There was nowhere safe for Carey, not if this was bigger than Heath’s home pack. If this reached further, it meant I would need to run her out of the entire southern half of the country, and even that might not be far enough.
I called Lani next, trying to collect my thoughts.
“Hey. I was hoping you would call. I have werewolves all around the borders of my territory,” she said immediately when she answered.
“Figured as much,” I replied. “I was attacked.” I ran through what happened to her, since repeating it seemed to make me feel better. Not really, but I liked to believe it might one day.
“Well, this is a right mess, isn’t it?” Lani snorted on the other end. “Yeah. They must be watching all of us in the region now. A council Alpha…That’s the sort of information that gets dangerously close to meddling in their politics, Jacky. You know that, right? That’s against the Law.”
“Yeah, but it’s information I needed to know to help keep Carey safe. I’m off my territory and every wolf could be a threat. It’s important.” I closed my eyes, suddenly exhausted. “I haven’t even had her in my care for twenty-four hours and they tried to take her. It took everything in me not to eat them after I killed them. I wanted to. If I have to break the Law to keep her safe, I’m going to. She’s so strong. Hell broke loose in her father’s pack and she still made it to me, dirty, tired, and alone. She’s so…she’s a good kid and she’s scared and now her life is a mess. I can’t let them have her.”
“Okay. If this goes sour and you end up breaking the Law about meddling to keep her safe, you’ll have my support. I’ll make some calls to my other allies, other werecats in the region. I know a couple in different areas of the country. I’ll see what kind of backup I can get to protect one of our own against the Law when Duty is involved. It’s not like you started the coup or anything, and your involvement only started when Carey showed up.”
“Thank you.” I let go of a breath I didn’t know I was holding. This couldn’t get worse, could it?
“Too bad Hasan has been missing for the last century. He knows the Law better than anyone and would be able to defend you the best if it needs to happen.” Lani sighed. “You might not have heard about him, but he was there when the Laws were written. He would know best what to do. Regretfully, he went missing when his youngest daughter died.”
I kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t the dead daughter. I was the next one he made. Hasan, by his own words, made many children over the centuries. Four sons and three daughters. Only one was dead, his previously youngest daughter. He was still in hiding, still refusing to interact with the rest of the supernatural world thanks to whatever happened. I didn't want to consider what would happen if people started finding out exactly who made me because it made me a sort of feline royalty. Not announcing who Changed me gave me a reputation, but it was one I was willing to live with. The royalty aspect of being Hasan's child wasn't one I was ready to deal with.
“You weren’t there?” I asked, changing the topic. I knew Lani was pretty old, but not exactly how old.
“I was in Africa at the time,” she answered, something wistful to the words. “Still human. I was Changed just after the Laws were written.”
“Ah.” That made her just over eight hundred years old. Now I had that answer. Werecats tended to get old, very few died under a hundred years of age, but most alive were also Changed after the Laws. That was because most before the Laws were killed in the war between the werewolves and werecats. “Stay safe, Lani.”
“You too, cub. I’ll get to work.” She hung up on me.
I shoved the phone back into my pocket, considering my options. I needed to find a motel or something, but nothing in a city center. Something off the beaten path where a fight wouldn’t risk innocent humans.
I got back into my hatchback and saw Carey still sleeping there, easing me just a little. My charge was safe for now and that helped crush the restlessness in me. I got us back on the road and stopped at the first gas station I could, jumping out without waking Carey.
I grabbed some snacks and drinks before going to the counter.
“Where’s the nearest motel?” I asked quickly, dumping everything on the counter. The human gave me a look that made me concerned. Did I miss some blood on my face? Was it in my teeth?
“Next door,” he answered.
“Oh!” I wasn’t expecting that answer. Sure enough, when I paid for the goodies and walked back out, I cursed my own tunnel vision and smirked. Perfect. It was a run-down little thing, not even one of the chains. No one would expect us to stay there. I got back into my hatchback and rolled into the adjoining parking lot, stopping in front of the main office. This time when I got out, I paid more attention to the world around me. I looked over the pine trees that seemed to run for miles and sighed. This was actually perfect. It was right off the highway, but there was nothing else around. It was a pit stop, a gas station and a motel. All one needed for a long drive and more secure than sleeping at a rest stop.
