Bearly Accidental (Accidentally Paranormal Book 12) (11 page)

“Crazier than you being bitten by a Russian mob guy and turned into a bear? Please. Go on and try me,” she teased.

He looked hesitant until she nudged his hip with her knee. “Toni fell through a wormhole at the designer outlet store she was working in and where the three women and Carl were shopping for Christmas. They fell into another realm called Shamalot, where she met the love of her life and plans to marry. One Prince Iver of Castle Beckett, I believe.”

Teddy rolled her tongue against the inside of her cheek and blinked. “Okay, you’re definitely testing the parameters of crazy. How do you know this for sure? I don’t want to doubt the Bickersons, but you have to see how outrageous this sounds, don’t you?”

Cormac’s laughter echoed around the basement. “I do see how outrageous it sounds, but Wanda had a message from my sister—one that could have only come from her or my best friend Damon. Oh, and a tattoo parlor in Atlantic City.”

“Care to divulge this information?”

“Uh, nope,” he said on a delicious grin.

“Okay, fine. So you trust they’re telling you the truth?”

“I do. Can’t say why, other than it’s not like I don’t understand an outrageous story. How many people would believe me if I told them I was turned into a bear by an angry Russian mobster? Besides, what do they have to benefit in pretending to help me?”

“Maybe lead you right to the Russian mob dude who wants to kill you?”

“Because?”

Suddenly, she was getting a much clearer picture of the attempt on her life last night. “Okay, for the sake of our predicament, let’s say what they’re telling you is true. What can they do to fix this problem?”

“I don’t know, but according to them, they’re pretty proficient at this kind of thing. Did they tell you about OOPS?”

Teddy’s head bounced up and down. “The support for paranormals in crisis? Yes. I heard all about it from Nina. Apparently, she was once the bruiser of this bunch.”

As they’d all settled into the castle last night, Nina had shown her the OOPS website and told her all about how each of them were turned. She’d only listened with half an ear, too caught up in her own fears to totally focus, but she vividly remembered something about genies and cougars and dragons. Oh yes. She remembered the bit about the dragons.

“She gave up her vampirism for Toni. She saved her life from an evil queen.”

Teddy snorted a laugh, unable to keep it from shooting from her mouth.

Cormac laughed, too. “I know. I know, but what choice do I have but to believe?”

“Right. Okay, now you’ve gone too far, buddy. An evil queen? Seriously?”

“Um, yeah. Seriously,” Nina said, suddenly standing before them, crumbs at the corner of her mouth from the cinnamon Pop Tart she held, Lenny tucked securely under her arm. “You got some kinda problem with that?”

God. She was like a cat.

Cormac and Teddy passed each other guilty glances. “You have to admit, it’s pretty outlandish,” she said with a sheepish glance up at the tight-faced ex-vampire.

Nina stuffed a hand inside her black hoodie, shoving the Pop Tart in her pocket, and leered down at Teddy. “I don’t gotta admit shit. You don’t have to believe a fucking word that comes out of my mouth. I don’t give a guinea pig’s fart. What you best believe is this: people want you two dead. I get why they want Cormac dead, but I don’t get why they want
you
dead, Teddy Bear. But I’m gonna find out. Now, quit loafin’ around down here like you’re on fucking vacay at Chez Statleon, waitin’ on the breakfast bell while your towels warm in the dryer and someone steams your sheets. Get dressed and get your asses upstairs so we can figure it out. We have shit to do.”

Teddy reached out a hand to Nina to apologize. “I’m sorry, Nina. I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just…”

Nina frowned, her beautiful face scrunching up in disapproval as she set Lenny on Teddy’s bed. “You were just flappin’ those lips to flap. I get it. You’re a chick. You say chick shit. But I lost my damn vampy powers for a reason, and it’s not something you two insensitive shits straight outta Goldilocks have any business snarkin’. I stopped that lunatic bitch Angria from killing Toni because she’s my GD friend, and the hell I was gonna let some whacked-out, jealous queen take her out. Toni was some badass in Shamalot. Always lookin’ out for everyone but herself. You have no idea what she went through to get where she is. So don’t make light about something you don’t know a damn thing about. That shit happened, and your sister’s one of the baddest bitches in the land. Don’t ever make the ha-ha in front of me about it again.”

