Leaning into the side of her head, Kris whispered, “What was that about?”
“I’ll tell you later. I needed to write something down for Demetri.”
“She needed to write Tella’s words,” said Seren nonchalantly. “She is still trying to help Lash.”
Ever was stunned to know that Seren had felt her in his mind. “You knew what I was doing, Seren?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know how to help Lash?”
“No. Not yet. I’m not old enough or powerful enough.”
Her brow creased as she looked at Kris. Seren was still facing the television, watching the movie. “What do you mean, Seren?”
“You are not the only witch. I’m your son and I’m alpha.”
“You’re a warlock?”
“Yes, but not a powerful one like you or Avia.”
His word hit her like a brick. Ever looked at Avia, who was fast asleep on Liam’s lap. Of course her daughter was queen of the children. She was a witch like her mother. She heard Demetri laughing from the kitchen and almost heard his thoughts. He had known and hadn’t said anything. She was going to kick his ass as soon as the children went to bed.
Demetri dialed the phone, still chuckling softly to himself. The children had finally told her the truth. He had felt the power in them, but had decided to keep it to himself. No sense in giving Ever yet another thing to stress out about.
She was so unsure about her own power and it might make her nervous to know the babies shared her gift.
She had so much on her plate already with the preparations for impending Armageddon. The prophecy had spoken of her saving the clan from the world’s end, but Ever wasn’t happy to sit back and wait until she was sure the end would come. She wanted to be prepared and Demetri really didn’t blame her.
The United States was in the middle of yet another war that was none of their concern, and with the collapse of the economy looming in the near future, things weren’t looking too promising.
The weather had been getting progressively worse over the last ten years and the devastation had been affecting the entire world. The Northeast was currently caught in a heat wave in the middle of February. It should still be cold, but it was holding in the nineties during the day. It was even worse because at night it was dropping down below normal temperatures. So many people were coming into the emporium looking for herbs and tonics to fight off viruses that seemed to be unstoppable by standard measures.
It was actually quite comforting to know that his mate was a woman of prophecy. He supposed if anyone could save the werewolves from certain destruction, it was Ever. She had already proven herself a strong and talented natural witch. She had an ability to heal the body in a way that he had never even imagined possible. With a simple touch of her hand, she could feel a broken bone or an internal injury and heal the problem. She could shield herself or anyone around her with a barrier of natural energy that was worthy of any superhero.
He was actually quite surprised that she had allowed herself to be drawn into a wolf-on-wolf confrontation, but the Parth male should be extremely thankful that it hadn’t actually come to a fight. Ever would have torn him to shreds. The combination of magic in an angry wolf was quite dangerous and calling her a stupid half-breed had surely made her mad.
Demetri wanted to go with them to talk to this man, just to see what kind of personality Ever couldn’t sway with her words. There was magic in her voice and she could sell a go-cart to the craftiest car salesman and walk away with a Mercedes in trade. She didn’t do things like that, Ever was much too forthright and honest, but she could if she set her mind to it.
He hung up the phone and dialed another number as he looked at the words. Demetri also had a suspicion that it was the extra attention that Ever had paid to Seren that had broken Tella’s spell. She hadn’t done it intentionally, but Seren had been easier to handle and she had given him the extra love and leeway that he had needed to return to a loving member of the family. Lash had gotten lost with the anger and viciousness he had displayed and Demetri feared that Ever was actually afraid of him. He only hoped it wasn’t too late to break the spell now that they had found it. She wanted desperately to help her son, and Demetri had to wonder what exactly was stopping her from reaching him. With her healing ability, she should be able to heal her son’s mind. Was it possible that she had been bitten by Lash so many times that her magic had denied the child access without Ever even knowing it? It was one of the possibilities that he had been thrashing over in his mind. Demetri hung up the phone and tried to figure out who to call next. There were probably a few more names in his contact book, but it was locked in the store safe.
He tried to go back to looking over the ledger, but his mind was on Ever. As he considered what had happened earlier, he understood the parameters of her anger a bit better. The older man had pushed her buttons by calling her a half-breed. It was the truth, but one that it was quite unsavory to use as a call name. The intent had been to insult her and the result had been quite effective. Was it possible that she was becoming far more stressed than she was alluding to? It was quite feasible with all the demands that had been placed upon her. There was also strife in their family and that wasn’t helping. Liam had been allocated to care for the children, although Daisy was there to help. So far they had not been able to find another woman or two to help with the house. It was partially the children’s fault, because they wanted to be with Liam and Daisy and had acted horribly around anyone else. They were constantly calling Ever on the phone with some excuse
for
why she needed to come home.
Kris wanted Ever with him and brought her with him every chance he got. She had little to no time for herself and all three of them had vied for her attention. There was also the issue of sex. So many things were happening during the day that they often rolled over into the hours after the children finally went to sleep. It wasn’t giving them much time to enjoy each other and
when they did find time for each other, things were lacking in the normal adventurous and playful spirit.
Demetri sighed. He needed to finish the paperwork, so he could call in orders in the morning. The emporium was running low on so many things, but the inventory was not matching up with what had been sold. The last thing he needed right now was to find out that one of his employees was stealing from him.
* * * *
The parade to get the three children into the back bedroom began before he had been able to figure the problem out. It looked more and more like things were missing from his files, but out of his four employees, he had only been able to clear two of them by their receipts. The only answer would be to spend hours in his office going over the tapes to see if he could spot anything unusual. He closed the book, going in to pick up the living room. The stew that Liam had cooked had been eaten in the living room with a loaf of Ever’s homemade bread. He picked up the empty bowls and looked at the tiny crumbs littering the hardwood floor around the cushions where the children had been. It was surprising that the little ones could eat neatly for the most part and they hadn’t spilled even a drop of stew.
