Fragile Brilliance (Shifters & Seers) (7 page)

Whenever Charlie found his nephew, he was going to kill him. His entire day had gone to hell the moment Lizzie sent him a text to say he needed to tell the teachers it was okay to let her grab Layne’s homework. He’d done as she asked, and then he’d gone out to find where in the hell Layne was if he wasn’t at school.

Not that Charlie knew what to do with the kid once he found him. Most days Charlie felt like he wasn’t old enough to take care of himself. There was absolutely no way he was capable of taking care of a punk-ass thirteen year old with more issues than a former Disney Channel star.

Over the past three hours Charlie had trampled over every inch of the farm. It would have been more efficient and caused his leg a lot less grief to take the ATV, but he’d abandoned that route after only ten minutes when he picked up on a strange, chemical scent. They were just a few days away from the new moon, so his nose wasn’t exactly at Superman levels, but it was strong enough to know it was one of those scent-eliminating things hunters used. He might have thought some poor guy had mistakenly wandered onto their property if anything had been in season and it wasn’t just a few feet from the house. Since he couldn’t follow the trail if the scent was overwhelmed by the smell of gasoline, he jumped off the four-wheeler and started walking the property. Knowing someone would purposefully mask their scent and then sneak onto Alpha Pack property was bothersome enough, but when he came across a second scent, Charlie got worried.

The second trail was more recent, and unlike the first one, he could pick up on a hint of the original human scent beneath the ridiculous amount of perfumes. It was like someone had poured bottles of every artificially fragranced thing they could find in a tub and then taken a bath.

He had intended to call in some reinforcements, but he’d left his phone somewhere again, and he wasn’t about to run back to the house and lose the trail, so he’d continued on. Now, three hours later with nothing to show for his efforts, other than a gnawing sense of hunger, he questioned the validity of that decision.

He was ready to give up when he recognized Jase’s Escalade parked by the gym. He was a few feet from the door when it burst open and a girl spilled out, doubling over and emptying up the contents of her stomach onto the ground the moment she was outside.

“Maggie!” Talley called as she came running out behind her. The moment she saw Charlie, Talley squealed and raced past the girl, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing with more strength than he thought she had in her.

“Geez, Tal. I’ve missed you, too.” When she didn’t stop her attempt to crush his internal organs, he said, “You remember you have a boyfriend, right?”

As if on cue, Jase came out of the barn. It took him about three steps to get to Charlie. Instead of pulling his girlfriend off his cousin, he wrapped his own arms around Charlie.

“Not only is this weird and creepy, it hurts.” Charlie thought his liver might be damaged, and he was confident he’d have bruises on his arms thanks to Jase.

Jase pulled back and then punched Charlie as hard as he could on the arm. “Where the hell is your phone?”

“I don’t know,” Charlie said, rubbing his shoulder. He wondered if he could grab an ice pack out of the fridge without Jase calling him a pansy. “I think it’s…” During the course of becoming the meat in a Jase-and-Talley sandwich (which was even more wrong once he thought about it in those terms), Charlie had forgotten about the puking girl, but the sound of the barn door opening yet again pulled his attention back in that direction.

Joshua stood next to her, his hands tucked in his pockets and an aw-shucks-I’m-not-dangerous look on his face. The girl didn’t look like she was buying it at all. In fact, she looked like a cornered animal, and Charlie knew from experience that when a smaller, less dominant animal was trapped by a bigger, scarier one, they generally did something dangerously stupid. He knew Joshua wouldn’t hurt anyone unless they deserved it, but he also knew accidents happened. Charlie didn’t like accidents.

“Who is your friend, Joshua?” The girl’s head jerked up. Her eyes were so black Charlie couldn’t tell where the iris stopped and the pupil began. It made her look even more shocked and frightened, which was saying something, because he thought she was about to completely freak out before he even saw her face.

“Charlie Hagan!” Joshua called out. “You live! Excellent!”

Charlie looked down at Talley, who was still semi-wrapped around his waist. “You thought I was dead?”

“No. No, of course not,” she said.

Charlie raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, maybe a little.”

“We only thought you were partially dead,” Jase said in some crazy accent. “But you had to live for true love, so…” He shrugged. “We brought you back.”

The new girl blinked her pretty black eyes. “Does he ever make sense?”

“Nope,” Joshua said as Charlie said, “Not really.” Talley was a little more generous with her assessment of “sometimes.”

Since Talley had finally let him go, Charlie walked over to where the new girl was standing. “Since my so-called friends completely lack anything resembling manners, I suppose I’ll have to introduce myself.” He stuck out his hand and plastered on the smile he’d spent weeks perfecting. If you didn’t look too horribly close, it could almost pass as real. “I’m Charlie Hagan.”

“Maggie McCray,” she said, her hand small and soft inside his own. “I know we just met, but I’m glad you’re not dead.”

