Page 59 of Phantom’s Mate

Maybe for live people. Nick was pretty sure he was the only shifter in history to find a mate after death, so all bets were off with that shit.

He rolled his shoulders, trying to shrug off all the emotion in the room. “All I’m saying is, maybe Jax really can straighten out that clan, and they could have the chance our guys didn’t get. I think his mate is a true mate. Any idiot could see how much they love each other.”

Brandon said, “You want me to take this meeting and hear him out.”

“Yeah. Look—maybe he’s coming to threaten you. Maybe he’s coming to bribe you. Maybe he’s coming to spill all his girly feelings and ask you to be his bestie and give him one of those little BFF heart necklaces like you and Kitty have.”

Brandon gave a snort of laughter. “Man, I’d get him two, just to see that go down.”

“But yeah,” Nick finished. “Let’s hear him out. He might at least be willing to negotiate for the artifacts.”

“What if he wants money?”

“I have money.” He grinned at Brandon. “There’s bank accounts you never found. I never worried about it, because you all didn’t need the cash. But I’d use it to get Squatch’s artifacts back.”

Jax had called the meeting at Callie and Colt’s brand new bar and roadhouse, which they were planning on opening for New Year’s.

Considering that in its former incarnation, it had been Jax’s Farville headquarters when he worked for Raines—and considering that Jax’s previous ally, Callie’s ex, had burned it down and almost killed Kitty and Callie in the process—most of the crew was unhappy about that.

The upsides were: it was private, and kept them from having to invite Jax into their territory.

“As long as they stay outside,” Colt said. “We just finished rebuilding that place, and I’m not fixing bullet holes and cleaning blood off the floor before we’ve even opened.”

Callie patted his arm. “Don’t worry. Nobody’s going to shoot it up.”

Remy said, “Nice thought, but our upbringing has taught us that there’s always at least a 25% chance of ending up with blood on the floor.”

“Truth,” Kitty said.

Chapter 28

Jax arrived exactly at 7 pm, by himself in a pickup truck, followed by another pickup full of guys with guns. They turned into the gravel parking lot of the roadhouse, to be faced by a half-circle of Wild Blood trucks, all manned with fully armed crew members.

DB, cloaked and in dragon form, was perched invisibly on the roof.

Jax’s trucks both stopped about thirty feet away, engines running. The parking lot was filled with the sound of weapons cocking.

Jax got out of his truck, carrying the artifact case. Two guys climbed down from the other truck bed with small wooden chests that Nick knew carried the gold they’d stolen from Titan’s village.

They stacked the chests on top of each other, halfway between the two sets of vehicles. The minions did not look happy, but at Jax’s gesture, they went back to their truck and climbed in the back.

Jax put his own case flat on the top chest, and opened it. All four of the remaining artifacts gleamed in the light from the trucks’ headlights.

Brandon walked forward, Kitty at his shoulder. Nick stayed in the shadows—he wasn’t sure if Jax was still able to see him.

“We spent some of the gold,” Jax said. “Otherwise, it’s all here.”

Brandon gave a short nod. “What do you want for it?”

“Nothing,” Jax said. “I got a clan full of women with no mates, half of them with cubs. They need a better life than hiding in the shadows, constantly at war. Hell, I got a kid of my own.”

Despite being fifteen feet away, they could all hear Colt say, “If he gets out the baby pictures I’m gonna shoot. I swear.”

Jax raised his voice slightly. “I’ll email them to you, McCall.”

He went on, speaking to Brandon again. “Look, I’m not saying I’ve turned into some kind of saint. But we can’t build a better life on blood money. We need a fresh start. We’re going legit.”

Brandon said, “Plus, you’ve already been attacked by people trying to get this stuff. Are you sure the news that we have it won’t slip out on the dark web? I’m sure you’d think it was a shame to send all the mercs after us instead.”