Familiar Desires: 5 (Protective Affairs) (6 page)

Kane opened the door, climbed into the Jeep and brushed his
wet hair back. He turned back to face them. “So has she told you why she didn’t
wait on us?”

“Other than that she’s on a mission here and that she doesn’t
need babysitters, no. She thinks we don’t want to get wet or get our shoes
dirty.” Michael’s smirk made her want to smack him as he sat there looking at
his brother.

“Not yet. We’re going back into town and stop at one of the
restaurants for a while. We should get some food in you to help absorb some of
the coffee and maybe lessen the effects if possible.” Kane glanced at her in
the rearview mirror. He started the Jeep, made a tight U-turn and began driving
back to Devoe.

“I’m not hungry.” She tugged her hand free and folded her
arms across her chest.

Yanking free from his touch sent a pang of regret through
her. She didn’t know how long she was going to be able to resist the urge to
get closer to them. She couldn’t even blame it all on the cat wanting to be
close to her mates. It was that, the Familiar bond, attraction and more. She
liked what she knew of the adult Kane and Michael so far and wanted to know
more. Well, other than their interference, but even that was intriguing in a
way.

“You’re a leopard. You should eat at least three good meals
a day to get your basic nutrition and calories. I don’t know what you’ve been
doing in the last few years, but you will take care of yourself and skipping
meals isn’t doing that.” Michael glanced over at her and frowned.

She wasn’t going to ask why it should matter to him. She
knew that would start one hell of a yelling match, probably with both men. They
seemed set on their course now. She still didn’t understand what had changed
their minds. This wasn’t the grudging acceptance she’d walked away from years
ago. They wanted to grab and hold on now, but she didn’t know why. She didn’t
want them if their only reason was that she was their Familiar. That wasn’t
good enough.

“I know how to take care of myself.” She left unsaid that
they were overreacting. It took much more than a few small meals to even weaken
her.

Eating enough to keep her body at peak levels hadn’t ever
been a problem. She wasn’t suddenly going to faint on them. Their concern sent
a tingle of happiness through her. Silly as it was, the arrogant order made her
feel as if they really did consider her their Familiar and mate. She liked the
idea that they wanted to take care of her even if the way they did it was
enough to make her grind her teeth.

Michael chuckled, but she could tell there wasn’t any humor
in it. “Surviving is what you’ve been doing. That’s not good enough and you
should know it. You’re meant to thrive.”

She saw buildings outside the water-streaked windows. When
she’d left earlier, she hadn’t thought she’d be back here so soon. She’d
expected to spend most of the day hunting down leads in the neighboring town.
If her search ran late, she’d given serious thought to staying away from the
city tonight just to get some space.

They didn’t choose one of the restaurants on the outskirts.
Kane drove into the city and to one of the side streets. She recognized the
restaurant as one owned by a family of leopard shifters. She’d eaten here many
times when she was younger. Parking was mainly to the side of the restaurant
because of the lush plants along the front of it. It was as reminiscent of the
jungle as was possible in this climate. She’d always liked that and when she
was a child, she’d often tried to go play and hide in those plants.

Michael opened the door and held it for her. She shot him a
hot glare before walking into the restaurant. This was entirely unnecessary. It
was raining, but that happened here fairly regularly. They both followed her
into the restaurant. She took a few steps into the restaurant, but stopped when
she found herself the center of attention. Almost every eye in the place was
locked onto her.

She’d forgotten how close-knit the city was. While everyone
in the restaurant wouldn’t all know the details of this morning’s events, they
all knew her powers were sensitive to coffee. There was no judgment there, but
she did see amusement. She didn’t feel trapped by the watchful eyes on her or
any kind of censure, although she was sure that some of them had plans that
didn’t involve a deluge.

It had been exactly the same way when she’d become aware of
her sensitivity to coffee. She knew they expected her to curb her impulse to
drink the strong brew for the sake of the community as well as the strain it
put on her body. A short period of having her ability revved up by coffee
wouldn’t do much, but an extended period could physically exhaust her.

