Tenants and Tyrants (Book 5 of The Warden series) (11 page)

“Yes, sir, let’s have it.” Daniel smacked his hands together and rubbed them.

“We’ve got a full house today. As you know, Annette is back.” Heaton and Daniel exchanged smiles. Cori abruptly raised her hand.

“I’ll explain later, Cori,” Belus said and she put her hand down.

Danato tried not to let that bother him. He had always enjoyed being the one Cori came to with questions, but he needed to make an effort not to interfere with Belus’s command. It wasn’t going to do anyone any good if she wasn’t sure who she could turn to for answers. If she was even remotely concerned about offending either of them she might opt to keep to herself, and history had proven that Cori guided by her own deductions was risky. “Thank you, Belus,” he said as if
he
was the one who had suggested he explain things to her later.

So much for that effort.

“I have two groups arriving today. First the Council of the Moon has decided to drop by.”

“Council of the Moon?” Ethan leaned forward with interest and nearly pushed Cori off his lap. “What are they here for?”

“Ah,” Danato searched through the paperwork on his desk and found the file he needed. “The werewolf, Callin, has requested an audience with them. He wants his sentence revoked, and he wants custody of his child.” Danato skimmed the document again to make sure that was right. “That ought to be a short visit.” Nevia shifted on the wall like she wanted to say something, but decided not to.

“Why is that?” Ethan asked.

“Well, for one, he formed a pack, that means an automatic six months. He’s already served nearly three. We aren’t going to release him early unless the council can prove that we were in the wrong to secure him, but since Leona hired us, it was pretty open and shut.”

“What about custody?” Ethan gripped onto Cori as he leaned forward again.

Danato shrugged. “It’s preposterous. It’s a hundred year old doctrine, he’s not going to convince them in one trial to change their policies.”

“Why not? Someone has to start change,” Ethan rumbled apparently offended that Danato was not supporting this man’s rights.

“I don’t control the council Ethan, but I was going to suggest that you help get them situated when they come in. I think Leona might be joining them, since the custody in question is involving her child. I figured Cori wouldn’t mind missing that meet and greet again.”

Cori scoffed. “No doubt.”

“Cori,” Danato continued, “you can help Annette with the dragon. You’ll need to…”

“Ahh…” Cori interrupted and looked back at Belus, “can I help with that?”

Belus looked at her squarely. From anyone else’s perspective they would have thought he was glaring at her, but he was just trying to figure out what she was talking about. “No.” His face abruptly lit with understanding and he shook his head at him. “Pen…” he set aside a glare for Cori for that misspoken start. “The dragon is irritated with Cori. I think Ethan will have better luck with her.”

“I don’t want Cori to deal with Leona,” Danato objected.

“Who’s coming in on the second truck?” Cori asked. “I could help with them.”

“No,” Danato flashed eyes to Belus looking for backup in this just as she had gone to him for it.

“No, Cori, they’re nonessential guests,” Belus joined in with his usual diplomacy that bordered on indifference. “Daniel and the others can get them situated. Right?” Belus hollered to the back of Daniel’s head. “Right, Daniel?”

Daniel looked back behind him and saw the sternness in Belus’s face. “Right!” He sat up straight and leaned forward on his elbows. “Yes, sir, whatever you need,” he said to Danato. “We are far from guests. In fact, Heaton and I could help with the dragon.”

Heaton started to nod, but both he and Belus chimed in with a resolute, “No!” Daniel slumped back in his chair like a rain cloud had just settled on the remainder of his visit.

“Are you sure Cori can’t help with the dragon?” Danato asked Belus.

Belus shrugged. “If I bring her back without an arm, you won’t be any happier with me.”

“
I
won’t be happier with that,” Cori added since no one was bothering to ask her opinion about dealing with grumpy dragons.

“If Leona’s anywhere in this building, I don’t want Cori near her,” Ethan interjected. “Daniel can handle werewolves, why can’t Cori take the non-essentials?”

Belus and Danato both chimed again, “No!” They weren’t always on the same page with things, but he was happy that they were still able to put up a uniformed front.

“I’m not sure I prefer Cori to be armed again outside of the time bubble,” Danato stated carefully, “but this might be the time.” He looked to Belus despite the fact that he didn’t think he should have to. “Belus, thoughts.”

Belus’s face blanked. It was admirable and slightly amusing that Belus actually thought about his answers when they really counted. Before Belus could answer Nevia, who was barely present in the room as a body, made everyone’s head turn with a simple statement. “I can go with Cori.”

A small exchange took place between Belus and Danato, Heaton and Daniel, and Heaton and Danato. “She’s better with a gun, than anyone in this room I guarantee it,” Heaton assured Danato.

“Not to mention,” Ethan added. “She’ll sense any aggression before it can even be acted on.”

Danato looked over to Nevia. She seemed like a regimented young woman, but he still couldn’t get over someone so young and so small being Cori’s bodyguard. Then again he had learned from Belus never to judge a man by his size, so he could hardly deny the idiom to a woman. “You okay with that?” he asked Cori unceremoniously.

Cori glanced at Nevia and smiled. She could hardly turn down the woman’s protection even if she wasn’t okay with it. “Yeah, sure, bring on the Council of the Moon,” she said it with a smile, but Danato could sense that something about the situation bothered her.

16

Cori was mortified that she had to be assigned a bodyguard just to do her job. She understood everyone’s reluctance to give her gun back, and she understood that female werewolves were beyond dangerous, but when it came right down to it, she wanted to remind Danato that at one point she had been considered a potential candidate for warden. When did everyone forget that?

“It’s hard to shake an image you didn’t mean to cultivate,” Nevia said breaking her mental conversation. They were on the docks waiting for the first truck to arrive. Given the nature of the cargo, Danato didn’t want them to just wait for a call.

