Unleashed by Shadows (By Moonlight Book 10) (27 page)

She stood taller, eyes narrowing slightly. “You were expecting Xena? Or Mother Teresa?”

“A lion tamer, actually. Welcome to NOLA and my home.”

Kendra relaxed, taking the offered hand with its strong grip. Now here was a true queen worthy of her mate. An immediate presence exuding control, capability, and ultimate cool.

Then she saw the earring.

That huge gaudy diamond gleamed with spotlight intensity above a more modest and classy pearl stud. Surprise settled into a slow, smoldering ferocity.

Seeing the quick change of her mood and its cause, Cee Cee laughed and removed the diamond, extending it to her casually with no emotional strings attached, saying, “I was holding this for Cale so he wouldn’t give his cover away. I wanted it somewhere he could see it and know it was safe. I forgot I was wearing it when I left on my honeymoon. It was in good hands, and now I return it to yours. It must have a very special meaning since Nica had to practically wrestle him to the ground to take it from him.”

Kendra stared at the vibrant gem for a long moment then affixed it in her empty ear as a match to the other she wore. “Thank you. For protecting him in my absence.”

“Where is he?” She glanced about and up the stairs as if expecting the sight of him.

“Probably at work trying to save your city and our people.”

A knowing smile. “And you don’t like it a bit.” Before Kendra could explain, she added, “Join the club.”

“Kendra’s staying with us,” Brigit announced, adding more meaningfully, “Tina and Oscar, too.”

Cee Cee arched a brow at that but only said, “It’s good to have a full house to come home to. I’ll expect to be filled in after we get settled.”

Trouble arrived before they had that chance. Kendra’s pulse leapt even before she got a tight grip on her emotions. Cale.

He strode in with obvious familiarity of the home’s owners, greeting Savoie with a firm grip of his hand and elbow bump.

“You’re back. You looked rested.” A smirk froze on his face when he saw Kendra. She couldn’t measure his response through the dark glasses he wore.

“And you look like hell,” Max said, glancing intuitively between them. Then his attention was drawn to a newcomer who was obviously a Terriot, dragging a reluctant female wearing a nightdress under a man’s jacket. “More company?”

“My brother Turow. She’s not a guest. She’s a prisoner.”

Sylvia Terriot. Kendra had no time to glory in her reduced and bedraggled situation. But she did have plenty of questions for her mate who asked of their host, “Do you have someplace I can stow her that’s secure, and she can’t talk her way out of?”

“I do.” Max gestured to the pair of guards who’d arrived in the presence of strangers. “Take her to the Quonset. Carefully.”

The duo removed Sylvia from Turow’s care, leaving him free to cross to Kendra. He startled her by dropping to one knee with the respectful murmur of, “My queen. Two accounted for and one to go. I’d hoped to be more efficient.”

Then she surprised him by bending to hug him tight whispering, “Thank you,” against his ear.

“No. Thank me when I bring my brother to you in chains.”

Though distracted by the two of them and their intimate conversation, Cale’s focus was on the New Orleans leader.

“Rueben Guedry is in the city. We had an informal chat last night. He’s eager to discuss the current problems.”

“So am I,” Max agreed. He shared a speaking glance with Cee Cee. “I take it things have gone to hell in our absence.”

Cale smiled. “They were heading there all on their own.”

Max glanced at his bags and longingly toward the stairs then sighed. “Does Silas know all this?”

A slight stiffening of his features. “Not yet.”

Max looked to his mate, who shrugged off the unspoken question, saying, “Go ahead. I need to check in with the chief and Babs. I’m sure the NOPD has had a crisis or two of its own they need to share with me.”

Max nodded, then told Cale, “We’ll make it a breakfast meeting in my city office so you can bring us up to speed.”

“Turow has more information on James. I’d like my other brother Colin to sit in as well. He’ll be handling things here for our clan.”

That was news to Kendra. She wasn’t sure whether it was fantastic or dreadful.

Cale plucked at his dirty clothes that smelled of fire and deadly doings. “Give me a minute to clean up first.”

As he started to turn away, Max caught his wrist. “Are you all right?”

“Sure. Just filthy and tired. It’s been a long night.”

“Are you staying here?” A subtle nod toward Kendra.

Cale followed his gesture, muttering a vague, “For now.”

