Twisted (Rogues Shifter Series Book 3) (16 page)

I took the headphones out of my ears and moved the computer off of my lap and crossed my arms. “Well, go ahead and yell at me.”

He sighed and shook his head. “You don’t have any idea of the danger your big mouth put us in, do you?”

“I handled those guys fine. They weren’t even dangerous. I can’t figure out what you’re so mad about.”

“I’ll start at the beginning, then. Do you remember Garrett saying that I was in charge each evening when Rob left? When did Rob leave this evening?”

“Around 4
:00, I think.”

“I told you to stay upstairs with Will. Sinc did as she was told, because she understands about chain of command and the importance of following orders. Also, she’s bright enough to know it was a smart decision. She is not trained as a fighter and neither are you or William. You should have stayed up here. I distinctly remember hearing you tell Garrett that you would do what I asked and not cause any trouble. Do you remember that?”

“Yes.” I wasn’t feeling quite so confident right now. I
had
promised Garrett.

“
Not only did you come downstairs against my express orders, but you ran right up to the front, where you were an easy target. I am responsible for your safety and I don’t want to answer to Garrett if anything happens to you.”

“Nothing would have happened.“

“You-don’t-know-that.” He clenched his fists and his voice got a bit louder.

“Then you start
ed running your mouth off about how Garrett and Jackie won’t be back for a couple of days. This gives them a very good guess as to our defensive position. Will, Sinc and you are not trained to fight. Rick and I can only fight off so many and then that’s it. We can call in the Fae or Aaron’s pack, but at that moment, we didn’t know if these weres were alone or had back-up in the woods or were even working for Kennett. He could be holding their families hostage to get this exact information. He could at this moment be sending out a group of goblins or whatever to attack us.”

“But I
know
them.”

“You
knew
them. Things could have changed. Then the cherry on top of it all is you offering them an alliance with Garrett and Jackie. Who the hell do you think you are to take it upon yourself to offer these weres an alliance? Do you have any idea how this shit works? Garrett and Jackie are like the king and queen and you want them to ally themselves with the rebel pack who tortured the Emperor’s people. Garrett would never betray his fae allies. What if this gets back to Caelen?”

I was on the verge of tears. “But I just wanted to help them.”

Sasha sighed and sat back. “Bridgett, look at me.” I did, reluctantly. “Swear to me that you will follow all of my orders
exactly
from now on until Garrett gets back. That includes me telling you to keep your mouth shut and not talk—at all. Maybe for hours.” I was biting back my tears watching his eyes sparkle with silver. He was so angry with me. “I need this promise from you, or I’m sending you back to Maya
tonight
and recommending that Garrett not consider you for the team. If you can’t take orders, you’re useless to us.”

Oh god, I’d really screwed up
. I blurted out, “I promise. I’m sorry. I don’t think clearly sometimes ”

“I’ll see you and Will in the backyard in ten minutes. Be prepared to work you
r ass off.” He opened the bedroom door and William was standing there looking worried. “Go on in, you have ten minutes. If you’re late you’ll be doing double the work. Leave the door open."

My tears had left a wet trail down my cheeks. Will
wiped them off with his shirt sleeve. I was choking back a sob, when Will’s lips pressed against mine. Nothing could have cheered me up faster

Chapter Thirty-one

Garrett
: 9:00 PM Thursday

The rain was torrential and the cave was taking in water. We discussed the situation and I decided to head back to my house for the night, or at least until the weather cleared enough that I could get back to tracking
Jackie. Liam took me through the lines and dropped me off in the kitchen, then headed back to Faerie for some recuperation time. Aedus had already gone right to Faerie from the cave, taking Samson with him.

I looked around. The house was very quiet, which could be a good thing or a very bad thing. The living room was empty too. I listened and heard talking downstairs, so I jumped into the shower and changed into fresh clothes then walked down to the basement making sure to make some noise, so I wouldn’t completely flip them out with my unexpected arrival. I knew they could all smell me and they’d probably heard the shower running.

Sasha, Sinc and Heinrich were playing pool.  Sinc had an annoyed expression, one that I knew only too well.

“You guys cheat! I know you moved that ball.” She turned and smiled, then ran over to give me a hug. “Garrett, how are you? I heard that the weather is awful, I’m glad you came home.”

“I’m fine.” I looked at Heinrich and Sasha. “And how are things with you two?” I arched an eyebrow and they knew what I was asking. One of them should have been out patrolling.

Sasha leaned against the back of the couch with a sigh. “I had to call in fou
r of Aaron’s weres. They’re patrolling the grounds. We had a little incident and I couldn’t take any chances.”

I gestured for him to continue and he told me about the Brownlow weres showing up and Bridgett’s diarrhea of the mouth, then all about Will’s first taste of shifter blood and the disaster that was averted because of Bridgett’s call for help
.

“Look, she’s been really helpful. She’s smart and she tries to cooperate, she just has these dumbass moments that make you want to pull out your fangs. She’s come up with a way to help Will get past the shifter blood hang-up. I’ll let her tell you about it.”

“And what did you do, after the wolf incident?”

“I explained the danger that she
'd put us in and I made her swear to follow every one of my orders even if I tell her she has to keep her mouth shut all day. I told her if she disobeyed me again, I’d send her back to Maya and recommend that she never becomes part of the team.” He grinned. “And
then
I worked her ass off in the training session. I made it
really hard
for both of them.”

“I’m impressed. Where are they?”

“In Will’s room.”

“In Will’s room?”

“Yeah. We can hear what’s going on. It’s just a lot of talking and hugging and kissing. It’s kinda cute.” Heinrich was grinning.

I laughed. It was good to be home, ev
en just for a night. “I’ll say hello and then maybe we can all play a game of pool together.”

