Breaking Out (23 page)

I hugged him then stepped away. He went home
that night and I put in a call to my dad. You know, just to catch
up.

IVY

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Someone
knocked while I was soaking in the tub. “If you open that door, I’m
going to drown you the next time we’re in the ocean.”

Jay laughed. “Hey, I’ve seen plenty of naked
females.”

“And I needed to hear that?”

“I mean ‘cause I’m a shifter. We strip before
we shift so we don’t rip our clothes. In high school…”

“Yeah, I don’t need the details. But thanks.
Why did you knock?”

“I wanted to remind you that you’ve been in
there for an hour.”

“I need to soak in water everyday for at
least thirty minutes.”

“I repeat. One hour.”

“I’ll be out soon.”

“And your suggestion is that in the meantime
I go pee on a tree?’

“I thought bears were used to going in the
woods.”

“Ha ha. Funny.”

“What’s up with the other bathroom?”

“Rylen just got in the tub.”

“You can pee in there. You’re both guys.”

“If it was Charlie, yeah, but Rylen’s the
heir to the throne and our guest. It wouldn’t be cool.”

“I’m getting out now.”

“Can I watch?”

“If you want to die today.”

“I’ll be right here in the hall.
Waiting.”

Two minutes later I was wrapped in a large
towel with another towel around my hair. I opened the door and he
was leaning against the wall, looking all sexy in his jeans and
that tee shirt that I might have thought was a size to small if he
didn’t have the kind of body that made
my
body tingle all
over. I didn’t say anything as I passed him, the distance between
us only a few inches, but I felt his gaze on me the whole way down
the hall until I entered my room.

What the hell was I thinking? My dad and my
sisters needed me to keep my head on straight so I could pay off
their debt. I couldn’t crush out on a shapeshifter. I had my life
planned out with my own people.

And what a great life that was gonna be. The
chieftain would pick a mate for me, and I’d have to breed with the
guy whether I liked him or not. It was my duty as a female member
of a species where females were rare. And what if Tellek got his
way? No way was I letting that guy touch me, let alone…

I shuddered and slid to the floor, one sob
leading to another. It was great that Jay said he’d protect me and
all, but he had no power at court. It would take less than a second
for Jay to be tossed out and crushed by the water pressure. He
wouldn’t even have time to drown. No, Jay might not know it, but he
needed my protection more than I needed his.

I blew my nose on a tissue and wiped off the
worst of the snot. Pathetic. I was pathetic. I thought about the
trip on the ferry and how cool it had been holding Jay’s super
large hand. He was really gentle for such a big guy.

Another knock. “You okay?”

“Not really.”

“You want company?”

“I’ll get dressed and come out.”

“I’ll wait here.”

The vision of him leaning against the wall
like he had outside the bathroom did all kinds of funny things to
my belly. I threw on jeans and a tee shirt, pulled my hair into a
ponytail, smeared on some lipstick and walked back into the hall.
This time he looked concerned.

“You were crying.”

“I’m worried about my family.” And that was
not a lie.

“How much do they owe?”

“There’s an enormous fine, but it’s not just
money.”

“What else?”

“My father disgraced the court by marrying a
half breed. In my world, the eldest child is held responsible for
the parent’s mistakes. I have to turn over my first female child.
When she’s three years old she’ll be taken away and raised by my
mate’s family where they’ll watch her closely for any signs of
humanity. If, by the time she’s fifteen she’s found to have any
human characteristics, she’ll be left on land to find her own way
in the world. If she’s accepted by my people, I’ll only be able to
visit her four times a year and the visits will be supervised.”

“That’s probably the most fucked up thing I
ever heard.”

“Can we go for a walk?”

“Sure.” As soon as we were outside the house,
he took my hand. It felt so good to have someone’s support, even in
this small way.

“You can punch me if it helps,” he
suggested.

“In what bizarre way would that help?”

“It gets out the anger.”

“That’s not what females do.”

“I forget. You’ve never met Charlie’s mom,
Jackie, or Aaron’s mate, Kathy, or…”

“Females hit their mates?”

