He rolled his eyes. “I know, I know. End of the world as we know it.” He backed the car out of the space. “You’re explaining this to Rick and Jan when we get home. They’ll want to castrate me for us taking off like this.”
“They can’t know.” She stared at the city as they passed through it. She’d hoped to have a couple of days here to sightsee and relax with Zack.
Now, that couldn’t happen.
Crap. A goddess’ work is never done.
Chapter Three
They collected their bags and stepped outside the tiny airport terminal at San Miguel. They had packed light, anticipating a weekend in Seattle and not a multi-continental journey to South America.
Zack looked around, doubt on his face. “Are you sure about this, sweetie?”
Lina shook her head. “I’m not sure about anything, except that if I don’t eat soon, I’m gonna not-so-randomly blow something up in a very flaming, barbecue kind of way. Like a cow or a pig.”
They threaded their way through street vendors and pedestrians, Lina cursing the heat with every step. Not even Florida felt this hot. The very air bore a damp, aromatic funk she hoped she never smelled again.
They finally found a restaurant nearby that didn’t look too condemnable. When the waitress walked up, Zack took over.
“Dos Coke, por favor.”
“Sí.” The waitress laid menus on the table before she turned and headed to the counter.
“I wanted water,” Lina griped.
Zack shook his head. “Not unless it comes from a bottle.”
“Oh.” She glanced at the menu then dropped the sticky, grungy thing onto the table. “You order for me. You know what I like.”
He smiled. “No problem.”
When the waitress returned with their cold, unopened cans of sodas, Zack chatted with her in Spanish, got her smiling. Then she wrote on her notepad and walked away.
Lina recognized only a few words of the conversation, like sandwich and pork. “What are we getting?”
“Oh, don’t you want to be surprised?”
“Not really.”
“Relax.”
Ten minutes later, the waitress returned with two delicious-smelling plates laden with pork sandwiches, rice, beans, and fried plantains.
Lina tore into hers. “Zack, this is delicious!”
Zack laughed. “Oh, ye of little faith and mucho incendiary powers. Not Cuban food, but still pretty good.”
They finished eating a little while later. With Lina’s tummy happily full, Zack herded her out of the restaurant and toward a hotel two blocks down.
“This looks ritzy,” she griped. Although compared to America, it was maybe as nice as a one-star hotel that hadn’t suffered a vice raid in the last forty-eight hours.
“It is. And if you think I’ll stay anywhere else, you’re crazy. They grow bedbugs as large as monkeys down here. This is the closest we’ll get to not needing a delousing before we clear Customs in Tampa when we leave here.”
After check-in, Zack spoke to the desk clerk before they headed to their room. “What was that about?” she asked.
“He’s going to get us a car.” He smiled. “And he gave me some info.”
An hour later, Lina had bathed, changed into jeans and sneakers, and felt reasonably more human. When their room phone rang, Zack answered.
“Sí? …Bueno. Gracias.” He hung up. “Let’s go. Our chariot awaits.”
Downstairs, she stared at the car. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” The rusted black Land Rover looked like it had seen far better days.
“Hey, we don’t want flashy,” he said after thanking and tipping the clerk. “Flashy will get us the wrong kind of attention.”
She climbed into the passenger seat. “Well, I hope you don’t consider AAA the wrong kind of attention because this thing looks horrible.”
He slung an arm across the back of her seat and turned to look at her. “Do you trust me, Lina?” he softly asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Of course I do,” she mumbled.
Zack was in full-on protective Watcher mode. “Then you need to let me do my job, Goddess.”
She bit back her protest over the title. “All right, fine.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Good girl.”
She growled, but the sound of his laugh drowned it out as he put the car into gear and they drove off.
Just outside of town, he pulled off to the side of the rough dirt road and studied the map. “Give me a clue, babe.”
She looked at it, then let her instinct guide her. “There.” She pointed, touching her finger to a spot on the map.
He took the map back and studied it, frowning a little. “Oookay. This might involve some overland hiking. You up for it?”