This side of Nina, this protective, almost mother bear side, not only intrigued Teddy, it made her long to have a female influence in her life just like her.

Okay, maybe all the swearing and threats could be left out of that wish. But Nina was fierce about her loyalties and her friendships, and it was evident in her tone. What was also evident was her selflessness. She’d saved Toni, if the story was true. Who did that for someone they hardly knew?

Nina was clearly still touchy about losing her vampiric powers, but she made no bones about the fact that she’d done it out of allegiance and, by her definition, out of friendship.

“Nina, I had no idea,” Cormac intervened, his voice gruff. “I mean, I knew you kept her from being killed, and you bit this Angria, and that by drinking her tainted blood you all surmise the act stole your powers, but I didn’t know how close you’d become to my sister. I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect for what you did for Toni. I’ll never forget that kind of loyalty. If there’s anything I can ever do, you just have to say the word.”

Nina tucked her hair behind her ears, her eyes narrowed. “Well, you might know if you didn’t spend all your time brooding in the corner. Your sister tried like hell to find you, pal—from the day those dick-knuckles took you. She loves you, and the guilt she felt over thinking she’d lost you was big, brother. Bigger than she is. She hated that she hid away in Jersey all that time. She was all torn up with guilt that she didn’t know what happened to you. That maybe there was something else she could have done to find your ass. Toni figured if she was alive, she could at least bring to justice the fuck that did you in, and she tried hard. Which was a fucking smart move. So here’s the score, Moody Blues, she can’t ever come back here if you don’t get off your butt and play an active part in taking these assholes out. So get the fuck up, Pooh Bear. No more mopin’. We have a Russian mob boss to bag.”

Nina turned on her heel, stalking off toward the entry to the basement and back upstairs, the slamming of the door the only sound.

Teddy puffed her cheeks out, intending to rise and get a move on. Even without powers, Nina was pretty scary. She shuddered thinking of the damage she must have caused
with
them.

Cormac grabbed her hand and voiced that very thought. “Imagine her with the strength of ten men.”

Teddy’s head fell back on her shoulders as she tried to stifle a giggle while Lenny settled next to her. “And fangs.”

Cormac laughed.

“I fucking hear you!” Nina yelled after popping the door open. “Imagine me coming down there and beating your face with your own leg after I chew it clear off. Get the fuck up here or I’m sending Wanda the Warden in!”

Both Teddy and Cormac looked at each other in panic. “No,” she whispered, mocking horror. “Not Wanda!”

Cormac’s chest rose and fell, barking more laughter as he slid from the bed and reached for his jeans.

That was exactly when more guilt set in. First, because she had to tear her eyes away from him. Second, because the guillotine was poised over her head, just waiting to hack it off. She couldn’t keep hiding her reasons for being here, and after Cormac had confessed what this Andre wanted from him, how could she keep something as vital as the information she had to herself? The time to come clean was here.

The news she was about to share made her grateful Nina was no longer a vampire.

She was pretty okay with her face, and she was sort of fond of her legs remaining attached.

A
fter a shower, wherein she stalled for as long as possible, she made her way back upstairs, where Carl greeted her with a hot cup of coffee and pointed to the kitchen table where everyone had gathered.

Heaps of food were piled high on plates, fluffy yellow scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and croissants were in abundance, while Archibald, dressed as immaculately as last night, like some food maestro, orchestrated the meal. His joy at having everyone together was obvious in his twinkling eyes and spry step.

Teddy’s stomach growled in appreciation.

Until she remembered what she had to do.

Tell the truth.

As she looked for an open seat, Cormac smiled and patted the one next to him. The day was gray and snowy just outside the sprawl of big windows enveloping the breakfast nook, where Lenny napped on a pillow Nina had Archibald bring him, but it didn’t dull his gruff good looks.

His warm, inviting smile did things to her stomach, and her heart, somehow syncing up, creating a riot of unsettled emotions.

As she sat next to Cormac, he leaned into her and whispered in her ear, “You feel better?”

“Is Nina still going to eat my legs off?”

He chuckled, sending a ripple of awareness along her arms. “Nah. Well, maybe only one leg.”

