Three’s a Clan (Hart Clan Hybrids) Read online

  I didn’t need air to survive, but pushing it through my vocal chords helped when trying to talk. Amber had such a good grip that she was making sure not a single molecule worked its way out.

  “All I wanted was to see my mother.” Her hiss of words was barely audible. Her message was just for me. So she made sure I was the only one who heard it. “You couldn’t take a few fucking moments out of your night—when you were sleeping mind you—to let me have a few minutes? You ripped that wall down and it all went away.”

  Tears made Amber’s grey and gold starburst eyes shine. Amber’s eyelids were held wide to try and hold the tears in, but she couldn’t contain them. She only released me to wipe her eyes.

  That was when I realized she wasn’t just holding me in place by her sadness. Her eyes held remnants of a glow that shouldn’t have affected me. Those same flashes are what we used on humans to keep them from remembering what they couldn’t know. The miasma lit up with the new information. I’d almost been dazzled.

  I didn’t have time to get upset with her. I knew the difference between pain and rage. It was a fine line I walked frequently. I was the closest thing Amber could beat on. She could have hit Mary, but they had that werewolf connection going on, and I had a feeling causing her Clan pain caused Amber just as much hurt.

  She also liked Mary more than me. I understood that Amber might need to beat on someone. As long as she didn’t have a stake or try and behead me, I didn’t mind letting her strangle me a little. Beat the hell out of her trying to call me on the phone and cry about unicorns. Moms were serious shit. I never knew mine. If you ask me, that was better than what Amber went through.

  Then it wasn’t being compelled I was worried about. I felt the familiar reach into my brain, and knew that Amber wasn’t the only one with strength. Damn witch was trying to get back inside my head.

  When I flashed a fang, she retreated, but not near as quick as I would like. Who knows how many blood vessels she was marking with her witch mojo so she’d hit the perfect spot next time.

  “Are you two done wrestling? We need to discuss what happened last night.” Mary stalked toward us, but at least she kept her damn brain to herself.

  Craig and Trevor closed in behind. Doc had a look like he was going to be ill.

  “Do we really need to talk about last night?” Trevor pleaded to let us know he would rather not. “I know it’s confusing and making things difficult, but we are all adults here. What happened last night doesn’t need to be discussed right now.”

  Oh, someone shut the poor man up before he embarrasses himself.

  A thump shook the ground as Richard’s feet hit with a jump from the tower. “I agree. What happened last night has no bearing on the mission. Knocking out the driving force behind the harvesters should take priority. Amber, attacking Shelly is not going to accomplish anything. What’s done is done. I’d think of all people, you’d be more understanding.”

  “What the hell are you talking about, Dad? I think what happened last night was pretty damn important. You of all people should agree. We need to make it happen again. Now, if we can. Shelly. Go on. Do what you did last night.”

  Trevor and Rick’s jaws gaped. Richard closed his mouth and arched one eyebrow at me. Trevor was still about to embarrass himself and Amber. I was still on the ground after being assaulted by the woman both Alpha and Beta considered a daughter. I put my hands behind my head and rolled my eyes up to the sky.

  I should really set them straight. But letting the bullheaded men think Amber was asking them to get it on with me, for side show amusement was just too much fun. They needed to squirm a bit more. Entertainment like this couldn’t be bought.

  Trevor was the first one of the two who was able to force words past the embarrassment. It was worth the wait.

  “Amber, I hardly think asking your father and I to tag-team Shelly is something you should say. You might be his daughter, but he’s still an Alpha. Show some respect. Why would you want to see that, anyway?”

  “Dude.” Amber looked at me.

  I just grinned back. She kicked my side before she added any more words to the awkward situation. It hurt like a bitch. I stayed on the ground while my rib healed. Both Trevor and Rick made moves like they were going to come to my rescue. I waved them back. Last thing we needed was a big argument because their daughter did minor damage that would heal in seconds.

  Then she kicked me again and hit a different rib.

  “I get the point.” I groaned.

  “The second one was for my nose, Barbie.”

  “That’s fair.” I did break her nose. At least the bones she broke on me didn’t cause blood stains. I had worn some of my nicer clothes. I didn’t have much room in that carryon to take second string wardrobe choices.

  “Obviously, you all did some things I really, really don’t want to know about. What I did last night might be of interest to you. I talked to Mom.” Amber’s hands unfolded and one went to the leather satchel at her throat. The other to her stomach.

  The tiny hummingbird heartbeat softened everyone. The life inside her stood for something. It was more than a chick who lost her mom. This little baby was the start of something radical among supernatural beings. Permission to change the hard and fast rules. More than that, the baby would demand acceptance, and that little hybrid’s parents would settle for nothing less.

  “You talked to Lily? How?” It was Trevor who spoke. He asked the question Richard was obviously dying to know the answer to.

  Alpha Paulson’s hands formed fists inside his pockets. A sniff of the air told me he had pierced his skin by digging his nails into his palms. His face was still. No tick to his jaw, no tears in his eyes. Just his eyebrows moving inward toward each other. There wasn’t much expression in his face, but that pinch between his brows could have crushed small men. Lucky for us, there weren’t any of those here.

