Promise the Moon (Lorimar Pack Book 1) Page 22

  “My pack and I will do our best to retrieve him,” I promised them.

  “We will accept no other outcome,” Rilla informed me.

  I took a shot in the dark. “Does the king know you’re here?”

  “There was no time to inform him.” Regret wreathed Tanet’s face. “The king is busy with matters of state.”

  “The prince has been here for weeks, and you couldn’t put off the search for a few more days?” That whole scenario rang false, and I thanked Isaac for his lesson on fae and the twisting of lies. “This is a shot in the dark, but I don’t believe you. Either you didn’t know Tiberius was missing and you’re about to wet yourselves trying to locate him before anyone else realizes that too, or something changed. So which is it? Are you incompetent? Or is there a threat to the prince that necessitates him being reined in sooner rather than later?”

  Rilla narrowed her eyes on me. “You are brighter than your appearance suggests.”

  “Thanks.” Nothing like being insulted by a trio of clichés.

  “He has a certain fondness for a servant girl,” Alyona admitted. “Their kind bonds deep. Our kind does not. He ran away from court to be with her, and it was all very romantic, I’m sure.”

  “Except things are getting serious.” Mix teens and hormones with a total lack of adult supervision, and what did they expect would happen? “He didn’t ditch her and come home like you thought he would. He stayed here. With her.”

  “If she binds them, we will lose him,” Tanet said. “Our clan has never had a prince named. We cannot afford to lose our bid for the crown.”

  “There’s a king of Faerie.” The line of succession in Faerie was a drunken zigzag, but it existed. “What if he has children?”

  “He won’t breed,” Alyona assured me. “Faerie is held by those strong enough to control her, and our king is a half-blood smear on the title. His reign will end soon, and our prince will ascend.”

  Bleepity-bleep-bleep. I was in so far over my head I couldn’t tell which way to swim to find air.

  “Find our prince or suffer the consequences,” Rilla warned.

  A mighty rustle of tawny-gold wings, and the trio ascended past the clouds to vanish under the cover of glamour.

  Well, that gave a definitive answer as to how Prince Tiberius had crossed over without ending up as wolf chow. He had flown, eliminating any chance of us picking up a scent trail to follow.

  “The boy who almost killed us is a prince.” Zed flicked his tail. “Does that mean we should feel honored?”

  I choked out a laugh. “Pretty sure if you’d asked his auntie, she would say yes.” I checked my smartwatch, which I had to admit was handy given our deadline. “It’s a half hour before noon. That means we’ve got twelve hours until the moon hits its apex.”

  One by one, the rest of the pack joined us at the water’s edge. They had all been close enough to hear the fae’s demands. At least I wouldn’t have to repeat the dialogue. Verbalizing impending doom gave me indigestion.

  “New plan,” I told them. “Y’all take the long way into town. Cut through the safe fields and do not step one paw onto the fae’s property until I get there with backup. We can’t confront them head-on. Zed and I are proof that won’t work. We have to be sneaky.”

  “Does this mean you’re going back to Stone’s Throw?” Zed lingered as the others dispersed.

  “Not exactly.” I raked my fingers through my hair, knuckles tangling in the knots. “Enzo is benched, so that means bringing Isaac. He already volunteered but…”

  “You don’t want him to get hurt.”

  “I don’t want any of us to get hurt.”

  “Are you shifting?” His tongue lolled in a wolfy chuckle. “You’ll cause traffic accidents if you walk the road nude.”

  “I can’t afford to expend the energy.” I flashed my watch at him. “I’m going to give Isaac’s gizmo a try. Never let it be said I don’t appreciate his toys.”

  “All right.” He set off at a lope. “I’ll keep an eye on the others until you arrive.”

  “Much appreciated.” With no time to waste, I mashed the button to speed dial Isaac.

  “Are you all right?” A note of panic laced his voice that I savored for too long.

  “I’ll explain it all when you get here. I need you to pick me up at the lake. I’ll meet you at the marina.”

