Night Broken
Page 18

He lied? I said, shocked. Thought about it, and said in a hushed voice, He lied, and no one could tell?
Its Charles, Adam explained as if that was enoughand it was. You handled Bran, and you handled Leah. So dont tell me you couldnt put a stop to Christys taunts and teach her to behave herself until she goes home.
I didnt think it would be as easy as he made it seem. But he was right that I was backing away from a confrontation.
If she goes before there is a knock-down, drag-out fight between the pro-me and the pro-Christy factions, itll be better for the pack. My voice was small.
And less collateral damage, he said, kissing my nose, Jesse has to deal with concerning her mother. She doesnt need more drama. Auriele, Mary Jothey dont really know who she is. And thats not a bad thing.
Shes not a horrible person, I protested.
He smiled, briefly. No. She makes people feel good for defending her, for doing things for her. Makes them feel like heroesshe made me feel that way once, too. Nothing wrong with that. He kissed me. But I like my women less helpless.
I went limp against him, and said, dramatically, Im helpless against your kisses.
He laughed like a villain in a cartoon. Aha. So thats how its done. Well, theres no help for you, then.
No, I said in a faint voice, putting an arm over my forehead as I arched back over his arm in the classic pose of the helpless ingnue. I guess youll just have your wicked way with me again.
Cool, said my husband, a wicked growl in his voice. Dont worry. Youll enjoy every minute of it.
I finished the wasserboxer engine I was rebuilding with great satisfaction. As if to make up for the chaos in my own life, the engine was going together as sweet as molasses and twice as easy. Like a gambler on a winning streak, I was worried that Id ruin it in the last moves. But it buttoned up duck soup, as if I were putting it together in the factory instead of thirty years later.
I had an urgent brake job left (brought in about fifteen minutes before). However, Id decided last night, after Adam was sleeping beside me and looking more relaxed than hed been in days, that I was finished leaving the battlefield to Christythat was giving her too much advantage.
Id have the brakes done by lunch tomorrow, and that would have to be soon enough. I patted the wasserboxer for being such a good patient and stripped out of my overalls in the oversized bathroom/laundry room. I got a can of soda from the fridge, and, clad in civilian clothes, I ventured into the main office.
Closing time.
Sounds good, Tad said, looking up from the books, where he was finishing recording an appointment. Gabriel had been trying to get me to set up the appointment schedule on computer, but Tad didnt seem to mind the paper route. You look tired, Mercy. Go home. Get something to eat. You look like youve lost ten pounds.
Maybe I should eat more red velvet cupcakes, I said dryly. Id brought two this morning, and Tad had eaten them both.
Only if you make sure Christy knows they are for me or check them for arsenic, he answered, using his keys to make the till run its daily total.
I opened my eyes wide. Oh shoot. Ive just been feeding them to you. Are you feeling ill? I peered anxiously at his lips. I think your lips are turning blue. Do you feel faint?
He grinned at me. Arsenic is a metal, Mercy. Dont you remember your high-school chemistry?
Semi-metallic, I told him.
And Dad is iron-kissed, a master of metals. He tucked his thumbs under his imaginary collar and grinned with lots of cheese. Im just a chip off the old block and safe from arsenic attacks of all kinds.
Ill remember that the next time you drive me to attempted murder, I said. I quit joking and sighed. Shes going home soon. Then we can get on with our lives, as long as she wasnt serious when she was threatening to move here. I took a good long swig of my soda. Its only a matter of time before Adam finds her stalker and sends him off with the fear of Adam to keep him away from her for the rest of his life.
He gave me a half smile because we both knew that it was a lot more likely that wed have to kill the man. I should have felt worse about it, but Id been raised by werewolves, and the bastard had burned down a building full of innocent bystandersfour people hadnt gotten out of the apartment building before it collapsed.
I talked to Da last night about your trouble with Beauclaire and Coyote, Tad said unexpectedly. The mirror still isnt a good idea, but the old fae has a few tricks up his sleeve that none of the Gray Lords know about yet. I told him that you havent had much luck finding Coyote.
Did he have any advice? I asked. It was unlikely that Zee would know how to contact Coyote, but I was ready for any help I could get. Today was Friday. I had two days left.
He did, Tad told me. He said that if you hadnt managed anything better by tonight, I was to tell you that youve been overlooking any number of avenues open to you in a way that is very un-Mercy-like. He smiled. His words.
What am I overlooking? Id called in all my markers. Id even called Charles this morning, who had unhelpfully suggested I try a vision quest. Vision quests require fasting, which I could manage, but also a centered focus that I was never going to achieve with Christy in my home. Hed promised to call some shaman priests he knew, but warned me that, as I already knew, Coyote was elusive and mischievous. Searching and calling for Coyote was likely to result in exactly the opposite outcome.
Charles had been my last hope.
Youve been concentrating on Coyote when you should have been also looking at Beauclaire. Tad held up a finger. Without you, it is unlikely that Beauclaire will ever see the walking stick againand he knows it. Two fingers up. Two: That means that you have a bargaining chip, and it also means that Beauclaire loses if something happens to you. Da also said youve been making Beauclaire the villain when he is more comfortably the hero. Beauclaire is honorable, as fae understand the word, and he has spent a human lifetime as a lawyer; hell understand compromise. If you can convince Beauclaire that you will sincerely return the walking stick to him when and if you see Coyote, he will probably grant you time to do so. Time, Da also asked me to remind you, is less precious to a Gray Lord like Beauclaire than it is to you.
My jaw didnt drop because I had it locked tight.
Tad grinned at me. He said youd probably figure it out on your own if you got desperate enough. Then I told him about Christy, and he gave mepermission to talk to you tonight if you hadnt worked it out already.
