Triple Dog Dare [Triple Trouble 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (20 page)

Mai didn’t miss that no one left the sight of the others, that they all stayed together.

When they took a break in the food court a little later, Mai said something about it. “Y’all are worried about Paul finding me, aren’t you?”

Lina patted her hand. “I’m not going to lie and say everything is hunky-dory. Let’s just say we’re already on the Abernathys’ radar and don’t want to take any chances. I haven’t seen all the details yet. Unfortunately, my Whack-O-Vision doesn’t work on demand. But no, the trouble isn’t over.” She smiled brightly. “Don’t worry. If the asshat does show up, I’ll blast him. No one should fuck with us today, at least. So let’s enjoy our shopping.”

Mai rubbed her hand over her belly. “I’m scared,” she admitted. “I haven’t even been to the doctor yet.”

“We’ll talk to Ain when we get back,” Elain said. “We’ll see if there’s a doctor we can take you to. Please don’t worry. You’re family now.”

“Yeah,” Lina echoed. “And if there isn’t one around here, we’ll get you in to see my doctor. She’s a cougar shifter up in Tampa. I’m sure she’d be happy to take you on as a patient.”

* * * *

Marston sat off in the distance and glanced over his newspaper occasionally to make sure the women still sat there.

Dammit.

That dragon woman was with them. She was dangerous, and she could identify him. He had to be careful, but this was his first chance to grab Elain Pardie without her men around. If he could just figure out a way to get her alone, even for a couple of minutes, he had a chance.

He watched and carefully set off after them when they departed the food court. More shopping on the agenda, apparently. They headed into another department store where it would be easy for him to discreetly keep an eye on them from a safe distance.

* * * *

Elain’s nerves were on edge. Not that it was a new sensation to her, considering all that had recently happened, but this felt different.

Like they were being watched.

Lina noticed. “What’s wrong?” she quietly asked her.

Elain looked around and shook her head. “Paranoid, I guess.”

* * * *

He didn’t have a chance to get close to them, or get the Pardie bitch alone. He knew time was growing short.

He’d already ignored three of Rodolfo’s phone calls.

Then the texts started.

Where the hell are you?

He texted him back.
I have the Pardie woman in sight, but she’s with the dragon woman and two others. Including a pregnant coyote
. He hated coyotes. The very stink of them made his skin crawl.

What? Send me a picture!

Puzzled, Marston studied the text for a moment. With a sigh he waited until the women were close enough he could take a picture of them from a distance and fit them into the same shot. He sent it to Rodolfo.

Within a minute, Rodolfo texted him back.
Go somewhere and call me. Now.

Frustrated, Marston replied.
But I might lose my chance to get the Pardie woman alone.

I don’t care about that. I need to speak with you. Now!

Marston read the text a second time.
Fine. If he wants me to lose her, he can’t harass me for it
. Marston returned to his car and placed the call.

“You realize I can’t do my job if you pull me away like this?”

Rodolfo actually sounded pleased. “I don’t care about that right now. How long has that coyote been with them?”

“Today is the first day I’ve seen her. They all returned from wherever they’d gone last night. Their cars were back when I started watching the house this morning. She was with them, so she must have come with them. I’ve never seen her before.”

“Excellent. You can stop following them for now.”

“What? Have you lost your mind?”

“Do not argue with me. I have calls to make. I might not be able to obtain the Pardie woman the way I wanted, but this serves me better. I can use their own Council to force them to hand over her, as well as the coyote.”

“Why do you want the coyote?”

“None of your business!” Rudolfo roared through the phone, forcing Marston to pull it away from his ear. “Go and sit in your hotel room and await my further instructions.” He hung up.

“Bloody bastard,” Marston swore as he tossed his cell phone into the passenger seat. “Who the hell does he think he is?”

Daniel and Callie showed up at Jocko’s house a few minutes before seven. He smiled and let them in. Daniel’s mouth watered at the delicious aroma of pot roast in the oven.