  Studying the watch with new appreciation, I had to admit it was smart having a connection to help outside of the pack. Maybe if I offered to pay for the supplies, Isaac could whip up a few more of these. When he moved on, the connection could be transferred to the phone in the security office or whatever snazzy name Isaac cooked up for his techno cave.

  “Haden.” I reached out one last time. “This is me giving you the greenlight.”

  “What?” The groggy quality to his voice told me he had been up late running drills with the Stoners. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

  “You guys are frontline tonight.” I crossed my fingers in the hopes this was the right decision. “The rest of the pack and I are on a deadline, literally.”

  “Yeah. Okay.” He perked up in a snap. “We can do this. No problem. Trust me. I’ve got this.”

  “I do trust you.” He had worked his tail off to whip those guys into shape. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, okay?”

  “I will,” he promised. “Hot damn. I was starting to wonder if this day would ever come.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Get some sleep.” I grinned at his infectious excitement. “Be careful out there.”

  Haden’s buzz got my heart pumping as the connection fizzled, but I had a fat lot of nothing to do until Isaac arrived. Figuring I could use every scrap of Zen I could beg, borrow or steal, I slowed my breathing and got my pulse under control. I sucked at finding my center, but Bianca used to swear by quiet reflection, so I gave it a try.

  A pang of regret arrowed through me that I still hadn’t called to check on her. One of these days, I needed to strong-arm my way into Edelweiss and see her with my own eyes. That trick would only work once, though. So far I had been keeping it as a last resort for when her baby arrived. Holding that squirmy bundle would be worth the reprimand by her nurses.

  Twenty minutes later, I glided into the brush and picked my way toward the main road leading to the marina. Trees lined both sides, and traffic was minimal today. This would be the best place to hop in the truck—if I could flag him down before he made the last turn.

  The main drag came into view, and I didn’t have to wait long before the familiar rumble of Isaac’s engine perked my ears. Once he got closer, I jogged down the incline until my feet slapped on asphalt, and waved my arms over my head.

  Honking in the distance brought my head around in time to see a truck coming at me from the opposite direction. I ignored them and waited while Isaac coasted to a stop. He threw the truck into park and stepped out, ripping his flannel down his shoulders, popping buttons that bounced across the pavement, and bundled me in the fabric. He yanked me flush against him as the other driver sped past, and I buried my face against his chest.

  “Tease,” the guy yelled, laying on his horn.

  A subtle growl vibrated Isaac’s chest, so slight I would have missed it if I hadn’t been plastered against him.

  “Sometimes I hate humans,” he mumbled, his lips brushing against my temple.

  “No you don’t.” I forced myself to step out of his arms. “They’re not so bad. Sure, that guy’s an asshole. Seeing a naked woman run out of the woods waving her arms in traffic doesn’t entitle you to a free show. And hello? He didn’t stop to ask if I had been in an accident or kidnapped or was otherwise in distress. He just thought hey, that guy’s getting all the boobies.”

  Grunting, Isaac guided me into the truck through his open door since mine was held closed with a bungee cord. “He is an asshole.”

  I took the hand he offered and slid to my side of the cab. “For every perv, there’s a guy out there wil
ling to lend a girl the shirt off his back.”

  Taking the compliment in stride, he climbed in after me. “I’m not human, though.”

  “You’re a guy,” I pointed out, “and love of boobies transcends species.”

  “Can I be honest?” He busied himself fastening his seat belt.

  “Sure,” I said cautiously.

  “I can appreciate that nudity is part of your culture, but it drives me crazy.”

  A flush spread across my chest. “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing.” He executed a three-point turn and headed toward town. “Forget I said anything.”

  Not likely. “No problem.”

  Curiosity nibbled at the corners of my mind. There were so many ways to take his statement, and assigning my own meaning was a quick way to get hurt. Worse.

  Our old friend the radio filled the silence when it got too thick to ignore.

  “So.” I traced a white security sticker on the window. “Are you going to ask me about the crazypants fae who just threatened us with annihilation or what?”

  The road forgotten, Isaac swung his head toward me. “What?”

