Pure Blooded (22 page)

Jeb raised a furry eyebrow at me. “I suppose it could be another, but that would be unprecedented.”

“Somehow I think that will become the unofficial tagline for the new Coalition: The Unprecedented Bunch. I can already promise you, we aren’t going to act like the old guard. This is a new era, Jeb. You said so yourself. The other women on the Coalition will be much better qualified to run things than me. It’s likely that we will vote on most things. There’ll be five of us, so that makes it easier. We’ll always have a tiebreak.”

“So be it,” he nodded, “but no matter who will sit at the head of the table, you will always be the leader, and I will answer to you, for it is you who I give the assignments directly to.”

“Jeb, you’re not hearing me. The ladies will vote me out. I can promise you, I will not be the leader.”

“You will.” His face was set. He wasn’t going to listen to any more rational explanations, and honestly, it really didn’t matter now anyway. This entire thing was a ways off, and who knew what would happen between now and then? And almost like he was reading my mind, he added, “But all of this is conjecture if you don’t heed my warning right now. You have angered the Hags.” He shifted his weight and opened the big book with a flourish. The pages moved on their own, stopping toward the end. His big finger went over the lines as he paraphrased. “The Hags are only one station above me, but they like to think they are the supreme rulers of the entire universe. But from what I can see here, you have no choices left to you. You must appease them if you want to live.” His lips moved as he read the words silently to himself. “To do that, you must find a way to settle your debt to Fate and put yourself back on your true path.”

“Okay, I’m in. How do I do such a thing?” For the first time I had a glimmer of hope that maybe this strange warlock had an answer to all my problems inside his big gold book.

“It will take some time, but first we must figure out how you’re going to survive the night. Then we can talk of future dealings.”

“
I’m not going to survive the night?
” I said. That wasn’t what I wanted to come out of that book.

“Not as I have it here.” He ran his finger over more words I couldn’t see. “That’s why it was imperative for me to find you now. You have angered someone very powerful, and as of right now, she cannot be convinced it can be fixed without your death. And she has a point. With your death, there is a resolution. Even though her sister disagrees and has been championing you for quite some time—it was she who took the plane down, and lucky for you she did because if she hadn’t, your path would’ve ended in disaster in that swamp. You must find a way to mend the rent in Fate that doesn’t include your dying, and according to what I see in here, there are very, very few options left to you—”

“Juanita took the plane down?” I interjected. It was the only thing I could focus on at the moment. “She could’ve killed us.”

“She had no other choice,” he said dismissively. “If not, the plane would have been redirected by her sister Enid, and you would not have survived. That would’ve been a more dire outcome. Juanita did what was necessary, as have I. But on your current path, as I’ve just stated, you will not live through the next two hours. Your outlook is dreary. If you
do
survive, however, the next task will be to figure out how to redirect your Fated path. This will not be simple either, but it will be a tad easier than being dead.”

I pressed my fingers to my temple. “Okay, we have to break this up. What are my choices for the next two hours? That seems like the most pressing, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes. For one, you need to stay out of all transportation devices. They are far too easy to manipulate. Enid cannot blow your body up, per se, but she is well versed in bringing down powerful supernaturals by other means, and you are not a goddess, so there’s no chance of regeneration.”

“How do I get home without transportation?” I asked stupidly.
My brain was still processing the fact that I was supposed to die soon—
really
die. My wolf howled in anger.

“You must run, of course.” He cocked his head at me oddly. “You do have that capability, do you not?”

“I do,” I said sheepishly. “But that would take longer than I’d… intended.” That was about as lame as I could get. I had nothing specific to do once I got home, except find Juanita and then help Tally.

But I couldn’t do any of that if I was dead. So, duh, I could run.

“It’s the only option to you, long or not,” he replied with a curt nod. “You will take your… partner along and no one else. If you do not listen to this advice, you will put your entire party at risk. And I am beginning to understand, by your actions, that you don’t take harm to your family and friends lightly. That is a commendable trait, but not always advisable. Sometimes, for the greater good, sacrifices must be made.”

“I will never sacrifice my family.” Rage bubbled up inside me before I could tamp it down. I could almost handle the thought of dying, but thinking about being responsible for someone I loved dying was unacceptable. “So don’t ask me to, now or in the future, for any reason.”

“Well,” Jeb scoffed. “In our world, it’s impossible to assign the same value to all lives. The sooner you understand this, the better. Our world is much different than the human world.”

“I don’t agree,” I argued. “How can anyone choose which lives will bring more value, human or supe? It’s not possible.”