The carefully practiced smile felt a little less practiced. “Well, it’s good to know you don’t want me dead, Maggie McCray. It seems like a rather auspicious start for our friendship.”

Maggie McCray reminded him of the vibrant glass birds his mother collected. Part of it was the clothes she wore. The dress was old-timey looking, a bright yellow fabric that buttoned down the front, came to a cinch at the bright red belt around her waist, and then flared out to stop just above her knees. She was wearing a pair of bright green sandals, and her toes were painted a shocking color of orange.

Her clothes were so distracting you almost missed how she was quite possibly the smallest full-grown human ever. Charlie was a far cry from Liam-the-Giant-sized, but she still only came to his chest. Everything about her looked small and delicate and untamed, from those coal black eyes that tilted down slightly at the corners to the wild springs of short, tight black curls having a party on her head. Her dark skin looked soft and fragile, and for some reason Charlie couldn’t help but think about how it would taste.

Probably because it looks like it belongs on an ad for fancy chocolate,
he thought, trying not to stare at where said skin was trembling over the pulse in her neck.
Maybe this is how the vampire legend was born. Some idiot saw a hot girl with skin he knew would taste like heaven and was stupid enough to take a bite.

Which was a completely inappropriate thought. This was the Seer who didn’t approach the Alpha Pack when she first moved into their territory and then refused an audience with Scout at the hustings. He shouldn’t be thinking about how tiny and pretty and tasty she looked.

The barn door swung open again, stopping him from doing anything really stupid, like licking the poor girl’s neck. He barely had time to catch it before it slammed into the side of his head. He might have cursed about that, but he was too busy delighting in Maggie’s wide-eyed awe of his Shifter reflexes. He didn’t let himself think about how there would be even more wonder and surprise on her face if it had been Liam or even Jase standing there. He might not be the most dominant Shifter, but he wasn’t exactly an Omega. If she wanted to think he was a scary Dominant, then he’d let her. It would do her some good to be afraid of him and everyone else in the Alpha Pack.

“Charlie, thank God,” Liam said as he emerged from the barn the two of them had renovated into a place for the Alpha Pack to work out. Charlie knew he meant the words even though there was nothing in his voice that sounded like relief. Liam didn’t say things he didn’t mean. “I thought you were dead.”

“You know, you all keep saying that. It makes a guy wonder.”

Liam rubbed the back of his head. “You need to see this,” he said. “All of you do.”

Charlie could feel Maggie stiffen beside him, which was ridiculous because she was at least four inches away. “I’ve already seen, thank you.”

“No, there’s more.” Liam rubbed the back of his head again and Charlie felt the familiar tendrils of dread sneak through his body.

“Whatever it is, it’s Shifter business. It doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“I’m sorry, Maggie, but you really need to see this.”

“What do you See?” Charlie asked her.

“I don’t.”

“You don’t what?”

“She doesn’t See,” Jase said.

“But Liam just said—“

“Little ’s’ see. Not big ’s’ See,” Liam clarified. “Maggie is a Thaumaturgic. And an artist.”

The last part sounded like an accusation, and Charlie wasn’t the only one to pick up on it.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Luckily, Maggie sounded confused instead of like she was challenging the Alpha Male. That could have gone very badly.

“It means they left a calling card,” Liam said. “A giant, painted calling card, and I need you to come and see it.”

Maggie’s eyes flicked over to Jase’s Escalade.

“Running will just make you look guilty.” Maggie wouldn’t look at him, but the big, shaky breath she drew into her lungs let him know she heard him and was considering his words. “Liam isn’t the kind of guy who would ask you to do something if he didn’t really need you to do it.”

He’d asked so very little of Charlie over the years and always for a purpose. Anyone else in Liam’s position would have made Charlie run the gauntlet just for the satisfaction of seeing him do it. Hell, most people in Liam’s position would have killed Charlie two years ago instead of treating him first as an ally and later a brother. There wasn’t anything Charlie wouldn’t do for Liam now, including making sure Maggie followed his orders. He would rather get her inside with the power of persuasion, but if he had to, he would resort to other means.

He really hoped the persuasion tactic would work.

“Come on,” he said, once again plastering on that practiced smile. “How bad can it be?”

Black eyes met his. He thought she was going to say something, but instead she puked again.

Maggie had missed the space-age kitchen the first time she’d been in the barn thanks to the distraction of the dead body. It was nestled off in a corner just inside the door. The new guy, Charlie, came back from the shiny Goliath-sized fridge with a bottle of water. “I also grabbed you one of these,” he said, dropping a piece of cellophane-wrapped candy into her hand. “My mom swears by peppermint as a cure for unhappy stomachs. I don’t know if it really works, but I thought it was worth a shot.”

