Wolf at the Door (Lorimar Pack) (Gemini Book 5) Read online

  “Is there another way to access this?” I called to Moore.

  “No, the other side is propane tank storage. There’s a wall there.”

  “Tiberius?” I yelled then pressed my ear to the siding.

  A muffled “Yes” made it through.

  “Bea’s out here, and she’s about to fricassee us. We’ve got to get you out of there before she brings the whole place sizzling down around our ears.”

  “Tell me what to do,” he yelled.

  I love it when they say that.

  “We’re going to work on this from the outside. Use what leverage you’ve got and do your best to kick out the panel.” I straightened and gestured at Moore. “Bring a crowbar. Two if you’ve got them.”

  Job covered him, running interference between Zed and Bea while he ducked inside the shop. Moore emerged a minute later with black crowbars fisted in each hand. He ran to me, passed one over and—

  “You’re not allowed to lift more than five pounds.” Isaac plucked the metal from my hand. “You’re sure as hell not allowed to leverage your weight against a sealed metal door.”

  Growling at him, I wanted to snap back that I would do what I damn well pleased if it meant keeping them safe. But that’s what Reckless Dell would do. Level-Headed Dell was learning to delegate, that she didn’t have to do everything herself in order for it to get done.

  Level-Headed Dell picked a piss-poor time to show up to the party.

  “Fine,” I snarled, unable to conceal my annoyance at myself for what I’d almost done and Isaac for pointing it out to me. “Get in there.”

  I stepped back and let the guys work. Already the RV shook from the force of Tiberius’s kicks. The seams in the door bowed and hinges groaned, but the welded area stuck fast.

  “Duck!” Job hollered at me.

  I hit the deck seconds before a blue-black blur ruffled my hair.

  Bea was lucky I didn’t still have that crowbar. I’d played softball for years, and I was ready to knock that nuisance out of the park.

  Zed brushed past me, our faces at the same level, and swiped his tongue across my cheek.

  “That was disgusting.” I wiped off the drool. “Who knows where your mouth has been?”

  A flash of fur, and he darted off again, humming through the bond about chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

  The urge to gag was strong, but I kept down my gorge. I mean, Zed had been on the attack since shifting. No way had he had time to pause and lick his chestnuts. A twinge worked up my spine when I stood, and my neck didn’t thank me when I had to swerve aside to avoid the guys creaming me. Job had picked up a broom from somewhere, and the straw tips smoked from contact with Bea’s bad temper.

  Finally, the metal gave with one last groan, and Tiberius ducked under the buckled hatch. He was careful to keep a hand on the siding as he yelled, “Bea. Come.”

  The holy terror squawked and threw on the brakes midair, wheeling around at the sound of his voice. She threw herself toward him, ignoring the arm he held extended in favor of smacking against his chest and sticking like they were opposing patches of Velcro. He made soothing noises while she chirruped with glee at having been reunited. The rest of us, charred and sore, glared at the mythical bird with the same intensity as we might study a bucket of original recipe dropped in our laps.

  I anchored my hands on my hips and tried to summon Level-Headed Dell back again. “Care to explain?”

  “My aunt separated us after Bea took exception to my being held prisoner.” He scratched under the bird’s sharp, black beak. “She didn’t tell me where Bea was being held, but I knew it couldn’t be far. They were depending on the precipice to conceal us both. The storm that lured you to us was her doing.”

  “How did she know where to find you?” Butler, Tennessee, was a long way from their home. Or not. They had spent a few months squatting at the stone house. Maybe she had returned to her old roost like a homing pigeon and started her search from there. “I’m glad you guys are reunited and all, but anyone could have followed her here. She’s not what I’d call inconspicuous.”

  “She’s bound to me.” He urged her onto his forearm, and she went without protest. “Inclement weather calls to her. When she was a hatchling, she would get swept up in storms and blown out into no man’s land. She’s a rare and valuable asset, as far as my family is concerned. But she’s also my friend. I paid one of the banshees to sing our fates and weave their harmonies.”

  I bobbed my head like I had a clue what he meant. Banshees announced deaths, that much I remembered. I’d had no idea they had any precognitive powers or that they could bend them to intertwine souls or fates or whatever harmonies signified.

