Impulse: Southern Arcana, Book 5 (17 page)

The couple selling the guns looked like they needed their own cable television reality show.

Couple—or siblings. Patrick hadn’t been entirely sure and had warned Julio not to ask. Malcolm and Molly Mitchell had names faker than Molly’s neon pink hair. Malcolm ogled Sera’s chest long enough to make the case for siblings, at least until he glanced at Molly and raised both eyebrows.

“Too big,” was Molly’s cryptic response, “unless you want me to give up bow hunting altogether.” She shook her head and pinned Julio with a fierce look. “You’re not going to buy her a bow, are you?”

He blinked. “I was thinking more along the lines of a pistol. Something semiautomatic, reliable and silent.”

“The McNamara special.” Malcolm grinned and walked from behind the counter. The building Patrick had directed them to looked like a basic enough hunting supply store, but Malcolm gestured for them to follow him through a beaded wooden curtain.

As soon as he crossed the flimsy barrier between the rooms, magic sliced through him like a frigid wind, chilling him from the inside. He reached for Sera’s hand and wrapped his fingers around hers.

The walls were lined with weapons, everything from assault rifles to swords to what looked like gnarled staffs of burned wood. “Impressive stock. Is it all enchanted?”

“To varying degrees.” He glanced over his shoulder and studied Sera again. Not a man looking at a woman this time, but a salesman judging his mark’s net worth. His gaze jumped to Julio, and he didn’t seem embarrassed to have been caught. “How rich are you, wolf? Because even McNamara can’t afford the really good stuff.”

“Pretty damn rich.” Having your evil uncle transfer all his wealth to you had its upsides. “Something easily hidden too. I want her to be able to carry it without alarming anyone.”

Malcolm rubbed his hands together and turned toward a display of various-sized pistols. “Molly, I need the athame, an enchanted holster and two kits. Invisibility and binding.”

Molly’s grunted assent drifted through the curtain as Malcolm selected a compact Beretta from the shelf. “This baby has all the standard features. Silent, with untraceable ballistics. It can take our whole range of enchanted ammo, from the bullets that’ll disintegrate an hour after being fired to the ones that’ll fire true, even through walls.”

Sera held out a hand. “May I?”

He handed it over, and she inspected it with a growing familiarity that meant Anna and Jackson had been doing a good job teaching her how to handle firearms. Julio watched as Molly delivered the requested items. “Do you have any rounds specifically designed to take down shapeshifters?”

“Sure, sure.” Malcolm retrieved a cardboard box of ammunition and nodded toward a door on the far side of the room. “Why don’t the two of you take this out back and let her fire off a few rounds while I set up the ritual? Make sure the gun feels right, because there ain’t no quick second chances with this sort of magic. I’ll be tapped out for a few days.”

Julio carried the box, and Molly led them not outside, but to a cavernous warehouse sectioned off into firing lanes. An indoor range, no doubt one fortified to contain and neutralize the magic released inside.

He hoped.

Molly pointed out the various features to Sera, then retreated the way she’d come. Sera stood studying the target for a long time before she sighed. “You’re going to spend more money than I’ve ever seen in my life on this gun. Tell me you’re doing it because of the dominoes, okay? Make me feel better.”

“Wouldn’t you, if Wesley Dade showed up preaching doom and gloom?” There was no ear protection on the surface before them, but he supposed they didn’t need it. “What do you want to try first? Something that goes boom?”

“Sure.” She slid the magazine free and studied the ammo. “Anna hasn’t said anything else to me about Josh, only that I shouldn’t worry. Does that mean she found him, or she’s pretty sure he can’t get to me while I’m with you?”

“She found him.” And she planned to stay on top of him, just in case he got any bright ideas about returning to New Orleans—or worse, tracking Sera down.

The tension in Sera’s shoulders eased. “That’s my big fear, you know. A wolf’s power isn’t the same. It’s close enough most of the time that I don’t feel all that different, but the dominance doesn’t hit me the same way. I still have a choice.”

Every time she mentioned Josh overriding her will, it made Julio sorry he’d fought to keep him alive. “Yeah, you have a choice.”

Sera began to load the magazine with careful, deliberate movements. “If he lays hands on me again, I’ll shoot him. I don’t care if it breaks my coyote. I’m not following the rest of my species down the road to crazy feral town.”

