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  Steve nodded, smiling. She knew her brother well. “It’s the least I can do.”

  Chapter Seven

  Trisha was confused by Steve’s sudden retreat, but she liked what he’d been saying. She thought about their conversation as she tidied up in his shower. He really had a gorgeous house. The shower stall was huge. Tiled in earthy, light-colored stone with a bench and little shelves located out of the direct spray of water. They held bottles of herbal shampoo and soap. It was his shampoo. The scent was subtle. Nothing flowery or feminine about this master suite at all.

  She took it as a good sign. If he was in the habit of entertaining female overnight guests in his home, surely there would be some sign of it in the bathroom at least. She’d already looked in the closet and drawers, but only his clothes were in there. She didn’t feel guilty about her snooping. She wanted this guy in her life on a long-term basis. She had a right to check him out. Or so her overprotective brother and father had always taught her. Go into a situation with your eyes open and you won’t be surprised later when things happen.

  Only she hadn’t been prepared for repeated attacks on what was supposed to be a quick jaunt to Vegas for a bachelorette party. What had she missed? Or was there any way she could have known this would happen in the first place? Probably not. Heck, she hadn’t even known magical creatures like weres and warlocks and such existed.

  In retrospect, it seemed kind of stupid of her not to question her father’s adamant refusal to acknowledge magic in any form. He never called what they could do magic. He just said they had special gifts and that they were the only ones. She thought now he must have been lying.

  That was not an accusation she would make lightly. Not even in the privacy of her own mind. One did not simply call Admiral Morrow a liar.

  Trisha finished with her shower quickly. No lazing around in the water, putting off the hard task of calling her family. They needed to know something was wrong. In fact, she was surprised either Deke or her dad hadn’t called already. Those guys had a spooky sixth sense about trouble.

  She dressed in one of the casual outfits she’d packed. She was grateful to Steve and his unseen minions who had retrieved her suitcase from the hotel. It was nice to have her own things, and if she was going to stay here much longer, she’d clutter up that pretty master bath with her toiletries. As it was, for now, she was just glad to have clean clothes.

  She picked up her cell phone and went downstairs, checking the email and messages as she went, wondering why her family hadn’t already been in touch. She needed to call them…

  And then she realized she wouldn’t need to make that call after all.

  She heard voices from the living room and knew them both very well indeed. Trisha walked quietly over to the archway that led to the spacious living room and leaned against the frame.

  “Hi, Dad.”

  Three sets of masculine eyes turned to look at her. Steve was standing by the cold fireplace while Deke had taken up a position to one side and the admiral had faced Steve straight on. Neither of the Morrow men looked happy. In fact, she could tell they were both pissed off. Royally pissed off. At her. At Steve. It didn’t matter when they were in this mood. Everyone in the vicinity was fair game.

  “Patricia Anne Morrow, why in the world haven’t you been in touch?”

  Uh-oh. The full name. Yeah, her dad was really mad. He only pulled out the full name for special occasions. And they weren’t the good kind of occasions.

  “I was going to call you this morning. I just wanted to take a shower first and get dressed. Then I was going to call. I swear.” She held up the phone, still in her hand. Her father seemed unimpressed.

  “I thought you were a better man than this, Redstone.” The admiral turned his condemnation on Steve. “You should have called Derek the moment she got into trouble.”

  “And just how was he going to explain to Deke—my human half-brother—that a Pack of werewolves helped me escape a magical attack? His hands were tied by the need for secrecy among his kind.”

  “The attack was magical?”

  Thank goodness, she’d managed to deflect a bit of her father’s anger onto the actual problem at hand. She knew he wouldn’t let it go completely, but he was more of a bottom-line kind of guy. He’d want to know exactly what they were up against and how to counteract it first, before he let loose his fury on all and sundry.

  “I believe the drug they used was both mundane and magical,” she declared. “It had a strong anesthetic that had some kind of silver catalyst. And Steve’s friends swear it had a magical component.”