Nevia was standing against the wall behind her, while Cori sat on a stack of palettes. She wondered if she had something against sitting in general, or if she was concerned the palates might put slivers in her nice trouser pants.

“What?” Cori said unconsciously touching one of the pockets on her black cargo pants.

“Danato and Ethan seem very concerned for your safety. I’m sure they don’t realize how frustrating it is for you to excel through coddling.”

Cori looked her over. Could she really smell all that from her? “They can’t help it. They’ve spent a lot of time cleaning up after me. I’ve made a lot of mistakes.”

“We all make mistakes. It doesn’t mean we have to pay for them forever.”

“Three months ago I helped one of our most dangerous inmates avoid capture so that he could help me save Belus after I shot him in the chest.”

Nevia raised her brow taking in the statement. “Oh, so their concerns aren’t without foundation.” Nevia’s eye sparkled and despite the seriousness of the statement she started laughing. Cori joined her, allowing the ridiculousness of her life to tickle her funny bone. “I guess I don’t have any advice for that after all.”

Cori wiped away her tears of laughter. “They mean well, I just don’t know why I work so hard if I’m not going to get any respect.”

“Oh, they respect you,” Nevia corrected. “I think they put you higher than you realize.”

“You can tell all that from smell.”

“Not exactly,” she looked down as if she was embarrassed. “I was training to be a profiler for the FBI when I got…sidetracked. I had a knack for it. Part of it was my ability, but another part is just being able to read people. I’m a good observer.”

“I can see that, but you can tell if people are lying though. I mean if you were around for the lie.”

“Yes, but only if they are willfully lying.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Someone might say “I’ll be there in a minute.” That isn’t true because it never really means a minute, but they aren’t lying because they aren’t actually trying to deceive you. For me to detect a lie, the person has to be consciously saying something that goes against what they believe is true.”

“So,” Cori shifted herself so she could face her, “if I took you to a prisoner, and they said they were wrongfully imprisoned…” Cori let her finish.

“If they believe they are wrongfully imprisoned, I won’t detect a lie.” Cori’s disappointment was obvious. “However,” Nevia added. “If we asked that prison if they had done whatever it was they were incarcerated for, their answer could be determined true or false.”

Cori nodded. “Interesting.”

“Did you have anyone in mind?”

Cori shook her head. “No, not really.”

“And that would be a lie.” Nevia smiled.

Cori laughed. She hadn’t intended for Nevia to use her detection on her. “I do, but it has nothing to do with my current duties, and frankly just saying that prisoner’s name would get me into trouble.”

“Is it the one who helped you save Belus?”

Cori could feel prickling heat travel down her spine. She felt like she had opened Pandora’s box, and she didn’t know how to close it. “Um…”

“Don’t worry Cori. It’s none of my business. I just can’t help trying to solve the puzzles in front of me.”

“I guess that’s all I’m trying to do. I just don’t have the skill to solve them like you do.” Cori could hear the truck backing into the loading bay outside. Workers started moving around prepared for whatever cargo was accompanying this shipment of visitors.

Cori jumped off the palettes, with full intentions of not being scared or seduced by Leona. She glanced back at Nevia. She was right behind her. The woman was small, but like Belus had a rock steady presence. She wasn’t sure what her opinion was of her personally yet, but professionally she already respected her.

Cori decided to step onto the dock, rather than let them wander for even a few feet to get to her. “Let them off before you start wheeling boxes about,” Cori scolded the eager dock workers.

When the dock door opened to reveal the back of the truck, she took in a deep breath, and reminded herself that she was second to the warden. She was pretty damn important to this place and female werewolf or not, Leona was going to treat her as such.

The truck door slid up, and Cori heard the sound of babies crying. Leona emerged from the truck with a bassinette hanging on one arm, and a colicky baby and a diaper bag in the other. Her hair, that looked stylishly messy the last time she saw her, was just plain messy this time.

Her usual tailor fit inappropriate business suits of gray, were replaced by a sixties style box dress in a boring shade of mocha. With the right accessories and makeup, Cori could see the dress being flattering for the slender French woman, but with beige flats, and none of the accoutrements it just made her look dowdy.

“Leona,” Cori said as the disheveled woman came at her full speed.

“Cori,” Leona looked around. “Do you…there that will do.” Leona gave her a quick cheek, cheek kiss before lumbering down to the stack of palettes she had just been sitting on. Leona pulled an armada of baby stuff out of the diaper bag, and proceeded to change diapers at the warp speed of mom.

Cori wasn’t sure what to do with any of that. Her archenemy was too preoccupied to even make her uncomfortable with a semi-lesbian lip kiss. She was a little disappointed. Not so much at missing the discomfort of the afore mentioned kiss, but because this time she was prepared for their meeting, and it didn’t matter.

“You must be Cori.”

Cori looked back to see a flock of fem-wolves in formation with the tallest straight haired blonde right in front. The others varied in details, but in the end they were just as they were meant to be, an amalgam of all female types, uniformly dressed in the same mocha box dresses. Unlike Leona though, they were all pulling it off. Not with jewels or makeup.

They were all pulling it off with pristine natural beauty. Their hair long, shimmering, laying gentle on their shoulders, as if each strand had been polished and placed. Their nails manicured into firm lengthy almond shapes with a high gloss peachy pink nail polish that didn’t distract from anything else. If they were wearing makeup it was only foundation and powder. A little shimmer on their lips was the only thing Cori could see.

The woman at the front stood out because of her 6’2” height and silver moon necklace. To say she was beautiful would have been like saying you preferred red M&M’s over blue ones. All of the women were beautiful. To see them all at once was the only thing that took away from experience. That much beauty is likely to nauseate anyone.