Promise the Moon (Lorimar Pack Book 1) Read online

  Today Zed was functional. Still slim as a rail. Still didn’t care for himself like he ought to. But he had survived. One day he would thrive. And yesterday… He smiled at a cute girl, and she smiled back.

  Brave Zed was my blueprint for recovery.

  “I’ve had enough on my plate to justify my absence.” The truth was, I was almost afraid to go back. Having my recklessness pointed out to me had me questioning my ability to make safe judgment calls. “I’ll start back tomorrow night.” I couldn’t hide from my responsibilities forever. “We need all the teeth we can get until the Stoners get the green light.”

  “How are they coming along?” Abram continued inspecting my deck while humming approval noises.

  “As well as can be expected. There are always tensions when wargs outside a unified pack meet. A few of their packs are not sworn enemies, but not bosom buddies either. Thierry’s been careful with her candidates, but even the friendly ones bump up against each other from time to time. Their wolves aren’t going to settle until the pecking order is established.” The last thing I wanted was to pull my people off their posts for the sake of dominance fights. Tensions would lessen once the alphas returned. We just had to hold on that long. “They need to marinate more before we can trust their wolves to go into the field to hunt fae and not ride the bloodlust until they end up killing each other.”

  He grunted in agreement or exhaustion, it was hard to tell.

  “I stopped by the clinic.” His eyes brightened to kid-in-a-candy-store levels. “It’s coming along nicely.”

  “I adopted three Stoners with carpentry backgrounds to help. The clinic takes priority for practical purposes, but it would be nice to show the alphas we haven’t been sitting on our thumbs while they’ve been away.” I joined Abram and toed my porch. “I want to give them a home they can be proud of.”

  Abram reeled me in for a brief hug that smelled of toothpaste and newsprint. “We’re all proud of you and the work you’ve done here.” He ruffled my hair. “Don’t put yourself in an early grave trying to earn anyone’s approval. Cord is not your mother, and neither is Cam. They both love and respect you.”

  I gritted my teeth against the mention of Momma and focused on the compliment. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it.” He watched me step up to the front door. “Get some rest.”

  I paused with my hand on the doorknob. “Doctor’s orders?”

  He anchored his hands on his hips. “If that’s what it takes for you to listen, then yes.”

  “Do me a favor?” Abram sucked air through his teeth but nodded, and I pounced before he could change his mind. “Give Zed an update when he gets home? Mention that whole ‘doctor’s orders’ thing? Really sell how critically important it is I get some shut-eye? Otherwise, he’ll come over and watch me sleep, which means I won’t get any.”

  “I suppose I can bend the rules this once.” He pointed at the door. “Get while the getting’s good.”

  A smile on my lips, I snapped my heels together and offered a mock salute before stepping inside the RV. The compact space meant all I had to do was take two steps and fall to the right, which I did, to land on my mattress.

  I was gone the second my head hit the pillow.

  Chapter 10

  Hesitant knocks on my front door, a bare three feet away, woke me. Rolling onto my side, I debated pretending I wasn’t home. Sure a warg could scent me, but blinds covered the single window. I could fake it, right? They would give up in a few minutes, and then I—

  Knock. Knock-knock. Knock.

  A growl rumbled in my throat, but I swallowed it down and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I did the stretch-and-yawn routine, hoping if I bought myself enough time the person would leave. No such luck.

  Knock-knock-knock-knock.

  The door swung open under my hand, and I leaned out to yell, “What in tarnation is so important it can’t wait until I’m awake?”

  Enzo flinched, stumbling backward and falling off the porch. “I brought coffee?” He raised a paper cup as proof or peace offering or both. “How do you feel?”

  “Normal,” I snapped, throat suddenly parched. “Why are you here so—?” I noticed the shadows and the position of the sun. “What time is it?”

  “It’s almost one o’clock.” He stood and dusted off his pants, reaching across the porch to hand me the caffeine I so desperately needed if I expected any of this to make sense. “You didn’t show, so I came looking for you.”