  “What friends?” Her father’s clipped words were aimed at Steve.

  “Do you know a covert operative named Slade?” Steve paused until her father nodded. “He’s recently joined our Clan. His mate is a priestess of the Lady. They both have high-level magical skills. They can see magic. And they said it was all over the women we brought to the Pack house.”

  “But the silver made you sick, right?” her dad asked quickly, as if he already knew the answer.

  “Me and Lynda. We both tossed our cookies and are both awake now. The rest are still asleep and will be for a while.”

  “Lynda?” Deke spoke for the first time, his voice raised in question.

  “She’s half-fey,” Steve answered off-handedly.

  That was news to Trisha. “Fey? Like a fairy? They’re real too?” She shot a look full of accusation at her father when Steve nodded. “Why did you lie to me all these years? Why didn’t you tell me there were other beings out there with gifts? People who could shapeshift. Vampires. And now fairies. Darnit! I’ve been friends with her for years!” Trisha was feeling angry herself now. “Why couldn’t you be straight with me?”

  “It was for your own protection.”

  The answer was lame and she judged by her father’s expression that he realized it.

  “Maybe when I was a kid, but I’m an adult now, Dad. I can handle the truth. You shouldn’t have kept me in the dark. Maybe then, I would’ve been better prepared for this. And maybe—just maybe—it wouldn’t have happened.”

  She crossed her arms and dropped into one of the cushy chairs in the room. She wasn’t happy about being lied to by omission and it was important that her father knew it. Judging by the expression on his face and the set of his shoulders, he was getting the message. Good.

  Silence reigned for a moment until Deke finally spoke. “So you’re a werewolf, huh?” he asked Steve.

  “No. Cougar. Werecougar,” Steve corrected him.

  “Then how did the wolves become involved?” her father wanted to know, back to business for the moment.

  “As I was trying to explain…” Steve shot her a glance and she knew she’d interrupted him in the middle of the story. “My brother is the Alpha of the Redstone Clan. The base of our Clan is and always has been cougar. But we expanded years ago to include everyone who works for us. We have a few wolf Packs, raptor Tribes of various kinds, other cats too. Pretty much anyone who works for our company and wants to come under Grif’s authority. Being part of our Clan has its advantages and quite a few smaller Packs, Clans and Tribes have joined us over the years. They each have their own Alphas and organizational structures, depending on what animal they share their souls with, but ultimately, they come under Grif as the overall Alpha. I’m his second-in-command and head of security.”

  Both Deke and her dad seemed impressed in a guarded sort of way. Trisha was proud of Steve and his family, even though she didn’t really understand the full extent of their reach. She knew Redstone Construction was a huge company that did projects all over the country. If all those people were shifters and they followed Grif, then he and his family had to have a lot of power indeed. She was impressed too, when she thought about it.

  “I was watching Trisha’s group when a bloodletter approached them. I knew he’d been in trouble before, so I motioned him over to warn him off. While we were talking, a few of our wolves moved in on the ladies.
It turned out to be a good thing because when the fight started—which I believe was a deliberate attempt to drive the girls out into a waiting ambush—the wolves were there to protect them. They called for help at my signal, and being wolves, they called their Packmates. The ambush was foiled and we took the girls, who were starting to get woozy by then, to the Pack house. We had to stop on the way for Trisha and Lynda to ralf on a few cactuses, and by the time we arrived all the others were unconscious.”

  “I checked them over with Kate’s help. We took blood samples and I used the Redstone lab to discover what the compound was. Kate and Lynda have been keeping an eye on the girls while I recovered from the second ambush.”

  “Second ambush?” Deke looked angry again. Trisha sighed and passed the verbal baton back over to Steve. He seemed better at explaining things in a way that didn’t make her male family members mad.

  “We were on our way back to the Pack house from the lab when a truck totaled my SUV. Trisha took a bad hit to the leg, but when I realized water was her element, I rerouted here so we could use my pool out back. She healed up and slept it off.”

