Blown Away (Rogues Shifter Series Book 4) (3 page)

When we got back to the house it was after 3 AM and I was
exhausted, but not so tired that I wasn't going to ask Liam what he'd found out about the shifter in Nate's mind.

"There was a shifter named Adele. In his memories she looked very much like you, only shorter. She was living with a sorcerer, although not the one who blood-bound the vampires. Nathaniel didn't know her well, only that she used to frequent a particular club in Reno, Nevada called The Serpent. He saw her there sometimes, but she was usually with the
other sorcerer, so he didn't approach her. A few years later he'd heard rumors that she'd died in an accident of some kind.

Later,
when I cuddled in bed with Garrett, we spoke together about Adele. Could she really have been my mother? Nate hadn't seen her pregnant or with children, so we had no way of knowing for sure. We decided to let Maya know about this new development as soon as possible. Maya, a cheetah shapeshifter on the Crescent City Council, had access to sources not available to me or my mate. In the end, we agreed that it was better not to say anything about Adele to Bridgett since she had enough on her plate. Tomorrow I was delivering her to Faerie.

As I dozed
in my mate's arms, I smiled in satisfaction. Everything was falling into place very nicely. I could see my life stretched out before me following an even path, with very few bumps or ruts, at least I hoped so.

CHAPTER ONE

I’d
been having such a cool dream.

I was in Faerie with Philladre and Aedus and I was holding their baby, except for some reason they’d had a boy and not a girl as they’d been expecting. We were laughing at the sweet cooing sounds he was making as he reached up to pull on my hair, his lavender eyes filled with curiosity. As I played with him, I was growing faintly aware of disturbing noises in the background. Happily, they didn’t seem to bother the adorable little guy, who’d broken into a belly laugh when I made a silly face at him.

As the background noises grew louder, turning into the sharp sounds of cabinet doors slamming closed, drawers sliding in and out, accompanied by an occasional grunt or curse, my dream dissolved and I opened my eyes. I sighed in irritation when I realized the source of all the noise. Bridgett was leaving today to serve her two year sentence in Faerie and in my current sleep-deprived state I was not surprised to find that my feelings were mixed to say the least.

I rolled over, covered my head with the blanket and sent to her mentally,
“Bridgett…you’ll wake the dead with all that noise.”
There
were
after all, four vampires resting in the house. They were pretty hard to wake up, but she seemed to be giving it her best effort.

There was no response and, unfortunately, the noise from her last minute packing continued on. I looked at the clock and groaned. It was 9:00 A.M. I’d stayed up with Garrett until dawn, so I’d only gotten three hours of sleep. The plan, as I vaguely remembered it, was for Bridgett to sit down with me to a farewell brunch together at
noon
. I rubbed my eyes, sat up, stretched my arms over my head and yawned. No use trying to go back to sleep now that I was wide awake. Of course the noise mysteriously stopped the minute I’d made the decision to get up.

I se
nt to Liam, who had to be somewhere in the house at this early hour,
“Is French toast a possibility? With bacon?”

“Bridgett asked for the same thing and just came in to eat. You’re up so early?”

“Could you sleep through that racket?”

“Perhaps not. She wants you up, so instead of knocking on your door, she makes noise. She’s afraid of what awaits her in Faerie."

He was probably right. Since I’d first met my fraternal twin three weeks ago, she’d been a continuous source of anxiety for all the varied residents of our mostly happy home.  By making some bad choices, she’d gotten into serious trouble with the fae, almost getting herself executed, and even creating the situation which led to my own kidnapping by Lord Kennet. Although she was very bright on paper, she tended to plunge ahead without forethought and often with disastrous results. So, as I walked into the kitchen this morning for our last breakfast together, I was feeling a little bit relieved.

