“That’s a lot of kids.”
“I know. I’m the youngest of them.” I threw it out there like it was unimportant, but I knew it wasn’t. I could smell his shock, the deep surprise as if I had just rocked his world view, then wariness. He was suddenly wary in the same way Landon always was.
“He said…at the Tribunal, he said…”
“That he considers all werecats as his sons and daughters. I remember. He was respecting my privacy because knowing who he is…and my place in the world of werecats…” I shrugged. “I was never comfortable with it. I’m not comfortable with it now.”
“So…who is missing? Who went to investigate the deaths?”
“My…well, in werecat terms, my older brother, Jabari, son of Hasan. The General.” I used Jabari’s war title for a reason. He was feared by wolves old enough to remember who he was and what he represented during the war between our kinds.
“Who is the Assassin?” Heath asked softly.
Shit, he does know his history well. I didn’t know if he was testing my knowledge or if the names and titles were lost to time. There was a time when someone would say Hisao and every supernatural knew exactly what he was and what he did for Hasan. Or they would say the Assassin, and everyone knew it was the Japanese werecat that was Changed by the oldest werecat alive.
“Hisao, Hasan’s second oldest son,” I answered just as softly. Because the identities of Hasan and his children were public, I ran down the list. “Davor the Genius, and Niko the Traitor are his most recent sons.” I took a deep breath. “Daughters, Zuri the Negotiator, Mischa the Rogue, and finally, me. I wasn’t around during the war, obviously, so I never got a fancy title. Did you know, the family didn’t give themselves those titles? Other supernaturals coined the terms. The family doesn’t use them privately and never claimed the titles publicly.” I didn’t tell him about Liza. She was long dead, but not long enough for Heath not to know about it. I wasn’t sure about the situation concerning her demise, only that werewolves were the ones who killed her. It was easy to see why the family didn’t like wolves too much.
“And you’ve spoken to all of them?” His eyes were narrow, still watching me with care.
“I did just a couple of nights ago when we were discussing what to do about Jabari not reporting in for nearly a week. Actually, a week as of the full moon. That’s why I’m heading out there so fast.”
“Why you? Any of them would be better choices, no offense.”
“I’m close, and…I have you,” I answered honestly, trying not to be stung by his honest assessment of my siblings and me. They would all be better choices in their own ways. “I’m sorry. I’m using you. Between two dead werecats, the current unrest with werecats, and the activity of the werewolves, I’m in trouble. I’ve…stained the family’s reputation, to be honest. So, this came up, and I offered myself…and you. I’m using you, Heath. If you want me to turn the car around now and take you home, I can do that.”
“No, it’s fine,” he was quick to say. “Jacky, daughter of Hasan.”
“Jacqueline, daughter of Hasan,” I corrected. “He refuses to use a nickname. He only calls me Jacqueline. Zuri sometimes uses it, but she’ll slip to Jacky most of the time. Depends on her mood. Same for Jabari.”
“This is the family you don’t want to talk about? I can’t say I blame you.”
“It’s a lot to live up to, and I never asked for it.” Again, I shrugged. “It’s what I got, though, and now, I need to step up. If Jabari has gotten hurt or killed, none of them will forgive me. It would spark a war, the likes of which would make the last one seem insignificant. Add in we’re in modern times, and there would be no way for the rest of the species to stay out of it or stay secret. We would all be exposed.”
“Something Hasan threatened the Tribunal with,” Heath pointed out.
“Yeah, because he was about to see his daughter executed,” I countered. “He’s…vicious when it comes to his children.”
“What if one of them betrayed him? Niko the Traitor? How did he get the title?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. It wasn’t something I gave much thought and not something I cared to think about. I had other shit to deal with.
“So, there you have it. That’s how I got roped into this. I’m expected to get roped into these things. I’m the daughter of the only leader the werecats have, and that comes with responsibilities I’ve been ignoring for seven years. Ignoring them hasn’t played out too well for me, so I’m going to take the reins and deal with this.”
“And use me to achieve your goals in the process.” He shifted in his seat, turning his body away from me and looking ahead.
“Think of it this way. You’re the only wolf who can be considered a friend or ally of someone close to Hasan. You even live in my territory.”