  “Apparently the boy in the field is a runaway prince of Faerie.” I omitted getting zapped—the wound had already healed—but filled him in on the rest of the trio’s shenanigans. “That means we get to be the bad guys and break up a happily-ever-after in the making, or we hope we’re good enough to take down three zealous Seelie fae defending their next potential monarch.”

  “What about the other kids?”

  “No clue.” I had been too shell-shocked to ask. Now I was grateful for that. “They didn’t mention anyone except the prince and his girlfriend.”

  “This opens a huge can of worms.” His lips pinched together. “Those Seelie broke the king’s law by coming here. No matter what their intentions, they failed to go about it the right way. They should have petitioned the conclave. That they didn’t makes me nervous. They’re too bold coming to fetch him themselves. It makes me doubt the boy is the only thing they’re after.”

  “Checking our defenses?” I reconsidered the tone of the meeting. “They had no idea how we worked. They weren’t sure wargs could speak English, let alone walk upright and hold intelligent conversation.” I grimaced. “Now they do. We’ve lost the advantage of surprise.”

  “They underestimated you once. Don’t worry. They will again.” He almost managed to sound amused. “It’s the fae way to view all other species—and castes—as inferior.”

  “Isn’t it strange for you to be fighting against your own kind?” I leaned my head against the seat. “Don’t you care about Faerie at all?”

  “Earthborn fae are to Faerie-born fae as Americans are to the British.” He let me absorb that. “We left our homeland to pursue a life with more freedom and possibilities than Faerie had to offer. I care about Faerie in the same way a fourth-generation immigrant kid might want to see where his great-great-great-greats came from, but it’s not home. I wouldn’t bleed for it.”

  “Who in your family crossed over?” I wondered out loud.

  “My great-many-times-over Aunt Zelda.” A smile teased his lips. “From all accounts, the king of Faerie at the time paid Zelda her weight in gold and gems if she would explore Earth and leave his court in peace.” At my questioning look, he added, “Gemini are restless, and they stir up unrest when they’re bored.” A touch of pride entered his voice. “She was the first Gemini recognized by the Earthen Conclave. Her children were the first earthborn of our kind.”

  “That’s an impressive legacy.” I didn’t have much of a family tree to trace, but I might as well draw circles over Villanow, Georgia. That’s as far as my kin spread. “What do you think Gemini will do when they get tired of Earth?” I laughed under my breath. “Go back to Faerie?”

  “Anything is possible.” He must have read my panic. “Not for a few more generations, but eventually one of us will go and others will follow. Unless a brighter and shinier alternative presents itself. Your people and mine are proof there are at least two different worlds that overlap. Who’s to say there aren’t more?”

  “You don’t have to sound so excited about the possibility,” I grumped.

  “I can’t not get excited by the prospect. It’s in my blood.” He cut his eyes toward me. “I told you, it won’t be me. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Heart pounding, I dragged my gaze back to the safety of the blurring scenery outside my window and tried hard not to make his words mean something they didn’t.

  Chapter 21

  Isaac parked on the shoulder of the road and scanned the pasture through my window. Brow puckered, he swept his gaze back and forth until I took mercy on him and pointed out a patch of black that could have been shadow but that I recognized as Aisha’s shoulder.

  Mentally I awarded the pack two gold stars for bringing their A game. Had I not felt the bond tickling the back of my mind or smelled the fur heavy in the air, I doubt I would have realized the field suffered a warg infestation.

  “They’re good.” He squinted. “Really good.”

  “I can’t take the credit.” I picked out two more hints of not-quite-right color among the grasses. “This is all Bessemer’s training. Say what you will about our former alpha—and trust me, I have plenty of expletives saved up—but the guy has a great strategic mind.”

  The knuckles of Isaac’s right hand turned white from his grip on the steering wheel. “I have a few choice words for him myself.”

  Shame washed through me as I remembered Isaac had been there the day Bessemer kicked me out of the Chandler pack. He had dragged me to safety, given me a place to stay and taken care of me while I got my head on straight. Little wonder I had fallen even harder for him after that. No-strings-attached kindness wasn’t a thing I had been used to, not from a man.

