3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When we hustled into Jess's house, Emory was at her side in a shot. Damned vampyr speed. I gave a smile and a finger wave to Nate, who grinned back. He looked relieved to have his bond with Jess back in place.

I waited a good minute before impatience got the better of me. Yes, Emory might be Jess's future husband, but I'd known her since she was a toddler. Bros before hoes or, more accurately, chicks before dicks.

When I couldn't wait any longer, I reached out to my best friend. She tried to come to me, but Emory was still latched onto her like a lovelorn limpet. I gave him a sharp prod in the ribs and he let her go – then gave me a real death glare that I merrily ignored.

‘Are you all right?' I asked, as I looked Jess over. Her eyes were tight and shadowed, like she'd been through some shit. Dammit, I didn't want her to have gone through anything. I wished I could have gone through whatever she'd endured for her.

‘I've been better,' she confessed. ‘But I'll get there. I was supposed to get married today.' Her voice wobbled.

I hugged her tightly. ‘I know, love. I know. We'll have another wedding for you, a better wedding.' Those fucking bastards. I'd kill them.

And eat them, Esme snarled.

‘This one would have been perfect,' Jess complained. ‘Stupid bloody Randall.'

‘He's a dead man walking,' I promised. ‘Esme and I will rip out his throat.'

Jess grinned and the shadows in her eyes receded a little. ‘You guys are the best.'

‘I have dibs on ripping out his throat,' Emory growled.

‘He burned her,' Nate interjected, his voice low and dangerous. He looked like a handsome teenager by choice, since vampyrs could choose the age at which they appeared, but the threat in his voice made it clear that he was far older.

‘What do you mean he burned her?' Emory's nostrils flared.

‘The bastard burned her hand.'

Jess rubbed her left palm, worrying at the spot that had been blistered. ‘Yeah. That wasn't fun.' She shuddered. ‘I'm glad to be home.'

Gato came over and gave her a big lick. ‘Hey, pup.' He went as if to send her back to the Common realm, but she shied away like Ivy at her skittish worst. ‘Thanks, but no. I need my magic for a while tonight. Sorry. I'm not ready to go without it.'

He seemed to nod, his big eyes understanding and sad. Indy came close for a full body cuddle before settling down. She was on her best behaviour.

Greg marched in. ‘Hey, Jinx. Glad you're back home okay.' As always, he was the master of the understatement.

‘Thanks. Me too.' She gave him a watery smile.

He turned to me. ‘Lucy, we've got an issue.' Uh-oh. Greg would call a hurricane a spot of rain, so if we had ‘an issue' it was a big one.

I felt huffy. Couldn't I have five minutes with my best friend before the next emergency reared its head? ‘Don't we always?' I sighed.

‘A big one. A Jimmy Rain one,' Greg stated.

I frowned. That total prick. ‘Jimmy Rain is a blight on werewolves everywhere. He's the werewolf symposium member—'

‘Shouldn't that be you?' Jess asked. ‘You' re the Queen?'

‘Removing him was on my to-do list. You wouldn't believe how much admin rulers have to deal with. I just hadn't got around to it yet.'

It was a weak excuse and I knew it. I'd been avoiding dealing with Rain because shit was going to go down, and if I killed him I was going to inherit another fucking pack – and this one was broken as heck, just like the lones and the Devon pack. I'd already collected hordes of traumatised werewolves and rehabilitation was going to be a long road for them all.

‘Well, we have to get round to it now,' Greg said grimly. ‘Rain is as Anti-Crea as they come, full of werewolf-supremacy vitriol. Archie sent word the bastard is trying to stage a coup while you're gone.'

I knew there was a reason he wasn't at the symposium meeting! He must have heard about my presence up north and promptly slid down south. ‘He's such a slimy bugger doing it behind my back,' I groused.

Emory frowned. ‘We're hip deep in Anti-Crea here, too, and we think a daemon is stirring things up. It wouldn't surprise me if the same culprit is behind your situation. Check Rain's hands and eyes – if his hands are shaking and his eyes look feverish then he's under a daemon's influence.'

‘I hope he's not,' I barked. ‘If he's being influenced then we can't just end him once and for all because it's not his fault.'

‘A lot of shit is his fault, but I agree,' Greg said. ‘We'll have to see what the situation is when we get home. It's going to be a mess. I'm sorry we have to leave you now, Jinx, but we need to go.'

I rubbed my tired eyes. ‘When it rains, it pours.' I turned to Jess. ‘I don't want to leave you,' I admitted unhappily.

‘Go.' She smiled. ‘You've got stuff to do, and I have no idea how quickly all of this will shake out. It may well be linked. Anyway, I'm going to bed now.'

A yawn cracked my face; it had been a long, stressful day. ‘Yeah, that's not a bad idea.'

‘I'll drive us,' Greg offered. ‘You nap.'

‘Deal.' I gave Jess a gentle kiss on the cheek. ‘Call me tomorrow? I need to know you're okay.' I didn't want to abandon her, not even for a moment, but heavy lies the crown. Sometimes being the Queen sucked.

‘I'm fine,' Jess insisted, but we all knew she was lying. Her slight wince told me she knew it, too.