“I can and I do. For example, if you were to die, it would lead to catastrophic consequences for us
all
. Countless lives would be lost, both human and supernatural. How’s that for hierarchy of value? For many, if they died, it would trigger no change in Fate’s fabric. And I can’t speak for every living soul, but a great many, I believe, would willingly sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
Keeping you alive is one of those greater goods, in my book.” He shook his golden book for emphasis.

My mouth closed with a rebuttal on my tongue.

It was hard to argue against knowledge like that, but I loathed being the one who would have to choose whether someone lived or died. Instead, I asked, “I understand I made a mistake when I killed Ardat Lili and now I have to right my wrongs, but why does the rest of it—like if I die, the supernatural race is in peril—seem to sit on my shoulders alone? Since the first day I shifted, I’ve felt the pressure of the supernatural race on top of me, slowly choking me with its need—quite possibly I’ve felt it since the day I was born. But I’m not the only person who is going to sit on the Coalition. It’s supposed to be made up of five powerful supernaturals. Shouldn’t we all share the burden of the end of the supernatural race?”

He gave me a once-over, his expression shifting slightly as he glanced over the top of his book. “You are different than all the rest, of course. I thought you were aware of that. You’re not only the Enforcer, but you are also the
catalyst
. The change maker, if you will. Your birth was a significant event in our world. It set into motion much that had been patiently waiting, and that’s just the way it is.” He shrugged. “It can’t be changed. You are who you are and you have a specific role to play. There is only one catalyst born every thousand years or so. But everything about you has been late in coming—you are actually four hundred and forty years late to this gathering.”

Huh? “
Late?
” I had no idea how to respond to that. “How can my birth be late when I wasn’t supposed to kill Lili for another hundred years?” I turned in a slow circle, searching for something tangible, something to let me know I wasn’t really having this conversation. I was sick of things not making sense. My fingers wandered back to my temples. I was starting to hope this was
a dream and I’d wake up any minute in Rourke’s warm lap. I stopped and faced Jeb again. “If my birth was late, wouldn’t that be what threw off Fate and angered Enid, and not the other stuff? I would think all this is interrelated—kind of like the snowball effect of bad karma.”

“I can’t answer that. I guess it could be.” He shrugged, appearing to be unsure of himself for the first time tonight. “I’m not a seer—I’m an intuit. Things come to me, and I write them down. I don’t ever see the entire picture. That would be too telling. Instead I receive knowledge about the supernatural world through my magic, like reading a report, and from there I figure out what things need to be dealt with, in what order. The Hags are seers, and they like to think they know everything, but I know for a fact they do not. Fate has always been tricky that way. It is ever changing. Which is why it is imperative that you figure out a way to bring your path back around, from whatever got it off track—your late birth or your actions, it makes no difference. If you do not, all is lost.” He snapped his book shut to accentuate his point. He didn’t need to, because I understood now how dire this was.

“Any more advice for me? How am I supposed to bring it back around?”

“That I do not know. But if you can remain alive tonight, there is hope. I see that in the writings, but nothing specific has been stated… yet. I believe it is up to you to figure it out, and once you do, it will show up in the book.” He smiled, happy with his sleuthful deductions.

“That’s reassuring.”

He shrugged. “As I said, it’s not written yet. If something changes, I will let you know immediately, as keeping you alive, and back on your Fated path, means life and happiness for us all.”

“No pressure there. And next time you want to get in touch, can you use a phone? No more hijackings.”

“Yes, that can be arranged.”

I glanced around, surprised for the first time my family hadn’t found me yet. “Jeb, you didn’t take me that far into the woods,” I said. “Why can’t my team find me?”

“I have the entire area cloaked, of course,” he said.

“Then I need you to drop it,” I said. I hadn’t considered he would keep everyone out. “If my life is in danger, I need them here, plus they need to know what’s going on. They will help protect me.”

“No,” he said firmly. “I will keep us concealed until I take my leave. It is for your own protection. Enid cannot see you through my barrier, but once it’s gone, she will know where you are.”

“I don’t care about Enid. She’s going to do what she’s going to do regardless of being cloaked for five more minutes. I have to leave this place sooner or later, so what’s the difference? Drop it now so they can find us.”

“I will not.”

I bared my teeth and stalked forward. I wasn’t going to be flexible on this. “You’re not starting us out on the right foot, Jeb. You just told me you work for me, correct? You’re my secretary. If that’s the truth, then I want you to drop whatever wards you have up so my team can find me. Now.”