  I waited until the rich brew coated the back of my throat to lean against the doorframe. “I must have been more tired than I realized.”

  “That’s probably my fault. The magic rocks tend to have a sedative effect.” A sheepish expression wreathed his face. “I’ve never given one to a warg. I figured your hypermetabolism would counteract the spell. Sorry about that.”

  “The Stoners,” I groaned. “I was supposed to meet my crew to work on the clinic this morning.” I reached out to Zed through the pack bond. “I don’t suppose you can check on the Stoners for me?”

  Fear squirmed through my gut that they had continued on without me. The blueprints were there for anyone to read, and we had discussed the plan for today, but delegation gave me hives under the best circumstances.

  “They’re fine,” he answered in a measured tone. “I’m supervising as we speak.”

  “How did you know—?”

  “The guy you nicknamed Shoe Laces came to find me when you ran an hour late. He wasn’t sure where you lived, and his wolf is nervous about entering Lorimar territory.” He sounded reassured by that fact for some reason. Maybe he had been afraid of me adopting strays, which I sort of had done. “I’m off today, so I volunteered to play manager. I hear the lady who runs this joint got herself in a pinch last night. I don’t know the details, since she didn’t bother letting me know she got hurt, but a little bird told me she recovered okay.”

  “I get it. I’m a jerk.” I focused on the feeling of remorse and sent that to him in spades. “I should have talked to you before I crashed last night. Things got bad fast, and I didn’t have my head on straight. I won’t do it again. The next time I stub my toe, you’re my first call. I’ll let you break out the kitten bandages, antibiotic ointment—the whole nine yards.”

  “How can I say no to kitten bandages?” Friendship is a complex mix of emotions, but I sensed the top notes of forgiveness and concern reaching back to me. “Your crew seems to know what they’re doing, and I’m rewiring the control to the car crusher. It’s no skin off my nose to sit here and work while they do the same.”

  “You’re the best, you know that?”

  “Yep.”

  “And you’re not conceited one bit either.”

  “Nope.”

  Flashing an apologetic smile at Enzo for being rude, I wrapped up my private conversation. “Can you do me one last favor and shut down the site? I appreciate what you’ve done so far, but you don’t have to spend your whole day doing my job for me.” I braced for the next admission. “Enzo volunteered to check the O’Malley lot for me. He’s not sure he can remove the glamour, but he’s willing to try.”

  The fact I had also agreed to lunch I omitted with only a small twinge of remorse.

  “You’re playing with fire, Dell.”

  “I’ve already been burned.” I huffed. “I don’t plan on returning the favor any time soon. I’ll talk to Enzo again, okay?”

  “Talking might not be enough.” Wariness crept into his voice. “You might have to get one of these two-by-fours and smack him in the head to drive your point home.”

  “Let’s save violence as a last resort.” Though effective, that whole diplomacy thing frowned on me introducing the heads of allies to treated lumber. “I’ll make this trip quick. I plan to check in for the hunt tonight.” He started to argue. “I trust you to have my back. If I step out of line, call me on it.”

  Zed knew the drill. He would keep the chastisement to our private channel in order to
preserve the illusion all was hunky-dory with me.

  “Count on it,” he grumbled and vanished from my headspace.

  “Now it’s my turn to apologize. Sorry I bit your head off. I’m more bear than wolf when I’m woken up.” I downed another third of my coffee. “I was expected at the site of the future clinic. I had folks coming in to help with construction, and sleeping the day away means they were left to their own devices. I had to make sure they hadn’t blown anything up or knocked anything down while I was counting sheep.”

  “I’ll warn you of the possible side effects next time,” he promised.

  “I would appreciate that.” The threat of getting almost twelve hours of sleep wouldn’t have stopped me from seeking treatment. I wasn’t that stubborn. Maybe. “I’m grateful you were there last night, but in the future I would like to give a heads-up to the people depending on me.”

  He ducked his head. “Understood.”

  “Give me a minute, and I’ll get changed.” I retreated a step. “Help yourself to the chair while you wait.”