“Kane, Michael, it’s good to see you. Alana, I’d heard you
were in town, but I didn’t believe it until this morning.” Marie Nathan almost
glowed with happiness as she came toward them. “Come with me and we’ll find you
a table.”

Alana followed along in the wake of the dark-haired female
whirlwind. She hadn’t even waited for a response to her greetings. Alana
grinned a little. She’d missed being with people she knew so well. Not to mention
walking down a street and seeing something other than a sea full of strangers.

Her shoes padded softly on the light-golden wood floor. The
tables were of a slightly darker wood and gleamed beneath the glow from the
elegant fixtures overhead. She drew in the scent of steak and eggs. Her mouth
began to water and her stomach rumbled, announcing a sudden hunger.

“I’m sure everyone knows she’s here now.” Kane stayed near
her side while they made their way through the tables.

“Just because you’re as bad as a housecat about getting wet
doesn’t mean that everyone else is a complete wuss.” She shot a tight smile at
him. “It could be worse.”

“Yeah, what you started could build and get a life of its
own.” Michael’s hand pressed against her back preventing her from dragging her
feet too much. “And it’s not so much the wet as it is the temperature of the
water since it’s still technically winter, kitten.”

She grimaced at the pointed jibe. The recent temperatures
heralded the coming spring. As for the storm building, there was always that
chance even if it was only her anger bringing about the storm. That kind of
thing usually faded quickly unless the conditions for a storm were already
present and strong.

Marie stopped beside an empty table. “Sit here and I’ll bring
you menus and send your server to take your order.”

After Alana took one of the padded seats, Kane chose the
seat to her left and Michael the one to her right. It was the standard position
for mated twin wizards, but they probably wanted to be close in case she
decided to bolt.

The impulse to do that was huge, but she really didn’t want
to take off through the rain on foot. There wasn’t any way they’d leave their
keys in a position where she could get them. Other than back to the hotel, she
didn’t know where she could go. Getting out of this was going to take some
serious thinking.

“You’re too quiet. What are you plotting?” Kane’s fingers
lightly brushed the back of her arm.

She looked at him. He wasn’t too far off in his guess and
that gave her a little pause. Could he read her so well? They hadn’t had too
much time together before she’d left the city so they didn’t know her.

“Just thinking about the options.” She didn’t see any reason
not to tell them. It wasn’t like they didn’t already know she was here under
protest.

“Think of a way to get out of town yet?” Michael’s fingers
trailed up her arm. Even through her long-sleeved shirt she felt the heat of
his fingers. Tingles followed those slow-moving digits.

Alana didn’t bother answering him. He knew she wouldn’t be
able to get out of town without the help of someone with magic. No one here was
going to aid her in going against the Council’s wishes. They wanted her here
and with these men and apparently she’d be staying here.

“Aren’t you talking to us?” Michael’s fingers trailed back
down and he gave her hand a squeeze.

“I’m not answering stupid questions. How would I get out of
town? The Protectorate isn’t going to send someone up here to straighten out
what’s basically a civic problem, especially since I can do some of the work
from where I’m at and I assume the Council will find a way for me to do the
rest. I know for sure that none of the witches here are going to take the
chance of trying to break that spell for me so what’s to answer?” She glared at
him. They made her so furious.

“Well, the breaking the spell part, no, but I think you’ll
find that you won’t be as limited as you think you will be in your search.
There’s a lot you don’t know about the situation.” Kane took her hand and
turned it so the palm was face up. He laced his fingers with hers.

With each touch, she could feel the Familiar link connecting
and stretching. It felt stronger now than she could remember it feeling when it
formed. The way they were touching her threw her off a little. She didn’t
understand. It wasn’t so much an outright claim, although their very presence
did that. It was soft, sweet, and endearing. The hand-holding and the light
touches made her want more. It was almost courtly.

“What do you mean my search won’t be as limited as I think?
What do you know that I haven’t been told?” Alana turned to face Kane and
narrowed her eyes on him.

He didn’t appear intimidated. Okay, she couldn’t maul him or
zap his ass. It was one of the parts that sucked about being a bonded Familiar.
They couldn’t hurt their witch either with powers or shifter abilities.
Sometimes, wizards needed an attitude adjustment.

