Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) (30 page)

Jarvis growled before laughing.
“I’ll give you that one.
Are you avoiding
the
question?
” he asked. “
I mean, I really don’t want to talk about my
baby
sister’s sex life, I’m hoping lack of
sex life, with a damn vampire.
But
I’m much calmer than my parents.
Right now
,
they’re fighting in the house, still; they’ve been going at
all mor
n
ing
.
This is a first, my parents fighting with Jay; usually she’s the one trying to keep the peace.
What can you do though?
You’re not going anywhere an
d she’s too attached to you now…”
H
e sighed and started fiddling with the controls on the digital display
just as
his sister did the first time she was in the passenger seat.

“
I promise you,
Mr. Jarvis,
I am
not going to hurt your sister,” I assured him.
“My intentions are...ho
norable.”

“I know you’re not
….honorable? Dude, you sound like you’re about to go to war or some shit,” he scoffed before roaring with laughter.

Bloody children.

“
The safest place for
my baby sister,
right now
, is with you,
”
he said once he regained his composure.

Apparently I missed something,
or this mongrel is speaking in riddles simply to see me narked.
It would be in his best interest if he attempted to stay on my cheery Tanis side, and not arsehole Tanis side.

“
I beg your pardon,” I said.

“Something bad is coming
.
I can feel it.
That’s why I
dropped out of my summer classes and
came home.
The last time I had this feeling, Jay Dee washed up on our shore.
I don’t know what’s going to happen, or when, but I’m rather confident that it’s seriously going to suck.”
He
looked over at me and laughed.
“Catching flies, Count Suckula?”

I clo
sed my mouth
which had fallen open in surprise,
and shook my head.
“No.
You are
a Seer?”
I asked
guardedly
.

He
gave me a look. “Do I look like I’m carrying a crystal ball and Ouija board?” he scoffed. “
Werewolves don’t possess strange and unique abilities like vampires do
…to my knowledge,” he said the latter contemplatively and scratched his head.

Please tell me he is not that daft when it comes to his own species!

I looked over at him.

Bloody hell, he is serious!

“We have heightened senses,
some
are more heightened than others,” he went on, completely oblivious to how godsmacked I was by his ignorance. “It’s weird.
I always know when Jay is happy, sad, or in pain when we’re near each other
.”

I scoffed. “Aside from the guilt and unfathomable emotional pain and distress she has been in for the past thirteen years at the hands of those you call
pack
and
tribe
?” I
venomously
countered.

Jarvis growled, his eyes narrowing; obviously he was upset about that as well. “Yes, mi
nus all
the
shit she was keeping
to herself for all these years,” he
snarled
. “
I love
my baby sister
very much; her happiness is my only concern.
Sadly, since
you’ve been around, she’s been a rag
ing roller coaster of emotions
.”

That
is not
good.
I am
hurting
the
bird emotionally.
That is
far
worse
than physically hurting someone, a thousand-times over.
Bruises, bite marks, broken bones, and lacerations heal quickly compared to emotional pain.
That is it then. This will be
goodbye.

“
My most heartfelt apologies,” I whispered. “Please believe me when I say that I did not intend…
”

Intend to what? I honestly do not know what I did!

“Dude, don’t be stupid,” he
groaned
.
“
W
hat it boils down to is
:
Jay’s
conflicted.
Confliction is a good thing.
She’s
torn between being happy with you and being miserable with us.
It sucks but it’s a good t
ype of confliction, one that I’m happy she’
s finally
let her balls dropped so she could have it
.
..that made more sense in my head. Either way,” he said, shaking his head to clear it and I just sat there watching him, not entirely sure what to say about any of that, “I
just wish that it was caused by a hu
man or a werewolf, someone who’s on the same level as her, y’
know?
B
ut beggars
can’t be choosers,” he
said with a
shrug
.

What
was there to
you say to that?
             

“Thanks?”
I offered.

“Whatever,” he snorted.
“How much did this cost?
It’s hot!
I know my sister
likes
it.”

“
I beg your pardon
?
Are you hitting on me?” I asked.

Jarvis rolled his eyes. “I like old
bitches
, not old
dudes.
”

I cocked an eyebrow.

“
The Ran
ge Rover, dickweed,” he clarified.

Hopefully his sister fancies older men
just
as
her brother fancies older women.

I was trying to stay positive but it was getting progressively more difficult to keep that sliver of hope alive in my heart.

I shrugged.
“
I
do not recall. When
you have thrall at your disposal
,
you never pay retail.”
I smirked and he laughed.
“What does your sister
require
for her birthday?
I
had the
audacity
to ask Miss Jay Dee herself and she merely wanted
something for you.”

Jarvis laughed.
“
Buy me what you want, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to put out.”

I walked into that one.

He laughed again. “Honestly, it doesn’t
surprise me.
Jay has always been a pain in the ass like that.
I
could name off a long list of crap that she sho
uld have but she’d never accept,
so it doesn’t matter.”

Bloody hell that bird is stubborn!

I looked out the windshield and
smirked.
“I think someone is silently telling you that t
hey are going to kick your arse,
”
I amusingly pointed out.

Jarvis followed my pointing finger
out the
windshield
and groaned.

Jay Dee stood
in front of the car
with her long arms folded
across
her chest,
eyebrow cocked,
mouth twisted in irritation as she
glared at her brother.

“It was nice knowing you,” I
said with a perverse moan; I was hoping that she’d kick his arse real good for bothering me as he felt the need to do
.

“Gee thanks,”
he snorted, rolled his eyes then
got out of the car.
“Remember what I said,
Count Suckula
,” he
warned
, talking in
his
big boy voice.

I gave him a look.
“
You, me,
and a dust buster makes three tonight, got it.”
I flipped him off and he laughed.

Jay Dee punched
Jarvis
in the arm, sending him staggering back.
She didn’t yell at him, or say anything
for that matter
, however the look she
gave
him made me want to step
out
of the car
and apologize for him
...before hiding behind him
of course
—
Jay Dee was
menacing when
narked
.
Tenderly she
kissed his forehead before smacking him in the back of the head,
and he
rolled his eyes and nodded
his understanding.

Jay Dee climbed in the
car
and smiled wide.
“Good morning
, Mr. Ashton,” she cheerfully greeted
.

Absolutely beautiful. I will worry about the saying goodbye thing later. At the moment, there is a smiling bird waiting for me to wisk her away in my shiny European carriage.

“
M
e
Duckie,” I
warmly greeted and
kissed her hand
; internally I was doing, what Steffen calls, the happy dance when my platinum bracelet slid down her arm
.
“
I beg of you, call me Tanis.”

Call me yours and only yours.

“Okay,” she whispered and licked her lips.

Bloody hell
, she is trying to kill me self
-
restraint.

I swallowed hard, trying to fight the urge to lean into her and capture her mouth with mine.

“How did you sleep?”
I asked, my words coming out slightly strangled.

Thankfully she didn’t press my
apparent sudden onset prepubescent voice change, and blushed.
“Good.
Until I woke up alone,” she
said with a pout and it made me smile
.
“However, I understand why you left.
What did my lovely brother
have to
say?”
she asked as uninterested as possible, but
she
nervously chewed on her bottom lip, waiting to hear the worst.

“Nothing of consequence, Duckie,” I assured her and she made a face. “Believe it or not, Mr. Jarvis was
helping me pick out your birthday present,” I
smugly informed her, and
smirked
when
she
groaned
.

That was the response I was hoping for, even though I
hadn’t
a clue what to get her.
Sadly, it looked as if I was going to have another sit down with
Jarvis
to resolve that
before Friday.