Devil Hills: #2 Luna & Lydia

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “I…um…” Lydia choked and tried to clear her throat.

  “We’re going to have some lunch, Luna, and we’re headed home,” Jude promised, his own voice thick with emotion. “Tell Sage I said hi, would you. And ask Lily not to shoot me, okay?”

  Luna laughed softly. “She’s not convinced you’re safe, but she’s willing to reconsider shooting you, Jude. Alright. I’ll be watching for you,” she promised, ending the call and sinking back in the large office chair. But only for a few seconds before she burst from the chair and flung herself against Sage, arms around his neck and squeezing tightly.

  Jude didn’t say anything but he nodded gratefully when Dev hitched his head toward the pizza franchise and then at his watch. He knew the man would return with pizza and they could get on the road.

  Jude lifted her against him, her face buried in his chest and fingers holding tightly to the edges of his jacket.

  “You did good, baby,” Jude whispered raggedly. She wasn’t crying. No noise at all but her body shook as if she was sobbing uncontrollably.

  “You should have left me in Montreal,” came the quivering words, sobs filling them even as she held the tears back stubbornly. “I can’t see someone else be hurt. I can’t, Jude. I don’t have it inside me anymore. Let me go back and do what I do best. Please.”

  “You’re stronger than that, Lydia,” Jude climbed into the SUV, letting her sink to the wide seat. “I’ll go help Dev with the food. Pizza for us and we hit the road,” he watched her turn away from him, staring out the window, her arms wrapped around herself protectively.

  She didn’t pay attention to the locked doors or the people milling about. People who had been watching the interview from the sidelines, shock and disbelief on their faces. She didn’t doubt for a minute there were public relations in more than one place scrambling to answer the non-stop ringing of their phones after the short interview hit the screens.

  The smell of the pizza should be making her salivate, she thought, sighing and turning to meet the stares of the people trying to look casual as they passed the SUV. The TV van was still there, Elise Winston glaring at the man that had been holding the camera. Curiously, she slid the door open and stepped to the pavement, hands in the back pockets of her jeans.

  “Is something wrong, Elise?”

  Surprise filled the woman’s face when she spun to find Lydia behind her. Her gaze went nervously from Lydia to the man now scowling angrily at them both.

  Lydia felt the hairs at the back of her neck rise. She didn’t have the right name for what she was smelling, but she knew it was bad. Hate emanated from him, rolled off him in thick, oily waves. And they were directed at her. She eased a little closer, silver-gold head tipped to the side as she inhaled more slowly.

  “I don’t think your camera man likes me, Elise.”

  “Miss St. Germaine…” Elise worked to swallow the anger inside her at the hatred erupting from the man once Lydia was away from the camera. She had checked, made certain the footage had made it to the station. She’d worked with him for over a year and was only now being made aware of his racist he was.

  “May I borrow your phone?” Lydia had memorized the number that came up on Jude’s phone and tapped it into the small phone Elise placed in her palm. “Seth? This is Luna…do you know if the interview aired?”

  “I’ve had calls from around the world. It’s gone viral,” Seth looked from the couple sitting in his office to the speaker phone he’d tapped when the call came in. “Is there a problem?”

  “It seems Miss Winston’s camera man has a very strong dislike for me. Or perhaps it’s for shifters in general. I can smell it,” she told him, her voice dropping and one corner of her mouth lifting. The newly discovered game of flashing a fang almost made her laugh at the suddenly pale features of the large, older man. “I was concerned that he’d done something to stop the interview.”

  “It’s live just about everywhere, especially where the political cabinet is trying to be re-elected. Where’s Jude and Dev?” He asked cautiously.

  “Arriving at the SUV with pizza. I was just checking to make sure the interview wasn’t shelved because of someone’s prejudice and racist manners. Thank you and good bye,” she closed the phone and handed it back to Elise.

  “I’m very sorry about this, Luna,” Elise sighed, her head shaking. “Silly me. Thinking we were progressing as a species. I’m glad I drove my own car here. If I can do anything to help…I don’t know with what, but…” She handed Lydia her card and a smile. “Thanks.”