“Make yerself at home,” Jocko said, waving them toward the living room. “We’ll be eating in a few minutes, but I want to talk with ye first. I’ll be right back.”

They settled themselves in his comfortable living room, where the TV was tuned to a
Dirty Jobs
marathon on the Discovery Channel.

“What do you think he wants to talk about?” Callie nervously asked Daniel. “Do you think he’s upset about us not saying anything to him when Lina and Elain were up here?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, pet. I’m sure we’ll find out here shortly.” Inwardly, he smiled. At first, Callie had a hard time adapting to life as a human. Well, as human as she could be, considering she was an immortal like her sisters, Baba Yaga and Brighde. When they mated and he marked her, she agreed to submit to him.

So far, that part of life she had easily adapted to.

He slung an arm around her shoulder as they sat on the couch. Placing a kiss on her forehead, he said, “Whatever it is, it is. Relax.”

Jocko returned a few moments later and sat in a chair across from them. “Now, ye know I’m getting along in years, Daniel. I ain’t getting any younger. None of us are.” He looked around the room, then back at Daniel. “In some packs, they pass leadership down the ranks through blood kin. We haven’t done that for a few hundred years now, ye know that. I want to nominate ye as my replacement on the Clan Council.”

Daniel blinked, stunned. “Me? Why?”

“Don’t go on with false modesty, there. Ye damn well know why. That stuff with the dragons, for one. Yer practically kin with ’em. The fact that them damn cockatrice are still on the warpath and ye know as well as I we’re due for another run-in with them anytime now, according to what Lacey and Lina said. And them damn Abernathys. What few blood kin I still have, not a single one of ’em I’d want running the Clan Council. Especially not at a time like this.”

Jocko nodded toward Callie. “Ye got a good mate there, Daniel. A powerful woman in her own right. We need all the strength we can get on the Council. I know a couple of the other members are going to nominate some younger blood to replace them here in the next few weeks. Lacey told us time’s growing short, and we want as much time as we can get for the new leadership to take our places. The dragons are doing the same thing. This is a war from the past that only youth will be able to wage.”

This was a huge responsibility. They had five members on the main Clan Council, and representatives throughout the world who reported to them. Unlike the Abernathy Clan, they’d done away with a single leader to prevent stupidity and stagnation from taking over and running the Clan into the ground.

Much like Rodolfo Abernathy had done to his Clan.

“Wow,” Daniel said. “I’m honored.”

Jocko waved his gratitude away. “Don’t give me that crap. Will ye, or won’t ye? I need an answer sooner rather than later, because honestly? I don’t have another choice in mind.”

He looked at Callie. “What do you think?”

“I think you should do it.” She grinned. “Does this mean I can now blow up cockatrice at will?”

Daniel smiled. “Ah, my vicious little pet. What will I do with you?”

“I can think of a few things.”

“So can I,” Jocko interrupted, “but can we get back to the matter at hand before ye two start going at it like a couple o’ bloody rabbits?”

Daniel nodded. “I’ll do it.”

Jocko clapped his hands together. “Terrific!” He hauled his bulk out of his chair. “Now let’s eat. I’m famished.”

* * * *

As always, dinner tasted delicious. Jocko’s other passion, besides Clan genealogy, was cooking. He never let a guest leave his table hungry. “The Council is meeting tomorrow morning,” Jocko said. “I’ll be telling them my decision then. Expect a phone call.”

“Wow, that’s…fast,” Daniel replied.

“I told ye, we want to get a new bunch in as soon as possible. Any dickering around could cost us in a big way. I don’t need to tell ye what I mean, do I?”

Daniel shook his head. “No. I know what you mean.”

“Good!”

Callie let out a nervous laugh. “I was afraid you were going to yell at us.”

“Fer what?”

“For meeting with Lina and Elain while you were gone.”