“Thank you,” she muttered, appreciative of both the water and the mint. Her stomach wasn’t really upset - well, not any more upset than the rest of her - but it would at least help with her breath. Maybe it was the real reason he’d handed it to her and he’d just made up the stuff about his mom using it as medicine so she wouldn’t be embarrassed.

Maggie caught a flash of white out of the corner of her eye, which was all the warning she had before a large white wolf soared past her and plowed into Charlie’s chest. “Oooaf!” Charlie stumbled back a few steps, but remained on his feet. “Hey there, Scout. Showing off for our new guest are we?” She licked his face a few times and he pushed her away, complaining about wolf saliva and doggie breath.

Maggie sucked a little harder on her peppermint.

They were standing outside the opening of the kitchen, so it only took a few seconds for him to walk over to the fridge, pull it open, and grab one of those giant containers of lunchmeat you can only find at one of those big box stores like Sam’s Club or Costco. He pulled off the top and sat it down in front of Scout, who quickly devoured the entire contents.

“Anyone want to fill me in on what’s going on around here? Not that I don’t appreciate the whole Charlie Love Fest, but it’s starting to freak me out.”

Maggie couldn’t believe he’d missed it since it was the only thing she could see. She was purposefully standing with her back to it, but every time she blinked, there it was, hiding on the inside of her eyelids. The back of her neck was staying all prickly as if it could feel the man’s dead eyes looking straight at her.

“Vincent Barros is dead,” Liam said from the kitchen where he was filling a Spider-Man themed popcorn bowl with water.

“Barros…” Charlie tapped his fingers against his thigh. “Pack Leader from Wyoming, right? He was supposed to talk to you guys about some territory issues, but never showed up.”

Liam nodded. “He was murdered.”

Charlie flinched, the first real sign of emotion she’d seen in him. Sure, he’d smiled and grimaced at all the appropriate places up until that point, but he looked like an elaborate robot programmed to do what was expected of him.

Input: Meet new person. Action: Smile, shake hand, and make polite small talk, complete with witty rapport.

Input: Discover new person is a Thaumaturgic. Action: Assess her from head to toe, determining the best ways to end her life.

It wasn’t so much the memory of the dead body as the realization she might be the next body hanging from the ceiling that had her throwing up the second time.

Her stomach still quivered, but it was more from fear, embarrassment, and anger than a need to regurgitate the contents of her stomach, not that there was anything left to barf up. What she couldn’t figure out was why she was so damn embarrassed. Sure, if she’d puked on the feet of a guy at school it would have been just cause for humiliation, but Charlie wasn’t just some random attractive stranger. He was a Shifter, and that cold, dead look in his eye told her he wouldn’t have any problem sending her soul to the afterlife. She felt certain hers wouldn’t be the first he’d sent there, which was all kinds of disturbing. He couldn’t be much older than her, maybe twenty or so, but he looked harder than anyone her age should. Even Liam, who was the exact sort of person you would avoid meeting in a dark alley, had more compassion and sympathy in his gaze than Charlie.

Of course, the humiliation might have something to do with the degree of attractiveness in said random attractive stranger. The Alpha Pack already looked like the pages of a fashion magazine exploded. Jase looked like he just stepped away from a pretty-boy photo shoot; Talley might actually be a plus-sized fashion model (Maggie was certain she’d seen her somewhere before); Liam was more action hero than pretty boy, but still the kind of person a camera couldn’t help but love; and Scout was the epitome of high-end fashion model. A bit of make-up and some outrageous clothes and she was a double-page spread in
Vogue
just waiting to happen. Even Joshua was strangely fascinating to look at. It wasn’t hard to picture him in nerd glasses and suspenders in some pretentious Target ad.

Yet even though she was standing in what could pass as the waiting room at Ford Models, Maggie couldn’t keep her eyes off of Charlie. His bone structure was amazing. Sharp cheeks, a classic Greek nose, and a long, slim jawline created a play of highlights and shadows across skin which had obviously spent a lot of time in the sun. His eyes were similar to Jase’s, a true grass green surrounded by dark lashes. But while Jase’s eyes said, “Let’s have fun,” Charlie’s eyes whispered secrets. They were terrible, horrific secrets, but they were secrets all the same, and Maggie was fascinated by secrets. Almost as fascinated as she was with his mouth.

It should be illegal for boys to have mouths like that. His lips were perfectly shaped, their lush softness was an intriguing contrast to the sharpness in every other facet of his being. Even pursed together in concentration they were beautiful, but when his smiled…

Dear God, when he smiled. Maggie could only imagine what would happen if he really, truly smiled. It would probably blind everyone on earth. That was probably why he didn’t actually let loose and do it. He was saving the world, one fake smile at a time.

“And we know he was murdered how?”