Lina settled back into her seat. “I guess I have to be. I hate this stupid gig,” she grumbled. “Why didn’t Bertholde pick someone else?”
“Because you’re the Goddess, like it or not,” he countered. “We might not always agree with the prophesies, but if you try to run from them, I promise you, things will not turn out to your liking.” He glanced at her. “The Universe has a way of keeping people in line to keep the natural balance of things. And the Universe’s way is usually a lot worse than doing it ourselves.”
Lina knew he was right. She turned to the window. There wasn’t much in the way of landscape to look at. Mostly what she would consider muddy hovels just beyond the ditches. When there were ditches.
They drove on for several hours, winding up roads Lina didn’t think could possibly get worse and yet continued to prove her wrong. The further they traveled, the clearer it became to her why Zack rented the Land Rover. Locals barely paid them any attention when they passed, and while cosmetically a wreck, it was obvious the owner kept it in mechanically good condition. They needed to use four-wheel mode for most of the trip.
Finally, they pulled into the yard of an old mission church. The white stucco walls had obviously seen better days.
Lina didn’t want to contemplate if the missing chips in the façade were really pockmarks from bullets or not.
“Stay here and keep the doors locked,” Zack said before she could protest. He was out and striding across the yard, dodging a couple of chickens and a curious pig on the way to a small shack on the far side.
He knocked and waited. A moment later, an old, stooped man opened the door.
They stood there, chatting, for several minutes. The old man pointed up the hill behind the church, where a barely visible path disappeared into a dense stand of trees.
Zack nodded and handed a couple of bills to the man, who looked pleasantly surprised to receive them. He genuflected over Zack before motioning him to wait. Then he disappeared back into the shack, leaving the door open. Zack turned to Lina, smiled, and gave her a thumbs-up.
The man, who was apparently the padre, returned with a large canvas duffel bag. He could barely carry it, but Zack shouldered it with ease and nodded, then shook hands with the man. The padre watched as Zack returned to the Land Rover.
Lina unlocked the door for him. “Well?”
He smiled. “From here, we hike.”
“What’s that?” She pointed at the duffel.
“He asked if we’d deliver this since we were heading that way anyway. It’s apparently his supplies. He comes down every couple of weeks.”
“Great. Now we’re UPS.”
“Come on, Goddess Girl. We’re wasting daylight. Remember, it was your freaky vision that brought us here.”
She sighed. “I know, I know.”
It was apparently okay to leave the Rover parked there. They locked the doors and Zack pocketed the keys.
She didn’t miss that Zack had somehow acquired a gun. In the cooler weather at the higher altitude, he donned a jacket and clipped the holster to the back of his belt.
He noticed her watching. “Just in case,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have the ability to randomly or purposely blow shit u
p without a little extra firepower.”
“Did I mention I hate hiking?” It brought back bad memories of Lenny and Yellowstone.
“Move your cute tush, honey.” He shouldered the bag’s strap messenger-style across his body and headed for the trail behind the church.
She followed him. “How far away are we?”
“The padre said if we hustle and don’t spend too long there, we can make it back here before dark.”
A bird chose that moment to sound off in the trees right above them, scaring the crap out of Lina with its haunting, screeching call. “Then let’s move it,” she grumbled.
They made good time. A little over an hour later, with Zack unerringly following a trail that, most of the time, Lina could barely make out, they emerged at the edge of a small clearing nestled against the rocky side of a hill. A wood-and-tin shack, barely larger than the Land Rover, precariously hugged the rock wall behind it. A nanny goat tethered with a long chain attached to a collar on its neck didn’t look up from where it grazed in the center of the clearing.
Zack stood up a little straighter and held out a hand to stop her.
“What?” she asked.
“We’re being watched.”
The goat lifted its head and bleated before returning to its grazing.
She didn’t miss that Zack’s right hand slowly slid behind his back, where his fingers wrapped around the gun.
