Belong To The Night. Cynthia Eden

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ as well tell them now. “I’ve been called to be a champion.”

      “For who?”

      When Jamie only stared at her, Mac threw up her hands and paced away while the others simply looked worried.

      “What is it with you and the Celtic gods anyway?” Kenny asked. “It’s not like they’re abundantly friendly.”

      “She called. I answered.”

      “She’s always liked you,” Sen said sweetly.

      “Gods know why,” Mac muttered.

      “Mac, you know what’s required for becoming a champion. So I’m not sure why the attitude about this.”

      “Because you’re making them nervous.”

      “So what?”

      Emma frowned, her arms crossed over her chest. “Don’t you care about them at all?”

      “I don’t not care.” They all stared and she added, “That’s actually pretty good for me.”

      Mac stepped up to her. “One day you’re going to go too far.”

      “I always go too far,” Jamie said simply before turning and walking away. “You’d think you’d be used to it by now.”

      Tully sat on the boulder on top of Barrett Hill. He was still in human form since he’d headed this way straight from his last meeting. It amazed him how one simple, yearly event caused so much trouble. The Mayor’s Spring Dance. The entire town was invited and usually came. Every year it was held in the Crystal Palace where most big parties for the wealthier residents took place. Tully would probably enjoy it more if he weren’t in charge of it, but he was. Which meant lots of meetings with the Elders, the Mayor’s Office Association, and the vendors. Bor-ing.

      Normally, after a particularly long meeting—and Lord love him, but that last meeting was long—he’d head home. But this time, he found himself ambling over to this hill, which had a wonderful view of Jamie Meacham’s cabin. She’d taken one of the cabins on the resort property. He didn’t blame her, they were all nice, but she was also losing money by not renting it out. Then again, from what he’d learned over the last few months about Jamie was that money was not that big a concern to her. Not like it was to most people. No. She wanted something else. She wanted power. It worried him. Power corrupted the best people sometimes and Jamie was already starting from a faulty base. How much would really be needed to send her deep into the ravine?

      He saw her pull up to the garage by the cabin and get out of her SUV. Carrying a small bag from Chandler’s Grocery, she headed toward the building. But she stopped before she got to the first porch step, and spun around. Her eyes scanned the property and Tully wondered if she knew he was watching her. Yet she never looked in his direction.

      She tossed her small backpack and grocery bag on her porch and lifted her hands, palms up. She raised them above her head, her eyes closing, her lips moving. He knew she chanted but he couldn’t make out the words. As she stood there, with her hands raised, energy from the ground crawled up her legs, her torso, her chest. It swirled around her like a snake, finally sliding into her cupped hands. She closed her hands into tight fists, raised them higher and screamed something he didn’t understand. The wind whipped up and she flung her arms down. Lightning shot from her palms and raced around the entire area of her house in one big circle, dissipating when it reached her again.

      Tully didn’t know what she’d done exactly or why, but he knew it had drained her. She rested against the porch rail for a long moment, her breath rapid. Then she slowly made her way up the stairs, picking up her bag and backpack. She opened her front door and before closing it, he heard her say, “Hey, baby. I’m home.”

      He didn’t know why his eyes narrowed or why he wanted to go down there and demand to know who the hell was living in her house with her, but he wouldn’t worry about why. He was more worried about what she was up to. If there was one thing he took seriously, it was protecting his town and his people. That’s all he ever cared about.

      Deciding to come back later after some hunting, Tully slipped off the boulder and headed on home. He was halfway there when his cell phone rang.

      “Yep?”

      “Boy.”

      He smiled. “Hey, Uncle Bub.” Bubba Ray Smith of the Smithtown Pack in Tennessee. He loved his uncle—although they were actually cousins—and always would. “What’s going on?”

      When his uncle didn’t answer him right away, Tully stopped walking. “What is it?”

      “I got a call from your Uncle Darryl…Buck’s heading to Smithville.”

      Tully’s jaw tightened and his fangs eased out of his gums.

      “All right,” he said carefully. “I’ll take care of it.”

      “You need me, you call. But don’t do anything until you know you have to.”

      “You mean until you can argue I had a right to the rest of the family.”

      “Say what you want, Tully Ray, but this is how things are done. And the bottom line, Buck Smith is blood…and your daddy.”

      “No, Uncle Bub. The last thing that man is, is my daddy.”

      He disconnected the call and waited a moment before he speed dialed another number. When he heard the grumbling voice say, “It’s Bear,” Tully closed his eyes and answered, “Buck Smith’s heading this way. Make sure everybody’s ready.”

      Chapter Two

      Up half the night worrying about his father, Tully finally decided to deal with the one thing he could actually manage at the moment…Jamie.

      Okay. Maybe he couldn’t manage her, but she was definitely capable of keeping him distracted from what Buck Smith may be up to, and why he was coming back to the one town he’d been told never to return to. Although Tully didn’t know any man alive who didn’t have issues with his father, he knew his went deeper than most. After all these years the man still brought out Tully’s rage and fear. Rage because the bastard plucked his last nerve and fear because Tully worried he’d one day have to kill his own blood. It was the last thing he ever wanted to do, but there was something in Buck that never stopped. He pushed and he pushed. And unless something had changed about his father, Tully doubted any of that would be different.

      But he’d done what he could. Bear and his deputies were notified. Tully had given his daddy a heads-up so he could find the best way to tell Tully’s momma, and the entire town was ready in case any attacks came. Other than sit around and uselessly worry, there was nothing more he could do.

      Knowing that, he decided to track down Jamie. He found her, too. Having breakfast at the Smithville Diner. Considering the resort had a full breakfast menu, she’d be able to get her morning meal there for free. But he’d bet money she’d had another fight with her cousin. Rumor was the coven had stopped her over on Cardinal to talk after the Elder meeting. No one was sure what was said, but Jamie had left on her own.

      If her own coven couldn’t get through to her, then Tully had no idea what the rest of them thought he could do. СКАЧАТЬ