Chapter Fourteen

It was well after dinner when Niko, Davor, and I got word that Subira's offerings to the mission were ready. A text woke us all up, and my brothers were at my house only five minutes later. Davor was spending the night with Niko as they finished the major prep of our things. I was waiting for one more werecat in Alaska to get back to me, all the others letting me know it wasn't them and that they didn't know who it could be.

"How do you think she's going to get stuff here? Should be any second now," I asked absentmindedly as my brothers did an inventory of the bags they had brought over to kill time. We would each have a giant hiking bag and a second item. Davor's was his case that held the computer and satellite phone. Mine was a duffle of medical equipment we could need at any moment. Niko's was a mystery to me.

"Oh, shit," Niko whispered, his eyes going wide at my question. I didn't realize what he was going bugged eyed about until I heard the doorknob turn.

"Oh, gods damnit," I snapped as it opened.

Hasan stood there silently, and once he had the door open, he turned to not look at any of us. Subira stepped into view, holding a large bag. She looked exhausted, with dark bags under her eyes, her cheeks a little sunken. I was positive she hadn't slept at all since the call.

"This is for you," she said, stepping into my office. "I can't stay long. Hasan didn't get proper approval for me to step through the Tribunal's domain." Hasan quickly closed the door, leaving her with us.

"I… Uh…" I pointed at the door. "How do you plan on getting home?" I asked as she walked toward me and put the bag in the middle of my desk.

"It's still open even though the door is closed," she explained. "I can't stay in there for a meeting, though. It was something the others voted on a long time ago. When they initially wrote the rule to keep me out of power, I would sit in Hasan's office and talk to him about what was going on, especially in those early days when every small choice mattered so much. Setting precedent. They didn't like it. Now, he has to get permission for me to go there for any length of time."

"Or what?" I asked, crossing my arms with a frown.

"They can lock him out," she said, opening the bag. "Which would be bad for a good many people, not just our family or werecats."

I snorted, petulantly thinking that no one needed Hasan. Subira gave me a look, one of sympathy, but there was knowledge there, too. The world did need Hasan, a member of the Tribunal that did so much more than I could even imagine. I knew that, but it annoyed me.

"It's good to see you boys!" Subira turned to Niko and Davor and started giving hugs out. "Your rations and protection charms are in the bag. It's the standard stuff. I didn't want to do anything big. You will explain it all to Jacky after I'm gone because I'm pressed for time. Now, what have you three discovered?"

I explained what I learned about the werecats in the area. Aside from one I was still waiting on, none of them were aware of who might live in that region and were safe. They would be on guard, would help anyone needing safe passage through their territories, and wouldn't go fighting our target. Niko and Davor explained about the tech Davor had brought along and the hunting plan.

Subira absorbed it all, and when everything was done, she nodded, seeming satisfied.

"Good work. Hasan, let them know what you told me," she ordered her mate.

The door opened once again, and Hasan stood at the threshold. He didn't look at me. On the other hand, he didn't look pissed off, and his scent was strangely devoid of anything close to a strong emotion. He was all business, with only a lingering scent of worry.

"None of the werecats living in that region are a threat that we've been keeping our eyes on. None of them indicate to me that our younger children can't deal with this together. I don't believe any of the powerful rogues have moved through that region recently, either, but some of them have been quiet for some time, and I have been trying to get more up-to-date information. Aside from a vampire incident with the Fairbanks werewolf pack, there's been very little activity in the region. It's normally quiet. The Tribunal has informed all known supernaturals in that region that they need to evacuate. We've offered staff to help, none of whom are werewolves, per the conditions Nikolaus set with Callahan."

"Amazing," I said, nodding at that good news.

"Who are you waiting to hear from?" Subira asked me.

"Uh…" I checked my list. I had written them all down and put a check by each I sent an email too. I put a second check by those who replied. "Dmitri, son of Matvei."

"One of the Russians…" Niko groaned.

"Mischa is still ignoring everyone as she runs around, isn't she?" Davor slumped and leaned on the wall of my office. It was like neither of them was bothered by Hasan right there at my door even though they both freaked out faster than I did when he had shown up.

"I feel like the moon cursed and Russia don't mix, right? I mean, I had to see the sad excuse of a werewolf pack. What's wrong with the werecats?"

"Hasan?" Subira looked at her mate, and there was a command in her tone.

"I will reach out to Matvei and tell him to keep his son in line. I'll also remind him that his son lives in Alaska, which is very much in Jacky's region of the world," Hasan said blandly.

"Can someone explain?" I asked, looking around.

"Sure." Niko stood up, stretching out. "Matvei is a friend of hers and allows her to go through his territory. Werecats there need to be friendly with her, or they don't last long. Dmitri is loyal to his father. His father is loyal to Mischa. If she said she's giving her annoying American sister the cold shoulder and wants to make your life a little harder…"

"No fucking way," I say, tossing my notepad to the desk. "People are dead. More could die. I don't have the fucking time to deal with Mischa."