I left Carey in the passenger’s seat and walked into the office, stopping at the desk. There was no one there, so I dinged the bell. I chuckled as I heard someone jump in the office behind the desk. An older gentleman walked out and looked me over as I raised an eyebrow.
“I need a room, preferably on the first floor and not close to the office.”
“Not a hooker, are you?” He huffed, giving me a confused look.
“No. I just want to be able to listen to loud music without pissing people off.” I didn’t want anyone to hear me talking about a sensitive topic, and the place seemed deserted enough that the only person around was this guy. “Do you own the place?”
“Yup, and the gas station next door.” He was still eyeballing me pretty hard and I took a sniff of the air and bared my teeth.
“Damn it,” I muttered, shaking my head. “What’s a fae doing running a little motel and gas station combo in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere?”
“What’s a werecat doing here?” he fired back.
“On Duty,” I answered. “Do you have a room for me or not?”
“Oh shit. Yeah.” He grabbed a key from the back wall and I resisted shaking my head again. The motel was so old it was using keys instead of cards. One would think a fae trying to live in the modern world actually would update, but apparently not. “It’ll be sixty a night. Cash or card?”
I considered my answer before pulling my wallet out. I could have run to the gas station and used the ATM for cash but I had multiple names for this very reason. Everyone in Texas knew me as Jacky Leon, so I could use my fake ID cards. I handed him the credit card with Jane Brown on it and let him do his thing.
“I’ll close out the account when you check out. Be safe and good luck on your Duty.” He was respectful now, and I knew it was because one day, he might need it. No one fucked with a werecat on Duty, except, apparently, for the werewolves dead in my bar. I grabbed my credit card back from him, tucking it away safely in my wallet again.
“Keep an eye out for something, would ya? Werewolves. I don’t care what they say. If you see any, please let me know.”
“Can do.”
I nodded once to him and left with the key, not bothering to say thank you. I wasn’t an idiot. No one thanked the fae.
When I parked my hatchback in front of my room, I sighed, looking over to Carey. It was time to wake her up and bring her back to the nightmare that was her life now. I knew the idea of it was depressing, but it was the truth.
I didn’t wake her up immediately, though. I grabbed our things and bags, taking them into the room, leaving her for last. It was night out and no one was around. The fae was trustworthy in a sense. He wouldn’t get involved in werewolf politics, no matter what they offered him. If he was caught messing around outside his own kind like that, his kind would kill him, probably in a painfully slow way. He could help a feline in her Duty, though, and that was what I needed.
Finally, I was bent over Carey, undoing her seat belt. The pop of the seatbelt was what finally did it. She jumped awake, gasping for air.
“Woah. Woah, Carey. We’re safe. I found a motel we can hide in.” I grabbed her shoulders, holding gently. I really didn’t need her screaming bloody murder. “Please calm down.”
She stopped moving, closed her mouth, and gave me a baleful stare. My heart broke a little more each time I saw those grey-blue eyes. Once, just once, I had gotten them to lighten up to a pretty summer sky, but now they were just a dreary sky.
“Come on,” I whispered, holding a hand out for her to take. “Everything else is inside.”
She just nodded, grabbing my hand and letting me help her. She was so tiny, only about four and a half feet tall. I remembered being taller at her age. I think. Eleven was a dead spot in my memory.
I locked my hatchback as she went inside. Not following her, I rubbed my face. How did I end up here again? Oh yeah, that’s right. Not even twenty-four hours before, she showed up at my back door and called me to Duty to protect her until she was safe again and would be safe if I let her go.
Sighing, I turned and walked into the room. It had a single queen and a decently large flat-screen television. For being a poor, seemingly run-down motel, the fae who ran it kept it updated in some ways, which made it odd. Carey was already sitting on the bed, kicking her shoes off.
“Want to watch a movie?” I asked as I closed the door and locked it. Then I looked at it and realized there was more than one lock and did the second.
“Sure.”
I grabbed the remote from the dresser the TV was sitting on and sat on the other side of the bed. The comforter was scratchy and a floral print, like most motels or hotels. The carpet was beige and the furniture was all a light wood I didn’t like. It was a long way off my dark hardwood floors and deep red furniture, that was certain. The bed wasn’t particularly comfortable either, but I knew better than to vocally complain. I needed Carey to think I was fine, even if my shoulder hurt and my legs burned. My back wasn’t much better, but those injuries were shallower and already healing.