to make the right choice. “Can’t you see that Drago is only using you?”

  “Using me? Using…me? No one uses me anymore. It’s completely the other way around. I’m using him. Don’t you understand? This is our chance to get you away from Salvador’s influence so we can be together, you and me, a family.”

  “Are you kidding me?” My voice had risen and I glanced around the room self-consciously. “We’re not a family,” I said quietly.

  “But we will be, Harry. You, me, Drago…”

  “You really are off your rocker,” I interrupted.

  “You’ll see, Harry. You’ll see. Drago will take over North America with me by his side and you’ll be our heir. With your powers, no one will stop us.”

  And finally, there it was. The real reason she wanted me. I sighed, shaking my head. She would never change – power hungry and willing to use anyone to get it.

  “Drago will never let Salvador go. We all know that. So why should I cooperate?”

  “I told Drago you’d say that. I knew taking Salvador wouldn’t be enough. Why do you think I had him take your precious Nash? It was supposed to be the little scrappy one, too. What’s her name? Terry?”

  “Tess,” I answered automatically. “If anything happens to Nash or the others…” I left the threat hanging.

  “It’ll be on you, Harry. If you don’t show up, everyone dies. Did you know there is a spell that can preserve a werewolf skin? I think I could use a new fur coat.”

  “You bitch.”

  “Tsk, tsk, darling. Is that any way to speak to your mother?" Deirdre laughed.

  “I’m hanging up now. So, if you have anything important to tell me, you better do it quick.”

  “Only this,” she replied. “I’ve sent you a little gift. You’ll know what to do with it when you see it. Oh, and Harry, if we see anyone else with you, they’ll be shot and killed on the spot. Toodles!” She laughed. “Mommy will see you soon, darling.”

  I clicked off the phone with a growl, barely stopping myself from slamming it on the table.

  “Hey, Harry,” Yasmin called. “Someone left this for you.” She walked towards me holding a small, white box.

  “Stop!” I shouted, leaping out of the booth. I held out my hands in a halting gesture. “Stop,” I continued in a quieter voice, seeing the look of shock on Yasmin’s face. “Set the box down on the floor. Carefully.”

  Wide-eyed, Yasmin did as she was told, slowly crouching to place the box down gently.

  “Good, now step away from it.” Self-consciously, I scanned the room, noticing we had the attention of everyone in the shop. Fortunately, that meant it was mostly werewolves and only two norm regulars. “Tess,” I said loudly. “She’s such a practical joker. I think she’s setting me up by sending one of those confetti bombs.” I smiled and carefully picked up the package. “I’ll just take it outside to open it.”

  Yasmin gave me a funny look but then nodded, playing along. “Yeah, that Tess. What a joker.”

  I carried the box outside and set it on the ground before pulling out my phone and dialing Isaac. It was late enough in the day that he would be up and about.

  “Deirdre has sent me a gift,” I said when he answered.

  “Good evening, Harry,” he replied. “And where is this gift?”

  “I’m going to take it up to the roof to open it. I’m pretty sure I know what it is, so I don’t want to activate it until we’re ready.”

  “I’ll be there momentarily. Have you informed Tomas?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Well, you should. He will need to coordinate the guard.”

  “I know. Do you know how to get a hold of Jo–nevermind,” I said, turning to find Jonah standing beside me. “Gotta go.” I hung up the phone and shoved it into my pocket. “You know, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.” I scowled at him.

  “I’m a hunter,” he replied with a grin. “It’s what I do.”

  ***

  “What do you think you’re doing?" Jonah asked, his tone bordering on menacing.

  I stared at him in surprise. I stood beside Isaac with my sleeve partway pushed up my arm. “I’m going to let Isaac take my blood,” I replied in confusion.

  It was an hour or so later because after making my phone call to Tomas to ensure everyone was ready on his end, I stopped to take a shower and change into clothes more suitable for the inevitable fighting I was sure would occur. In this case it meant a pair of black, slim-fitting stretch cargo pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt, also black. We’d gone over the plan, such as it was, one last time. I would open Deirdre’s “gift” which I assumed would trigger a spell to translocate me wherever she and Drago were holding Nash and Salvador, and the rest of the werewolves. Isaac would then track my whereabouts, and he and Jonah would lead in the cavalry.

