Bad Blood (Book 4 of The Warden series) (4 page)

He took the glasses from her hands and set them back on the coffee table. She waited for him to get up and put away the ouzo or make some attempt to change the subject, but he didn’t. His course tiny fingers pet the back of her head. Her tears subsided, but she didn’t lift her head. The gentle gesture was too precious and unusual to disrupt. After a minute, he paused and moved his hand to her shoulder. The gentle pressure that eased her up wasn’t insistent, but it was enough of a reason to show her face again.

When she looked up, he removed his hand. His face was calm in the face of her blubbering. She expected to see a note of ire in his eyes, but for once, he seemed sympathetic. “My intent is not for you to hate me, on the contrary. I rather like you actually. Well, not when you’re like this.” He smiled to let her know he was joking. She laughed wiping away the remnants of her stalled tears. When the moment of levity passed, he spoke again. “I like you, kid. Damn if I didn’t try not to. You’re arrogant, belligerent, and clumsy, but you’re headstrong and resilient and you’ve made me proud…often.”

Cori drank in the compliments like the water she was still thirsting for. She knew this was probably a moment that wouldn’t be repeated in the future, so she wanted to memorize it, so when he scowled at her or made a biting remark, she wouldn’t have to be so hurt by it.

“Well,” he took the bottle from the coffee table and put it back in the hidden paneled cupboard. “I hope that’s what you wanted to know. It won’t make much of a difference to my curmudgeon façade, but as long as it saves you a few tears in the future, then I suppose it’s worth it.”

He gave her a sympathetic smile as he leaned over to grab the glasses off the coffee table. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. She hadn’t intended to, but she couldn’t think of anything to say that would express her appreciation outside of smothering him with baby kisses, which she knew was well beyond his tolerance.

He paused and squeezed her hand back. She had already gotten more from him in this one afternoon than she could have ever hoped. He leaned over and kissed her forehead and she released his hand. “You should take a nap kid. Between your meds and that booze, you’ll feel better if you do.”

She mumbled in agreement and grabbed the blanket from the end of the couch to snuggle in. She listened to him whistle as he washed up the glasses. When he was finished, he slipped on his jacket. She sensed that he was waiting by the door. She wasn’t sure if he was debating on if he should say goodbye or perhaps just fiddling with his coat. When the door finally clicked closed, she smiled. There was throbbing pain in her shoulder that the pain meds hadn’t even touched. The muscle relaxants combined with the alcohol were adding to her tipsy dizziness. Her stomach was roiling in rejection of the triple mix, but she was happy.

4

Ethan looked over the desk at Danato’s discomfort. He had seen the big man mad, he had seen him worried, and he had seen him sad, but Ethan couldn’t remember a time when he had seen him uncomfortable. He looked like he needed to use the restroom and couldn’t quite find the right position to hold it.

He knew it had nothing to do with Cori’s association with Leona because he was like that from the moment he joined the discussion. If he hadn’t thought it impossible, he would have assumed that Danato was afraid of the woman.

As it turned out, Ethan was one of Leona’s long lost friends too. All the times he had caught sight of a fem-wolf and gone after her, it was apparently Leona he was tracking. According to his friends, the chances he could have caught her were beyond astronomical. Yet, it was those chases that brought her here today.

She needed assistance to get her son back from her mate, a task, which she deemed worthy of Ethan’s expertise. “Forgive me, Leona, if this is a loaded question,” Ethan spoke up after the debate about money had lent itself to passive aggressive insults about the institution Danato holds so dear. “Why is it, with all your strength and prowess, you can’t retrieve your son on your own?”

It must have been a loaded question because the two heads that whipped to him were angry. He shrugged to both of them surrendering to ignorance for his plea. “I’m not questioning your abilities. It’s because of my understanding of them that I can’t quite get a grasp on why you’re asking for help.”

Leona’s expression hardened, translating the anger into resignation. “Because I am with child.” Ethan thought there should have been drums leading up to the statement since she admitted it rather than announcing it.

“I’m sorry, still not understanding. You can’t retrieve your son by yourself because you’re pregnant.” Ethan looked to Danato for the answers. He had read the book on werewolves through and through—for obvious reasons, but the topic of females was vague, bordering on myth.

Danato looked between Leona and Ethan as if asking permission to proceed. “Female werewolves can’t change while they are pregnant. They are often weaker in their human form than the males during this time as well.” Danato settled his gaze on Leona. “It’s also very unusual for a female to get pregnant while she is still nursing, but I suppose that is why he took the child.”

Leona nodded. The scowl on her face told him she wasn’t happy about the path her life had taken. “My beloved mate is forming a pack. He was so impressed with my attributes that he has decided to use me as his sire. He kidnapped my child, and sent one of his minions under my nose during my mating season. Now I am pregnant again, and he will likely attempt to steal this one while I am still nursing and weak.”

“He sounds like a piece of work. Have you consulted with any other hunters?” Ethan asked.

Leona leaned over to Ethan. “They tend to run away from me. You’re the only one who chases me.”

Ethan smiled though he was pretty sure she wasn’t trying to be funny. “So, you want me to hunt down your ex and fetch the baby.”

“No,” Leona rolled her eyes. “I know where he is. If it were simply a matter of fetching, I would do that myself. I need you to keep his goons off my back while I get my baby back.”

Ethan looked over at Danato. He understood why Danato was being uncooperative in this discussion. “You want me to be bait?”

5

Cori woke on the couch several hours later. The dizziness was gone, but it was replaced by a headache. She probably shouldn’t have played doctor and bartender in the same day. Lucky for her, the throbbing pain was back in her shoulder, so she could start the process all over again.