He laughed. “Females like Jackie duel with
males, using swords and knives. She’s chopped off some heads—only
the bad guys of course. Female fae can be every bit as deadly on a
battlefield as the male warriors, and I can pretty much guarantee
that Ms. Turner has taken down some misbehaving wolves.”

“Can you teach me?”

“To chop off heads?”

“To fight.”

“You’ve come to the right place, Ms. Ivy. My
dad’s spent thousands of hours training me. But first, you’ve got
to build up some strength. You’re joining a gym.”

“What? No I’m not.”

“It’s either that or I make you run around
the high school track everyday and you lift weights in front the
whole student body.”

“No way, I’m…”

“Good. There’s a gym on the next block.”

“But I’m strong. I’m a good swimmer.”

“You are, but do you swim everyday?”

“No…”

“You’re going to the gym every day.”

“But I want to learn to use weapons.”

“Using a knife involves quickness and
strength. Martial arts will give you balance and focus. Don’t
worry. I got this figured out.”

“Can anyone ever win an argument with
you?”

“Maybe. Sometimes. Charlie’s pretty good at
it.”

“He’s pretty good at everything.”

“You like him?” My comment made him bristle a
little. I stared at my feet, smiling.

“You mean,
like
him?” I looked up to
see Jay nodding, his eyes narrowing. “No. He’s cool and working
with him will be awesome, but no. He’s not for me.”

“I thought he was really into you at
first.”

“He knew right away that I was something
different, not human. I was like a puzzle for him to figure
out.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“You have a girlfriend, Jay?”

“Not for a while.” He grinned at me. “You
applying for the job?”

“Being your girlfriend would be hard
work.”

“Right back at cha, Ivy.”

“True.”

He squeezed my hand and held the door to the
gym so I could go in first.

CHARLIE

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

They’d found
out who’d stolen the chela. The chieftain himself called me about
it. It was always a shock to hear my new desk phone ring.

“Triad. This is Charles” How many times had I
heard my dad answer his office phone the same way? “Rogues,
Incorporated. This is Garrett.” Only, unlike Rogues, Inc., I hadn’t
planned on taking jobs involving anything more serious than stolen
property or lost pets. Ms. Turner and her dead wolves had
one-eightied those plans. Maybe my next case would involve finding
Fido.

“Master Cuvier, this is Chieftain Marea. I
have the information you were seeking.”

“You know who stole the artifact?”

“Yes. It was the assistant secretary of my
chamber cabinet. His name is Errol”

“He admitted to stealing it?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“He has a human form?” He wouldn’t be able to
pick up the chela if he only had a steed and a kelpie form.

“Yes. He’s a distant cousin of mine.”

“But he needed help.”

“Help?”

“He wouldn’t have been able to lift it by
himself.” I added.

“We’re quite strong.” He sounded less
sure.

“And how did he sneak it out of the
building?”

“This is your investigation, sir, not mine.”
He sounded stressed.

“If the wolves don’t have the person
responsible soon, it could be a big problem for you and your
people.” There were a few heartbeats of silence on the line. I
didn’t try to fill it. Sometimes it’s better to wait.

“He’s on the dock across from your office.
He’s being guarded.”

“I’ll take a walk over there. Ask him some
questions.”

“Fine. I trust no harm will come to him?”

“If he admits to killing the wolves I’ll have
to call the WPC. Then it’s up to them.”

“Were the wolves killed in the ocean?” he
asked.

“They were drowned.”

“I see.”

“According to the female alpha, they were
chopped to pieces on the shore. However, I wasn’t able to examine
them on site. Ms. Turner said she didn’t want to leave them outside
on the beach for the wildlife to attack.”

“Why would someone go to all the trouble of
using a chela? An axe or a sharp blade would work as well.”

I’d spent quite a lot of time musing over
that same question. “The only reason I can come up with is to frame
a kelpie.”

“I see. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of the
wolves wanted to cause us additional problems. They’ve already
taken some of our territory and we’re helpless to do anything about
it. We are not adverse to sharing, but the Catalina Pack has other
ideas.”

