“You want to fight her, don’t you?” Carol asked with a laugh. “You should have seen her and Zelda go at it. It was awesome.”

  I frowned. “I don’t like to fight. It’s only for protection that we are trained, not for sport or to insult people.”

  “Of course not,” Roy said. “Wilma, you are delightful. I believe it is merely that your presence is perceived as a threat to the female witches in this part of the world. It is not of your doing, and perhaps it will subside with time.”

  Roy turned sharply to look at Layla, who didn’t say a word, but her entire expression let me know I was making her uncomfortable.

  “I’m very sorry to intrude—”

  “You’re not, please.” Garrett led Layla to me and put a protective arm around his mate. “It’s so good to meet you.” He stuck out the largest hand I’d ever seen on a male before and I shook it, pleased that I used enough force to make him smile in surprise. He inhaled and let go of my hand. “And congratulations on your mating. Gus is the best.”

  Gus. Oh, how I wished he were there right now. He always made me feel strong, confident, positive. Right now I felt out of place and unwelcome, and that was a real bummer. I’d gotten used to being alone before I met him, and now I missed his presence, even if we were in separate parts of the house. I could still feel him.

  I reached out to tug on our mate bond, but nothing. It was still there, but he didn’t respond. Perhaps he couldn’t. Maybe he was resting. Whatever the reason, I didn’t like it. Not that I thought he should be sitting around waiting for my mating call, but it would have given me a little more courage. Regardless, I needed to address this issue. I cursed my Hexen heritage for rubbing these North American witches the wrong way. It was a built-in defense mechanism from millennia ago when witches had to battle for their territory, long before the witch hunts decimated our numbers in Europe.

  “I’m sorry if my presence is an issue. I don’t want to bother you in your time of need.”

  Layla stepped forward and placed a hand on my arm, shaking her head. Then she looked up at Garrett and he nodded.

  “Layla doesn’t speak, but she can communicate with you telepathically if you’re willing.”

  “Of course. I’m here to help however I can. Whatever you need.”

  I had my magic blocked as an infant. I’m not sure if my inability to speak was due to that or another malady, but when my magic was freed, I still couldn’t speak so I had to get creative. I’m still pretty new to magic too, but Roy and Marge have been great teachers.

  I immediately felt an affinity with this woman. She understood what it meant to be other in the magic community.

  Thank you for sharing that with me. I carried a family hex until I was Turned by my mate. Maybe we can learn together.

  Layla beamed and then launched herself at me with a hug, nearly bowling me over.

  “Well, I guess that’s settled then,” Garrett chuckled. “Thank you for coming. Let me show you what we’ve learned so far.”

  Layla took my hand, and we led the rest of the group toward the house.

  I built this 3D map of the Bayou. We’ve marked off all of the places we’ve searched. I’ve been trying to help Marge search the house for portals or secret passageways, since that seems to be the more obvious explanation, and the former witch who lived here had some nasty magic.

  I completely understand, I told her. I live in a magically altered mansion that continuously changes its own floor plan. I can only imagine how terrifying it would be to have your children go missing.

  Layla squeezed my hand and we climbed the steps together and started to plan and strategize. It felt like the beginning of an alliance, a new friendship, and I was thrilled. I wanted to tell Gus… He’d be here soon. Hopefully.

  4

  Gus

  * * *

  I learned three things in quick succession as we left Cravenly Manor: One, Mac hadn’t driven a car in a very, very long time. Two, my cousins were just as obnoxious in Wilma’s magic hearse than they were on the tour bus. And three, being away from Wilma was detrimental to my positive mental attitude.

  After the first three hours, I couldn’t take one more round of sea shanties with Jacob, Vinny, and Freddy. We’d stopped at a rest stop in Knoxville, Tennessee, for Mac to grab an energy drink and to get some ice for our Heifferweisen, and Jacob had to keep Freddy out of the restroom, where he was looking for a willing donor.