  Isaac appeared more impressed with Tiberius’s explanation. I would have to quiz him on the particulars later. Until then, I had more pressing matters to handle. Such as the bird’s accommodations during the trip. “Where will she stay? We can’t have her attacking me while I’m behind the wheel.”

  “Are there any empty cabinets onboard?” He kept scratching under her chin.

  “I’m sure there are one or two.” Surely Zed hadn’t crammed every nook and cranny with food and supplies. Then again… “We can clear out one if you need the space.”

  “Bea will sleep if she’s enclosed. The darkness soothes her. She’ll have to be released daily so that she can recharge.” He didn’t elaborate on how that was accomplished. “But otherwise, she will remain in her personal space so long as no one attempts to invade it.”

  “Not a problem.” That bird was one nasty piece of work. “Just make sure I know where you stash her so we don’t have any accidents.” Gesturing toward Tiberius, who stood outside the RV without repercussions, I questioned Isaac. “Does this mean the spell doesn’t work as intended, or that the spell’s intent was reworked?”

  “We didn’t expect to have to cram the prince in the cargo hold.” Isaac appeared unimpressed with the situation too. “Enzo had to modify his spell in order to accommodate last-night’s sleeping arrangements. Tiberius can technically leave the RV, but he must maintain contact with it.”

  “What happens if he breaks contact?” That seemed important to know.

  “The magic yanks him out of his current location, and the spell resets.”

  Catching his meaning, I nodded. “It sticks him back in the cargo hold.”

  That might come in handy later. Too much teenage sulking and I could always shove him down the steps and banish him to the hold. Upon reflection, the idea of having a means of containing him—and Bea—appealed to me more than it should have if the prince’s worried frown was any indication.

  I gripped the edge of the curved metal and gave an experimental tug that zinged down to my tailbone. “Moore, is there any hope of salvaging this door?”

  The plan was to go invisible the whole way, but plans changed and magics failed. We had to be prepared for any eventuality.

  “None,” he answered flatly.

  “I might have a piece that’ll work,” Zed croaked, voice raw from the change he had completed while the prince reunited with his pet. “It’ll be an obvious patch. We don’t have time to match the paint job.”

  “I care more about function than looks.” I was that way in pretty much all aspects of my life. “We might need to disappear the prince again before this is over, and a trick is only as good as the magician. I can’t have faulty props giving away my trade secrets.”

  “I have some white gloss mixed up from a job I finished yesterday.” Moore examined the RV with an eye toward design. “It will match the base coat, but Zed’s right. We don’t have time to break out the stencils or color match the purple. Still, a quick coat of white will make the repairs stand out less.”

  “Let’s do that then.” I checked with Isaac, who nodded. “We didn’t plan on leaving until tomorrow anyway, so this won’t set us back past our original timetable.”

  Plus, Moore had a point. This RV was brand-spanking new. Most salvaged items from Ze
d’s collection were rusted over, scuffed or weathered, if not all three. Using the hatch as is would cause it to stick out like a sore thumb against the sparkling exterior. If we ended up stashing our most valuable cargo down there, we didn’t want the obvious patch job drawing undo attention.

  Job recoiled from the idea of sanding and painting, folding his arms over his chest like that might protect his dress shirt. He was nowhere near as fancy-pants as Enzo or Theo, and not for the same reasons. No, Job’s hesitance to dive in and damn his wardrobe sprang from having a job that required nice clothes while not paying enough to fund replacements lost to paint spatter…or lightning bolts for that matter.

  “Since I’m lousy with tools,” he said, inching toward the exit, “I vote I head into town and pick us all up a hot meal.”

  Seeing as how wargs were at least seventy-five percent stomach, the motion passed unanimously.

  Chapter 17

  The night passed without further incident, and the next morning we had ourselves a patched-up RV with a functioning cargo bay minus a few stripes of the purple persuasion. There was also a miniature lightning storm in the cupboard, but hey. What can you do? All in all, I felt good about what Zed and Moore had accomplished. I doubted the rental agency would feel the same, but accidents happened. Just usually not involving birds capable of conducting electricity or teens magically confined to motorized vehicles. But that’s what insurance is for, right?