“We’ll get to that once we order and get our food. The day’s
business is not going to be easy and you’ve already changed the forecast once
today.” Michael’s palm cupped her chin and turned her face a little so that she
could see him.

“Yes, food first and then we’ll tell you more.” Kane nodded
and then glanced past his brother. “Here come the menus.”

Alana sighed and turned to face the table again. She couldn’t
interrogate him when they were likely to be interrupted. Not that she’d get
very far with his brother right beside her. She’d seen twin wizards work
together before. Not quite in this situation. The result probably wouldn’t be
that different. Michael would run interference if it was necessary and she
wouldn’t get the answers she wanted until they were ready to give them.

The menus arrived and her eyes strayed to the coffee
selection. She pulled her eyes away from the temptation. Even if she ordered
it, the cup would never be brought to the table. The only way she’d get coffee
here was to steal a cup, and it wasn’t worth it. She perused the list of options.
All of the descriptions made her mouth water. Shifting kept her metabolism at a
high point, which meant she needed extra food. She’d gotten to the point where
when necessary she’d order one of the smaller selections and try to get more later
in order not to draw attention to the fact that she was shifter. Sometimes what
she was drew hostility.

The waitress came to take their order. She ordered a
normal-sized meal, but Michael and Kane added a few extra items and then placed
their orders. Alana simply stared at them.

“Do you two even know how annoying that is?” She drummed her
fingers on the table and tilted her head while she looked at Michael and then
swung her gaze to Kane.

“What?” Michael frowned and drew his fingers over the back
of her knuckles.

“Seriously, you don’t even know what you were doing wrong?”
She raised an eyebrow. Were they that blind? Or was it simply that they thought
it was what they should do?

“No,” Kane answered, drawing her gaze to him.

“I’m not four. What I ordered was more than enough unless we’re
not going to have lunch.” She narrowed her eyes at them. She knew wizards
considered it their duty to take care of their Familiars, but she wouldn’t
starve if she only ate what she ordered.

“We’re having lunch later. Depending on a few things, we
might eat a little late. The ordering thing irritates you?” Kane sounded a
little surprised.

“Yes, you could have asked me if I was sure that would be
enough.” Alana drew a hand through her hair. She’d been a bonded Familiar for
years, but she’d never had the traditional relationship. If this was it, she
wasn’t so certain that she wanted it. Even though the behavior irritated her,
the thought of walking away again made her feel a little panicky.

“We don’t know how much you normally eat. You weren’t very
cooperative before, so we didn’t want to take the chance that you might be
trying to rush out of here. We haven’t had a chance to get to know that. From
what we’ve seen of shifters, they eat big meals and it should be a busy day if
all goes well.” Michael’s voice still carried a little confusion. “Aside from
that, what we added are some of our favorite dishes so even if you take only a
bite or two they won’t go to waste.”

Maybe it hadn’t been completely high-handed as she’d
thought. “We’re going to have to learn to talk with each other while I’m here.
A misunderstanding is what led to me leaving last time. I don’t want to spend
the entire time I’m here arguing with you or being angry. So next time, ask how
much I normally eat and if maybe I’d like to try a little more.”

Michael’s eyebrows shot up. She had the feeling that was
because of the first part of the answer, but he didn’t say anything about it. “We’ll
talk more, but this is as new to us as it is to you. It’s going to take some
adjustments. You know it’s drummed into wizards that we need to take care of
our Familiars.”

“Just as it’s drummed into a Familiar shapeshifter that we
must guard our wizards with our life.” Alana shrugged, but she did see his
point.

“We don’t want you placing yourself between us and danger.”
Kane put his hand over hers.

“That’s a little too bad. In certain situations, I’m much
more capable of handling things and will do so.” She took a little satisfaction
in saying that.

“For now, but we’re aware of how strong our tie is.” Kane’s
fingers tightened briefly and his eyes hardened.