The urge to assure her she wouldn’t
have
to protect herself rose, turning him into the worst sort of hypocrite. He squashed his instinctive reaction and watched her load the gun. “I hope you don’t have to shoot anyone.”

She smiled. “Me too. I’m a little mixed up, huh?”

“Nope. I’d worry if you were chomping at the bit to spray some lead.” He shook his head. “Most people want to be left alone. Live in peace.”

“So much for that.” She slid the magazine home and raised both eyebrows. “You want to try first, or should I? Honestly, I’m better with rifles than pistols.”

“A bona fide country girl, huh?” He took a step back. “It’s all yours, sweetheart. I’m kind of shitty with guns, full stop.”

“Anna doesn’t approve of being shitty with guns.” Sera turned and set herself in a careful shooting stance, then squinted at the distant target and fired.

The pistol was silent, but it wasn’t subtle. Magic punched out from her in a jagged circle as the trigger clicked. At the other end of the range, the bullet tore through the outer edge of the target and broke apart before piercing a secondary target in four places.

Julio whistled. The kind of magic wound into the gun and the ammunition wasn’t easy, so he doubted the man had been exaggerating about being down for the count after casting his spells. “No wonder this stuff is so pricey.”

“It’s quiet, even when it pretty much explodes.” Sera adjusted her aim and managed to put a second bullet closer to the center. “The noise always makes me jump, whether I’m wearing ear protection or not. Apparently that’s doubly bad when you’ve got shapeshifter reflexes.”

“It can’t be good for your aim,” he agreed.

“A magical gun.” She fired again, and actually smiled. “I’m only letting you buy this for me because the fate of the world is on the line. And because I’m hoping to get laid.”

He ran his fingers over the delicious line of skin exposed by her shirt riding up. “Badass chicks are hot.”

“Mmm.” Another shot, and the target shredded into pieces when she nailed it through the bulls-eye. “See? Now I’m all inspired.”

“Want to try something else?”

“Sure.”

He retrieved another small box of rounds and peered at the scribbled writing on the side. “This one either turns people into frogs, or is particularly effective against them. Can’t tell which.”

Sera laughed and bumped her hip against him. “The first time I met Mahalia, I asked her if she could turn people into frogs.”

“Oh yeah? What’d she tell you?”

“That she only did it to people who really pissed her off. Usually she’d just give them warts.” She plucked the box out of his hand. “One more round, then we need to go in and get this ritual over with. We’re probably both going to leave here bleeding.”

“At least we heal fast.” And it was a damn sight better than bleeding a hell of a lot more later.

Sera loaded the new ammunition and held up the gun. “I bet I can hit closer to the bulls-eye than you can.”

Her victory came to him on a flash, right down to the cute little dance he was sure was last popular in the nineties. “Sucker bet, sunshine. Never wager with a precog.”

“So cheat.” She grinned. “You haven’t even heard the terms yet. If you win, I’ll let you buy me a pretty dress and take me out for a fancy dinner.”

“And if I lose?”

“I get a cheap bar, beer and hot wings, and dirty sex in the bathroom.”

Julio cleared his throat, took the gun from her and winked. “Like I said, sucker bet.”

“Uh-huh.” As she stepped behind him, she trailed her fingers up his arm. “I’m bad news, mister. I hope you can handle me.”

“I’ll try.” He lined up a shot, squeezed the trigger and snorted when the bullet went wide. “I told you I suck at this.”

She laughed and retrieved the gun to line up her shot with adorable concentration that furrowed her brows. Her shot wasn’t perfect, but it winged the target, and her victory dance was just as cute as it had been in his vision.

Chapter Ten

The first time they’d snuck into Panama City Beach, Julio had been traveling as a wolf on a vacation, and she’d been an anonymous friend. Her jean shorts and sports jersey had been enough.

The second time they’d be arriving as representatives of the Southeast council, and Sera put aside her pride somewhere around Tallahassee and asked Julio to take her shopping.

Not that new clothes would make up for the fact that she was a coyote, but it was one less thing they could sneer about. When facing wolves, sometimes all you could do was minimize your disadvantages and smile a lot.