  “Not on this trip, my dude,” Jacob said. “You need to show that you can do this mission without any human snacks. Then you need to show that you can find willing donors using the approved techniques.”

  “Man, this was so much more fun in Assjacket,” Freddy whined. “I’m not sure I like all these rules.”

  I got up in his face and frowned. “You’ll follow them and you’ll like it, primo. We need to get to Louisiana with no problems. Wilma needs us and Havoc needs us. So quit your bitchin’, have some Heifferweisen and get over it.”

  Freddy backed down and mimicked me under his breath.

  “Get over it, meh meh meh.” The eyeroll almost made me punch him in his face.

  “Say, friend. How about you take your own advice. Have a Moodelo. They come highly recommended.” Jacob’s cheery disposition was almost more than I could take.

  Mac must have noticed. He’d been checking text messages on his phone as this drama went on and then he slid his phone in his back pocket.

  “How ’bout you ride up front with me,” Mac offered. “We’ve got a few hours before sunup.”

  I nodded, took the Mooodelo from Jacob and grunted my thanks before climbing into the front seat with Mac. The hearse’s decor up front was very retro, down to the gray velour and leather worn chairs, the prominent ashtray, the dash cover with Playboy bunnies stitched in, and the smell of formaldehyde and cigar smoke that had permeated the cab.

  “Is that an 8-track deck?”

  Mac poked at the slot and shrugged. “I guess so. I wonder if it works.”

  He started up the car and I turned the ancient stereo knob. “Let’s Go” by my primo Ritchie blared from a decent sound system, and Mac quickly reached to turn it down a tad.

  “Sorry. Werewolf hearing is extra sensitive. Especially in an enclosed space.”

  “My bad,” I said. I let the sound of my role model, my personal hero, wash over me, and as usual, it gave me a sense of purpose. As Mac pulled out of the parking lot, I couldn’t help myself. I started to sing and…it helped. My shitty mood melted away and by the time the song was over, I was un-breathing easier.

  “He really was phenomenal,” Mac said, shaking his head. “Shame.”

  “Sure was. It really hit our family hard. Like, my grandparents were so proud of his success and so devastated by his death. A little bit of hope, you know? And then it was taken away.” I cleared my throat. “And when we’re done with this current debacle, we’re going to need to figure out what to tell our families about us.”

  Mac tapped his thumbs on the top of the steering wheel for a moment. “Things have a way of working out. Would hate to see your family lose another generation of talent. Let’s talk about it when you get back.”

  I raised my eyebrows. If Mac was hopeful, I could be too.

  “Speaking of hope,” Mac said as he checked the mirrors. Is he reading my mind? “I hope you and Wilma get some downtime when this is all over. Don’t think I didn’t notice your scowl when we left.”

  I sighed so dramatically it came out more like a groan. “That noticeable, huh?”

  Mac chuckled, which was a weird sound coming from such a serious guy. “I get it, man. Being mated to a witch who is all important and shit? Definitely has its drawbacks. It’s the in-between times you live for.”

  “Yeah? I mean, I want to support her, but like, what do I have to offer? If my cousins and I don’t get our collective vamper shit together, we won’t be able to tour, and there goes any money I might be able to contribute to our household. So then what, do I just be a house husband? Mooch off of her for the rest of eternity? Nah, man. I don’t like this.”

  Mac’s frown deepened. “I know you were raised in the human world and those would be all valid concerns, but you’re living in a new reality and I think you need to shift your paradigms.”

  I stared at him blankly, like he’d been replaced with a pod person, er, pod werewolf.

  “What? I know, this hippie-dippy shit makes my gut turn sometimes, too. I’ve spent way too much time with Fabio, I think.”

  “Speaking of human paradigms. What about marriage? How does that compare to the whole mating thing?”

  Mac frowned. “Mating is for sure a much stronger bond than marriage vows. It’s chemical, physical. But I understand marriage is something more like a public declaration. I guess we do that by our mating bite.”