Teddy shuddered, tucking her down vest around her. “Scary ex-vampire is scary.”

“So scary.”

“What are you two making googly eyes over now? Eat some damn food. You’re gonna need all your brain cells today, Teddy Bear. Nothin’ better to start the hunt for Russian motherfluffers than a good breakfast.” Nina shoved the plate of eggs at her, popping a piece of bacon in her own mouth as she did.

The heavy weight of her confession, one she’d practiced over and over in her head, began to blur and swim in her brain. Taking the eggs, she put some on her plate, listlessly poking at them with her fork.

“Hey, you’d better call your brothers huh?” Marty suggested, batting her eyelashes. “They’re probably wondering why you didn’t bring your life mate home.”

As pretty as the day before, Marty had let her hair down this morning. It fell in beachy waves around her beautiful face, artfully made up to enhance the deep blue of her eyes. She wore a cute pair of denim leggings and knee-high boots with a thigh-length cable-knit sweater in purple.

Looking down at her freshly laundered torn clothes, Teddy suddenly found herself feeling quite small. When she’d reached the age where clothes and makeup became important to her, her mother was already gone.

Her brothers had raised her from that point on, and they knew zero about clothes and all things girl, especially as young as they’d been when they’d taken the reins from their mother. They knew horses and running a ranch and a business. They’d done their best to give her everything she needed, and she loved and appreciated them more than they’d ever know, but sometimes…

Sometimes, she wished for a female influence—someone to tell her what color sweater made her eyes stand out or how she should wear her hair.

Instead, she pulled her own wavy hair up in a ponytail or braided it—because it was practical when working with the animals she loved so much.

“Teddy, honey?” Wanda leaned over the table and patted her arm. “Your brothers? Shouldn’t you call them?”

The last thing she wanted to do was call Vadim and Viktor with the kind of news she would impart. She’d lost a lot of cash…

She shrugged and swallowed. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be okay with it. But I guess I should, if you all don’t mind.”

Wanda tugged the end of Teddy’s braid and smiled. Just as perfectly made up as Marty, she was also equally as beautiful. “I’m sorry. I was pretty grumpy yesterday, wasn’t I?”

Hah. Just you wait, Wanda.

Teddy shrugged again, almost afraid to say anything. “It was a tense situation. I understand.”

But Wanda shook her head, smoothing back her updo with elegant fingers and a grin. “I was a bear, if you’ll pardon the pun. But I’d been listening to Marty and Nina argue with each other for four days while we tried to figure out Cormac’s exact location. Our directions were pretty vague. As you can imagine, the twins had drained me of my energy by the time we found him.”

Wanda was their peacemaker—that was as clear as the day was long. She was the leader of the pack whether she acknowledged it or not, this pack they’d created out of necessity, and the burden of keeping Marty and Nina from killing each other had to be on par with wrestling alligators every single day.

“I take it it’s been hard on you with this change for Nina?”

Wanda sighed as she sipped her coffee, the gesture forlorn. “It’s been hard for all of us, but Marty’s taking it the hardest. Maybe even harder than Nina. Nina seems to be just fine as long as she has food. But fear not, we’ll figure it out. In the meantime, go call your brothers and let them know you’re safe. I’ll feel better and so will you.” Patting her arm once more, Wanda turned back to the conversation Nina and Cormac were having about the Giants and the Steelers.

Giving her permission to call her brothers was like giving her permission to attend her own funeral.

Pushing the spindled chair out, Teddy reluctantly rose and made her way back to the great room where it was quiet.

She took a seat on the very couch she’d sat on last night, by the fire where it was warm, and pulled her phone from her pocket, turning it on.

There were tons of texts from both Vadim and Viktor. They began pretty lighthearted. “
Hey, you okay?
” and “
Little sister, where you at?
”

But they began to go sour after the first four or five. “
You’re freaking us out, Teddy
Bear!
” and “
If you don’t check in soon, we’re comin’ for you!
”

The worst was, “
Don’t do this shit to us, Teds! Not after last year. Get in touch now!”

She typically kept in pretty close contact with them whenever she was on a job. The total silence had them in a panic, and with good reason, after what had happened last year. Yet, she had no choice but to relieve their worries.