Demetri went back into the kitchen to get the broom. The last thing they needed were ants in the house.
As he was sweeping the floor, Ever came out and stood staring into Lash’s room. The child was sleeping on his bed, and she closed the curtain to block the sunlight that would stream in with the sunrise. Turning, she gave him a weary smile. “Thank you.”
“No problem. Where is Daisy?”
“Her son took her out to dinner. I guess he is engaged and he wanted his mother to meet the woman. I think she is going to try and talk him into coming back onto clan property.”
“Wow, I didn’t even think about that. What about the weres that have family who live on the outside?”
Ever shrugged. “I don’t know. The bunkers will hold extra people, but if everyone brings outside family in, that will affect how long the food supplies last. Of course, we haven’t ordered everything we will need and what we have in the storage lockers will only last the current residence about six months. I think that I’m going to sell my house and use the money.”
“What about Mick?”
“I guess he is going to have to fend for himself. He kind of deserted us when we really needed his help, and it’s not like he’s gone out of his way to reestablish his bond with the family.”
Kris wrapped his arms around her waist, dragging her into his chest. “Were you planning on mentioning this to us?”
“Yes. It was just a thought I had after you said that the funding for food has been shut off. We need to get the money from somewhere.”
“It’s not that it has been shut off. It’s just that two bunkers are finished and with the estimate for the completion and the connection tubes it is already costing this clan over four million. You have already spent thousands on food and supplies and yet you have no idea when this is going to happen.”
“I know that. It’s just a huge undertaking to construct bunkers that can accommodate multiple families and handle such a large group of people. You are talking thirty to forty people per bunker and they have to have some privacy. As it is, couples will have to split up and take turns using the master bedroom in each family group to have some alone time. I was trying to make things as livable as possible for everyone. That costs money.”
He leaned into her shoulder, sighing. “I’m not picking on you. I think you have done a fantastic job with this. It’s not like I’ve been a big help.”
“No, but the clan has been keeping you busy with trivial bullshit that others could have been handling. Is it really necessary for them to have an inquisition, where the alpha has to preside, whenever there is a problem?”
“Probably not, but that is the way it has always been done and they are big on customs.”
“I know that.”
“Any clue on how to properly handle this shit with the Parth family?”
Liam walked back in and dropped into the chair. “I think that we should go show them how much of a bitch Ever is.”
Ever’s bottom lip dropped as she pointedly glared at him. “Really, Liam?”
He snorted a short laugh and stuck his tongue guiltily through his teeth. “That didn’t come out right, did it? I didn’t mean that you are a bitch…Well, you can be a bitch, but not as a general rule, just when you are pissed off and that’s fine under the circumstances, right?”
She turned her head from him, rolling her eyes. “You are such an ass, Liam.”
Liam laughed. Obviously, Ever knew what he meant and the ass comment was her w
ay
to notify them that she wasn’t upset.
“I would love to be a bitch and answer his threat, with wolf justice, but we can’t do that. I also know that we have to do something. Not only was it a person
al
threat to me, but they made matters worse by insinuating that it was my fault. Is there going to be an inquisition because Nothan made it public knowledge in front of the finance committee?”
Kris leaned his head back, groaning in irritation. “Shit! I didn’t even think of that. Yes, they will probably call us about it first thing in the morning. I suppose it will be handled then and the worst thing that we can do is to go over there tonight. Let me go call Bruce and see what was said after I left the meeting.” Kris walked from the room and Ever sauntered over and slid onto Liam’s lap.
She put her arms daintily around his neck. “I guess that I have been a very bad girl, huh?”
“Incredibly bad. I think you need a severe reprimand. Want to try out the switch in real life?”
Ever pursed
her lips playfully.
“Sure and I can sit squirming in the inquisition chair tomorrow like I have crabs.”
Demetri chuckled and so did Liam. She was probably right. Having her ass switched when she was going to be sitting for long periods the next day was a bad idea. Liam had been dying to try it after he had done it to her in a joined dream, but the timing was never right.
“That’s a good point. It would be quite amusing to watch, though.”
“Again, you are an ass.” She reached for the remote and turned the television back on, flipping to the weather channel.
“And in the Northeast, the temperatures tonight will reach record lows. All indications say that it will dip into the midtwenties overnight and then return to the high nineties by midafternoon tomorrow. We are also tracking a severe storm that is gaining momentum off the coast of Florida. It is taking a turn inland and has the potential to create strong, destructive winds and storm surges, especially if it hits during the abnormally high perigee tides that are expected on Saturday
at
noon. We are watching this storm carefully, but all our tracking systems suggest that this storm will come inland between Virginia and Connecticut early Saturday morning. Please begin preparations now to be without power and water for quite a while. We will be doing hourly updates as the storm continues. Please stay tune to be informed of possible evacuations.”
Ever clicked the television off. “Lovely. Just what we need. A big storm.” She got up and walked into the kitchen. Kris was still on the phone and she dug her cell from her purse. Ever called the construction boss, cringing at the idea of contacting him at home, but feeling that she had no choice. His wife answered and Ever asked to speak with Bob.
He was on the line a few minutes later. “I was expecting your call.”
“I am so sorry. Gear told me what happened and I was mortified. I had no idea that the Parth family wasn’t on board. We have decided to scrap the North bunker for now, and I was hoping that you were still willing to finish the other two. My main concern right now is getting some kind of solid temporary caps put on the two open tubes if we are going to be hit with a massive storm. I have a vision of the ditches flooding and breaking the thin plastic caps that are currently on the tunnels.”