  “Do you think she’d think it was…weird? I know I can’t invite my family or anything, but I just want to do something special. Something to let her know…”

  “Trust me,” Mac said with a chuckle. “She knows how you feel, probably more than you do. Or at least she knows what all of this means more than you do. She spent her childhood watching people she knew get mated. She went to witch school, she told me, so she understands magical ways.” He fell silent for a minute. “Or at least she knows how things are supposed to work, but since she wasn’t magical when she learned… You might be right. Some sort of gesture might mean a lot.”

  “But what should I do? All I know about is weddings.”

  Mac shrugged. “Maybe when this is all said and done, you’ll have a better idea.”

  I turned to look at him. “What about you and Zelda? It’s different for you two because of you being different from each other?”

  “In some ways,” he said with a laugh. “But when it came to what mattered…”

  “I get it.”

  There was so much I still had to learn about the magical world, so many things I didn’t know, like how the hell did magicals do the basic things like shop, pay bills, buy groceries… That made me wonder about Mac’s situation. “Hey, I know it’s rude as hell to ask people about their livelihoods, but, uh—”

  “Right. Money. Put it this way, the families in Assjacket have been around for generations. My pack has controlled the territory since before humans actually owned land. And we’ve all benefited from the witches. They have unlimited resources, if you know what I mean.”

  “So you’re saying I don’t need to worry about money.” That wasn’t all of it, though. How does a man support a woman who can do everything for herself and then some?

  Mac laughed. “No. You don’t need to worry about money. All you need to do is be patient and roll with the punches.”

  “Like you when you were throwing boulders across the highway?”

  He snorted. “Exactly. I might be the last person who should tell you to relax, but maybe if I say it enough times it will work on both of us?”

  “We can hope.”

  * * *

  A little while later, somewhere around four in the morning, Mac started fidgeting in his seat and checking his mirrors.

  “Everything okay?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “That car has been behind us for the last hour. When I change lanes, he changes lanes. When I speed up or slow down, he matches my speed. I’m going to pull off at the next rest stop and see if he follows.”

  Well, hell. He followed.

  We let the guys know through the intercom system—I know, why the hell would a hearse need an intercom system? This uncle of Mac’s sure was up to some stuff with this car.

  “I’m going to pull up to the pumps, you watch him and if he approaches, be ready to step up.” Mac waited for Jacob’s affirmative and then he nodded at me. “You think you can handle going inside and buying something in the store? Just to see what’s up?

  “I’m on it.”

  We all sprang casually into action like we’d rehearsed it. I waltzed into the Circle K like I owned the joint and headed straight for the Froster machine out of habit. Icees were great, I could even go for a Slurpee at 7-Eleven in a pinch, but the Circle K Froster had my undead heart. Too bad I couldn’t still drink them, although…maybe I could get Wilma to conjure up one of these machines and we could make Moo slushies…

  I caught a whiff of something that reminded me of Mac, but not, and suddenly adrenaline poured through me like there was about to be a fight—

  “Sup. You done with that?” This guy jerked his chin at the machine all casual like, but the hand not holding a giant Froster cup was clenching and unclenching.

  I stepped aside and gave him a smile with enough fang for him to get the hint. I held out my hand.

  “Be my guest.”

  He gave me a toothy grin that was not friendly in nature at all.

  “After you. I insist.”

  I bet you do, buddy boy.

  A chorus of raised voices and a howl filtered through the closed door of the establishment. We looked at each other—and both of us turned to run.

  Out front was a whole mess.

  “That shit don’t work on us, Mac. We got us a new alpha now.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I stood outside their circle, and these dudes did not appreciate having me at their backs. “It’s the weenie boys from Witchita’s?”

  Sure enough, Bode and three members of his degenerate crew stood surrounding Mac and Jacob. My cousins were out of sight, but nearby, ready to be the element of surprise.

  “Shut up, bloodsucker. We came to deliver a message from Andre Geroux.”