“Is Carey safe?” he asked, obviously holding back some thought. I heard the hint of a growl in his voice.
“I…” I considered my answer carefully. “I’m not safe, but any werecat that goes after a human child is signing their death warrant. If a werecat were to attack me and win, you’re not safe. Neither is Landon…but Carey would walk away completely unscathed for as long as she’s human. If you Change her into a werewolf one day, she’ll play by the same rules as the rest of us.”
“I don’t want that for her. I don’t want this world for her.” Heath was shaking his head as he talked, and I wondered if his precocious daughter was already asking about it. “Thank you for reassuring me. If you die, then Landon and I die, but that’s all okay because Carey will just…go live with her mother, I guess.”
“Or Hasan would take her in,” I said, trying to be light about it. Heath growled.
“Why?”
“I was kidding,” I said quickly, sharp enough it made him pull back. “Mostly. Hasan likes to think I’ve half adopted your daughter. If he felt her mother wasn’t good enough, he would take her in to honor me, knowing I would want her taken care of.” I never asked Hasan, but I knew the man well enough. He wouldn’t let someone important to me disappear—not again. “He owes me.”
“That scares me, the idea of him owing you.”
“You have no idea,” I muttered, refocusing on the road. “Anything else you want to know?”
“No…not right now. We’ll see.” He sounded like he was drifting into his thoughts.
“Oh, joy,” I mumbled under my breath.
Chapter Ten
We were able to get onto a plane without major incident. Heath made two calls before we entered the city, one to the Seattle pack, letting them know we were on our way, and one to his old pack, just letting them know we were passing through. That led to some of his old pack members waiting for us at the airport where they took our bags and tried to ask some invasive questions about why we were headed toward Seattle. I didn’t answer, and Heath took my example and did the same, claiming it was something minor to throw people off the scent. For him, it was minor, a simple introduction, so no one could pick up a lie on his scent.
Security had been a hoot. I was thought of as human and got through without incident, but TSA stopped Heath and gave him the whole pat down treatment. It was funny, stupid, and sad, all at the same time. Funny and stupid because a werewolf didn’t need illegal weapons or bombs to hijack a plane. There was nothing they could find to deny his right to fly. Sad because it was a classic sign of how fearful humans really were. I was roughly eleven years from humanity now and being on the other side really showed me just how scared humans could be about everything. Once he was through, I made sure to laugh at him, trying to make him a little less annoyed by it, and it worked, getting a chuckle out of him.
We were given early boarding onto the flight, and I couldn’t wait to watch him head to the main cabin while I settled. When I sat down next to a window in first class, I noticed Heath didn’t walk past, sliding in and claiming the seat directly next to me.
“Is this why you refused to show me your seating when you asked to see mine?” I gave him the most annoyed look I could muster, which should have been pretty impressive since I hadn’t slept. He just smiled innocently.
“They had a seat open in first. I wasn’t going to pass that up.”
I looked around first-class and saw two other seats open. He’d done this on purpose. When I looked back at him, he was fiddling with the arm rests, and slowly, my elbow was pushed off mine, and he took it. I roughly elbowed him off it and hissed softly, which only made him chuckle.
“I wanted to see how territorial you would be. Now, I know you’re going to treat it like you do everything else. Tell me, do you hiss at humans too?” He kept his voice low to keep the conversation private.
“I haven’t been on a plane in seven years, so I don’t know. Last time, I was on an empty plane and didn’t have some damn wolf trying to claim my arm rest.” Before flying into Texas to get away from it all, I had flown to an island on my honeymoon, and that hadn’t ended the way anyone ever saw coming.
Needless to say, I didn’t fly all that often.
“You need to get out more,” he pointed out, smiling.
“So I’ve been told,” I snapped. “By your daughter.”
He leaned away from me, going from jolly to concerned in a split second. “Are you okay? Did I upset you in the car?”
“No, I’m just stressed out. Sorry.” I wasn’t handling any of this well. I wasn’t fit company, and I was tired. “Do you mind if I pass out on the flight, and we do the whole twenty questions thing later at the hotel?”
“Definitely. I looked over your booking. It’s a good spot, and I made sure our rooms were connected, just in case.”