  “No magic on the porch,” he called as the door closed. “I remember.”

  Shaking my head, I got dressed, not recalling until that moment I had answered the door naked. It spoke to Enzo’s character that he had never—not once in the time I had known him—taken liberties with me. No raking his gaze down my body. No “oopses” that ended up with his hand plastered to my ass. No comments that drew attention to my state of dress or undress as the situation dictated.

  The gentleman witch.

  I hoped he clung to that moral code. Working alongside Miguel hadn’t done him any favors, but Enzo was hanging in there. Maybe he would survive his apprenticeship with that flame still in his belly.

  “Haden.” I pinged my wayward liaison. “Do me a favor and draft a couple of Stoners for a side project. I need every documented cloud to ground lightning strike for Butler over a thirty-day window. Get that information on a map for me. Foresee any issues?”

  “Nope.” A lazy answer from a smug wolf. “I have just the guy to handle this. Remember Tahvo? He’s a wannabe meteorologist who spends his downtime studying the rift with God only knows what equipment he hauled up here with him.”

  “The name sounds familiar, but I didn’t greenlight the rift as a personal science project.” The problem with cerebral types being they liked to chat about their discoveries and write papers on them. Both forms of exposure were big no-noes in this case. “That much I do remember.”

  “He’s a good strategist. That’s what got him a pass. He kept his true interest to himself.”

  The wolf prowled through my mind. “Why didn’t you mention this before now?”

  “Didn’t much see the point,” he answered. “We needed him, and he wasn’t making much progress. Nothing worth reporting, really.”

  “That’s not your call to make,” I growled.

  “You’re right.” A pulse of regret arrowed through the pack bond from him to me. “I should have told you once I figured out what he was up to, but you were bogged down with everything else—which is still no excuse for my actions—but the guys were getting such a kick out of screwing around with Tahvo, I let it slide for too long.”

  Massaging my forehead, I considered buying stock in ibuprofen. “What do you mean?”

  “Every night the guys take apart his equipment, so every morning Tahvo has to reassemble what he plans to use for the day. I found a sandwich bag full of ‘spare parts’ yesterday. I’m guessing that means the poor guy is down to using a weather rock for his forecasts.”

  A weather rock being a tiny stone suspended by a leather strap from a small wooden tripod mounted on a base. Sold as souvenirs or gag gifts, weather rocks included printed instructions with sage advice like if the stone is wet, it’s raining or if the stone is missing, there was a tornado.

  “I see.” I stifled a snort so as not to encourage his bad behavior. “How about give the man the baggie and keep an eye on him? All data comes to me.” Not that I had a clue what to do with his more technical findings. “We don’t want any leaks. And, Haden? Leave me out of the loop again, and I’ll put you on Aisha detail for a month.”

  The ferocity of his mental groan earned him a teaspoon of sympathy. “Yes, Beta.”

  A smile crept up on me. Yes, Beta. That never got old.

  Teeth brushed, hair pulled into a ponytail, I joined Enzo in the full sun of a beautiful afternoon. He jumped to his feet and followed when I took the half-step to the ground and started walking toward the parking lot. I felt safe assuming he intended to drive me into town since the reverse was impossible without a loaner that would cost us both time and aggravation.

  It wasn’t until we were in his car and rolling down the driveway that a cool, tingling sensation cascaded over my skin. The brisk magical shower could mean only one thing.

  “The wards are active.” I couldn’t believe I had forgotten his plans so quickly. “Both sets?”

  “Both sets,” he confirmed. “The one around the lake is being finicky. I’ll need to do some fine tuning over the next few days to get them properly harmonious. The one around the camp is rooted in solid ground and far enough away from water to only need minor tweaking.”

  “Explain how this works.” When the questions started coming from the others, I wanted to have answers for them. Most wargs trusted witches as much as they trusted fae. Having working knowledge in my pocket might smooth over that gap. “Is there anything we need to do to get in and out? How will it block unfriendlies? How will it know who the unfriendlies are in the first place?”