“This is stupid,” she said. “Liam Pardie!” she called out. “My name is Lina Zaria-Alexandr. We need to talk to you.”
“Holy shit,” Zack whispered. A large, dark-brown wolf slowly stepped to the edge of the clearing, his body still half concealed by vegetation. His unblinking green eyes, a different shade than Brodey Lyall’s but just as intense, warily watched them. He was every bit as big as the Lyalls in their wolf form.
She shook off Zack’s arm when he tried to stop her. She stepped forward. “Liam, please. We need to talk. I have some important news for you about your daughter.”
The wolf didn’t blink, didn’t move.
She heard Zack swallow hard behind her. “Bring the bag,” she told him.
He slowly stepped forward, carefully unshouldering it and setting it in the middle of the clearing. He finally found his voice. “Padre Sanchez told us how to find you. We’re not with the Abernathys, we swear.”
The wolf snorted, but whether it was in derision or not, Lina couldn’t tell. Still, he didn’t move from his place at the edge of the clearing.
She pulled a piece of paper out of her back pocket, unfolded it, and laid it faceup on the ground next to the bag.
“What’s that?” Zack asked.
“Proof,” she said. “I printed it up in the business center while you were checking us out of the hotel in Seattle.” She grabbed Zack’s arm, and they stepped back to where they’d entered the clearing. “We’re friends of the Lyalls. I have something you need to look at. See for yourself,” she called to the wolf.
He warily tested the air with his nose before slowly advancing to the piece of paper. They watched as he read it…
And suddenly, a tall, beefy, naked man with dark-brown hair and green eyes the same shade as the wolf’s was crouched in front of it. “Jesus wept,” he whispered as he sat back on his haunches with the paper clutched in his trembling hands. Tears rolled down his cheeks.
Zack let out a soft whistle. “Hellooo, baby,” he whispered.
Lina nudged him, hard, with her elbow. “Stop that. You’re married.”
“Hey, Kael doesn’t mind if I look.”
She shot him a silencing glare.
He shut up.
They watched as Liam stared at the picture on the paper for several long, silent minutes. Then he looked at them. “Ye know her?” he asked, his voice choked with emotion.
Lina took a deep breath. She had to agree with Zack. The guy was hunky. She’d yet to meet an ugly wolf. “Not exactly.” She nodded toward his shack. “Can we please go inside and talk? Maybe with you clothed?”
He finally seemed to realize he was naked. “Oh, eh, right. Sorry.” He stood and grabbed the bag, carrying it to the shack. They slowly followed him, and by the time they’d reached the doorway, he’d pulled on a pair of jeans. He sat on a low bunk, the paper in his hands.
He couldn’t take his eyes from the picture, a printout from the Venice TV station’s staff directory on their webpage.
“She’s beautiful,” he said. “Looks just like her mum, she does.” Now Lina could hear his Irish brogue. He looked up at them. “So what’s this about? Is she all right?”
Lina nodded. “It’s a long story, and it’ll take me a while to get through it. But please keep an open mind. You’re a wolf shifter, so some of what I’m about to tell you won’t sound far-fetched.”
He laughed, but it sounded like the humorless wolf snort they’d heard earlier. “My life’s a feckin’ hell, it is. I couldn’t protect Maureen. I’d promised to love her, protect her, and see what happened? My mate, dead because I had to leave, and our baby girl raised by someone else.” He looked heartbroken. “If I go back and they get wind I’ve returned, they’ll hound me to hell and back to find my baby girl.” His expression turned vicious. “I’d rather have my throat ripped out than put her in jeopardy.”
“But that’s just it,” Lina said. “She’s already in jeopardy. And so are the men she’s destined to mate with.”
“Men?”
Lina took a deep breath. “Let me start from the beginning. Get comfy.”
* * * *
Three hours later, with shadows lengthening over the tree line and all hope of returning to the car before dark right out the damn window, Lina finished the tale of what had happened. Liam hadn’t interrupted her. Zack, who’d managed to find a comfortable position to sit in along one wall, had dozed off. She suspected he wasn’t deeply asleep, and her last, final revelation would certainly awaken him.