  “In your bed,” Deke accused with a sneer.

  Trisha wasn’t taking any of that. No way. No how. She stood and marched over to her brother.

  “Where I sleep and who I sleep with are none of your damn business!”

  “You slept with him?” Deke’s voice thundered through the room.

  And then silence.

  “There’s something else you need to know,” Steve said in a soft voice. He stood straighter, squaring his broad shoulders before declaring, “Trisha is my mate.”

  For the first time in her life, Trisha saw the admiral falter. He almost collapsed onto the sofa behind him, as if needing the support, and his face was ashen.

  “Mate?” Deke asked, clearly confused. “Is that like your girlfriend or something?”

  “No, Deke,” Steve answered in a calm, sober voice. “Among shifters, mating is for life.”

  Now it was Trisha who needed the support of a chair. She settled for leaning against the back of the nearest one, her knees wobbling a bit.

  “Wait a minute.” Deke seemed to need clarification. “Are you saying you want to marry my sister?”

  Trisha held her breath as she turned to look at Steve. Her heart was crying out yes, yes, yes! But her head was confused by the speed at which this was all happening.

  “Among my kind, simply declaring myself means she’s off-limits to others. If she accepts my claim, then in the eyes of my people we’re already married. But if she wants a fancy human ceremony…” Steve turned to her, holding her gaze, his words very solemn and serious. “I’ll give her anything she desires. For the rest of our lives. And beyond.”

  Silence held for a moment and then everything happened at once. Trisha began to move toward Steve, but her father stood abruptly and came between them. Blocked. But maybe it was for the best?

  “Look, she doesn’t have to decide anything right away. She doesn’t have to accept, right?” Deke asked.

  “She could decline,” Steve admitted, and Trisha sensed there was more to it than just saying no.

  What would happen to him if she refused him? It didn’t sound like he could just pick any woman to mate with. He’d made it sound a lot more serious than that. She chewed her lip, worrying over what she didn’t know.

  But her father was clearly not going to let her find out the answers to her many questions now. No, he was buying time. He probably was planning an offensive to get her to refuse. To be brutally honest, she didn’t know what she wanted. Her heart wanted Steve. That much was clear. Her mind, however, was still struggling with everything she’d learned in such a short span of time.

  It was a lot to take in.

  So she let her dad come between them. She let him buy her time to figure things out. She didn’t like hurting Steve with her uncertainty, but she needed this time. Desperately. She was so confused by everything.

  Just then, the doorbell rang. The tension in the room deflated as Steve turned to go answer it, leaving her alone with her brother and father.

  Much to her surprise, the moment they were alone, her father turned to her. Instead of ripping her a new one, he gathered her into his arms and just hugged her, squeezing her tight. She realized then how worried he’d been.

  “I’m sorry, Daddy. I thought we could fix this and then tell you about it all later, when everything was safe again.” She whispered her words against his chest but knew he could hear.

  After a moment, he let her go. “You might’ve gotten away with it, but not with Deke’s special radar. He always knows when something’s wrong. You should’ve known he would sense the trouble you’re in.” Her dad smiled and passed her off to Deke, who gathered her into a second big hug.

  “How could you lie to me on the phone? And how did you get Red to lie?” He let her go and moved back, a funny expression coming over his face. “Forget I asked. I know why he lied. He’d do anything for you. That much is clear, though I never thought you could actually leash a cat.”

  “On the contrary,” a new voice came into the room. It was Slade, followed closely by Grif and another man who looked so much like Grif and Steve that he had to be another of their brothers. “Cats can be quite biddable under the right circumstances.” Slade smiled as he finished his thought, walking over to shake hands with her father first and then exchange a backslapping handshake with her brother. He clearly knew them both.

  He stepped back and Grif made a similar greeting and then introduced his brother. “This is Mag. He’s been liaising with the bloodletters for us.”