Sydney met them on the edge of town with a smile and an invitation to skip the hotel and stay as guests of the pack. “At least we’ll get to run,” Sera pointed out as Julio guided Jackson’s car up the twisting driveway that led to Sydney’s house. “This is sort of weird, though. I guess I never think of the wolves in New Orleans as a pack because the only thing they all have in common is that they listen to Alec.”

“Regional custom?” Julio shrugged. “I heard of one pack in northern California that actually lives as wolves as much as they can. Guess it takes all kinds.”

“Yeah, I love my coyote, but maybe not
that
much.”

“No kidding.” He reached across the seat and laid his hand on her knee. “If anyone makes you feel uncomfortable or acts like a jerk—”

Sera dropped her hand to cover his. “If we’re going to do this, you can’t protect me from anything but the worst offenses. If you smack down everyone who doesn’t approve, you’ll run out of wolves.”

“I can’t smack them, but I can glare and growl.”

And cause tension and problems when he needed allies. “It’s just words. Trust me to be tougher than that. All I need to know is that you won’t let anyone touch me. And I
do
know that.”

He sighed. “You don’t have to suffer on my account, okay? I don’t want you to.”

“That’s the point. It’s not suffering.” She squeezed his hand before lifting it so she could kiss his knuckles. “I work in a customer-service industry. I get more creative verbal abuse during a busy shift than most wolves could come up with in a year. As long as I don’t have to be friends with them, I don’t
care
.”

“All right.” His tension didn’t ease. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and Sydney won’t tolerate that bullshit in his pack anyway.”

No, he probably wouldn’t, which made the evening all the more nerve-wracking. If they couldn’t handle the friendly alpha of a small pack, their relationship would be dead before it had a chance to live. “We’re about to find out.”

Julio rounded the last bend in the driveway, and a modest brick house came into view. “I guess this is it.”

It looked worn and welcoming, a smaller version of Alec’s house in Louisiana. Some of the tension knotting her shoulders eased. She might have to face dubious werewolves, but at least they wouldn’t be the rich, snobby sort.

Not like Julio’s family.

Sydney parked his truck and made a beeline for Sera’s door as Julio pulled to a stop behind him. She squeezed Julio’s hand again and lowered her voice. “Are you going to make it?”

“Don’t worry about me.” He opened his own door and climbed out.

A woman had come outside, and she approached the car as Sydney helped Sera from her seat. “Are these our guests, Syd?”

“Julio Mendoza from the Southeast council,” Sydney supplied, steering Sera around the car. “Meet Patty, the woman who has the unenviable task of keeping me honest.”

“Most of the time, I do a poor job.” The woman smiled as she shook Julio’s hand, then Sera’s. “We’re having barbecue. Nothing fancy, but there’s plenty to go around.”

“Barbecue sounds perfect.” Sera used her best friendly smile—and her best manners. “I’m Sera. And thank you so much for inviting us to stay with you. It will be nice to have a chance to run tonight.”

“We run almost every night.” Patty turned and beckoned them to follow. “Everyone’s out back. Come on.”

Sydney fell into step next to Patty and led them through the house. “Not everyone’s here, of course. Plenty work night shifts in town. We own the bar, a strip motel and a couple of restaurants. Keeps money coming in.”

“Like a co-op,” Julio observed.

“Pretty much. Money comes in, whether they work for us or someplace else.” They passed through a comfortable-looking living room that showed signs of being hastily tidied, and Sydney pulled open a sliding glass door. “Well, for a long time, money was going out as fast as it came in. Cesar raised tithes twice in three years.”

“Yeah, I bet he did.” Julio walked out into the back yard and accepted the can of beer someone handed him. “Hear anything else from him lately?”

Sera watched as Sydney studied Julio, and recognized the tension of a man taking a careful step toward trust. “His brother called a month ago and said he’d be around to collect this quarter’s tithes.”

Julio froze and turned to him. “Alec said everyone should funnel this quarter’s money directly back into the pack.”

“Which is what I told Diego. He didn’t press the matter.”

Too late, Sera made the connection. Cesar’s brother…Julio’s father. Her heart ached for him, but there was nothing she could say. Not in front of strangers. “If you need to talk to Sydney, maybe Patty could show me around.”

“No, stay.” His hand closed around hers. “The next time either one of them shows up, Sydney, I think Alec and I would take it as a personal favor if you’d let us know.”