  Thanks to Bea, our great escape now had a kink. It’s not that Zed couldn’t throw open the bay doors. It was that if he did, there would be nothing there. And if we were being watched, which seemed more than likely, again, thanks to Bea, that’s the kind of thing they would notice. Vanishing an entire RV that never left the hangar was a Vegas-magician-level trick.

  That sparked an idea. “Isaac.” I found him tapping away on a screen covered in code. “Are you up for a scouting mission?”

  “Sure.” He set the tablet on the ratty seat of an even rattier lawn chair and extended his arm. “Any volunteers?”

  “Pick me!” I jumped up and down and then regretted the jarring discomfort. “I like you all blond and wolfy.”

  A prick from his spur, and he melted into his wolf aspect. Shaking out his fur, he padded over and licked my bare legs. I wasn’t about to squat down and receive a tongue bath. Minty-fresh man breath did not minty-fresh wolf breath make.

  “Do a quick lap around the property. Pay specific attention to the trees and the old cellular tower. I doubt they can tell one wolf from another, so you should be safe for a quick run.”

  “I’ll go with him.” Moore shucked his clothes and surrendered to the pain before I could rebuke him.

  Moore was like that. I used to hate it, used to hate him. But the whole point for most of us in leaving the Chandler pack was to come into this one without the emotional baggage. This was a second chance, a fresh start. What kind of beta would I be if I knocked his legs out from under him? The insubordination would have to be dealt with, though. I couldn’t let him think he could steamroll me, even if his intentions were good.

  “Make it snappy, boys.” I joined Zed where he leaned against the RV. “I’m getting twitchy.”

  The change wasn’t quick by anyone’s standards, but once Moore shook out his fur, the two wolves darted through the door into the shop and then shot out the bay doors into the parking lot.

  “So, this mission of yours.” A wiry arm encircled my shoulders, and Zed hauled me close. “Where are you headed first?”

  “Gulf Shores, Alabama.”

  “I’ve been there a couple times. Took the ferry from Gulf Shores to Dauphin Island.” A shiver rippled through him. “It’s terrifying being on a small, flat boat full of heavy vehicles. All that’s between you and the ocean is the grate you drove over to load. There’s one in the front and one in back they raise and lower like drawbridges and a waist-high rail runs down the sides.”

  “I didn’t know you had a thing about water.” Cam was an aquaphobe for good reason, but this was news to me.

  “It’s not the water that bothers me. It’s what’s swimming around in there. A dog-paddling wolf already has two strikes against him. All that splashing draws attention from predators, and when a shark looks up and sees this shaggy thing treading water, it’s going to think seal. Sharks love to eat seals.”

  “So the real problem is you’re galeophobic, a shark-a-phobe.”

  “I wouldn’t call it—” He paused, considered. “Yeah. Basically.”

  “Good to know.” On the other side of all this, I was going to get Isaac to help me set up a projector so we could all head down to the lake and float in inner tubes while having a Jaws marathon. “I’m seeing this whole new side of you.”

  Wonder what I’d have to do to convince Isaac a mechanical shark would make a stellar addition to the lakefront security team.

  Probably not much.

  “A side of me you’ll never catch in the lake ever again.”

  “Damn it.” I shoved him. “How could you tell I was plotting against you?”

  “The evil smile. The evil chuckles under your breath. The evil look in your eyes. Pick one.”

  “I have got to work on my poker face,” I grumped.

  He patted the top of my head.

  The scrabble of claws on concrete distracted me from snapping my teeth at his hand. The wolves slid into the add-on, tongues lolling. Isaac flowed back onto two feet while Moore sought out a corner for privacy.

  “The area is clear as far as I can tell. Tracking scents in the air is above my paygrade. I’d trust Moore’s nose over mine in that area. Visually, the trees are empty and the tower is too. Unless Moore says otherwise, I think we’re good to go.”

  Several moments later, Moore joined us, pulling on his clothes as he went. “I didn’t pick up anything unusual.”

