The lights in the office
did
work. Derek pulled out his cell phone as he studied the corkboard beside Nick’s neat desk, but he didn’t dial any of the numbers he found there. Instead he called Andrew.
His friend answered on the third ring, sounding tired and grumpy. “If you’re calling me to gloat about how you finally got to nail your dream girl, I’m going to kick your ass tomorrow.” If only. “Not so much. Listen, this could be awkward, but I need you to go back to Kat’s apartment and keep an eye on her.”
His entreaty was met with silence. Then Andrew cleared his throat. “Not too tough. I haven’t left Kat’s yet. What’s going on?”
Derek froze, caught between relief and irrational protective anger. “You haven’t left yet?”
“Derek, I’m not leaving Kat here alone, passed out drunk. I’m on the couch.”
“Okay, okay. Just…stay there, would you? Nicole’s sister showed up at the bar talking about their Conclave and fucking execution orders. Last time all the shapeshifters got riled up, someone broke into Kat’s place for God knows what reason.”
“Christ. Yeah, I’ll stay. Are you calling Alec and Jackson?”
“Alec, first. Not sure if we should drag Jackson into shit when he’s still recovering and his mom is in town. Alec will know, I guess.”
“Sure.” On the other end of the phone, a microwave beeped and stoneware clattered. “I’m going to have some coffee. Call me back if I need to take Kat over to my place.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Andrew.”
“Don’t mention it. Keep me posted.”
20
Crossroads
He disconnected the call. Instead of consulting the corkboard, he scrolled through the numbers stored in his cell. This time it only rang twice before he heard Alec’s gruff voice. “You’d better not have called me by mistake during some drunken sex.”
The greater New Orleans area seemed to be under the assumption that he and Nick would be naked by now.
Which we might be, if life didn’t suck.
“Hi, Alec. I’m doing great, thanks. Nick asked me to call you.
Think there’s trouble. Her sister’s here.”
“Michelle? Alone?”
Derek moved to a shelf on the far side of the office and picked up a flashlight. “Not alone. With a big hulking angry-looking werewolf.”
“Well, that goes without saying. Aaron’s her bodyguard. I meant, is the Alpha with her? Their dad?”
“No. She said something about being pregnant, and an execution order for Aaron, and her powers being out of control.”
“For fuck’s—shit, just a second.” He heard a muffled noise and the faint murmur of a female voice, followed by the slam of a door and the crunch of gravel. “I’m not that far out. They at Nick’s place?”
“No, upstairs above the bar.” Derek flicked on the flashlight and moved back into the kitchen to search the cupboards for tea. “Nick asked me to call Jackson too, but I figure you’d know if that was a good idea.”
“Fuck, no. His mom’s in town.”
“He can’t let Mackenzie look after his mother?”
“Kid, no one tells Nancy Holt to stay home and keep out of things. That woman’ll be climbing all over us if she gets a whiff of trouble, and Nick knows it.”
She
had
looked wary. Derek propped the phone against his shoulder to free up a hand so he could search the cabinets. “So we’re not calling him?”
“I’ll decide once I figure out what the hell is going on. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”
“Uh-huh, and then you’re going to explain to me what in hell is going on, right?” Alec snorted. “You don’t want to know.”
Maybe he didn’t, but sticking his head in the sand and walking away wasn’t an option. “Maybe not, but I
need
to, Alec.”
“Yeah.” Alec sighed roughly. “Fine. Reader’s Digest version. You know Michelle’s a Seer, right?”
“Superpowerful magic shapeshifter hybrid. I paid attention to the shit that went down last month, Alec.” Which was only a
little
lie. He would have paid attention if any of them had bothered to explain it to him while it was happening. “She’s got all sorts of rules and shit governing her life, and it sucks. I remember that part.”
“Do you remember the part about her not being allowed to have sex?” Derek dropped a box of tea. “Uh, she’s pregnant, Alec.”
www.samhainpublishing.com
21
Moira Rogers
“Well, someone’s been breaking the rules. I say more power to her, but the possibility that she’s going to have some powerful little Seer baby is going to give the Conclave a collective shit-fit.”
“Jesus. They’d
kill
her for it?”
“Derek, most shapeshifters would kill her just for being who she is. If Nick’s dad wasn’t the big fuckin’ honcho, chances are she wouldn’t have survived infancy. That’s our dirtiest little secret. They may shun wolves like you, but they murder the ones like Michelle.”