  Mac frowned, but Jacob answered, “What the hell does he want?”

  Bode pulled himself up taller, which only accentuated his beer belly and highlighted the fact that he was nearly a head shorter than Mac.

  “He heard you was coming to his territory, and he told us to tell you that you and the Fang Gang ain’t welcome.”

  I snorted. “Wow. Okay. Call us a gang when you’re the one protecting your turf. Are you going to start marking your territory next?”

  Jacob burst out laughing, showing lots of fang himself.

  “Andre is going to have to get over himself because we’ve been summoned to assist the alpha of Terrabonne Parish, and that’s what we’re going to do.” Mac crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the idiot to respond.

  “And you have to pass through Andre’s territory to get there, and that ain’t gonna happen.”

  Mac growled. “You tell that—”

  “That we received his message and we’ll take it under advisement.” Jacob nodded to Mac and gave a little bow to the werewolves. “We’ll just be on our way.”

  Bode looked confused, as if he were rarin’ for a fight and the rug had been yanked out from underneath him.

  “Right. Well. You best be heading back to where you came from.” Bode’s bozos brigade cheered him on as they slapped five and climbed into their black monster truck to wait for us to leave.

  “What the hell did you say that for?” Mac asked Jacob between tight lips.

  Jacob smiled and waved to the bozos. He didn’t move his mouth when he spoke. “Because the hearse has an invisibility gear.”

  Mac raised his eyebrows, grinned, and also waved. “Good ole Uncle Vern. Come on, let’s make these assholes think we listened to them. This is fucking fun.”

  Fun? Definitely a pod werewolf.

  Mac opened the back and Jacob climbed in, followed by the my cousins in bat form.

  “You better hop in back too, Gus. Sun’s coming up soon.”

  “Hey, who’s this Andre guy?” Vinny asked.

  “He’s the alpha of New Orleans and a bit of an asshole.”

  “Isn’t that part of the definition of alpha?” Jacob leaped out of the way before Mac clobbered him.

  “It is for this one. He loves to sit upon his throne and rule over his subjects. He’s been known to do some shady shit in the past. I wonder if he’s got anything to do with the missing kids.”

  Jacob grew serious. “If he is involved, you need to take him out.”

  Mac’s frown grew deeper. “I suppose I will. Garrett’s not in any position to do so, and it’s not like we can count on the Dallas alpha or Biloxi’s. They’re the closest leaders, and from what I’ve heard, they have their own issues and prefer to stick to themselves.”

  “Perhaps Andre is counting on that. Maybe we should check out the city before we go to Garrett’s.”

  I stiffened at Jacob’s statement. I didn’t like this one bit, being away from Wilma, but I also didn’t want Havoc’s kids getting hurt. I knew Wilma could handle herself, but could she trust these witches? What if something went wrong and I was so far away? What if she needed my blood?

  “What do you think?” Mac asked me, and I shrugged.

  “Makes sense to check things out there if it’s on the way.” It killed me to say that but I knew it was the right thing. Mac’s expression said he knew how I felt.

  “It’s on the way. We’ll be quick about it.”

  Jacob squeezed my shoulder. “I’ve got some folks in New Orleans I can try to reach before we get there. They’re in the know about these things.”

  “Got it.”

  This time the rear of the Hearse looked like the wayback of my abuelo’s station wagon and my heart gave a weak little thump. I missed my family. I wondered if, once this was all over, Wilma might want to go home with us to Vegas and meet my parents. Then again, I wondered if we would still be together when all of this was done. I couldn’t shake this bad feeling, and I hated it.

  “Buck up, little camper. Have some Mooo-nshine.” Jacob chuckled as he handed me his flask.

  “Thanks.” It was strong, but it wasn’t Wilma. And that sucked.

  I watched through the back window as Mac pulled the hearse out of the lot and onto the road heading north. He drove for about five minutes and then clicked on the intercom.

  “Hold on to your asses. I’m about to flip this bitch around.”

 

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