"I'll deal with Mischa," Subira promised. "Hasan will deal with Matvei. We'll make sure Dmitri isn't the source of this problem and make sure he's either going to leave the area or help those trying to."

"Thank you," I said, trying to pull back my frustration with my sister.

"Of course. What time are you leaving tomorrow? It's going to be a long flight, so I hope you aren't staying up all night."

"Mother, I'll send the flight information. We need to finish this up and head to bed," Davor said gently, standing up next to Niko.

"All right." She pulled him down to kiss his forehead. Niko leaned over before she could pull him. I did the same. "If there's anything else, you will let us know. Do you understand? We can mobilize."

"We've got this," Niko said, smiling. I nodded, feeling the swell of that need to prove myself to her, show her that her belief in me and her choice in me over Hasan was worth it. Davor just gave a thumbs-up.

Hasan closed the door again once Subira was in his office, and I couldn't resist checking. I marched to my office door and opened it, seeing my home once again on the other side.

"I hate when he does that," I muttered.

"It was fast for Subira to get to us. She probably took the flight to his island and used his permanent entrance into the Tribunal, so he only had to ask for the door to be opened to here."

"The flight probably gave her the quiet time to do these," Davor said as he reached into the bag and pulled out a wrapped bundle. "There's one of these for each of us." He tossed it to Niko. Next, he pulled out a necklace and slipped it on. "We told her we would explain. These protection charms work for a few weeks, tops, and when their main effect goes off, that's it. It uses all the magic in it. One of their abilities is to slow the course of poison and other substances that do harm to the body. It gives you time to get help before you die, essentially. It won't stop it. Without help, you will still die."

"And that's the passive effect of them," Niko said with a smirk.

"They must take her a long time to make. She looked exhausted," I said softly, pulling another out of the bag.

"Twenty-four hours to get three of us ready? Yeah, she hasn't slept at all," Niko said, nodding as he pulled out the last one. "Now, these have one thing that can save you, but only once. If you take enough damage to be fatally wounded, they will force you to Change to force the body to heal. Look here." He turned his to show me the other side. "This is how you do it. You give permission for the spell she put into it to work by…" He bit his thumb hard, the scent rushing to my nose. He smeared it on the back of the rock, and it sank in, disappearing entirely. "Now…" He put it on, slipping it under his shirt so it touched his skin, and the smell of magic filled the air. "One Change, from human to werecat or the other way around. It might heal the body wrong, but wrong is better than dead."

"It is better than dead," I agreed. I held off from the blood thing like Davor, holding the necklace for a moment, studying the stone before putting it on. It was unremarkable, and I couldn't smell any magic or blood on it. "Where did she get the rock?"

"I asked that once myself. It's from the lake where she likes to fish the most," Davor answered with a small smile. "I asked what made that lake so special. She has a lot of space to fish. Was it just easier to fish there? I couldn't understand the weird attachment from fishing to the rocks for the safety of her family. She said… She liked the past she saw on the top of that lake more than any other." He shrugged, as if he had given up trying to understand himself and no longer let it bother him. "She's Subira. She doesn't always make sense. She sees things in the world most could never understand. For every moment of joy she brings with her, she also brings a mystery. That's what makes her wonderful, right?"

I could only nod, holding the stone over my heart. While I was quiet, thinking about everything, my brothers returned to making sure every last piece of equipment was ready to go, dividing the rations and everything else between our hiking bags. I stepped out after a few minutes, aimlessly moving through the house.

It didn't take long for someone to notice. My fiancé came downstairs and wrapped his arms around me without saying anything. I leaned into him, inhaling his scent deeply, the comforting smell pushing away the tension I didn't realize was lingering from seeing Hasan.

"Subira used the Tribunal to drop some things off," I explained after a moment. I didn't need to say Hasan was there. Heath's nose was far better than my own. He would pick it up because, with the mention of the Tribunal, he'd be looking for it, even if it was the softest, lightest trace of it.

"I heard talking but didn't know if I could even get inside. How are you?"

"I don't even know anymore," I admitted, keeping my cheek pressed into his soft cotton shirt. "I don't know."

"It happens. Why don't I tell your brothers that they can sleep on the couch and loveseat, and you're going to get some rest?"

"I'm not ready to sleep."

"Then have a glass of water and relax upstairs, away from everyone," he suggested.

I followed that advice, heading up to bed with no intention of sleeping. I heard him talking to Davor and Niko, but I didn't focus on what he was saying. I closed my door and sat on the bed, drinking half the glass of water before I set it on my bedside table. I was half-asleep when Heath came in, and I got tucked in beside him, knowing this would be my last night of normal once again.