“And you need to take Ayatas with you.”
The last statement was like being slapped across the face for real. “What?” I said. My shoulders dropped, my face wrinkled up, and I took another step back, further widening the space between us.
Eli hadn’t relaxed his stance. “A man claiming to be your brother appeared out of nowhere, alleging things that were confusing and frightening. He appeared when it was convenient to him, instead of making a ceremonial visit that would have shown you he cared. Leo just confirmed Ayatas is really your brother. You’re not acting like yourself. You’re acting like a pissed-off cat, all claws and attitude. Too much aggression and not enough thinking. Too much cat.”
Beast reared up in me, my eyes glowing. I growled softly.
“Yeah. See?” Alex said. “Growly and catty.”
“I’m not going to see Aggie. I don’t have time for a sweat.”
“Fine,” Eli said, sitting down on the edge of the couch. His action seemed purposeful, as if to deescalate the tension in the room. “But I called Ayatas and told him Leo confirmed your relationship. You can talk to Ayatas with or without the tribal Elder. Either way, Ayatas is here. You want answers. He wants answers. Aggie is an Elder and she can give them to you.”
“And she’s waiting,” Alex said. “Eli called her too.”
Four knocks sounded on the front door.Tap, tap, tap, tap.Ayatas’s knock.
The urge to hit something swept me up, taking me overfor maybe a half dozen too-rapid heartbeats. I clenched my fists to keep the claws retracted and swallowed down my own emotions. Breathed. Forced the rage down. Down, away, and back. Eli was right. I was angry for all the wrong reasons. I needed to get the information about my supposed brother. I needed to settle this personal thing so I could deal with the Sangre Duello. When the fury had passed I asked, “What does Leo get if Ayatas is my brother? Why drop this on me now, before the Sangre Duello?”
Eli frowned. So did Alex.
“Right. Leo shared info without a quid pro quo. He gets something out of this deal. Leo always gets something out of any deal. If Ayatas and I become chummy, then Leo has another talon hooked into PsyLED. And Leo said something about how having PsyLED at the blood duel might keep the Navy and Coast Guard from dropping bombs on us if Leo loses.”
Eli gave his battle-face frown. “Bombardment isn’t likely, but I’m keeping my ear to the ground.”
“And if Ayatas is your brother and Leo was just being nice?” Alex asked.
“Really?” I moved to the front door, my back to them, but speaking over my shoulder. “Leo? Nice?”
“Good point,” Alex said, sounding vaguely surprised. “Huh. Follow the money and the political power.” He was already banging away on his tablets and his laptop.
I opened the front door, half-cat and spitting mad, to see the topic of the conversation on my front porch. I blocked his entrance with my body, watched the shock on his face as he took me in and almost went for his weapon. I gave him a cat smile, all fangs and fur. “Hiya, baby brother, if that’s who you really are. Get back in your car. We’re going to sweat.” And I slammed the door in his surprised face. Whirling to Eli, I grabbed a gobag and said, “You’re driving.”
• • •
It took the entire ride to Aggie’s, while strapped into the backseat, to shift into full-human form. It was slow, a bone-breaking, tendon-snapping process, and I whined and moaned the whole way. It hurt.
After telling me to “man up,” Eli put on music so he didn’t have to listen. Man up? Really? Evil man.
When I looked like me again—like Jane again—I let myself out of the seat belt and changed into warm, baggy sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt, crawled up front, and slumped in the passenger seat. Eli was listening to a Joe Bonamassa album, playing “You Left Me Nothin’ but the Bill and the Blues.” Music I liked.
I tied my hair in a knot and let it hang down my back and leaned my head against the seat, giving my muscles time to stop quivering and aching. When Joe was finished playing “Drive,” I clicked the music off. Silence filled the car and I could smell my own pain and disquiet. “Are you mad at me?” I snapped my mouth shut. I sounded like a twelve-year-old girl whining to her besties.
Eli said, “Babe,” in that tone that told me everything was okay between us, and shook his head. “No. I’m not mad at you, Janie. I’m worried. You have a lot going on right now, personally and professionally. You have Ayatas. You have all the magical trinkets in the closet. You’re still getting over being struck by lightning. There’s the construction. The new clan master position. In a couple days we’ll be on an island in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, an island with questionable GPS coordinates and no secure landing field. On an island with no backup and no way off except an unarmed and unarmored helicopter or two, and Uncle Sam’s Navy in the nearest port.”
“Officially,” I conceded.
“Officially what?”
“Well. Bruiser has a boat.”
Eli glanced away from the road. “Does he, now?”
“I was on it. It has a cabin and a teapot and everything.”
“And it’ll be moored nearby?”
I looked away from Eli, out the window at the night. It was cloudy, the kind of clouds that portended a harder rain than the heavy mist. “It’s Bruiser. What do you think?”