Heinrich groaned. “You cheat by using the lines. It’s not fair.”

Sinc turned toward the stairs. “I’m going to bed. I’ve had enough.”

“We take cash, checks or money orders, Sinc.”

“Take this, Sasha.” She flipped him off with a smile and then swayed up the stairs.

Sasha watched her walk away
and licked his lips. “Man, I would so like to take some of that.”

“You’re stepping over t
he line, Sasha.” I spoke softly, but he understood.

“Unless I’ve completely lost all of my senses and skills, I think she’s interested. So tell me if I’
m misinterpreting the rules, but if she offers then its cool, right?”

“Ethan is a member of our team. You
have more class than that.” He shrugged and went back to the pool table and racked up the balls. I knocked on William’s door.

“Yeah, what is it?” He didn’t sound happy.

“It’s Garrett. I’m back just for tonight because of the weather. May I come in for a minute? I know that Bridgett is there with you and I want to talk to you both.”

“Sure, Garrett.” William sounded worried and looked embarrassed when he opened the door. Bridgett was sitting in the chair at his desk trying to look nonchalant while smoothing down her hair. The covers on the bed were a complete mess. I laughed and Bridgett blushed. I stepped into the room
and closed the door behind me.

“I have no problem with you two getting close. I hope that you don’t rush into anything that you aren’t ready for. I’m not saying anything more unless you ask me for ad
vice. I’m here if you need me.”

I looked directly at Bridgett.  “I do have a
very
serious problem with my orders being disregarded. You will obey Sasha’s orders or you will leave. Do you understand that, Bridgett?” She nodded. “We’re at war. Our enemy is formidable and if we don’t behave as a strong unit, then we may not survive.”

“I understand
. I’m sorry.” She was embarrassed.

“William, tell me what happened with the shifter.” He did. “You’ve been a vampire for ten years. You should’ve known not to feed from a shifter.”

“You’re right.”

“Tell me your idea, Bridgett.” She explained about giving Will some blood every couple of days.

“If you give him blood every other day for two weeks, even a very small amount, you’ll be creating a bond between you that could come back and bite you in the ass later on. Right now you like each other,” I looked from one to the other, “You
really
like each other. What happens six months from now when one of you meets someone else? I’ll tell you exactly what happens. It tears the one left behind apart. And it’s not pretty. In fact, it could be dangerous. Creating a blood bond without making your relationship exclusive is not a good idea. Don’t do it Bridgett, unless you two really want to commit to each other the way Jackie and I did. And I’m not pushing that. I’m just saying that down the line it could cause both of you problems.”

I watched Bridgett rubbing her shoulder. “Sore from your training session?” She nodded. “Go to bed and think about what I said.” She got up, kissed Will on the cheek and started out the door. I grabbed her hand an
d she looked at me. “I’ll try to help your pack if I can.”

Smiling widely, she
gave me a hug, “Thanks Garrett.” Her footsteps were light on the stairs.

I turned back to William. “She’s just lost her father and most of her pack. If you don’t really care about her, then back off.”

William sat on the bed with his head in his hands. “I’m in way over my head.” He looked up. “I’m crazy about her. How did this happen? I don’t want to mess up her life, but I can’t seem to stay away from her .I can’t stand the thought of any other guy hanging out with her. I almost punched Farrell. I don’t know shit about women. I’m terrified.”

“
All supernaturals are territorial to some degree, especially vampires it seems. Maybe the blood isn't the only reason there's an attraction between you. Tell her how you feel and if she feels the same way, then claim her. If she doesn’t, then back off and give her some time. Either way, you need to take it
slow
. You're both vulnerable right now. If you’re deeply involved, splitting up is much more painful. It doesn't help that you two are stuck here in the house. Teach her to play pool or let her teach you how to use the Wii game. Training together is a great idea. When this is over, make sure you take some time apart. That should put things in perspective.

“So how do I know if I’m coming on too strong or not strong enough?”

“Just be yourself, Will." I had to smile. "Look at me giving advice. Believe me, I’m no expert.”

“Well,
you’ve restored some of my sanity, thanks. This isn’t stuff I can talk to Sash or Rick about.”

“D
efinitely not.” I said, laughing out loud. I spent the next couple of hours I beating the aforementioned duo in three straight games of pool. I didn’t take their money, but instead told them I’d come up with something I needed done around the house. They were thrilled.

Chapter Thirty-two

Jackie: 12:00 AM Friday

I think I had it down. It wasn’t that it was that difficult, it was that every pronunciation had to be exact, and the words in the demonic tongue were hard to say. How Isaiah had thought I could have learned it before midnight was crazy. But now I had it. We grinned at each other, both of us proud of what we'd accomplished.

But
before I could begin the ritual chant, I caught a whiff of Kennet. He appeared in front of me, instantly freezing me in place then turning to Isaiah. “Go back to your realm, demon. You’re done with your mischief here.” Isaiah’s eyes narrowed in anger. He lifted his hand to his ear and mouthed something before he disappeared. Kennet turned back to me and scowled.

“I see you’ve been busy learning new skills.” I had no control over any of my limbs and even my mouth didn’t function.  I felt him in my head going over all that I’d accomplished while he was away. I couldn’t e
ven shiver in disgust. A whoosh of air escaped his mouth. “Demon blood? I suppose that explains your powers, but I’m not sure I will still want you to bear my children. I will have to think on it.”

I experienced a
moment of joy. Maybe he’d let me go, or keep me a prisoner to use as a bargaining chip, giving up on me producing his heir. The moment he moved out of my mind I reached down into the lines but he slammed another block across them, cutting me off again. It would take me time to work out how to get around it, but I was sure that I could do it. Isaiah had given me the skills to pick the lock on any mental barrier.