  The corner of his mouth hooked into a smile. “The wards are keyed primarily to keep any direct descendent of Faerie out of the park. It’s going to be tricky allowing earthborn fae in and out for the first month or so. They’ll likely need to be escorted on and off the property.”

  No more surprise visits from Thierry? Yes, please. “What about Cam?”

  “She can bleed for the ward, and it will recognize her. I’ll make sure of that. She’ll have the freedom to cross any wards I create without the hassle of the waiting period thanks to her connection to the pack bond.”

  I relaxed a fraction into my seat.

  “Since you missed breakfast, would you like to hit up the Waffle Iron?”

  Tension sprang back into my shoulders. “Sure.”

  He cut his eyes toward me. “I’m not going to insist on paying or eat off your plate, I promise.”

  A laugh bubbled out of me, fracturing my unease. “I would like us to be friends.” I stressed the last word. “Friendships with clear boundaries tend to be the most successful.”

  “Boundaries can expand,” he countered.

  “Enzo, I don’t want to hurt you.” Not by getting his hopes up or by resorting to the two-by-four method of persuasion. “Friendship is all that’s on the table here. That’s all I’ve got to offer right now.”

  “You must have loved him very much,” was all he said.

  “I do.” A frustrated noise rose up my throat. “I did.”

  “I understand.”

  The scary thing was, I believed him.

  I didn’t study the why of that too hard.

  “So…” I frantically scrambled to save our lunch from becoming a wake for his shattered romantic dreams. “What’s next on your agenda?”

  “Once the wards are stabilized, I’ll start work on the early-warning system. Think magical tornado siren.” A spark lit his eyes that my earlier shutdown hadn’t managed to douse. The man loved his work, there was no doubt about that. “Anyone inside the wards at the park will hear once it’s activated. The real trick will be homing in on the disturbance and translating that to a sound pattern that’s easily recognizable.”

  “You mean like one burst for north, two for south, three for east, four for west?”

  “Exactly that.” He cut the wheel, angling into one of the few spots available. “Simple works best. An early-warning system no one can decipher would be a wa
ste.”

  We strolled inside, picked a table with access to the emergency exit door and settled in to wait on our server. We didn’t have to wait long. The teen in charge of our section reminded me of a bee pollinating flowers as she flitted from table to table, checking on customers and topping off drinks. She greeted us with a smile and quick efficiency that had me mentally recalculating her tip. Considering how boisterously lascivious the waitress at our first meal had been, this girl was a welcome change.

  Lunch flowed without any awkward silences…or personal topics. Enzo talked about magic theory and its application as it pertained to his projects. I spoke about concerns I had and asked questions to keep him loosened up for what came next.

  Butler is a small town with few enough prime parking spaces to go around. It made sense to leave Enzo’s car at Waffle Iron while we walked across the street and up the few blocks to reach the Cantina. I had been too wound up on my first visit to appreciate the finality of the darkened storefront and the utter lack of activity in what was normally a bustling restaurant.

  “The parking lot is this way.” I led him the short distance to the employee parking lot and stood back to watch his reaction. “Here we are.”

  Eyes narrowed, he scanned the lot. “Fae magic was cast here.” He rubbed chills from his arms. “I can smell it.” He approached the affected area without any cues from me, cementing his claim to sense the glamour. “It’s not a strain I’m familiar with. It lacks the…” his lips parted, the comparison on the tip of his tongue, “…oaky undertones I associate with earthborn fae. The ‘scent’ builds up after a few years of pulling magic through this world, even with the ones who relocate here.” He glanced over his shoulder. “This might be the work of a deserter. Their ability to manipulate glamour would explain why you didn’t catch them when they came through the rift.”

  Unsure whether to feel better about being duped this time or terrified there might have been other instances, I focused on a different portion of his statement.

  “You can smell magic?” Wargs could scent traces of it under the right circumstances, but it was more a tingle on the skin or in the nose than actual, identifiable fragrance. “Would you recognize it if you came across it again?”