However,
when I saw her smiling at me, I smiled back with a twinge of remorse. Despite everything, I’d grown to care for her. She’d been raised by a group of werewolves, making her life as a shapeshifter more difficult than most. After a DNA test a couple of weeks ago, we were officially confirmed as sisters. Since then Bridgett had managed to worm herself into a special place in my heart, so when she ran over to hug me, I returned it enthusiastically, feeling guilty about my previously uncharitable thoughts.

Plus I had
to admit that she’d matured in the last couple of weeks, making smarter decisions and showing a lot of courage under dangerous circumstances. Despite experiencing excruciating pain, she’d still done her best to help in my rescue, and she’d also stepped up bravely to help the team fight against some werewolves that were threatening her old pack. William, a young vampire from Garrett's nest with a patient nature and a good head on his shoulders, had claimed her as his mate. I guess there was hope for her yet.

She stepped away from our hug and I took a closer look at her. Bridgett looked like she’d had a complete makeover, thanks to my team mate, Sinc’s, expertise. Her layere
d light brown hair was styled professionally and she was wearing some eye makeup and mascara which made her green eyes pop. She was dressed in a beautifully tailored black skirt, short but not too short, leather boots, a nice blouse and a fitted leather jacket. She’d filled out a little bit since she came to live with us, giving her a healthier glow, but was still slim and petite, hitting only around 5’2” when she was barefoot. Her smaller stature never made her shy, however. Bridgett always spoke her mind, whether encouraged to or not.

“Jackie, did you get enough sle
ep, ‘cause you look like shit.”

I rolled my eyes, shook my head and sat down to eat. I’d taken a good look at myself in the mirror this morning, and she was right. I had bags under my green eyes and my blonde hair was frizzed from the humidity
of the approaching rain storm. I’d pulled it hurriedly back into a pony tail, but there were still a few stray hairs hanging in my face. The three hours of sleep I’d managed this morning had been peppered with frustrating dreams, most of them about searching frantically for something and always ending up empty-handed. But that last one had been so nice. I smiled when I remembered the baby and his laugh and wondered if Aedus and Philladre were wrong about the sex of their child. My dreams were often prophetic so I tended to take them seriously.

The smell of cooked bacon snapped me back to the present
moment. I glanced at Liam appreciatively. He was still grinning from Bridgett’s comment, enjoying each and every time she annoyed me. He’d been the one who’d wanted her executed after the small part she’d played in the kidnapping and torture of six fae citizens, but the prisoners themselves had agreed to her two years of service. As payback, when Bridgett said something that irritated me, Liam smugly blessed me with his I-told-ya-so look.

I stuffed delicious French toast into my mouth so my hands would be busy and no
t reaching out to strangle her. I noticed that she was waiting for an answer, so I said, “Thanks for the heads up.”

She screwed up her
mouth trying to look contrite. “Oh, sorry. I’m just nervous. I shouldn’t have said that, huh?”

“Ya think? Maybe I should make you take the bus.” I heard Liam laugh but she just looked confused. No buses traveled the road to Faerie. As I took another delicious bite of my breakfast, I felt an unusual churning sensation in my stomach, not anything painful, but annoying as hell. It had been happening often lately, but I'd been chalking it up to aggravation. Maybe I overextended myself last night at Nathaniel's or maybe it was a delayed reaction to the gruesome execution.

“So tell me about what happened last night. It must have been exciting. Angel's cool."

"Angel was able to free the three vampires. We handled the ones who resisted. Nathaniel died during the spell." I tried to keep my expression neutral, but I probably didn't succeed too well.

She noticed that I was upset. "I never say the right thing. I guess you won’t be sorry to see me go, huh?’ She looked down at her plate and pushed around her food with her fork. Lady Dinestri, one of the fae Elders, had given her an extra week before she had to report for duty, mostly because she and I had only had two days together after my kidnapping. The separation would be tough for Bridgett since she was also leaving behind her new mate.