Jase cleared his throat, his pallor taking on a decidedly green tone. “Because it’s really hard to stab yourself multiple times by accident.”

Maggie’s stomach quivered yet again. She had only caught a glimpse of the body, and hadn’t really paid enough attention to see how he died. Although, once she thought about it, she supposed all the blood across his midsection should have been a clue.

The only indication Charlie heard the other Shifter was a slight raise of the eyebrows. “Body?”

Jase pointed up, and Charlie’s eyes followed the motion. There was no doubt the moment his eyes landed on Vincent Barros. His Adam’s apple convulsed in his throat, making Maggie feel a little bit better about her own reaction.

“What the hell did they do to the body?”

Liam ran a hand over his face, and for the first time, Maggie noticed he looked more ashen than he had earlier. Perhaps dead bodies weren’t as common around here as she thought. Or maybe it was the just the state of this particular dead body that had everyone so upset.

“It’s been… posed,” Liam said, his voice rough. “You all need to come upstairs.” His fingers caressed the silvery white fur on top of Scout’s head as she wound around his ankles. She was tall enough he didn’t even have to bend down to do it. “Even you,” he told the wolf whose pale blue eyes were focused on his face. “Care to come on two legs?”

Scout gave Liam’s leg one last nuzzle and then trotted off towards the door leading outside. Liam stood and watched until she was out of sight, and since the rest of them didn’t have anything else to do, they watched him.

That wasn’t quite true, Maggie thought. Charlie still watched the dead body as if he expected it to get up off the chains holding it and do a dance. She couldn’t decide if she thought it was brave or crazy to look at it for so long. She’d lasted all of two seconds, and that was two seconds too long, in her opinion. There was a chance she’d never be able to have a good night’s sleep again.

“Let’s go,” Liam said, turning to lead the way up the stairs. Jase was close behind him, Talley’s hand held tight in his. Joshua wasn’t too far behind, and Charlie started to follow behind him, but he stopped at the base of the stairs.

“Maggie?”

She jerked back, startled to hear her own name.

“You coming?” he asked.

“No thanks.” Was he insane? There was no way she was going up there. “I’ve had enough dead body for one day, thank you. I’ll just…” What would she do? They were pretty far from the picnic area, but she wasn’t opposed to walking. If everyone else was still there, surely someone would drive her back to school.

“Sorry, but that’s not an option.” Maggie jumped again, this time because Scout had popped up behind her like some sort of more-terrifying-than-usual Jack-in-the-Box. Scout was tugging on the edge of her shirt, probably because it was the only thing she was wearing. It was big on her - if Maggie was guessing she would say it belonged to Liam - but Scout was a tall girl. If Maggie tried hard enough she would be able to see the other girl’s butt cheeks. “I’ve got to grab some pants out of the locker room,” she said, although Maggie wondered why she bothered. It wasn’t like everyone hadn’t seen all there was to see of Scout when she decided to go all Alcide Herveaux earlier. “Wait for me. We’ll go up together.”

Maggie considered just making a run for it, and had almost talked herself into it when Scout emerged from a door on the opposite wall, a pair of leggings making her decent once again.

“I don’t want to,” Maggie said. It made her sound weak and the furthest from brave you could get, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to see the body. Or smell it. She was pretty sure she could already smell the rot and decay, but she was telling herself it was just a figment of her imagination to keep the lining of her stomach where it was.

Scout stopped directly in front of her, which meant Maggie had to tilt her head back to see her face. Normally Maggie didn’t get too upset over the fact she wasn’t even five feet tall, but she hated how Scout could intimidate her just because God gave her legs the same length as Maggie’s entire body. “Like I said, not an option.” Cold eyes bore into hers and Maggie realized it probably wasn’t just the extra seven or so inches that made Scout so intimidating. It could also have something to do with the way those teeth she was baring could turn into razor sharp Maggie-shredding weapons.

“I’m not one of you,” Maggie said, trying to make her voice sound as mature and authoritative as possible. Just because she felt like a little kid facing off with the Big Bad Wolf didn’t mean she had to act like one. “This isn’t my business, and I’m not going to let you make it my business.” The more she talked, the angrier she got. How dare they drag her out here in the middle of nowhere where she would be surrounded by Shifters and death? “I don’t know what you want from me, but you’re not getting it. I don’t care who you are or what you can do to me. This?” She gestured her arms around wildly, trying to encompass everything from the multi-million dollar estate to the elaborate barn-turned-mega-gym to the Shifters and Seers who inhabited the place to the dead body upstairs. “It’s crazy. It’s not part of my world, and I’m not going to be dragged into it, no matter who or what you think I might be.”

Maggie was so worked up her breath was coming in rough pants. Scout, on the other hand, looked bored.

“You’re not part of this world? This isn’t your business?” Scout leaned forward, her head hovering above Maggie. “You willing to put money on that?”