“Blackie tells him, ‘Forget the fucking tablet, dude!’ and his eyes went really dark, nearly black. Told him if he ever heard about him mentioning the tablet again, he’d come eviscerate him and make him eat his own entrails. The bear freaked out. Said okay, man, sorry. Sobered him right the fuck up.”
Lina shivered. “Nice guy.”
Kael laughed. “Actually, he is. Let me finish. So the bear dude runs off. I asked him what the fuck was that about? Blackie asked me, ‘You’ve never heard about it? You’re a dragon.’ I said no. Long story short, he tells me about the tablet, the battle against the cockatrice, yadda yadda. He said he personally wasn’t sure the legend of the tablet’s powers wasn’t more than a fairy tale, but since his own parents were murdered by cockatrice looking for the tablet, he takes it damn personally. Then we went back to his workshop. He drew a rough sketch of the tablet out on a piece of paper, then burned the paper. Told me he knew where it was, had helped conceal it the last time, but that they’d have to kill him to get the info out of him.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Lina said.
“He meant the bad guys. There’s a few people in the world who know about the tablet’s true existence and whereabouts.”
Lina thought for a moment. “That would put Bertholde in the running for that job. Is that why would someone kill her?”
Ain shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe she wouldn’t tell what she knew, so they killed her so she couldn’t warn anyone else to move it.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Lina agreed. “Makes as much sense as any other theory we currently have.”
“So back to your mystery object,” Cail said. “I like puzzles. Can I see the box?”
Jan went to fetch it from their things. Cail played with it for nearly a half hour while they talked. Then both Brodey and Ain took a shot. None of them could open it.
Ain returned it to Jan. “That’s a wicked one.”
“Yeah,” Rick said. “Tell us about it.”
“I’ll get in touch with Jocko in the morning.”
“I think she definitely needs to go see Lacey,” Brodey said.
Cail and Ain both nodded.
“Who’s that?” Lina asked.
“Our pack’s Seer,” Brodey said. “Like Bertholde. And, honestly? There are few places safer to be than a pack compound. Especially ours.”
When Lina yawned, Zack chimed in. “I think she’s worn out tonight, guys. Let’s call it a night and decide on our plan in the morning.”
“I’m okay,” Lina protested.
He arched an eyebrow at her. “Hey, I’m still your Watcher, lady. Listen to me.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, fine. You know, one of these days, I might decide to charbroil you, ya know.” She smiled.
“Promises, promises, Goddess girl. Go get your tushy into bed.”
She did.
Chapter Sixteen
Early the next morning, Ain closed himself in Cail’s study and placed a call. A sleepy, brogue-thick voice answered.
“Aye? Better be good, wakin’ me this early.”
“Hey, Jocko. It’s Aindreas Lyall, down in Florida.”
The older man grunted. “Hold on, boyo.” It sounded like Jocko laid the phone down. Ain heard coughing and a horrific hacking noise. A moment later, the sound of water running. When Jocko finally returned to the phone, he sounded a little more awake. “Sorry, had to hit the loo. What’s up?”
“I need to locate someone.”
“Do I look like the Yellow Pages?”
“He’s a wolf. Daniel Blackestone.”
He didn’t like the wary tone that cropped up in Jocko’s voice. “Why?”
Ain gave him the short version of everything that had happened and sensed Jocko’s distrust ease. “Ah. Makes sense, now. I’ll look around and let ye know.”
“The sooner, the better. We’ve committed to helping them. If Lina’s vision is right, the cockatrice might have plans for us, too.”
“Feathered bastards. Always did hate ’em. I’ll track him down. Ye said yer heading up here to see Lacey?”
“Brodey is. He’s coming with Lina and her men. Cail and I are going to stay here and hold down the fort.”
“All righty, boyo. I’ll let you know when I find him. Have Brodey stop by with yer guests when he gets here so I can meet ’em.”
Lina awoke the next morning, alone in bed and with sunlight streaming through the bedroom window into her eyes. She knew her men had slept with her, because she remembered snuggling between them at some point and their pillows had obviously been used.
Groaning with exhaustion she knew had to be the effect of the trip to Yellowstone, combined with her new revelations, not to mention her period, she dragged herself upright into a sitting position and tried to wake up. She heard men talking in low tones somewhere in the house.
She got out of bed, pulled on a robe, went to the bathroom, and then padded out to the kitchen where she found Brodey, Zack, Kael, Jan, and Rick talking at the kitchen table with the book, cuffs, puzzle box, knives, and the strange stone talismans in the middle of the table.
They fell silent at her appearance.
“Okay, fuck that shit. What’s up?”
At her appearance, Zack had stood to pour her a cup of coffee. He handed it to her, as well as a couple of Motrin for her cramps. “Nothing, babycakes. Why? Are you paranoid?”
“Yes. Don’t you think I’ve earned the right to be after all that’s happened?”
“She’s got a point,” Brodey said with a smile.
She downed the Motrin and gave both Rick and Jan a kiss before she joined them all at the table. “Do we have to have those creepy thingies out?”
“Which creepy thingies, dear?” Zack asked. “The creepy book, knives, cuffs, or statues? Or Jan and Rick?”
“Hey,” Rick said with a smile.
“Just kidding, Smokey,” Zack said.
“The statue thingies.” She shuddered.
Jan grabbed them and put them back in Zack’s knapsack. “Better, lovely?”
She sipped her coffee. “Yes. Thank you.”
Brodey looked thoughtful. “You know, there has to be something about those things. None of us get the same feeling you do when you touch them. I mean, they’re intrinsically creepy, sure, because they were Lenny’s and no doubt had some kind of dark purpose. But they just feel like stone to us.”
“I don’t care. They’re slimy and I don’t want to touch them.”
“We get it,” Zack said. “Don’t worry.”
“Yeah, we have other things to worry about,” Brodey said.
“Like what?” she asked.
“Like helping you learn how to defend yourself.”
After breakfast, Brodey loaded Zack and Lina in one of their work trucks and drove them across the ranch to an isolated section of pasture adjoining a wooded area. Jan, Rick, and Kael stayed behind to discuss their various options with Ain and Cail.
They wouldn’t clarify exactly what options, but Lina suspected it was ways of keeping her safe.
“What are we doing here?” Lina asked as they climbed out.
Brodey started stripping. He laid his clothes in the truck bed. She wanted to blush, but found she couldn’t force herself to look away, either.
He laughed. “It’s okay, sugar. Feel free to look. I got over being bashful a century ago.”
Zack whistled. “Glad you don’t mind, because you are nice eye candy, Brodey.”
Brodey laughed again. “Sorry, you’re not only taken, you’re not my type. You want to fill her in, or do you want me to do it?”
“It was your idea.”