  “Bessemer is in the past.” I patted his hand. “Let’s leave him there, okay?”

  “As long as Meemaw lives in Villanow, he’ll never be out of your life.” Isaac’s jaw popped from grinding it. “We need to get her out of there and sever all ties with him.”

  The venom in his tone forced me to really look at him. “We do, huh?”

  Gaze plastered to the windshield, he ignored me ribbing him.

  “I’m guessing you have a phone on you?”

  “These days most people do.” He pulled his from a back pocket. “You should come to the digital dark side. There are cookies.”

  “Don’t tease about cookies we both know you don’t have. That’s a good way to end up strapped into an apron when we get back to the RV park.” I made a gimme motion. “I need to borrow that, please.”

  “Sure.” He passed it over. “Are you calling Cam?”

  Struggling to figure out how to operate his fancy doodad, I paused to glare at him over the screen. “Are you implying she’s the only person whose number I have to call?”

  “No.” He took the phone, punched in a sequence of numbers, then passed it back. “You have mine. You just never used it.”

  Now was really not the time to dig into the hypothetical. The bottom line was this. Would calling him have changed anything between us? No. He still would have left, and I still would have gotten hurt. End of discussion. So having his number didn’t mean much except my brain had eerily selective memory. It recalled the things that hurt the most, usually at night right as I started to drift.

  “She’s not answering.” I would have preferred having alpha clearance for what I was about to do, but we had no time to waste. “Guess this means we’re on our own.”

  Isaac looked about as thrilled with that prognosis as I felt but set his fingers clicking across the keyboard. “I’ll shoot her a text to check in when she can.”

  “Let’s go before the pack gets antsy.” I hopped out, shut my door then ducked the fence and waded into the grass. “Are you—” I glanced behind me and almost squeaked, “—coming?”

  A gray cast darkened Isaac’s exposed skin as he recalled bor
rowed magic. Flecks of mica on his cheeks shimmered in the sunlight, and cracks bisected his arms where the bends in his elbows should have been. His eyes were flat gray, his hair the dusty green of dried moss.

  One look at his stone armor and I hazarded a guess. “A monolith?” Cam had warned me a clan of stone giants lived nearby, but that didn’t explain Isaac’s transformation. “How did you—?” I gave his crotch a pointed glance. “Did you break anything acquiring that talent?”

  “Ever hear of squeezing blood from a turnip?” He didn’t wait for me to reply. “Same principle.” Footsteps heavy, he clomped nearer to me and ducked his head to brush cool, rough lips against my ear. “I didn’t have sex with a boulder, if that’s what’s worrying you.” His breath smelled of fresh earth. “I haven’t had sex with anyone. Not since you.”

  Shoving at his chest got me nowhere. The man was as immovable as a mountain thanks to his being, well, a tiny, man-shaped mountain.

  “I’ll have to take your word on that.” I whirled on my heel and left him standing there with a scowl wrinkling his granite brow. “Right now we have work to do.”

  The grinding of stones rose behind me, and I didn’t have to turn to know his jaw was taut.

  “Okay, guys.” I waited until I held every wolf’s attention. “My plan has two parts.” I held up one finger. “First, we get Isaac to the prince.” I lifted number two. “Second, we try not to all die horribly.”

  “Good plan.” Zed’s wolf sat on his haunches. “I particularly like the second act.”

  “Yes, well, I aim to please.” I plucked at the remaining buttons on my borrowed shirt. “We don’t know if Tiberius can focus his magic on more than one of us at a time. He’s young, even if he is powerful. Keep him distracted. Misdirect him. You see someone hurting, you step in to take your portion of the pain.”

  With nothing left to say, I removed Isaac’s shirt and sat on the ground so the wolf could overtake me.

  A note of pure, resounding joy filled her heart to bursting when she caught sight of Isaac. His crumbly makeover didn’t matter to her. Not much did where he was concerned except he was here. That was the one thought that circled around her head every time their eyes met.