  “Ask Vampire Barbie here. According to Mom, she is the one who dragged us into dreamland for our little chat. So spill, Barbie. What the hell happened last night?” Amber thought about her statement for a second and rolled her eyes around the circle touching on Rick, Trevor, and then landing on me. “And let’s keep it PG rated. I have no desire for a replay of what happened before we were all in the dream.”

  Thank the gods the miasma finally had something positive to contribute. I let it draw back onto alternative knowledge. Somehow it seemed to draw additional insight from the witch blood I had ingested over the years. The knowledge wasn’t just vampire anymore. New information was cataloged. New images flashed behind my eyes that seemed to close on their own when the miasma movie theater started up. The voice that came from my mouth was my own, but not the words. The words held wisdom from the beginning.

  “I called. I used my inner voice. I called a circle, and those who were meant to be in my circle came. Those who need me as much as I need them. Those who I am meant to form the new world with joined me. We are sisters in all ways that count. We can join in the circle where no one else can reach us, and we can find the truth that needs to be told. We can break down the walls. We can lead.”

  The miasma pulled back as Trevor and Richard came to stand beside me. I shook my head. This Protector crap sucked.

  Amber wasn’t one to let me come down from Mount Crazy slowly. “What the fuck kind of Lord of the Rings monologue crap was that?”

  For once, I was grateful for Amber’s foul mouth. It shook away the last remnants of wherever the hell I had just been. Everyone in the small group was looking at me like I was starring in Beetlejuice and had just done a musical number around the dinner table. Everyone but Mary. I did not want to hear what she was about to say.

  “There is a rumor I heard in Chicago. Kari said something similar when we were cleaning her off too.” Mary didn’t look like she was about to welcome me with open arms, but I got the feeling she was less inclined to make my hea
d explode. “Well, more of a saying than a rumor. I only heard it a couple of times. I’m pretty sure the coven was high when they talked about it. Kari wasn’t, but she was a little off at times.”

  Craig’s hand found his mate’s.

  I envied the comforting stroke of his thumb against her pulse as he told her, “Just say it. Now’s not the time to hold any information back.”

  Mary looked only at her mate as she recited something that sent chills down my skin far deeper than the cold. “Dark times are coming, but find the circle where the newly formed stars join the lives of the sisterhood. The circle will lead the way.”

  “Ooookay. Anybody got any ideas what that means?” Both Amber’s hands were on her belly now.

  Jake looked at me. Something in his expression said he at least thought he understood what was going on.

  He grabbed Amber’s face. His big hands cradled her from ear to chin. “Amber, your eyes. You have stars in your eyes.”

  Normally that line would be more at home in a cheesy romantic comedy. There was nothing funny or romantic about what my brother was saying.

  Amber stepped out of his grip. “This is not all up to me.”

  My brain was wrapping around the not so welcome package I was putting together. “Nope. It’s you, me and Mary. We were all in the circle. Mary is the only witch. Sisterhood in wiccan lore usually indicates other witches. I don’t understand how I called the circle, or how Amber was there. We aren’t witches.”

  “What does this have to do with the harvesters?” Jake had moved his hands from Amber’s face to her waist. He wrapped himself around the bundle in her belly. I couldn’t blame the guy for adding another layer of protection to something so precious.

  Dang. If I still menstruated, I would have thought I was getting PMS. What was up with all the touchy feely crap lately?

  “I think we should just get on with the other things we need to talk about.” Amber pulled from her mate and put herself in the middle of the semicircle that had formed. She tugged the leather pouch free and held it out in her palm.

  “Are you wanting to open it? Go ahead.” Alpha’s hands left his pockets and crossed his chest. Confrontational body language at its finest.

  “Maybe this is something we should do in private? I mean, this is kind of personal to do in front of an audience.” Trevor stroked the satchel’s twin in his hand. He wasn’t addressing anyone in particular. His eyes were on the little bag. Had he never opened it?

  “I am here with my blood and my Clan. I’d rather they be here. I don’t know what’s in these things, but if it’s something painful, I’d prefer not to have to retell the story over a chocolate soda.” Amber untied the strings and looked up, waiting for us to agree with her.

  “Not everyone here falls into that category.” Mary had really grown a pair. “And how do we know the odd woman out with the super-miasma brain won’t go giving sensitive information to her own Family? I’m not saying you would do it intentionally, Shelly, but we need to talk about that.”

  All eyes were on me as I let them know, “I’m leaving the Family.” My attention turned to Richard and that crushing brow twitched. “I came here because I will help take down the Matheo. Then I’ll leave. If you don’t want my help, I will tell you what I know and be gone.”

  Trevor started to stutter. His mouth flapped open and closed. Rick just walked up to me and put an arm around my shoulders. His scent encompassed me. It surrounded me, and my hard and fast decision to leave faltered.

  “Shelly stays for now. She’s been nothing but honest with us. And let’s not forget, Amber might not be alive today were it not for her. Just open the damn bags. We’ve carried Lily’s secrets”—he glared at Trevor—“and each other’s, around long enough.”

  Trevor cast his eyes down in submission. This wasn’t about being Beta to his Alpha, this was about keeping vital knowledge from a friend. He and Amber stepped toward each other. They opened the bags.