He shuffled backward a few paces, clutching his precious book to his chest, robes tangling at his feet. “Technically, you haven’t spoken the sacred vows yet, so I’m not bound to you yet.” I continued forward. “I came here of my own free will to help you!” he spouted as I growled some more. “Lest you not forget, I came here to save your life. If I drop my cloaking wards, we will become instant targets. I will not have it!”

I crossed my arms, stopping right inside his personal space.

He cringed. “Jeb, you are planning on letting me leave here alone, correct?” I asked with all the patience I could muster. “Or
are you planning to accompany me and change into a wolf so we can run up north together?”

Jeb cleared his throat, tripping once more on his robe as he took a big step back. “You will be allowed to leave alone, but I will remain cloaked. Even now, my power is leaking around the edges because you forced me to drop my glamour. We are at risk.” He stuck out his chin, trying to regain his footing. “Enid will be able to spot us soon enough, but I refuse to make it easier on her.”

“How about this—if I promise to you that once you drop your wards, my team will be here within minutes, and once they arrive, we won’t linger for more than a moment, will that be enough? You will be rid of us and free to cloak yourself again. I’m certain Enid can’t act that fast—you’ll be safe.” He wasn’t convinced, his body language hostile, so I continued with “Listen, times have changed, Jeb. And if you and I are going to get along, you need to evolve your way of thinking and be open to new ways of doing things. If you’re going to be my right hand, you need to follow my directions immediately. That’s how you begin to earn my trust. I’m the one who has to do the heavy lifting around here. You have to trust that I can formulate a good plan. With Enid breathing down my neck, and only a two-hour window to figure out how to survive, I
need
my team. The sooner the better. Wherever I go, my family goes. Once I take a seat on the Coalition, it will be the same. There’s no getting around it.”

Jeb sighed, a look of defeat causing his bushy eyebrows to buckle above his eyes like a pair of sad, hairy caterpillars. I had a feeling I’d never get sick of looking at them. “I knew you were going to be stubborn, but I had hoped it was an error in the paperwork. So be it. I will drop my wards, but only for three minutes. If they do not find us in that time, I will put them back into place and we will agree to finish our discussions and you will go.”

“Agreed. Three minutes will be more than enough time,” I said.

He whipped out an arm in a long flourish, his hairy wrist coming into view as his robe flopped back, and instantly there was a loud booming noise, like thunder, and then the reverberations hit my chest. Jeb didn’t mess around. He had some serious magic.

I closed my eyes and counted down in my mind…
three, two, one
.

A loud, terrifying roar filled the air and there was rustling in the forest, not fifty feet from us.

Jeb paled and I opened my eyes, grinning like a shrew.

It had taken Rourke three seconds to find us.

My mate was spectacular as he bounded into the area. He was in his beast form, fangs curved, a snarl on his lips. His muscular shoulders spanned at least three feet. I’d just seen him in this form, but he still took my breath away.

He rushed over and rubbed his flank against me, marking me with his scent and reassuring himself I was okay. Then he turned his ferocious glare on the warlock.

Jeb took a few shaky steps backward, waving a hand in front of him. “I meant her no harm, cat. This was a necessary meet—”

Rourke silenced him with a terrifying roar that shook the trees.

I grinned at the flustered warlock. “See, I told you he’d find me in less than three minutes. And if you don’t want to deal with an angry cat, like I said, next time call me.”

“Well, yes, I see that three minutes was adequate—”

A whooshing noise tore through the area and Ray landed next to me, hands already on his hips. “What the fuck’s going on?
Who’s this guy?” He thumbed his fist at Jeb. “Do we need to take him out for you?”

Tyler barreled into the area before I could answer, emerging from the woods right where Rourke had come in, Nick behind him. Tyler had recently shifted out of his wolf form, still donning the clothes Nick held out to him as they walked. Marcy came next, holding Rourke’s clothing in her arms like a small bundle of laundry. I could hear James shifting back in the brush.

My entire team in under a minute. I smiled wide.

“Who’s this guy?” Marcy asked dryly as she passed by him. “The power in this area is ridiculous, but something isn’t right. And why is he wearing a bathrobe?” She came to stand by my side and leaned over. “And what’s with the crazy hairdo? Porcupines look better put together.”

I swallowed back a laugh as Jeb sniffed at the insults. There was going to be a lot of sniffing around this group. “I’m a warlock, if you must know,” Jeb answered even though the questions hadn’t been directed at him. “Now that we have all gathered, I will re-ward the area, to make sure”—he swallowed as Rourke pinned his gaze on him—“we stay safe.”