Surprising myself, but meaning every word, I said, “Actually, Bridgett, I
am
sorry to see you go. It's nice to have someone to talk to in the morning.” I glanced at Liam and whispered, knowing he could hear me. "Someone female." She grinned with relief and took another bite as I looked at her with some regret, wondering, not for the first time, what it would have been like growing up with a sister. Of course, with our two very strong personalities, we might have ended up killing each other.

“When do you think you’ll be able to come and visit me?” Her mood had brightened as she dug into her breakfast again.

“Garrett and I will make sure to visit at least once a month. And you can call me once a day, although, somehow I think that those thirty minute calls you’re allowed will be going to William and not me.”

She laughed. “Yeah, that’s pretty much a definite.” Looking up from her breakfast she said, “I’m gonn
a miss you too. I guess I’m gonna miss all of you, even Smart-ass.” She made a face and I laughed. Smart-ass was her pet name for Sasha. Bridgett felt the word arrogant was followed by Sasha in the dictionary. I was actually getting pretty curious lately about his life before he was turned. In fact I knew practically nothing about Rick or Will either. Finding out more about them was at the top of my new ‘to do’ list: right after taking Bridgett to Faerie, calling Maya about Adele, talking to Rob about Flynn, packing for Los Altos...

I twisted my thoughts
back to Bridgett’s trip. “What did Lady Dinestri say you’d be doing?” Lady Dinestri was one of only four Elders on the Fae Council. Working for her would be a position of honor and we’d all been surprised when we’d found out that assisting her would be Bridgett’s very first assignment.

“I think it’ll take me some time to get to know my way around.” She lowered her voice and peeked at Liam who was watering a plant in the corner. “I thought t
hat Faerie would be a lot more—you know—colorful and magical looking. It’s pretty average, don’t you think?” She’d been there for a couple of days right after I’d escaped from Lord Kennet.

I smiled and glanced again at Liam. “You haven’t been allowed to see it the way it really is. Maybe the Elders will take away the block.
Just be prepared to be amazed.”

“Really? C
ool. I thought that maybe the fae were just really unimaginative and dull.” I saw her looking at Liam with a teasing gleam in her eye. Suddenly a huge bouquet of colorful flowers appeared on the kitchen table with a purple card attached. Bridgett squealed and giggled, reading, “Bon Voyage, tiny cheetah. Behave yourself and try to think before you speak, so the fae Elders aren’t tempted to behead you. Liam”

“Ha, ha, Liam. I’ll miss you too. Although I guess I’ll be seeing you all the time in Faerie. Lucky me.” They grinned at each other and I relaxed a little. Two weeks ago, Liam was ready to
literally
cut off her head. Their relationship had certainly come a long way, mostly because Bridgett had taken responsibility for her actions and apologized to the former fae prisoners during a special ritual designed for that purpose.

She asked, “What does the Rogues
team have planned now that Nathaniel and his nest are gone?”

Our list of upcoming assignments was a little overwhelming at the moment. Rogues, Inc. wa
s our company name and it was a good fit. We were an eclectic group of supernaturals who protected our shifter community and others from kidnappers, territory infringers, murderers, etc… Most of us had an unusual history and were often referred to as
rogues
by the Crescent City shifter community, which was how Garrett came up with the name.

"
We’ll be meeting with Sinc’s old pack tomorrow evening. Hopefully we’ll be able to find those teenaged boys.” Three adopted human boys had gone missing from the Los Altos Pack. Human children were often adopted by wolves and raised to be bitten and then inducted into the pack when they came of age. No one was ever forced, but since they grew up around werewolves, they were usually pretty excited about officially joining. Who wouldn’t want to have superhuman strength, an extremely long life span, and strong ties to a powerful community?

Sinc had been raised by this particular pack only to discover at fifteen th
at she was a snow leopard shapeshifter. They’d sent her packing, sending her to Robert to be trained, along with providing plenty of guilt money, a house of her own and even a fancy convertible. Of course those things could never erase the anger or the insecurities she still experienced ten years later.