He had to pass Kendra to get to the stairs. She waited, hands gripped together so she wouldn’t reach out to him as he drew near to murmur carefully, “My queen. You’re still here.”

“For now.”

He digested that clipped response without any betraying reaction. After a moment’s hesitation, he continued up the stairs at a brisk trot. She didn’t dare turn to watch him go. Turow drew her away from the other two women.

“Is he all right?” Turow asked, echoing Savoie’s concern as his shrewd gaze followed after his brother.

“No,” was all she said before gripping Turow’s arm. “Stay close to him. He needs you to remind him of what’s important. And I need you to keep him safe.”

“From what, my queen?”

“Everything, including himself.”

He didn’t question and that’s what she loved about Turow, the nearly monastic Terriot prince in the House of rampant excess. He said little but saw much. He acted rarely, but while silent, those actions spoke of his incredible loyalty to his family and now, especially to his king and queen.

“You brought in Sylvia.”

Her comment earned a rare response. He blinked and drew a sudden breath before giving his impassive answer. “I did.”

Ah. Not so monastic after all.

Careful not to embarrass him with what she’d discovered, she added, “And Martine?”

“She took her own life rather than give away her secrets.”

There was more. Something that made him uncomfortable. But that’s all she’d get out of him for the moment. She let him change the subject.

“Colin brought you to New Orleans?”

“Rico and Kip are here, too.” She sketched out a brief outline of the game they’d been playing, and his intensity deepened into concern.

“Cale is a fool.” A shocking but not incorrect assumption. “He has no business endangering himself or his crown.”

What had Cee Cee said, echoing her own feelings?  Join the club?

“I don’t know his reasons, Turow, but he believes they’re sound. I believe they’re going to get him killed. Please don’t let that happen.”

“I won’t, my queen.”

They both turned at the sound of the king in question on the stairs. He’d quickly showered and changed into a sleek grey pullover and black cargo pants he’d tucked into loosely laced boots, making a strong, lean silhouette with jaw gripped and hands fisted. The rest he hid behind the sunglasses.

For a moment, Kendra feared he’d brush right past her without acknowledgement. But he paused beside her at a cautious distance to utter one word that spoke sonnets.

“Stay.”

And he walked away in that quick impatient stride, eager to meet danger head on. Turow gave her a slight nod and fell in at his heels.

Her heart and hopes followed.

Oscar came downstairs disappointed that last minute homework prevented him from seeing Cale and meeting another uncle. Max softened that regret by saying he’d ride into the city with him and Giles.  After Ozzy gave his mother a quick hug and endured her kiss, he hustled after Giles while Max took an extra moment to embrace his warrior bride.

“And so it begins again,” he murmured.

“Would you have it any other way?” she chided with a smile.

“I won’t be long.”

“Yes, you will. Play nice, big fella.”

A toothy grin. “Yes, ma’am.”

Then it was just the four females and the big empty house.

“You know what I’m thinking,” Brigit began.

“I’m afraid to ask.”

She grinned at Cee Cee’s caution. “Time for some serious girl talk.”

*

Savoie’s stylish office was in a renovated building by the water front. His assistant, Marissa, brought coffee and set up an impromptu continental breakfast bar while Silas and Nica filled him in on the situation with Warren Brady and Casper Lee, and in New Orleans as a whole. He wasn’t pleased by what had transpired in his city during his brief absence.

“I picked a helluva time to get married,” the Shifter leader commented after the colorful tale concluded. “But I don’t regret it.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair, fingers tented. “So you don’t know who this woman is that your cousin has stashed on my grounds,” he asked Silas.

“If Turow had her, I’m guessing it’s Sylvia Terriot.”

“Any clue as to what she might have to do with the Guedrys, who also seem to have free run of our streets?”

A guilty shrug. “Cale’s been rogue for the past few days. I have no idea what’s going on with him.”

“He’s in trouble, Max,” Nica interjected quietly. “He won’t come to us for help. Maybe he’d talk to you or at least listen.”

Before Max could reply, the door opened to usher in the Terriot contingent of Cale, Turow and Colin. As soon as Cale made the introductions between Max and Colin, his brother targeted the breakfast buffet to load up on carbs and caffeine while Turow assumed a watchful stance behind Cale’s chair.

“What the hell are you up to, Cale?” Silas began less than diplomatically.