  I found myself giving our ride a deeper visual inspection. “I guess this is it then.”

  Prowling close, Zed boxed Isaac between me and the RV. “Take care of her.”

  After a moment, Isaac raised an eyebrow. “I was expecting an or else tossed in there for flavor.”

  “No.” Zed patted his cheek hard, almost a slap. “You take care of her, or I gut you and keep on gutting you until you run out of magic to sew yourself back together.”

  “You’ve put thought into this.” He sounded certain.

  “You have a mom, an aunt, an uncle, a cousin, a brother and who knows what else. I have Dell.”

  I insinuated myself between them and wrapped my arms around Zed’s waist. I could almost cup my elbows, he was so rangy. “Okay, you. Now that you’ve gotten to issue your threats, it’s my turn. I expect you to eat three meals a day minimum. Drink eight glasses of water and one of milk. I am ordering you, as your beta, to run with the pack at least once before I get back and once a week if I get delayed. You need touch, Zed. You need to be connected to the pack as a whole.”

  Grumbling, he rested his chin on top of my head. “I’ve been eating lunch at Panda during the week. It’s not my fault I’m not gaining weight.”

  Panda Crossing? The restaurant where Joann Zhuang was working over the summer? Interesting.

  Her aunt, Li Zhuang, had been one of the locals Tiberius kidnapped as free labor to help him and his girlfriend tend the fae children under her care. I hadn’t realized their relationship extended beyond those few brief interludes, and I clamped down on the urge to press for deets. He would share with me when he was ready. Or I would pester him until fessing up seemed the lesser of two evils. Definitely one of those.

  I rubbed a thumb down the vertebrae in his spine. “Is that the only meal you’ve been eating?”

  His nonanswer was telling.

  “Three meals a day.” I gave one final squeeze to hold him over then reared back. “I don’t care where they come from as long as you eat them.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on him while you’re gone,” Moore volunteered.

  “The hell you will.” Zed snapped
his shoulders back. “I don’t need you cutting up my steak or pre-chewing my food for me.”

  “Grab the door.” I caught Zed by the arm and turned him on his heel. “Make sure Isaac doesn’t skin her pulling out.”

  “I’ve been driving RVs since I was tall enough to see over the steering wheel,” the fae in question added dryly.

  “Let him fuss,” I said under my breath. “He’s worried.”

  “And barking orders at me will make him feel better,” Isaac surmised.

  “Yep.” I patted his chest. “I appreciate you taking one for the team.” He snagged my wrist, and I flattened my palm over his heart. “I mean that. He needs me. He needs the pack too, but he’s not ready to let them in yet. Not all the way.”

  “Allowing a cranky warg who was going to yell at me anyway to offer unconstructive criticism about my driving skills is a small thing to ask.”

  I rewarded him with a kiss for being a good mate then climbed in the RV and claimed the co-pilot’s chair. He dropped down beside me, surveyed his kingdom then turned over the ignition. The RV hummed to life, and I kicked back, propping my bare feet on the dash.

  A cool breeze shivered over my skin, and I caught Isaac’s lips forming the tail end of what I assumed was the Word to activate the cloaking spell.

  Zed didn’t budge from his post, but he squinted in our general direction, and I burst out laughing. “You knew all along it wouldn’t matter if I gave him permission to yell at you. He can’t see us to tell what you’re doing.”

  An answering chuckle worked through him. “Hey, it got me a kiss.”

  I was still grinning when we rolled out of the hangar and into the sunshine. A glint on my left had me studying the stacks of crushed cars in the junkyard, but I didn’t see it again. Must have been a reflection off one of the busted mirrors.

  “We’re leaving?” Tiberius called from the entertainment area.

  “Yep. Just kick back and enjoy the ride.”

  I hoped the kid didn’t run out of ways to entertain himself during the eleven-hour drive. I wasn’t sure what would happen if an alkonost started singing the Are we there yet? song, but I was equally sure I didn’t want to find out. I reached under my seat and tossed him a bag of puffed cheese balls. He was a growing boy, right? Nutrition was important. Plus, he couldn’t very well sing with his mouth full.