BirthStone (7 page)

Pushing from the desk, Jasmine pulled up a
nearby chair and sat. Crossing her legs, she smoothed down her
peach-colored dress, and rested her left hand on her leg.
“Something tells me that you have more to say. Get it off your
chest, big guy. I’m listening,” she said, meeting Rose’s startled
eyes.

“I have been asking for a sign and hearing
your voice today, of all days, tells me I am on the right path. You
are beauty and grace personified, a worthy choice to lead.”

“What?” She sprung forward wondering where
he was going with all of this.

“Then once again the glow returns; again the
phantom city burns. And down the red-hot valley, lo! The phantom
armies marching go.”

Since Robert Louis Stevenson was one of her
favorite poets, she finished the poem. “The phantom armies marching
go! Blinking embers, tell me true. Where are those armies marching
to? And what the burning city is that crumbles in your furnaces!”
She paused, rehearsing the words over in her mind. That poem dealt
with death, just what was Merriweather up to? She opened her link
to Silas, he needed to hear this.

“Ah, smart and beautiful, a jewel in the
crown to be sure. I thank you for taking time to speak with one
such as I. Farewell my lady.”

“What? Wait,” she called out, but he had
already disconnected. Jasmine gazed at Rose, who returned her
stare. “Merriweather is crazy. Just so you know, he is never to
come inside the gate. Never.” She slammed the receiver back into
the cradle.

Rose jerked as though hit.

“Sorry.” Feeling bad that she had caused the
younger woman discomfort, but still ticked over Merriweather,
Jasmine walked around the desk and placed the back of her hand on
Rose’s forehead. Sensing Silas’ anger, she sent him a message to
remain calm before she spoke to her daughter-in-law. “At least you
don’t have a fever. You need to lie down. Is there someone else who
can cover for you?”

“Not right now. I can leave in an hour or
so.” Rose pushed away from the desk and stood slowly. Color leached
from her skin. The milky whiteness of her cheeks surrounded by her
wavy jet black hair, and smudged red lipstick created a vampire
look . Stifling a grin over the thought of vampires and Rose in the
same sentence, she offered her arm for assistance.

“No, I can do this. What happened with
Merriweather?” she asked, moving toward the sofa.

Jasmine scoffed. “He flipped. One minute he
was threatening Silas, the next he started paying me compliments,
quoting poetry and talking like this was the 1800s or something.
I’m telling you the man ain’t right in the head. Seriously, put him
on the 'hell no he can’t enter the gate' list.”

Rose chuckled and then held her
forehead.

Jasmine slowly walked behind her, prepared
to assist.

“
What the hell happened?"
Silas asked
through their link.

“
I’ll tell you later, I’m trying to get
Rose settled
." After mating with Silas, his gruffness no longer
offended her. It had taken some time and lots of conversations, and
she knew that while he might get angry, he would never hurt
her.

“
What’s wrong with her?"
His tone
softened.

“T
yrone took the shot and it’s impacting
her."
She knew he was aware of her son’s decision because Silas
had to give his approval before the shot was administered.

“
Damn. I need to check on him, he should
be coming out of it by now. How bad is she?"

“
Weak, nauseous, head and body pain. She
looks shaky to me, but she won’t leave the office until her
replacement gets here."

“
Tell her to take the rest of the day
off. I’ll have Hank cover the phones until the replacement comes
in. Shut down the office and lock the door behind you. Can she
walk, do I need to send someone to help her to their wing?"

Jasmine stooped until she could see Rose’s
eyes and watch the steady movement of her chest. She informed Rose
of Silas’ orders. “Can you walk or do I need to get some help?”

“I think I can make it.” Rose remained still
on the sofa with her eyes closed. “The pain isn’t as bad right
now.”

“
She wants to do it on her own,"
Jasmine told Silas.

“
Figures. I’ve sent Jarcee to wait in the
hallway when the two of you leave. If you need him, he’s available
to assist. Focus on getting Rose back to her wing, Jarcee will shut
down the office."

“
Okay."
She moved back as Rose slowly
pushed up from the sofa to a seated position and then stood.

“
Jasmine?"

“
Yeah?"
She walked ahead to open the
door for Rose to shuffle through. Her daughter-in-law weaved
sluggishly as if she were drunk. It would have been funny if there
wasn’t a grimace of pain on the younger woman’s face.

“
I haven’t forgotten you shut me down
while talking to Merriweather. Do I need to kill him?"

“What?
”
Shock from his calmly thought
words promoted her to speak aloud.

“
What did he say to make you shut me out
and then reopen our link moments later?"

Rose walked unsteadily out of the office and
turned toward the east wing of the mansion where she lived with her
mate and brother. Jasmine walked alongside her.

“
Jasmine?"
Silas snapped, his
irritation flowing through their link.

“
Wait a minute, I’m walking Rose to her
wing. We’ll finish the conversation when I’m done. But I will tell
you, Merriweather is unstable and you should do a deep
investigation regarding him, somehow he’s involved with what
happened three weeks ago."

Without seeing him, she knew her mate went
absolutely still. “
Why do you say that?"

“
Just a feeling that he’s involved. He
quoted a poem from Robert Louis Stevenson. It was all about armies
and death."

“
You were familiar with the
poem?"

She exhaled at the skepticism in his voice,
refusing to take offense.
Yes. I knew the poem actually. I like
Stevenson and know his work. Can we talk about this later? I’m
about to get Rose settled."

“
Once she is settled I want to know
exactly what Merriweather said. I told Jennings to close the case
on Merriweather’s relative, but we might need to re-evaluate that
if your hunch is right, and it probably is."