  “Well, that’s anticlimactic, isn’t it?” Craig got a punch in the gut from his mate for that one. But I had to agree with him.

  What we were expecting, I can’t say, but the small stones that were exposed didn’t seem worth the fight. It was two halves of an oval. Blue lapis lazuli, from the look of it, was cracked down the middle. The outer edge of each was smoothed out with what looked like coin silver when considering the lack of shine.

  Amber was quiet when she held up her treasure. Doc mirrored her movements and it was clear, at least to me, that they were two halves of a whole. We were all silent as Trevor grabbed Amber’s hand and forced the pieces together. I suddenly felt panic that wasn’t mine. Cold washed over me.

  “Wait!”

  But my words weren’t heard. The stones touched and a spell of power thunder-clapped through us all like the reverb of an explosion. Amber and Doc collapsed. Their hands still held the stones together.

  Chapter Twenty

  Trevor

  Lily told me the stones were important. She told me that they would bring us back together. I felt the world melt around me and for the first time, I thought being reunited with a dead love might not be the smartest thing to pursue.

  I never felt myself fall, but I opened my eyes and saw feet in front of me.

  “Not who I thought would be brought here, but I am glad to get another moment with my daughter. I can’t believe my flesh and blood became the stars.”

  Lily. It was Lily. I was here with her. The joy I felt at seeing her again was crushed when I looked around and realized Richard wasn’t with us. Shouldn’t it have brought us all together?

  I had taken his last chance to see his wife from him.

  “Don’t look like that, Trevor. I should know better than anyone that the future can be predicted, but it can’t be planned. Your Alpha is right where he should be.” Lily waved a hand that painted a living picture on the nothingness around us. Shelly’s arms surrounded the Alpha of my Pack. My body and Amber’s were on the ground, and Mary was waving everyone away. No doubt, she was explaining this place we’d gone to. She was trying at least. She kept them back, telling all of the others there was nothing to worry about.

  “I’m so glad Mary found you, Amber. She is going to try and explain the dream walk to the rest. If only they would listen.”

  In the movie, we saw Richard growl at Mary until she cowered and then Craig growled back.

  Shelly was the one to pull Richard away from the situation. She held him. And in that instant, I felt both guilty for being here without him and jealous of where he was. This was not normal.

  The images whirred together in a frenzy of speed. The world we left behind was on fast forward. My head hurt trying to find a spot to focus on.

  Lily turned from the movie playing out behind us. She took my hand. I could feel her. She felt solid, and normal, and warm. I could touch her. Amber’s realization hit a split second after mine, and we both surrounded Lily in a hug. Amber’s arms went around her mother and my arms held them both. The pleasure I took from this might have been wrong, but I couldn’t help but imagine a world where we’d all been human and I could have been with Lily like this all those years ago. Or we could have all turned, but I wasn’t brave enough to try. It took a lot for us to pull back. The only reason we separated was the push from the woman I used to love.

  “I created this talisman to bring the men I loved together. I am so happy to see you sweetheart, but I expected this to bring Trevor and your father to this plane.” She snorted. It was the most musical snort. “Funny thing about the universe is that sometimes your dreams realize in ways better than you could have ever hoped. I’m so glad you found Shelly.” She smiled at us, but her form blipped. She was already fading away.

  “I didn’t have much magic inside me. I wasn’t a powerful witch, but I had a powerful love for both of the men in my life. I knew there was reason for my love
of a man I could never tame. Thank you, Trevor, for saving Amber and Richard. Now, share the love with him for someone who can be enough for both of you. I had wanted to transport both of you here and let us see if we could be together away from the rest of the world’s influence. I just died before I could take that chance.

  “I poured all of my magic into those stones. It was enough to keep this plane open to me, but as we use up this magic, listen to me.” Lily gripped both of my hands. I could feel her. I wanted to hold her again, but it didn’t seem right without Richard here. “You are complementary souls. A woman between you is what you need. Be honest—does it feel right to be here now without him?”

  “No.” It was hard to admit, but I was connected to my Alpha through the women we shared. It was more than a friendship. We needed to be near each other, but there was always something missing. Someone was missing. I never wanted physical intimacy with Richard, but there was a strong mental connection that held us together far beyond what was typical for a Pack.

  “Well, he doesn’t seem to mind while he is sticking his tongue down Vampire Barbie’s throat.” Amber’s distaste hit my stomach.

  The images had slowed again. The picture had my dick hardening and my gut rolling over on itself. Richard held Shelly and kissed her like she was all the air he needed. Of course, he wouldn’t be very happy about Amber getting a bird’s eye view if I told him. I would save that for one of those days he exerted his authority just a little too much.

  “I’m not calling her Mom.”

  Lily released one of my hands to grab hold of Amber’s. “No, but you need to call her to circle. You carry my blood, Amber. You carry the magic I had. You are part of the circle. And your words will help bring the group you need together. I am so proud of you. I won’t be able to stay around like this any longer. The talisman was the last little part of what held me to this world.” Lily’s image faded further. The outline of her body began to ripple like waves in a small pond.