Absentmindedly, I ran a hand through Rourke’s fur, grabbing on and luxuriating in the feel of him. His body was warm next to mine and I knew he wasn’t going to change back just yet. Jeb’s signature was too strong. In order to fight a powerful old supe like that, Rourke would be better off in his beast form. I inclined my head toward Jeb. “This is Jebediah Amel,” I said as a way of introduction. “He’s the High Ambassador to the Coalition and kidnapped me so he could tell me my life was in danger.”

“If that was all it was, you could’ve just told us,” Ray said, irritation at the forefront. “Why send us on a big cloak-and-dagger goose chase in the middle of the woods? What a waste of time.”

Jeb cleared his throat. “My allegiance is to Jessica, and Jessica
alone. Anything I discuss with her is private. The Coalition has never shared its business with any outsiders in over a thousand years. This is”—he cleared his throat again—“a first. Not completely unwelcome, mind you.” He waved his hand out in front of him, his eyebrows bunching again. “But highly unusual. It will take some getting used to.”

“We don’t care if you ever get used to it,” Tyler commented as he zipped up his pants. “We’re here to protect my sister at all costs. We’ve pledged our lives to her. If you’re on our side and have an allegiance to Jessica, then there should be no issues.”

“I can see that more clearly now,” Jeb said. “In fact, you all… smell like her.” He made a show of sniffing the air in front of him. “As if you have all taken a piece of her inside you somehow. It’s most particular.” He continued to scent the air. I was going to have to nickname him Sniffy. “This indicates that you have all shared blood bonds with her.” His voice held some surprise, but also irritation.

I nodded. “That’s true. I’ve shared blood or power with most of them.” I glanced around the group. I’d given Marcy my essence to heal her when the Prince of Hell had blasted her. I felt our connection, though it was faint. Tyler, Ray, Naomi, and Danny had all taken in my blood. My gaze landed on Nick and he grinned. I arched an eye at him.

“Don’t you remember? You shared your blood with me,” Nick said. “But it was back when we were both kids. You hadn’t shifted for the first time yet. We were in the woods behind the lodge and we swore an oath to each other and cut open our palms, reciting some nonsensical thing. But I swore to protect you that day, and nothing has changed. Once you shifted for the first time, I felt our bond grow, but I didn’t understand why. Now it makes more sense.”

My face brightened at the memory. I hadn’t thought about it
in years. We’d been no more than ten years old at the most. We’d both pledged our loyalty to each other. My wound had taken weeks to heal. “I remember.” I grinned. “You were my knight in shining armor in those days. One of my only allies.” I was stunned that my blood, given that long ago, could still bind us together. I didn’t feel the same connection to him as those who had taken my blood recently, but there was a tingling there when I brushed my power over him.

“When you decided to leave the Compound for good,” Nick said, “I went with you willingly, but I also had a burning urge to stay close and keep protecting you.”

“Little did we know that when we exchanged that blood and a nonsensical childhood oath, all these years later we’d find that you actually became my real, bonded brother that day.”

“It was the best-case scenario. And, as your father indicated to me when I saw him last, I will freely give you my troth as soon as you have time to take it.” His chest expanded. “And this time it will be formal, not as two kids in the woods.”

“That would make me happy,” I said to him as Jeb cleared his throat. This time with more oomph.

“We must get down to the business at hand,” the warlock said. “You are running out of time.” Jeb appeared a little flustered as he continued. “I’m happy this homecoming has been so beneficial to you, but having those kinds of bonds to others is highly unusual. Only the Five share their essences with each other, and by doing so it makes them very strong. You have”—he coughed into his fist—“shared the wealth, so to speak. I’m not sure what to make of it, but I’m certain I will have information forthcoming, as it pertains to your future.”

“Do you think that might be my ‘special gift’? My ability to bond by blood with other supes?”

“I can’t answer that,” Jeb said. “It is not written anywhere yet, but if you want my best educated guess, I would say you’ve developed a much-needed coping strategy.” His head shook with his intensity as he spoke, but his spikes stayed still.

“Coping strategy?” I asked. I’d never thought of it like that.

He gestured around the group. “Without your team, as you put it, you would likely have perished already, so something or someone had the foresight to guard you against that. Even as a child you were driven to seek protection. It makes sense.”

“By who?” I asked.

“Maybe yourself or your wolf?” Jeb answered. “Despite my ability to know all important events, there are things at work we can never fully understand—nor are we meant to.”

“Before, you said you brought my sister here because her life was in danger. If she dies, what happens?” Tyler asked.