“And Aaron?”
“He’s not really her bodyguard. At least, he’s not supposed to be. He’s a Conclave spy. If he helped her escape, that’s treason.”
Derek had gotten the impression that Aaron’s involvement was a lot more intimate and involved than just escape plans, but it was the last subject he wanted to discuss with Alec over the phone. “Okay. So the Conclave’s scared and pissed. Is Nick in danger?”
“Doubt it. It may seem like their dad can’t protect Michelle, but he’s fighting a few hundred years of tradition there. Nick’s the Alpha’s heir. No one would dare touch a hair on her head.” It made it easier to breathe, if only because he knew Alec wouldn’t lie. “Okay, I’m going upstairs now. I’ll tell Nick you’re on your way.”
“Ten minutes out, kid. Hang in there.”
“Thanks, Alec.” Derek shoved the phone in his pocket before rummaging through the boxes again. It only took a few seconds to find the one box of decaffeinated tea. The pretzels were easier to find, and Derek snatched up an entire bag and hurried upstairs.
He found Michelle and Aaron sitting on the overstuffed sofa. The tall man had one brawny arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into him. Nick paced in the kitchen and rushed over to him as soon as he opened the door. “Thanks, Derek.”
“Alec’s on his way.” He handed her the box of pretzels and nodded to the kitchen. “Want me to put the kettle on?”
Nick shook her head nervously. “It’s already on.” She turned the box over in her hands and gave him a serious look. “Can I talk to you outside?”
He wanted to curl around her until the nervousness in her body eased, but there was nothing to do but nod. “Of course.”
She closed the door behind them and motioned him down the iron staircase. He stopped on the first landing and she stood a step above, nearly eye to eye with him. “Don’t take this the wrong way,” she whispered, “and don’t think this is what I want. But you need to go.” He stiffened. “No. No
way
, Nick.”
22
Crossroads
“I don’t know how they got away, Derek. What I do know is it’s not going to take the board long to find them.” She raised a hand to smooth his hair. “I’ll be safe, I promise. But if you’re here… If you get in the way—” Her teeth sank into her lower lip. “Please trust me.”
“But Alec and Jackson can be here?” That hurt. “So this is all about what I am? About the fact that I was
made
a shapeshifter instead of born that way?”
“That has nothing to do with it!” Fear blanched her face and clouded her eyes. “I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.” She exhaled and gripped the iron railing with both hands. “That’s all this is.”
“Okay.” He reached out and wrapped both arms around her, though he wasn’t sure if the hug was for her benefit or his own. “I’ll go, but you have to promise me you’ll call me tomorrow. First thing. Or I’ll show right back up over here and you won’t get rid of me again.”
“I might even wake you up,” she said instantly, her words muffled against his chest. “I’ll need your help. I just have to—to figure this out first.”
“Anything you need. Anything, darling.” He tugged her head back and kissed her forehead. “I’ll help you.”
“I know you will.” They stood there for several moments. “Derek—” The scrape of booted feet on the pavement at the base of the stairs cut her off. Derek didn’t have to turn; he could smell Alec. “It has
not
been ten minutes.”
“I speed.”
Derek smiled at Nick. “He speeds. Why am I not surprised?”
Though she smiled in return, the expression was wan and tremulous. “Because he’s crazy?” She brushed a wrinkle from the sleeve of his shirt. “Be careful. If anything odd happens, call. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
He ignored Alec’s presence and leaned down to kiss her. “Tomorrow.” She nodded, her eyes bright. “I mean it. Be careful.”
“I will.”
***
Nick cast another glance down the hall toward the small bedroom, the tenth in as many minutes, and clenched her jaw against the anger that flooded her. Michelle had fallen into an exhausted, fitful sleep, but her own rage hadn’t faded. “This is bullshit. Absolute bullshit.” The repetition usually would have earned her a caustic comment from Alec, but for once he seemed equally irate. “Yeah, Nick. It’s bullshit.”
Aaron spoke, but his tired words only made Nick angrier. “When her magic started failing, she went to the Conclave. She didn’t know they’d call in a midwife right away to see if she was pregnant.” www.samhainpublishing.com
23
Moira Rogers
And she didn’t know they’d point a finger at you.
“How did you get out?” He met her gaze and straightened his shoulders. “Mahalia Tate helped us. But I think the Alpha knew.
