Jaz Parks 5 - One More Bite

“Do you suppose we should do something about your mother before she kills your father?” he asked.

“Fine. Let’s call Dave. He likes them both better than I do. He can be the mediator.” Colonel John cleared his throat. The apologetic look in his eyes led me to ask, “There’s more?”

“I am afraid so,” he said. “I was able to intercept a third message from her loeden. She wants to meet both your father and you at Clava Cairns. It seems to be a repeat of a message your father already received and did not acknowledge. It is here, awaiting your reply.” He nodded toward the hallway that led to the biggest part of Raoul’s penthouse. A series of locked doors hiding treasures I’d only begun to uncover the last time I’d visited.

I turned around so I could search Vayl’s expressions better as we talked. “What do you think she’s after?”

He shrugged. “You know her better than I.” He lifted the curl that rimmed the right side of my face. The one that had turned white after she’d touched me when we’d met in hell. “Has she changed?”

I wanted to think so. And the fury that rose at that little-girl yearning filled my lungs like glue. I slammed my hand against my chest, reminding myself how to breathe. “Nobody who’s done what she did changes,” I said.

“What did she do to you, my Jasmine?” His whisper was so soft it could almost have been the doors of my own memory creaking shut, trying to block access.

I glanced past the comforting barrier of his shoulder to the men sitting beyond us. They hadn’t heard. In fact, realizing we needed privacy, Colonel John had restarted Raoul’s toy train conversation and my Spirit Guide was yapping deliriously about track layouts and the proper turn radius for HO scale.

I moved to the side, so their view of me would be completely blocked by Vayl’s broad back. For the second time tonight I shed my jacket and revealed scars I’d kept hidden up to this point. Boy, was I getting all therapied up lately, or what? After one look at my sverhamin’s face I decided “or what” should probably apply next time. Because if my dad had been furious, Vayl had snapped.

Blood filled his eyes until the only relief from the frightening redness was the hard core of blaUardheick at their centers. His lips pulled back, revealing his fangs, like a lion’s will when he’s warning another male off his territory. And his powers spiked, an Arctic gale to my Sensitivity, making me ram into the window so hard I could feel the wood of its frame biting through my shirt.

“Vayl?” I whispered.

“What is happening?” demanded Colonel John. He and Raoul had risen off the couch. Despite the fact that one supported the other, they still managed to make a threatening duo.

“Back away from her, Vayl!” Raoul shouted. “You are a guest here. Only allowed because I have pronounced it neutral territory for the duration of your stay. If I invoke the holy protections once again you will burn as surely as if you had entered a cathedral!”

I put my hand on Vayl’s chest, willing him to be calm. “I know you’re pissed. So am I. Every day. But this isn’t helping; you see that, don’t you? Come on, if you’re not going to be the levelheaded one, we’re pretty much screwed.”

“I want to be there when you confront her,” he growled.

“Okay, fine. No problem.” Never mind that I’d have agreed to slip into a frilly apron and bake a carrot cake if that would take the vengeance out of his expression. I turned to the other guys and smiled brightly as Vayl’s powers began to ebb. “It’s all good,” I assured them. “I just opened my big mouth one too many times. You know me, F this, F that. He’s so sick of me swearing sometimes he could happily throw me off the roof. Not that he’d ever do that,” I hastened to add, realizing my babbling was about to get us into worse trouble. Best to finish our business and get out.

I went on. “Tell my mother I’ll talk to Dad and, if he’s okay with a meet, I’ll get back to Raoul with the arrangements. But we won’t have time to do anything until after our mission’s accomplished. Which means she needs play it cool until then. Okay?”

Still looking somewhat suspicious, Colonel John nodded. Which gave Raoul little choice but to agree.

I let my smile widen. Now my entire face hurt. How did beauty queens do it? “Thanks so much for your help. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. Big weight off my mind.” I took Vayl’s hand, clenched it hard to make sure he followed me as I said, “Don’t worry about seeing us out. We know the way. Sorry about the bar again, but it sounds like you’ve got a great plan in place for the train dealie. Keep me posted on that, will ya?”

And, having reestablished an expression of avid interest on Raoul’s face, at least, I led Vayl out the door and back to the real world.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I opened my eyes and took a deep, whopping breath. The kind you want after you’ve been stuck inside a gas station bathroom way too long. “We’re back.”

Vayl stirred. Which was when I realized how Cirilai had found him so easily. He’d come into his room, into his bed, and wrapped himself around me so tightly I felt like I’d crawled into a kid’s sleeping bag. “Um, Vayl?”

“Mmm.”

“We should get up.”

“Why?”

I strained my head to see past his curls to the little round alarm clock on the pretty railed table beside the bed. “I’m assuming you had Cole take your place when you came in here.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I have to go relieve him. And you’re going to be dead to the world [literally!] in less than half an hour.”

He lifted his chin from where it rested on my shoulder. His warm breath tickled at my cheek as he said, “Then surely another twenty or thirty minutes will not hurt him.”

“You’re damn straight it will!” Cole cut in, which was when I realized Vayl, at least, hadn’t taken off his