“The supernatural race would be launched into chaos until the time of another rebirth, one thousand years from now,” Jeb informed the group. “I can’t impress the importance of this, but Jessica must survive at all costs. Before you all… descended, I was informing her of the odds of achieving that very thing. They are quite low, which is unacceptable. That is why I went to great lengths to get her here. In fact”—he glanced directly at me, his eyebrows shooting up—“if you don’t leave within a minute or so, the exact way I tell you, the odds will be even less in your favor. I have cloaked the area once again, but Enid is now on the hunt. I can feel her magic pressing in on me. We cannot linger.”

Rourke huffed and rubbed his flank into me before walking up to Marcy.

“Boy, you’re one big kitty, aren’t you?” she said as she put his clothes into his mouth.

He tossed his head and trotted into the woods to shift, right as James came out.

“Okay, Jeb,” I said. “We’re all ears. Tell us how to do this.”

“I don’t like it,” Ray grumbled. “I don’t care if that little spiky-haired bastard is right or not. You two going alone feels wrong to me.”

Tyler paced nearby. Rourke was silent, lost in thought for the moment. He’d been quiet after Jeb had told us what to do, not even commenting when Jeb vanished into thin air.

One minute the warlock was there, and the next he wasn’t.

It had been the weirdest thing I’d ever seen. Now the air was deadly quiet, all the magic gone. But Enid was on the move. We had to act quickly, and fighting about it wasn’t helping.

James had already maneuvered the van around so it was pointing back toward the road. It was idling and Marcy and Nick were already inside waiting for the signal to go.

“We have no choice but to trust him, Ray,” I said. “You heard everything he said. He’s been working for the good of the Coalition for thousands of years, and more importantly? He wants me to survive. We go with his plan.”

“I thought he was sincere enough,” Tyler agreed. “I kept trying to catch a scent of a lie and none ever came, but that’s not saying much. If that warlock can cloak his power signature, he can likely do anything.”

Rourke finally turned to me, his eyes intensely focused. “We have to do as he says, and go now. I have a faint recollection of this warlock in my mind, though it’s very fuzzy. I believe he is required to help—as his station in the Coalition dictates. Jessica and I go alone.” He turned to a still disgruntled Ray. “You and
Tyler have to stay back, like the warlock said, at least two hundred miles. No closer. My suggestion is to go somewhere and get some rest. Start out again in the morning. If we run into trouble, Jessica can reach her brother in her mind.”

“I don’t
sleep
,” Ray said. “I’ll do what you ask and stay back exactly two hundred miles. If there is a disturbance, I should be able to feel it. I can cover that stretch fairly quickly.”

“That sounds reasonable,” I told Ray, cutting Rourke off. “Jeb was specific about distance, so make it two hundred and fifty to be certain. You’ll still be within contact at that distance, so no griping.”

Tyler added, “I’ll run under Ray as he flies. He can make sure we stay the right amount of miles back. I can run faster than any other shifter, so I can be there for backup in enough time to help as well.”

Jeb had warned the entire team to stay back in the beginning, but once Enid engaged us, we could call them in. But by that time all might be lost. It was a chance we had no choice but to take. The real hope was to evade whatever her nefarious plans were—plans that Jeb said he had no clue how to interpret. He said the words had been cloaked, but the intent was “tainted.”

Whatever that meant, but the word “tainted” couldn’t be good.

Rourke took my hand and tugged me into the woods to shift. Tyler would gather our clothes and give them to Marcy after we changed.

We stopped a few yards in and found some brush. Rourke was still very quiet. “Are you okay?” I asked as I took off my shirt. “You’re a little too introspective for me right now.”

He came over and encircled my waist, leaning down to take my lips in his. It was a light kiss that spoke volumes. He broke the kiss with effort, his eyes shining with emotion. “When the warlock finally dropped his ward and I found you, the scent of his
magic hit me hard. It’s old. Very old. I’ve never met the warlock formally, but I knew then, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was ancient magic. It made my beast wary and me very aware of the difficulty I have in protecting you. Against that kind of magic, it would be nearly impossible. My insides are knotted. Knowing the Hag will strike tonight is unacceptable. I’m just trying to ready my beast for whatever it takes.”

My hands threaded into his hair. “You heard Jeb as well as I did. Without my ‘team,’ I would’ve died already. You are necessary to my survival, but what’s more important is the way we work together. This is going to be hard, but we have to stay in sync. I need you in touch with me so we can work flawlessly as a
team
. If we do that, we have a chance.” I leaned up and gave him a tender kiss.