He smiled. “I didn’t say this, but I suspected Lacey had something up her sleeve. It’s not often she tells me to pack a bag and get the hell out of town, but when she does, I listen.” He laughed and winked at her. “I can’t be responsible for something when I wasn’t here, now, can I?”

He let out a sigh. “Eh, Rodolfo Abernathy’s crawling up my kilt demanding a meeting. I suspect I know exactly what that meeting is about. For starters, he’s gonna demand we hand Elain Pardie over to him. And I can tell ye, knowing the Lyall brothers like I do, that it ain’t happening. Rightfully so.”

The humor completely disappeared from his face. “Let’s quit pissin’ around in the garden, shall we, Daniel?” He tipped his head toward Callie. “Yer mate is a right powerful woman. Lina is a goddess. Apparently, Elain Pardie is a Seer and an Alpha shifter. I don’t think it’s any mistake events are converging the way they are.”

He shook his head. “There’s gonna have to be a Council meeting to hear the challenges. There ain’t no other way around it. And it’ll have to play out however it does. I can’t imagine Rodolfo Abernathy, after waitin’ all these years to collect on that oath, would simply settle for a check and a friendly handshake. He’s gonna want a woman or blood. We’ll have to wait until after that part of fate plays out to figure our next move.”

He leaned forward in his chair. “I would never tell ye to openly dishonor a blood oath. The risk of a Clan war is too great. But that’s not to say after a challenge is issued and a ruling decreed that something can’t…happen to make Elain…disappear, as it were. Ye following me, boyo?” He glanced Callie’s way before arching a shaggy eyebrow at Daniel.

Daniel slowly nodded. “I am.”

“This very likely is Abernathy’s last stand.” He scratched his chin. “In fact, last time I saw the bloody bastard, back in Brussels, I told him I’d take his fucking nose off if he came sniffin’ around our pack.” He smiled at Daniel. “So don’t feel like ye got to hold back around him and be all diplomatic like. The arsehole only understands brute force.”

His expression turned downright grim. “I also talked to Andel Wattersson yesterday, and he said he found out there’s a new nest of cockatrice popped up somewhere in New England, hereabouts. He’s not sure where yet, but they’re working on it. He hasn’t told Lina about it yet because he’s worried about her condition and knows this needs to get settled first. But it will be yer next big business, and we’re gonna need yer leadership. And I also talked to Ortega Montalvo after I got off the phone with Andel.”

“Who?” Daniel asked.

Jocko smiled. “An old near and dear friend of mine. His jaguar Clan is in Bolivia.”

Daniel and Callie both put the pieces together. “Ahh,” they said.

Jocko nodded. “He gave sanctuary to Liam for all those years. I called him up to thank him and offer him my gratitude.” His smile turned to a predatory grin. “I don’t suppose ye recall a story about a Gathering last century, do ye, Daniel? About a certain wolf gettin’ himself in trouble with the jaguars?”

Daniel arched his eyebrows. “Oh, fuck me, I’d forgotten about that!”

Jocko cackled with glee. “He asked me to keep him informed of Rodolfo’s whereabouts. I told him I’d be happy to oblige. Liam was very helpful to him over the years, and he wants to make Rodolfo’s life as miserable as possible in the meanwhile.” Jock slapped his thigh. “Wouldn’t you just know it, he’s coming up here to Maine in a couple of days for a long, extended visit. He’s interested in talking with the dragons about hunting down some cockatrice that caused havoc for a cousin of his in Brazil a couple o’ years ago. Ain’t that something?”

“That’s something all right,” Daniel agreed.

Jocko’s good humor dissipated again. “Yer gonna need a strong stomach and a brassy set of balls fer what’s ahead, boyo. Yer gonna be named head of the Council. Ye ready for it?”

He looked at Callie, who smiled at him. He turned back to Jocko. “I’ll be ready for it.”

* * * *

Daniel didn’t have to wait long for the call. Jocko rolled him out of bed at six eighteen the next morning.

“Didn’t wake ye, did I, boyo?”