I dont know what expression was on my face, but Tads gentled. Dont feel too bad. Da knows Beauclaire, and it gives him an advantage. Youll still have to bargain hard and fastand be diplomatic. And, Da said, whatever you do, dont mention his name, or all bets are off. Beauclaire knew that someone was going to have to take out Lugh. He was, apparently, girding up his loins to do just that when Da took care of it. That didnt mean he didnt swear vengeance.
I shook off my chagrin and gave Tad a fist bump. Thank you. I feel like a lead weight is off my back. Ill keep looking for Coyote, but more time means that I might not be responsible for the Columbia rising up and out of its banks and wiping the Tri-Cities from the face of the earth.
Anytime, he said. My duties dispatched, I am off to home. Good luck with Christy and remind her that we work tomorrow, even though it is Saturday, so well need something tasty to get us through the day. And you need to start eating, or your plan to pretend she doesnt bother you will be revealed to anyone who looks at your ribs.
I locked up after Tad and set Adams security system, Tads last words ringing in my ears. I started to get my purse out of the safe when I stopped and went back into the bathroom and peered into the mirror.
I looked just like me. Native American coloring, mostly Caucasian features inherited from my mother. Except, now that I knew to look at them, the shape of my eyes was like Gary Laughingdogs. I tried to visualize Coyotes face, but I didnt know if I was imagining that his eyes were the same or not.
My hair was in the braids I usually wore to work in order to keep it out of the way so it didnt get covered in grease when I pushed it out of my face. And Tad was right. My features were sharper.
There was no question that not eating the food Christy made was making me lose weight.
There was still a brake job I could do tonight. If I stretched it out, Id miss dinner. That would give me an excuse to pick up some high-calorie fast food on the way home, food that didnt taste or smell of Christy. I didnt want Adam to notice I was losing weight because it would hurt himmy husband took care of the people around him. I didnt want Christy to notice because shed know she was getting to me.
I put my overalls back on, pulled on the sweat-inducing gloves, and hoisted the 94 Passat up on the lift, so I could pull the back tires and take a look.
I was working on compressing the caliper and had just got the six-sided-dice (also known as a piston tool, but only at auto parts stores) to engage the caliper when my phone rang. Id set my phone on a nearby counter, so I didnt have to let go of anything to check the display.
Adam. Three days ago Id have answered immediately, but the day before yesterday it had been Christy asking me to pick up a dozen apples and some butter. Real butter, no saltmake sure not to get the salted version because everyone eats too much salt.
Not a big deal at all. Stopping at the grocery store before I came home wasnt a problem. Having Christy ask me to do it was a different matter.
Pack is all about hierarchy. I understood how it works even if, before marrying Adam, I had been on the outside looking in. Humans have hierarchy, too. What Christy had done was the equivalent of the new-hire office girl calling the CEO and asking him to bring coffee for the break roomand shed done it in front of Adam and the four attending wolves. If they hadnt known about it before, they would have known about it afterward. Pack hierarchy was one of those things Id agreed to deal with when I married Adam, so I paid attention to make his life easier.
I couldnt do much about Christys faux pas without looking like a jealous, arrogant bitch while Christy graciously apologized because she hadnt realized what it was she had donethough shed lived with the pack for years. So Id filled her order, then brought two dozen Spudnut donuts for the pack.
Spudnuts is a Tri-Cities tradition; they make their donuts with potato flour instead of wheat. I might have lost hierarchy points, but Spudnut donuts bought me credit with the wolves who were at home. The wolves doubtless knew Id done it to buy their favorthat didnt mean it didnt work. Even Christy couldnt help but eat one.
Maybe I should bring them home every day, and that nicely rounded figure would just be rounded
Dreams of petty revenge aside, shed succeeded in making me paranoid to the point that Adams cell number on my phones display made me wary instead of happy. Four rings sounded before I gave in and answered. If it was Christy, Id just say no to whatever she asked because I had to work late.
This is Mercy, I said neutrally, bracing myself.
Arent you supposed to be getting home sometime soon? It was Adam. I relaxed and felt my expression soften. Youve had the security system on for an hour, so I expected you home by now. But I see you are working still.
I waved at the corner where the tiny camera was watching my every move. The cameras downloaded themselves onto Adams laptop as well as a backup at his office. The interior cameras ran all day long, the exterior cameras in the parking lot and around the outside of the building only turned on when I switched on the nighttime security.
Hey, handsome. Just finishing up a brake job. Dont wait dinner. Ill grab something on the way home.
Tads with you? he said smoothly. If he was watching his feeds, then he knew the answer, and that Id broken my promise not to work alone and make myself a target to anyone looking to hurt Adam or the pack.
I cleared my throat. Sorry, I got distracted. Ill clean up and head home.
I expected him to be unhappy with me againas hed been when Christy had tried to get me in trouble for going off alone. I should have thought about safety when Id made my sudden decision to stay and work. I knew it wasnt just me at risk, but the whole pack through me because I could be used as a hostage.
If you need a night off, he said, sounding sympathetic instead of angry, you could go keep Kyle company. Warren is on guard duty over here tonight. Zack does fine as long as Warren is there because Warren isnt exactly flaming. But he says he can tell from what Zack doesnt say that when its only Kyle and Zack there, its pretty awkward.
I read between the lines that Kyle was giving Zack a hard time without Warren there to make sure he behaved. Like a kid in a candy shop, Kyle really enjoyed making people squirm. It was part of what made him such a good lawyer.
I have no intention of deserting you for the night, I told him firmly. Kyle and Zack will just have to manageKyle is good at that sort of social stuff when he wants to be. Ill be home in a half hour.