  “I’m sorry people can’t learn to live without hatred,” Lydia cast one last look at the man before turning and striding back to the SUV. She could feel the tension in Jude and Dev. They probably could smell the guys’ hatred from there. So much to learn, she thought, climbing into the SUV and settling down.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “A problem, Lydia?” Jude let his gaze return to the camera man watching them.

  “Nothing new,” she said, sighing and accepting the cup Dev offered her, frosty and flavorful.

  When she didn’t dive on the pizza box, he poked her in the side.

  “You need to eat, woman, you’re turning into bones,” he teased, offering her napkins and a big slice of double cheese and bacon.

  “Yeah…I suppose…” She took a bite, distracted and confused by too much of the last week.

  Dev quickly finished the large sandwich he’d bought and started the SUV, heading them out to Devil Hills.

  “Want to talk about it?” Jude asked quietly.

  Lydia blinked, taking another bite and looking from Jude to Dev.

  “A guy who wants to talk?”

  “I know where your head is when you’re ranting and threatening me. When you’re quiet, I’m worried,” Jude bit into the second slice of pizza.

  Lydia tossed half the slice of pizza into the box and curled against the seat, her face near the slightly opened window. She was tired. Very tired.

  Jude kept his eyes on her but she scarcely moved. They stopped for fuel and a stretching break four hours later and he was beginning to get concerned. His fingers slipped to her throat, the strong pulse doing little to relieve the concern inside him. He took over driving, Dev in the seat next to him.

  “It might just be the shift and running, Jude.”

  “Yeah…that’s what I keep telling myself,” he ran a palm over the side of his neck.

  “We’ll be there before eight in the morning. I’ll grab some sleep and we’ll keep going through the night,” Dev settled down in the seat against his door, arms crossed and eyes closed.

  It was midnight when they pulled over for food, fuel and restrooms. Jude forced her awake, the confusion and disoriented look in her eyes concerning him enough to stay close while she was in the restroom. He heard the water running for a long time before she opened the door, thick pale lashes blinking at the false lights flooding the huge fuel area.

  He made her sit on the floor of the SUV in the open door while Dev went to collect some food.

  “You have to eat.”

  “I know, Jude. I know. I was just so tired suddenly,” her head shook slightly. “I need a gym and some time to work out. I’m not used to just…sitting…and yesterday…” she looked around and took his wrist, tipping it up at the glowing numbers. “Yeah...yesterday…I wasn’t sure I could shift, I was so furious, I wanted to stay and fight them! I wanted to tear them apart,” she snarled angrily.

  “Would have been fun watching Seth with the PR nightmare from that,” Jude commented, watching the tiniest hint of her lips twitching. “And the tired thing is because you’re still not used to the shifting yet, Lydia. Hell, I passed out my first time. Not my most auspicious moment,” he admitted, rewarded with a little more of a twitch in her lips. “Parents try and make sure we’re monitored the first few months. Of course, kids being kids…” He shrugged. “We go through a lot of food because it’s the fuel for our bodies to shift and thrive.”

&
nbsp; “So it’s expected of me to break the tether and make a run for it now and then,” she asked with a sweet innocence that had him growling. That sexy, low rumble that accompanied his upper lip curling just the slightest bit. “Just checking. A girl’s gotta have the rules to play the game.”

  Jude groaned. This was the Lydia Jones he’d come to know. Sarcastic. Teasing. Tempting as hell.

  “You really want to tempt fate, Lydia? Or me?” He asked, leaning in, the corner of his lip lifted on the flash of canine.

  “You know that only turns me on, baby,” she purred softly, her palm up and stroking along his face. “I gave you a free pass until we reach Devil Hills. Excuse me while I enjoy the burgers and fries and soda, yum,” Lydia climbed into the front seat and dug hungrily into the bag Dev had between them. “I could drive, you know.”