She hoped against hope that Belus had remembered to leave her pain meds behind, but she didn’t see them anywhere. Since she had to fetch her coat anyway, she decided to head back to the prison.

She grabbed Danato’s spare jacket and headed straight to the prison. The air was already starting to cool, but the sun was still up. She was tempted to start exploring the grounds before it got too dark, but her shoulder demanded otherwise.

Once inside she put Danato’s jacket back into his locker and headed to the elevator. She considered taking the stairs given the time the elevator took, but she thought it might aggravate her headache. With a
ponk,
the doors opened. Belus stepped out carrying her jacket.

“I was just coming to get that,” she said taking it from him.

“I was just heading back to get you.”

“I was coming to find you. Please tell me you have my pain pills.”

“Yeah, come with me.” He moved past her and headed toward Danato’s office. “Danato wants to talk with you.”

She groaned and followed. “I just woke up. I can’t possibly be in trouble already.”

“You’re not in trouble and yes, it’s possible.” He looked back at her with smirk so she knew he was joking. It was true, but it was still funny. “He wants to talk to you about Ethan.”

“What about Ethan?” Cori slowed as they entered the narrow hallway.

“Exactly,” Belus said. She started to ask another question. “Come on.” She stepped up her pace and reached the door with him.

Inside, Danato was strumming his fingers on the desk. He looked exhausted. She sat down in front of his desk and tried to discern his mood: tired, angry, worried?

Belus brought over a set of pills and a cup of water from the water cooler that wasn’t cool. She downed the pills and leaned back in the chair. She knew the pills couldn’t take effect that fast, but she felt better already.

“Cori, I’m going to have to let Ethan leave the prison to help Leona.”

She stopped feeling better. “What?”

“Leona is in need of some assistance and…”

“Bullshit, she’s a freaking werewolf! The only assistance she needs is picking the meat from her teeth after a kill.”

“She has requested Ethan’s help, because…”

“No shit she wants Ethan! She wants to get back at me for ruining her chances with Vince. She wants revenge.”

“Leona is unable to…”

“She can…”

Danato slammed his fist on his desk. “Don’t interrupt me!” He bellowed showing the short fuse the day had left him. “Leona’s baby has been taken by the father. Werewolves have particular rules on mating and child rearing. This is a violation of those rules. I’m not going to go into detail, but we are under obligations to protect werewolf children.”

“Why?” Cori asked succeeding in sounding as bitter as a six-year-old—her designated theme for the day.

“It’s part of the deal; old, longstanding prison rules. We used to protect a good number of werewolves during their moon cycle, and in exchange, they would hunt down troublesome supernaturals for us. The origin of our employee hunters is from those original contracts. The first hunters didn’t hunt werewolves, they were werewolves.”

“Since when do werewolves need protection during their moon cycle?”

“Since the time that they were rendered nearly extinct by human poachers.”

“Did they ever house female werewolves?”

“Females don’t change while they’re pregnant. They also aren’t as strong during pregnancy and while nursing. Since the mating cycle to weaning is over one year female werewolves are virtually harmless until they go into estrus again.”

“Harmless?”

“Don’t get me wrong, they still have superior human strength and senses, but they are at least manageable.”

“Leona is not manageable. We have a history. I can’t trust her with Ethan.”

“She wouldn’t dare hurt one of my hunters. The Council—”

“I’m not worried about her hurting him!” Cori interrupted.

Danato slowly gleaned her meaning and looked back at Belus. “Do you trust Ethan?”

“Of course, but…”

“Then that’s all that matters.”

Cori furrowed her brow. “He’s already agreed to this hasn’t he?”

“Yes,” Cori threw her head back. “But I didn’t exactly give him a choice. The old rules may be antiquated, but keeping a good rapport with the werewolf population is important. Aside from income to the prison, they aren’t exactly a group you want to be in opposition with.”

“I suppose what he’s about to undertake is highly dangerous.”

Danato waffled as if he were rolling a few different phrases for “yes” around on his tongue. “Yes.” Apparently, there wasn’t any sugar to coat it with.

“Goddamn it,” Cori whispered. “I lost six weeks of my marriage to a transmorph. Now we’re going to be apart again.”

“Days Cori. You’ll have him back sometime next week.”

Cori’s body shot up in the chair. “He hasn’t left yet, has he?”

“No, he recruited one of the guards to finish tucking our dragon in,” Danato said.

“When is he leaving?”

“Tomorrow,” Danato said.

Cori wasn’t much happier at the sound of that, but at least she got one more night with him to properly say goodbye. Unlike the last time he left.

6

Ethan finished closing the exterior hangar doors with Duke’s help. The dragon was already sound asleep and would likely be for the next few days. Belus had told him the creatures were like big cats, but Ethan thought they were more like bears. They spent much of the cold months in a half hibernation mode. The only exercise she got was when they dragged her out for training, which was, only a few times a month. “Walking” the big creature was only a once a month thing, and only when the temperature was reasonable or she simply wouldn’t leave her cave.

“Is that locked?” Ethan called over to Duke.

“Yeah, boss.” Duke gave him a thumbs-up as he headed into the gym. “Wouldn’t want anyone to steal our dragon?”

“No, we wouldn’t. We aren’t insured for that.” Ethan met up with him and patted him on the back. As they came into the gym, he could see Cori at the entrance looking peevish. He could tell she had spoken to Danato. He could already predict how happy she was. “Duke hit that lever on your way out.”

“No problem, boss,” Duke said as he headed on without him.