He regarded MacCreedy through his dark lenses and began a drawling recitation. “Lemme see. Found out my co-worker was gathering information for Rueben, and that the hottie both my brothers are screwing knows who I am and is playing Rueben off Casper Lee.”

Colin choked on his Danish.

“Rueben and I had a nice little chat. He doesn’t trust any of us but trusts those up North even less. He’d tell us to go get fucked except he’s got a personal interest at stake.” He nodded to Silas to subtly point out the tie to his sister. “He’s worried that someone in his clan’s muscling in on him and that somebody is the go between for James and our pals in the North.

“Found out from Lee, when he invited me for a sleep over, that Martine had a cure for the Kick addiction, so Philo Tibideaux and I met up with Row at her place in the Garden District. After she offed herself rather than share her secrets, I took her daughter prisoner and burned down the place over her bitch ass.” He paused, waiting for a stunned Silas to comment but when he just blinked in disbelief, Cale asked mildly, “So what have you been doing?”

“Ho-ly Shit!” Silas gaped at him. “You burned everything? How could you be so monumentally stupid?”

Both Colin and Turow immediately bristled at the insult to their king, but Max waved them back cautioning Silas, “Let him finish.”

“After I took her daughter, her belongings, and samples of all her crops. Tibideaux has everything except the lovely Sylvia stored in a locked warehouse on the docks. I thought we’d ask Susanna LaRoche to take a look at what we collected after she takes a sample of my blood for comparison. She’s a smart female. If anyone can put it together, she can.”

Silas just stared at him for a long moment then said, “You figured this out all on your own?”

“And I wasn’t even wearing my good clothes.” He leaned back in his chair looking smug and satisfied.

“Well done,” Max pronounced to all of them. Then to Cale, more personally, “Now, what can we do for you?”

“What?”

“How can we help put you back together?”

Max had been watching him carefully, noting the unsteadiness of his hands, the perspiration rimming his brow, the fact that he didn’t take off his dark glasses even though the room was comfortably dim. His color was bad, his features skeletal, his respirations coming in quick little snatches. Silas was right. He was a raw nerve on the edge of implosion.

“I’m fine. I’m okay.”

Max smiled. “You’d say that if we were pulling out your fingernails.”

Cale catapulted out of his chair. “I said I’m fine! Could I have wrapped all this up in a pretty ribbon if I wasn’t fine? Instead of interrogating me, we should be pulling out Sylvia’s fingernails. I’m sure there’s something she’s forgotten to tell us.” He began to pace, steps fast, path growing erratic as his thoughts flew ahead. 

“I need to hook back up with Lee, work him if he doesn’t know who I am yet. With the supply here gone, he’ll be anxious to reach out to James, probably through Maisy J’s, that place over in Algiers Babineau, Colin, and I went to.” His thoughts and speech rapid cycled, coming faster and faster until Silas put himself into his path to catch hold of his arms.

“Cale, sit down.”

Cale pushed his hands off as if they represented a threat. “Don’t touch me! Don’t you try to handle me.” He grabbed for a breath, gasping when it escaped him. He took a sudden faltering step to the right. His brothers were instantly there on either side to back him or protect him, fierce, immobile sentinels. He clutched at them, struggling for balance as his rant continued with an escalating rage toward his perceived nemesis.

“It galls you, doesn’t it? Galls you to no end that I might actually be one up on you. You brought us here to run interference for you so we’d take all the hits while you just slip in behind our body count smelling fresh as a daisy to claim the credit. We are not your trained animals, to jump when you snap your fingers, to lie down at your command, to beg for your approval. We are the House of Terriot. We are fucking warriors, not children! Not a one of us needs you to tell us what to do. You think the Guedrys are the only thing you have to worry about? Maybe you’d better think again. Maybe you’d best start worrying about us.”

Silas tried to close the distance between them, to get him to see reason, but Colin and Turow closed ranks, warning him back with their menacing scowls.

“Dammit,” Silas shouted at them, “can’t you see he’s lost it, that he’s out of control?”

With a war cry, Cale hurtled between his brothers, ripping the knife from his boot, swinging a vicious arc that would have taken out MacCreedy’s throat if Colin hadn’t whipped a solid arm about his chest like a steel band about a barrel to yank him off his feet. As he turned Cale away, Turow placed himself between them and the rest of the room, hands up to warn them back.