Blond haired and green
eyed,
Jarcee stood almost
seven feet. He
bent and knocked
at the entry door of Rose and Tyrone’s
living space. Afterward, he stepped back so he could be seen if
anyone was inside. A moment later Tyrese opened the door and looked
up at Jarcee, who pointed at Jasmine and Rose. Immediately, Tyrese
strode down the hall, picked Rose up and carried her inside.

“Ow, not so fast, Rese,” Rose complained as
he set her on her feet inside the living room.

Jasmine nodded her thanks to Jarcee before
closing the door. He would wait and escort her to the nursery after
she made sure her older children were okay.

“Rone is in bed,” Tyrese said, glancing at
Jasmine before placing his hand beneath Rose’s elbow for
support.

“How’s he doing?” Jasmine asked, following
the two into the back room.

“He’ll be fine,” Tyrese mumbled without
looking at her.

“No doubt. But that’s not what I asked,
Rese,” Jasmine said in a stern voice.

“He’s in pain…a lot of pain, but it’s
waning…a little. Maybe with his mate nearby it will get better
faster,” Tyrese said, stopping at the foot of the bed where Tyrone
lay on his stomach. The smell of sweaty, unwashed body and vomit
stained the air in the dark room. Jasmine was tempted to open the
window to let the fresh breeze clear out the odor, but watching
Rose slowly climb into bed, fully dressed, and lie next to Tyrone
made her ask first.

“Does light bother you?”

“Yes,” Tyrone croaked as he touched Rose’s
fingers and then intertwined them.

Now was not the time to repeat her
reservations over what they had done although she yearned to go off
on her son. She never agreed that this was a good idea no matter
how many times both sets of twins had tried to explain. Lilly,
Rose’s twin, and Rose had understood immediately ‘why’ Tyrone and
Tyrese needed to take the shot. The fact that Rose was uneasy about
her
mate taking the shot was a different matter in the young
woman’s mind.

“We grow up in one another’s minds, it’s
like we’re one but different,” Lilly had explained. After going
back and forth with the four of them, Jasmine had finally dropped
the subject, realizing she would never get it.

Backing up, the ripe odor made her nose
itch. She hit the wall and moved to the right of it. “Get some
rest, Rone, and I’ll check on you both later.”

“Thanks, Ma,” he whispered.

“Thanks, Mom,” Rose said, her voice a little
stronger than her mate’s.

Chapter 5

Detective Pete Jennings sat at his desk
staring blindly at the blank form on the monitor. La Patron had
spoken to the Captain, who had cleared the way for him to return to
active duty after his sudden absence. Three and a half weeks ago he
had been laid up on an operating table dying because he had no idea
his wolf was dying, or how to fix with the problem. All his life he
had been taught if he just ignored that side of his personality, it
would go away.

When he was a teen, his mom had signed him
up for a program where he was given bi-annual shots. At the time he
didn’t think much of it. There were no side effects that he was
aware of and he felt fine. By the time he left for college, he no
longer thought of the animal co-existing inside him. He should have
known better, it’s a miracle he made it as far as he had.

Every once in a while his head would hurt or
he’d become nauseous, but those episodes became less over the
years. He shook his head at his ignorance. According to the doctor,
he would have been dead by the end of the year. His wolf had been
that ill. And once his wolf died, he would have simply dropped
dead.

Over the past few weeks Froggy had drilled
every bit of history of the wolf nation into him. He’d been
surprised that Silas Knight had been appointed to the position of
La Patron by the Goddess, the Supreme Being all wolves believed in.
According to Froggy, Silas was the equivalent of the President of
any country. An alpha of his training and choosing led every state
in the United States. Under Silas’ reign the wolf nation had grown
stronger and prospered. He wore the title of the Alpha’s alpha and
ran the world’s largest pack.

Initially, Jennings had balked. The things
he had heard about the Patron over the years didn’t add up. But as
Froggy trained his wolf, Jennings’ mentality underwent a
transformation. His wolf traits superseded his human side. He
embraced the simplicity of pack rules, and craved the comfort and
camaraderie of the local pack. During training he met other
half-breeds like himself from various walks of life, male and
female. And for the first time in years, he knew where he
belonged.

“Merriweather has been calling and wanting
to talk to you,” Captain Samson said, placing a file on his desk.
“While you were out, I assigned the case to Mirrs, but he never did
anything on it. Now that you’re back, see about wrapping this
up.”

Jennings glanced at the file with a sense of
foreboding. Neither he nor his wolf cared for Merriweather. Robert
had been a hired gun who lost his life on the case. Instead of
being glad no one had pressed charges against the criminal, the
family tried to force Silas’ hand in his own yard. Knowing what he
now knew, it sickened him how Merriweather used the law with no
regard for justice or honesty.

“Yes, Sir.”

“He wants to meet with you to show you some
information he has discovered. His phone number and address are in
the file.” The police captain paused. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good, thank you, Sir.” He glanced
briefly at the Captain, who frowned at him.

“Good, good, glad to have you back,” the
Captain mumbled as he strode off.

Jennings wiped his nose. His newly acquired
acute sense of smell and the Captain’s cologne made his eyes water.
Mentally, he dialed back his senses like Froggy had taught him so
he wouldn’t become distracted by all the body odors in the
office.

For a moment, he gazed at the folder. His
instructions from La Patron had been clear. “Close the case.” It no
longer mattered if La Patron was involved in the disappearance of
Merriweather or not. If his Alpha meted out judgment, then Jennings
would uphold that decree. His job now was to protect his Alpha and
his pack. A surge of affirmation from his wolf ran through him. He
and his beast were one on this issue. The question now before him
was how to follow his instructions without raising a flag.