“Does the WPC know?”

“They would support their own.”

“My Uncle Aaron is on the WPC. I’ll let him
know. Any territory infringements go through him.”

“Aaron Green?”

“Yeah. He’s my dad’s first cousin.”

“How is that possible? Your father is a fae
lord. Lord Kennet.”

“Kennet is nothing to me.” I hadn’t meant to
sound so angry, but I was having that reaction more and more now
that I was older. I took a long, deep breath. “I apologize,
Chieftain. My mom is mated to Garrett Cuvier and his first cousin
is Aaron Green. Garrett is my father. Kennet is the scum who raped
her.” Everyone knew the story.

“I see. I suppose I owe you an apology as
well.”

“Not necessary. I’m touchy on the
subject.”

“I can understand that. Still, you inherited
his gifts.”

“Yes.” I didn’t want to elaborate on the ones
I wished I hadn’t inherited.

“I would be most appreciative if you spoke to
your uncle, Master Cuvier. On land, in human or steed form, we are
helpless against the extremely aggressive wolves.”

“I’ll call him tonight.” After I spoke to the
guy on the dock.

“Thank you. Might I speak to my son?”

“Sure.” I shouted his name then got back on
the phone. “We’ll speak again soon.”

“I look forward to it.” Marea said.

Rylen took the phone and made himself
comfortable in one of the chairs on the other side of my desk. I
left to give him some privacy.

Fifteen minutes later Jay and I walked down
to the dock with Rylen, leaving Ivy behind after making her promise
not to cook anything. Samson was back at the house with us, so she
said she’d take him out for a run on the beach.

Jay took her by the arm. “Don’t go swimming.
Tellek might grab you.”

It was kind of sweet the way he was so
protective of her. “You two a thing?” I asked.

“No. She’s sixteen, as you pointed out a few
days ago. But maybe when she’s seventeen we might think about
becoming a thing.”

“You’re treating her like she’s special.”

“She is. We’re friends for now.”

“That’s cool.” I didn’t say anything
else.

The man in question wore a bathing suit and
was seated on a bench along with another burly guy.

He stood when I approached, speaking in Fae,
“Sir. I swear to you that I had nothing to do with the death of
that wolf.”

I responded in the same language. “There were
two.”

“There were? I haven’t been out of our grotto
for over two months.”

“What do you do?”

“I work in the labs, developing new food
sources. In my spare time I help at the museum. There’s a lot to do
and only around a quarter of our population has a human form.”

“Do you have people who can corroborate where
you were on the night of the murder?”

“Yes. I have a family. I was home with
them.”

“But you took the chela out of the display
case?”

“I explained to the chieftain, it needed a
cleaning. Lord Tellek pointed it out to me last week.”

“Lord Tellek.”

“Yes. He’s been very interested in the
museum. I’ve seen him there at least four times in the last
month.”

“When you took it for cleaning, where did you
leave it?”

“I locked it in the lab overnight. When I
came back in the next morning, it was gone. I reported this to the
head of the museum, but he didn’t seem concerned.”

“Could you please write down his name?”

“Certainly.”

“If I need to speak to your family, I’ll let
you know, but I don’t think it’ll be necessary.” He bowed to me and
left, diving into the water along with his guard.

“You know this guy, Rylen?” Jay asked.

Rylen responded in English. “Of course. I
know every citizen, as is my duty. He is well liked and respected.
I do not believe he would have anything to do with the murder of
the wolves.”

“What about Tellek?”

“To what purpose?”

“Do you think he might want to set someone
up? Cause trouble for his own people?”

“I do not understand why he would do such a
thing.”

“Is he strong enough to lift it himself?”

“It is lighter than it looks to be and he is
a large male.”

“He’s twice as wide as I am.” Jay
chuckled.

“You’re much taller.” I added.

We started walking back, checking the beach
for signs of Samson and Ivy. “Do you think the wolves might have
paid him?”

“To kill two of their own?”

“Do we know for sure that those wolves were
part of the Catalina Pack?” Jay asked.