She sighed. She really hadn’t expected to have to get into
these more difficult issues this soon. “I didn’t know much about you when I
left, and I think that was part of the reason it was a little easier to leave,
but seeing you with that woman… Asking the tough questions seemed like a waste
of time after that.”

“You should have stuck around and confronted us with it.”
Michael’s voice lowered and he leaned in closer.

“I already had so many doubts and questions. Some of them
about what I wanted, but a lot of them were about what you wanted. You were
still in college and he was involved in his business. Not to mention the fact
that I didn’t know if your family had ever taken a Familiar as mate. Some witch
families don’t, you know.” She traced circles on the tabletop with her
fingertip.

“We’re aware of that.” Michaels fingers slid across hers,
stilling her nervous movement. “We know that it happened at exactly the worst
time. It was still too new for you to know enough about us to realize that we
wouldn’t discover the bond one night and have an intimate lunch with another
woman the next day.”

“For our family, it’s been a few generations since anyone
related to us has married a Familiar. I think the last was a great uncle or
something. Seriously though, our marrying you couldn’t cause too much scandal
in our family. At least, you’re from a Familiar branch of shifters and aren’t
human. Our grandfather scandalized most of the family when he married a human.”
Kane grinned.

Alana wasn’t so sure of that. The woman who’d been all over
Kane hadn’t gotten the time of the business lunch by accident and the note had
been written by someone who knew them extremely well. She wasn’t going to lob
that bombshell without some kind of proof. That kind of proof would either be
impossible or all too clear very soon. They wouldn’t be hiding their
relationship with her and she knew she’d see or hear something about it soon.

Their food arrived and they ate in silence. The mood wasn’t
as stressed as she’d thought it would be. In fact, it felt kind of nice, but
still very weird. There had been a time not too long ago when she’d wondered if
she’d ever be able to even sit down and talk civilly with them, much less have
a meal without wanting to hurt them.

She saw Will Emerson, a member of the Shifter Council, at
one of the tables near hers and the feeling that this was some kind of
arrangement rose and hovered in her mind when she noticed a member of Wizard Council
sitting opposite him. The elders would certainly know about the spell and when
she’d refused to go back into town, at least one of them would have been
notified. It seemed a little coincidental and she wasn’t simply going to take
it as a fluke meeting.

“Are they here simply by chance?” Alana nodded toward the
two men a few tables over.

Kane and Michael looked over to the table and back to her.
They didn’t say anything for a long moment. That more than anything else told
her that her suspicion was correct. There was something more going on here than
a simple breakfast. One Wizard Council member and one Shifter Council member
having a meal together. As if that happened often unless it was official
business or the two happened to be wizard and Familiar to each other. She didn’t
know of anyone on the Councils who was bound together.

“What’s going on? I don’t like being kept in the dark or
being played for a fool.” She put down her fork and glared at them.

“We’re not playing you for a fool. We arranged to meet them
here yes, but you did need to get some food in you to counteract the coffee.
That came first. There’s more that you should know. We weren’t told everything,
but the little we’re aware of is bad.” Michael reached over and ran his fingers
over the back of her hand.

Her mood sobered as she listened to him. “This isn’t any of
our normal enemies, is it?”

“Probably not. No bodies. No demands. There hasn’t been an
active group of our enemies within a hundred miles of us for ten years.”
Michael shook his head.

Crap. That meant it probably involved someone from inside
the community. Suspecting it might be someone from the area was one thing, but
she’d hoped it wouldn’t be that complicated. It made it much harder to catch
them and even more difficult to be sure they caught everyone involved.

“Finish eating. They’ll be over here soon enough.” Kane
gestured to her plate. “Then I have a feeling we’re in for a long day.”

He was probably right about that. Depending on what she
learned, the planned visit to a few of the kidnap sites might be delayed.
Someone working from within Devoe would mean a lot of time spent looking into
the victims’ lifestyle to discover how they were connected or alike. They had
no information on where or who was taking them.

Human scent had been picked up at one of the crime scenes,
but the trace didn’t belong to anyone known to the investigators. If what she
now suspected was true, someone was picking the people out to be kidnapped and
giving their names or locations over to another group. Since they had no idea
who was doing the actual grab or where they were taken, they’d have to focus on
those within the shifters and witches unless they found other information.