  “I really look that stupid?” Jude asked gruffly, swinging into the back seat and slamming the side door closed before snatching up the second bag of food.

  “Free pass to Devil Hills,” she repeated sweetly. “Take what you can get, mate.”

  “Dev’s driving and we’ll be there by eight. You can meet your sister and get some information about the damage you’ve caused their organization.”

  “Information might be nice,” she said after a long, quiet minute, fingers absently reaching for the fries in the box where she’d dumped them, smothered in ketchup. “Had anyone been able to get into the facilities and get the layout of the buildings or the grounds?”

  After a very long couple minutes, Lydia looked across at the blank expression on Dev’s face before shifting in the seat and staring back at the arched brow Jude offered.

  “You think I can’t find out on my own with enough resources?” She laughed, her head shaking. “If you two are any indication, I feel for the females that wander into your world.”

  “There’s something wrong with us?” Dev asked, teasing amusement in his voice.

  Lydia cleaned up the papers and left over wraps, stuffing things into one of the bags and looking around the inside of the SUV.

  “You have laptops…where are they? I need one,” she told them, pausing and rolling her eyes back in the darkness. “Please.”

  “Did you teach her manners while I was gone?” Jude asked curiously.

  “Huh. I thought you did the training,” Dev chuckled.

  “Why?” Jude asked simply, reaching for his backpack and pulling out the slim, powerful piece of technology.

  “Because if you two were as bright as you are arrogant, you’d have realized we have a little problem with that TV station and in the middle of it, is the pretty little Elise Winston,” Lydia took the laptop and set it on the seat, her fingers tapping and powering things up. She didn’t miss the instant interest in Dev’s gaze, his eyes darkening and the strong scent of anger wafting off him.

  “Why do you say that?” Jude had shifted to the side, watching them both.

  “Instinct,” she shrugged. “I don’t know. Honestly. Gut? The camera guy was giving her a seriously hard time. Let’s just say he’s not on our side of the equation.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Finding her on Facebook…ahh…good…”

  “You’re on Facebook?” Dev almost laughed at the look on Jude’s face.

  She scowled at the laughs from the pair of them.

  “Hey, I got friends and contacts. I’m sending her a little message letting her know it’s me and not an imposter. I also want to find out where she’s living and how far from Devil Hills she is,” Lydia typed out the short note and sent it, nodding when the answer was almost instant, as well as the acceptance as a friend on the social network.

  “Elise, it’s Luna St. Germaine. Are you alright? I’m sorry your camera man has a problem with the shifter community.”

  She held her hands above the keyboard, checking messages and waiting.

  “Ahh…good…” she murmured softly.

  “Hello, Luna. I’m alright.”

  But Lydia could feel the lie in her words. “I don’t think you are, Elise. I’m sorry if speaking to me made enemies for you.”

  “Not so much enemies,” Came the thoughtful answer. “More just a reinforcement of what I was afraid was there. You know us girls….we like to pretend people really aren’t mean.”

  “Then they prove it to us and it hurts,” Lydia typed back, ignoring the looks from Jude. “Maybe it’s time for a new job.”

  “It’s time to stop being so trusting, that’s for sure,” Elise replied.

  “Promise me, Elise. If you need help, you find me,” Lydia didn’t like the feeling she had between her shoulders. That always meant trouble. “Promise me,” she pushed, grinding her teeth.

  “Hey, I’ve managed it on my own a long time. I’m just glad we got the truth out there. Nothing personal, but I knew there was just a little too much animosity coming off some of the people at the station. It makes me sad and angry.”

  “Can you meet me in Devil Hills at about nine? I’m sure there’s a coffee shop there. I have another story for you and I think a job interview,” Lydia had spent her life trusting the voice inside her and now was no exception. Elise needed to be in Devil Hills and away from the station. Because of her, Lydia was afraid she’d become a target.

  “A job interview? What’s the story?”

  “How do you feel about PR work? I think there’s a position waiting for you to define it,” Lydia chewed on her lip. “I’m not sure of the name of the place. I know they’re extremely protective of shifters, though.”