Liam looked stunned. “I was right that those bastards are the ones who killed Charles and Ellie Lyall?”
“Yes. And who the hell is Ysimel? I saw her in a vision.”
Liam looked startled. “She’s the reason for the blood oath. It was what her clan demanded for her mate to be able to claim her.”
“Ah.” A lot of things clicked into place and made sense now. “That answers a few more questions.”
Liam chewed on everything for a moment. “I’m still confused. You’re telling me you’re involved because you think those damn cockatrice are partnering up with the Abernathys against the dragons and wolves?”
“Sort of.” She took a deep breath. Zack would kill her for not revealing this factoid in Seattle, when the last of the miniswarm of visions had hit her and confirmed for her what Lacey had told her. “My mates’ last name is Alexandr, but spelled with a ‘dr’ and not a ‘der’ at the end. Your wife’s maiden name was Alexander, spelled ‘der.’ She was actually a distant cousin of the Lyalls.” Zack’s left eye popped open.
She had his full attention now.
Liam nodded. “Aye. I knew Maureen was related to the Lyalls. That’s why I went to speak with Charles and Ellie. I was hoping their pack could protect her. Charles and Ellie had a reputation of doing stuff like that. So?”
“Jan and Rick Alexandr, my mates, are also distantly related to the Lyalls, and to Maureen. As am I, through my father. So you see, this really is a family matter.”
Zack stared at her. “Fuuuck me, kiddo. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know for sure until that very last vision in Seattle. Lacey told me back when I first met her that it was a possibility, but she wasn’t sure.”
Liam looked confused. “But why are ye telling me all this?”
“Because you need to get your ass back to Florida, to the Lyall ranch. Major shit is going to happen soon, and they are going to need your help. Specifically, your daughter is going to need your help.”
“Do the Abernathys know who she is yet?”
She shook her head. “Not yet, but she’s going to meet the Lyalls really soon. That’s when they figure out who she is. I can’t see everything, unfortunately. I only see what the funky vision fairy, or whatever it is, lets me see.” She smiled to lighten the moment. “Besides, your daughter deserves to have her dad give her away at her wedding.”
* * * *
Liam shifted into his wolf form and led them safely down the trail until they were only a hundred yards away from the church. Lina knelt down to stare into his eyes. “Go soon. The sooner, the better. The Abernathys are in too much disarray now to track your return. By the time they know you’re back, they’ll have already located your daughter. And then she and her men will need all the help they can get. Okay? We’ll see you again really soon. You can trust the Lyall clan, I swear it.”
Liam nodded. He nuzzled her hand and let out a soft chuff of thanks before turning on his heels and sprinting back up the trail.
Lina sighed and let Zack lead her the rest of the way out of the jungle. Back in the Rover and heading toward San Miguel, Zack shook his head. “Jan and Rick are not gonna believe this.”
“Especially since you can’t tell them. Or Kael, or Uncle Andel, or any of them.”
He looked surprised. “What the fuck? Why not?”
“Because they can’t know. Any of it. Not yet, anyway. Only you and I are strong enough to keep this secret. If any hint of Liam’s whereabouts gets out, his life is in danger. He has to get to Florida safely. The cockatrice are already plotting their next move. If the Abernathys find out too soon how deeply we’re aligned with the Lyall wolves, it could bump up their timeline. We can’t have that happening. That’s still the one biggest advantage we have over them and the cockatrice. The cockatrice think the Lyalls’ pack involvement is limited because of the stuff that happened with Bertholde and Lenny back at Yellowstone.”
“Then why couldn’t Liam come back with us?”
“It’s not the right time. He has to make the journey on his own.” She settled back in her seat to try to nap. She felt a little nauseous and chalked it up to misplaced morning sickness. Dammit, she couldn’t even enjoy being pregnant without all this bullshit.