Alana picked up her fork and finished the last of her meal.
Drinking the juice in her cup, she watched Michael and Kane. She didn’t look
again to the two elders. If they wanted her attention they could come over
here. She was tired of this game. They should have told her that there was a
possibility of more to this even if they hadn’t had confirmation yet.

The two elders stood and walked over to join Michael, Kane
and Alana. The elders grabbed some nearby chairs and put them on the opposite
side of the table. For a moment, they simply sat there and stared at the three
people on the opposite side of the table. Alana didn’t know about Kane or
Michael, but she wasn’t in the mood to play games with them right now. If they
wanted to talk, they could talk.

The two men sat there for a minute and then the elder from
the Shifter Council smiled.

“She’s a cat you know, Jason and the years she’s kept
herself apart from her mates proves how stubborn she can be. We could be
sitting here all day if you wait for her to start talking.” Will frowned over
at the wizard. “They have most of you beaten there on even their most
cooperative days.”

She thought the other elder’s last name was Tenneson,
Thomlin, Townsend or something similar. He looked a little familiar and she was
almost sure he was the father of one of the boys who graduated the same year
she did. The backhanded compliment didn’t upset her. She knew she was stubborn and
she knew it wasn’t something that was going to change easily.

“I’ll give you that she’s probably more stubborn than me
given the evidence, but I think I can definitely be more persistent and crafty.”
Jason nodded. “Since the day is already ticking by, we do need to get started.
They have work to do.”

She may be a cat, but she knew a lure when it was dangled in
front of her. She wasn’t going to ask about the kind of work they had for her.
Someone else could ask that question. She took a sip of her juice and simply
stared at him. The wide, unblinking stare of a cat eyeing its prey. When he
squirmed in his seat, she knew that it made him uncomfortable.

“Damn, stop playing games, both of you.” Michael put his
hand over hers. His fingers gave hers a slight squeeze. “What’s wrong and what
do we have to do?”

Jason leaned slightly forward, his palms together on the
table. “You know four shifters and one witch have disappeared over the last
three months. We’ve had indications for a little longer that there’s a group of
people in town who believe Familiars are inferior and mere tools to be used.”

“It’s nothing out of the ordinary for young witches or
wizards to get full of themselves and develop an attitude at some point.
Usually they grow out of it.” Will frowned.

“Or it gets knocked out of them.” Jason scowled. “We know of
a few of them. The more verbal people, but they’re probably not the ones we
have to worry about.”

“And you can’t do anything about them until they’re caught
doing something or we find out what they’re doing with the people they’ve had
taken.” Alana sat back in her chair. Well, the simple kidnapping mission went
flying out the window.

“Right. We’re trying to find a way to discover who they are
and what they’re hoping to accomplish by getting rid of these specific people.
If they are the people behind this, which we don’t know.” Will’s fingers
drummed on the tabletop. “We don’t have a way to get anyone in with them
though.”

Alana looked up at the ceiling and thought. There had to be
something or someone who they tried to convince to join them. “What about the ‘scorned
witches’?”

“Scorned witches? What do you mean?” Will frowned. “No
witches have been scorned.”

“I’m not saying that. I’m talking about the witches who they
think would hold a grudge against Familiars, or one specific Familiar.” She
shrugged. She could think of a few right off her head and she only knew what
her brother and friends had told her when she’d talked to them.

“They think… You believe the women might have rejected them.”
Kane’s hand stroked over her arm as he looked at her.

“Yeah, it might be a possibility. I didn’t recognize the
witch’s name on the list I was given. I don’t know anything about her, but if
she had a reason to be mad at a Familiar, they might have approached her. They
might have arranged her disappearance to protect themselves if she said no.”
Alana shrugged.

“She did have a reason,” Michael revealed quietly.

“I know there are a few witches who’ve had a problem with a
particular Familiar or group of shifters and don’t live here. They might have
been approached, but left alone because they’re out of touch with the Councils
and city.” Alana glanced from the Council members across from them back to
Michael and Kane.