  “The Institute? Do you have a phone?”

  “Hold on,” Lydia looked up from the screen. “Can I borrow your phone? Please?”

  “Are you setting us up for an ambush?”

  Lydia sighed. “I gave you my word.”

  Jude handed over his phone, watching her type out a number after she flipped it open. “Should I ask?”

  “You can listen,” she tossed back lightly. Answering the chimes that sounded seconds later. “Hello?” She dug inside, trying to remember the voice she was supposed to have and be for the moment.

  “Luna? It’s Elise. I didn’t want to…”

  “You wanted to make certain it was really me,” she supplied easily. “It’s alright. After seeing the way your camera man behaved, I don’t blame you at all for being skeptical. But I’m serious. Can you meet me in Devil Hills at nine?”

  “Yes. Yes, that’s not difficult at all. I’ll tell them something,” bright blue eyes looked around the small apartment and the mess she hadn’t cleaned up yet.

  “What’s wrong, Elise?” Lydia pressed when the distress in the other woman’s voice was clear.

  “Nothing. Nothing…I’m fine. I…I’ve been doing traffic since I graduated. No one has ever bothered me. I do lots of other things at the station. Busy things….proofing spots and stuff like that…” she ran a set of shaking fingers through the thick red curls. “Someone broke into my apartment! It’s a mess.”

  “Are you alright? You weren’t there, were you?”

  “No…no…my neighbor said she heard the noise about an hour after we did the interview,” she bit the side of her cheek. “Not that I’m the paranoid type…”

  “Yeah…me, either,” Lydia said with a sigh.

  “This job…and I’d love a PR job for someone like the Institute.”

  “Tell me what you know about them.”

  “Hmmm…kind of a cross between a medical facility and SWAT teams. I know they’re trying to stop…stop breeding facilities that are rumored to exist. I know there are places wanting to use the shifters for their own private wars. I know others who want to erase them completely,” Elise paced the small space she’d cleared, thick socks shoved papers aside as she paced. “I know there are people out there who think they don’t deserve to exist, just as they used to about black people or Asians or anyone else someone didn’t like. Grannie used to tell me she thought we’d be smarter as humans by now.”

 
; “Yeah…somehow I don’t see that happening as long as there’s profit involved somewhere or power hungry people in the world.”

  “I also know they’re really not that old. The Institute, I mean. How do you know they’re looking for a public relations person?”

  “Because I’m about to tell Seth Anderson he needs you,” Lydia said with a cheerful smile in her voice.

  “I appreciate the confidence, truly, but I don’t have experience. I have schooling and my work at the station,” Elise had never been overly confident. She was pretty sure it came from brothers and a father who thought she was helpless. “But I’m more than willing to learn.”

  “That is all we’ll need.”

  “You aren’t Luna St. Germaine,” Elise decided honestly was necessary. “I knew when you came to speak with me.”

  “What gave me away?”

  “You speak like her and others won’t notice because they won’t be as close as I was to you. She has a slightly crooked front tooth. Yours are perfectly even. I’m a detail girl,” she admitted with a little shrug no one saw.

  “Hmm…we’ve never met, and I never really paid attention to her until it was brought to my attention,” Lydia sighed. “I’m sorry for the deception. But I felt it needed to be done and I’m not sure she’s capable of…I’m not sure she’s strong enough, since she lived it, to speak about it like that.”

  “You’re the story you tempted me with, aren’t you?”

  “I’d prefer to be a public relations secret for the moment. Will you consider it? Coming to Devil Hills in the morning,” she added easily.

  “I’ll be there. We’ll talk more then.”

  “Make sure you check all your locks and under the bed. I don’t like coincidence,” Lydia rubbed her hand over her neck, closing the phone and handing it to Jude before closing up the laptop and sliding it off the seat.

  “You think you can get Seth to hire her?” Jude watched her rearrange things and stretch out with the blanket over her.