  “And letting them nibble a bit too, it appears,” her father said as he shook Mag’s hand, tugging him to the side so he could look at the bite marks that were fading on his neck. “Voluntarily?”

  Mag nodded. “She’s an old friend who was held prisoner for a long time. She’s very weak. She needs the boost my blood gives her.”

  “Just be careful not to give her too much,” her father cautioned. “Vampires are unpredictable creatures at the best of times.”

  He let Mag go so he could shake hands with Deke and then they all sat down and got comfortable. Trisha decided to sit with Steve and he made room for her on the settee. Her father and brother frowned at her, but she didn’t care. She needed the reassurance of having Steve near her in this gathering.

  Funny. She would have turned to her dad once upon a time, but since meeting Steve, it seemed natural to seek support from him. She’d have to examine that reaction in detail later. It definitely meant something, but there was too much going on to analyze it now.

  “It’s good to finally be able to come clean with you both,” Grif started the conversation. “If we’d known you came from a magical family, Deke, we could’ve been more open before when we were all working together.”

  “It’s okay,” Deke said offhandedly. “I was raised to understand the need for secrecy. I respected your right to keep your own secrets, though I always did privately wonder what you guys were.”

  They went over everything that had happened last night again, with the added benefit of what Slade and Grif’s other people had been able to learn, plus the vampire perspective that Mag reported. Apparently, all the vampires were up in arms because one of their number had been staked by someone outside their community. It wasn’t a common occurrence and they were worried there might be a vampire hunter on the loose, which apparently happened from time to time.

  So the vamps were all out searching by night for clues. They’d even reached out to Grif to share information and have the weres continue the search by day. By pooling their information, they were coming up with a more complete picture of what was going on.

  “The warlock’s name is Jeffrey Billings,” Slade summed up the information they’d gathered. “He’s a low-level magic user, but he seems to have one special talent. He’s a sensitive. He probably picked up on the magic around the girls—either from you, Trish
a, or your half-fey friend—and he probably wants it for himself. We’ve seen a rise in magic users of evil intent trying to steal power from Others.”

  “How do you come by this intel?” the admiral wanted to know.

  Grif answered. “The Lords of all Were have been keeping track of incidents and reporting down through the Alphas ever since their mate was attacked. It seems the Venifucus are back and some are even talking about restoring Elspeth to power.”

  “Elspeth? Venifucus?” Deke repeated while their father just looked grim. Apparently there were some things the admiral hadn’t shared with Deke.

  “Elspeth was known as the Destroyer of Worlds,” Trisha’s dad surprised her by saying. The old man knew a lot more than he’d ever told her—or Deke, for that matter. “She was fey—or at least part-fey. She had incredible magical power according to my father, who fought in many battles against her minions—the secret society called the Venifucus. When she was banished to the farthest realm, they were thought to be defeated. Most of them died trying to save her, but my father always suspected a few survived, though he probably never anticipated they would return as a viable group.”

  “Why isn’t she dead? How could she still be around?” Trisha asked, puzzled and trying to add up the years in her mind. It just didn’t compute.

  “Fey don’t die,” he answered, shocking her. “Or at least, they live so long as to seem immortal and don’t succumb to ordinary illnesses. They can be killed only under special circumstances. Silver, of course, is as poisonous to them as it is to the rest of us magical folk. But Elspeth had more magic than most. More than even the greatest mages of the time. More than all those who were arrayed against her could claim. And it was thought that to simply kill her—if it could be done at all—would be too easy a punishment. The many beings she’d wronged wanted her to suffer as their families had suffered. They wanted her to understand pain and sorrow. They also wanted to end her without losing even more lives. The easiest way—and believe me, from what my father said, it was by no means easy—was to amass enough magic and strike at just the right time and place to send her through a portal to one of the many forgotten realms, where she could suffer her eternity alone, contemplating all the misery she’d caused here on earth.”