He must have let us get away.”
“Doesn’t matter if Mahalia scrambled their trail or hid them, the Conclave’ll come here first.” Alec’s voice was quiet and almost gentle, which was a surer sign of trouble than anything.
“They’d be stupid to think otherwise.” Nick sighed.
“We didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Aaron whispered.
She snorted in disbelief. “If you’d taken my pregnant sister anywhere else, I’d have hunted you down myself.”
Alec shot her a quelling look before sinking into the chair across from Aaron. “Okay, we don’t have time to be nice and prissy about this. How long have the two of you been having sex, and how long has she been pregnant?”
The tops of Aaron’s ears colored, but he met Alec’s gaze squarely. “A few weeks. We didn’t know she was pregnant until the Conclave brought in the midwife.”
Nick filled the coffee carafe with water and threw a filter into the machine. “She thought the sex neutralized her magic.”
“Yes,” Aaron admitted.
“That bullshit myth?” Alec rolled his eyes. “Sacred virginity, my ass.”
“She didn’t lose her magic,” Nick told Alec as she scooped coffee into the coffee maker. “She just lost control of it.”
Which is worse, damn it.
“Well, I wouldn’t know this if I didn’t work with Jackson, but that’s not uncommon.” Alec tilted his chair back, balancing on two legs. “It’s a self-defense thing for the baby, I think. We’ll have to ask him to know for sure, or—hell, Mahalia, if we can call her. Guess I never thought about it applying to Michelle, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t.”
“They’re going to want me back,” Aaron reminded them quietly.
Nick pressed her hands to the counter to hide their shaking. “Doesn’t mean they’re going to get it.” The legs of Alec’s chair hit the floor with a solid thump, and he leaned forward. “You need to snap out of it, boy. Michelle needs you, so keeping you safe is up near the top of our list. If you’ve got any dumb ideas about guilt or, God forbid, self-sacrifice, I’ll kick your ass all over this room.” Defiance flared in Aaron’s eyes. “I didn’t get to where I am by being weak
or
stupid. But if working for the Conclave has taught me anything, it’s that they don’t give up.”
“No, they don’t. So first thing tomorrow you’re packing up your girl and taking her to my safe house.
Thing’s warded to hell and back, and I doubt the Conclave would have anything to do with the sort of spell caster who could break in there.”
24
Crossroads
Of course they wouldn’t, because they would have killed that spell caster a long time ago. “As soon as you and Michelle are safe, I’ll see what I can do about damage control. Daddy may not be able to do anything officially, but he’s not going to let the board hunt you down, Aaron. No way.” He nodded slowly, then stood. “I’m going to check on Michelle.” Nick laid her hand on his arm and tried to smile. “We’ll work it out. We always do.” He made his way down the hall slowly, moving as if the weight of the world was bearing down on him. Nick had to press the heels of her hands to her eyes for a moment before she could speak. “This, Alec.
This kind of shit is why every wolf with half a brain is jumping ship.”
“Yeah.” Alec stretched his legs out in front of him, crossing them at the ankles. “What do you want to bet my dad’s already called my place?”
“Oh, he’d
love
for you to be the one to turn in the fugitives.” Nick made a face as she grabbed two mugs from the drain rack and rinsed them.
“Well, I hope he has fun when I’m the one to make sure no one finds them.”
“Mmm.” She poured two cups of coffee and handed one to Alec. The tension inside her had built to the breaking point, but the mindless, rote tasks she’d undertaken since Derek’s departure had helped. Now, she found herself on unsteady ground. “I’m going to lose it, Alec.” Her voice trembled. “I’ll kill anyone who so much as looks at my sister, I swear to God I will.”
“Hey.” He dropped the mug on the coffee table and rose to his feet, one arm extended. “C’mere, kiddo.”
If she let down the walls now, she’d never be able to function through the next few days. “I can’t, Alec. But thank you. For everything.”
For a second she thought he’d argue, but he dropped his arm. “Fair enough. Now what are you planning on doing with Derek Gabriel in the middle of all this mess? Because you’re gonna have to tie him up and stick him in a closet to keep him out of it.”
“Oh, Jesus. He thinks I’m trying to keep him away from it because he’s a second-class werewolf or something crazy like that. I just don’t want him getting his head ripped off because of me when I’m not even in danger.”