  “I will take your blood,” Jonah said quietly. “It will allow me to track you even more accurately than Isaac.”

  The room flooded with power as he rose to his full height. Isaac, looking composed and unmoved by Jonah’s pulling of rank, merely shrugged.

  “Fine,” I huffed out. “But no glamour.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I mean it. If you try and sex it up, I will hurt you.”

  Jonah looked at me skeptically. “There’s no need for you to feel any pain.”

  “No glamour,” I repeated.

  He shrugged. “If you insist.”

  I sat down on the couch and pushed my sleeve up the rest of the way, holding out my wrist. Jonah grinned and lowered himself onto the seat beside me. He took my wrist gently, the slight electrical spark between us when his fingers brushed my skin, making me jump.

  Running his thumb along the vein on the underside of my wrist, he took a deep breath. “Ah, you smell delicious, as usual.”

  “It’s just me,” I replied, meaning I hadn’t used any peach body wash this time.

  “I know.”

  Frowning, I pulled my wrist from his grasp. “Listen buddy, if you’re going to make it all weird, I’d rather have Isaac do it.”

  “I’ll behave, I promise.” He held up two fingers. “Scout’s honour.” He reached out and took my hand, turning it palm up to expose the vein at my wrist. “The sharing of blood should be a sensual experience.”

  “Not this time,” I growled. “I have a boyfriend, remember?”

  “As you wish,” he replied.

  His fangs descended and I sucked in a breath at the sharp pain as they sliced through my skin. He let out a soft moan of satisfaction as my blood flowed into his mouth.

  My pulse quickened and despite my intentions to keep the exchange purely clinical, I felt a familiar tingling sensation, deep in my core. I licked my lips, remembering the sweet coppery taste of Nash’s blood. When my fangs snicked into place, I pulled my arm from Jonah’s grasp. “Okay, that’th enough,” I said, holding a hand to my mouth to try and hide the evidence of my arousal, silently cursing the fact that my fangs made me sometimes lisp.

  Jonah slowly smacked his lips as if savouring the taste and then smiled cheekily, fully aware of what had happened. “Allow me to
finish up,” he said, taking my wrist and licking the last few drops of blood.

  “Great. Thanks.” I pulled my arm away again, the tiny puncture wounds already nothing more than two red spots on my skin. I ran my tongue self-consciously across my teeth, but they had already turned back to normal.

  “It was absolutely my pleasure,” he replied, still grinning.

  ***

  “You’d better stand further back,” I said, waving Isaac and Jonah away. I stood in the middle of the roof, the small, white box on the bench in front of me. I didn’t have to open it on the roof, but for some reason the thought of opening it indoors and then having my molecules scrambled and filtered through the brick and mortar of the building as I was translocated elsewhere, icked me out. “I don’t know what the radius of the spell will be.”

  Jonah huffed, but kept his complaint to himself. He traded a look with Isaac. I had argued with them both when they suggested one of them should try travelling through the spell with me. Deirdre had specifically warned me about trying to bring along help. I wasn’t willing to risk either of them.

  I took a deep breath and readjusted my katana. There was no way I was going off into the unknown without it. I’d also secreted away Drago’s brooch, my stun gun, and a folding knife in the various pockets in my cargo pants and was wearing my six-inch clip point knife in a sheath at my ankle. Better safe than sorry.

  “Okay, here goes nothing.” Gingerly reaching out, I flipped open the lid of the box and held my breath.

  The seconds ticked by and then…nothing. Nada. Zip.

  “I’m no expert, but shouldn’t something have happened by now?" Jonah’s voice was bright with humour.

  I shot him a grumpy look over my shoulder and then turned my attention to the box in front of me, peeking inside.

  “Ohhhh,” I groaned. I reached into the box and pulled out a shiny silver bangle. There was a note attached to it by a string.

  “Harry,” it read. “You know what to do. Luv Mommy.”