Claws (22 page)

“Lighten up,” he drawled, sensing her
mood before she even picked up. “This isn’t bad news. I found a
book that Tania had in her old room. I think it’s the one she used
to call up this demon. It’s worth a shot.”

“What does it involve?”

“We need to find some things. It calls
for some ingredients.”

“What kind of ingredients?” Vivvie
asked hesitantly.

Jericho chuckled. “We won’t find them
at the Wal-Mart, Vivvie.”

“Tail of snail and eye of newt? Things
like that?”

“Better, we need the balls from a bear
and bat droppings.”

“Ugh, Yuk! Where are we going to get
bear testicles?” Vivvie asked sourly, face screwed up in disgust.
“Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

“Let me worry about that,” he said with
amusement heavy in his voice. “You can get the bat
droppings.”

“Gee thanks,” she said and shook her
head at what they were doing. “Why don’t we just get the trusty
Ouija board?”

“I like how you think, but no-can-do,”
Jericho said regretfully. “While you’re out hunting, stop in one of
those caves and bag me up some goodies, why don’t ya?”

“No problem. I’m sure I’m the one going
out to grab dinner later.”

Jericho chuckled at her resentful
words. “Vivvie, the females always do the hunting. I can tell you
feel this is unfair, but it’s the way it is. Think of it as cooking
if it helps.”

Vivvie rolled her eyes and he laughed,
a rich sound that made her feel better after their confrontation
that morning. This was the old Jericho who teased her with her new
life.

“I’d like to know what the males all
do. The females get stuck doing all the grunt work.”

He laughed again. “Besides continuing
the species and enjoying female adoration; not a whole
lot.”

“I noticed; must be nice.”

“Don’t forget the bat shit. See ya in
the morning.”

She was still smiling when she hung up,
grateful he didn’t hold a grudge. No Jericho was over it. When he
went off in anger; he usually got over things quick. He probably
realized they’d be working alongside each other and the tension
would be unbearable. How like him to act like nothing bothered him?
He had to be a master of that after so many years.

She was relieved he wasn’t going to
avoid her like the plague. They had a lot to do and not a lot of
time to get it done. Once they conjured this demon and established
what it really wanted, they could bargain with it
themselves.

Vivvie realized how impossible that
was. This demon wanted what it was cheated out of. No tribute would
satisfy it unless it met that end. Still, they had to try. Jericho
told her they could make it worse by doing this. What choice did
she have? She couldn’t bargain with Tania.

The female elder spent little time at
the compound, only came in for weekly council meetings. Vivvie
would see her arrive in the company limo and watch her join the
Alpha’s with a sense of envy.

The woman held so much power within the
tribe. The other females didn’t dare hiss at her, she noticed with
resentment. Tania commanded respect and got it. None ever crossed
her.

Tania looked gorgeous these days. A
twinge of envy was felt to see her arrive dressed to the nines in
couture suits and dresses, her hair and makeup flawless. Vivvie
felt dowdy in comparison.

She knew she was ridiculous to see the
woman as a continued threat. It was obvious her husband made his
choice. Still, at the back of her mind, she didn’t trust Tania. She
wasn’t the sort of female who stood aside. Vivvie knew only too
well the elder bided her time. She saw the covetous looks she gave
her husband before she left in the limo.

Vivvie knew Tania would betray her.
Even if she gave her what she wanted, her husband would learn of
her secret. Jericho warned her not to trust Tania. Not where Eli
was concerned. Vivvie faced telling Eli the truth about Justice
with dread.

She had no choice. The New Year loomed
ahead. She knew it brought disaster if she hesitated in this. Her
husband would hate her for her betrayal and not understand why she
would turn to Jericho and not him. She didn’t understand
herself.

Jericho’s nurturing spirit brought her
comfort while they were separated. Now she felt compelled to clear
the air, realizing she could lose him. After they conjured this
demon and learned what it wanted, she would tell him
then.

~ ~ ~

Bat shit fell out of the sky, she
learned, disgusted as she was pelted with it when she entered the
cave. The bats all giggled uproariously down at her when she
entered their domain, taunting her with high-pitched
shrieks.

Vivvie had no fingers to pick it up.
Shifting into human form was going to be necessary. Wincing in real
human dismay as the bats overhead chattered excitedly, she picked
up handfuls of their droppings on the cave floor, grossing out and
knowing Jericho gave her this task as some sort of
revenge.

She bagged up enough and glared upward.
The bats seemed to enjoy pelting her with more droppings before she
tied the bag around her neck and shifted back to her animal
form.

Vivvie took down two large rabbits
before heading home. She hid the bat droppings under the deck and
carried up the rabbits after she redressed. Eli came out and looked
at the rabbits in disappointment.

“Its sandwich night,” she snapped at
him and tossed them on the table, seeing four ravenous panthers
waiting in the kitchen.

Eli looked completely confused about
sandwich night. She retreated to their room to email Jericho that
she got one of the ingredients. Eli poked his head in the door
looking baffled and perturbed about sandwich night.

Vivvie giggled at how put out he looked
to get rabbit opposed to larger game. He acted like he was getting
leftovers. The desire to laugh uproariously was stifled when she
saw her children all mewling and hissing at his feet. They were
hungry, that much was obvious. Eli glared at her.

“We need four more sandwiches, wife,”
he informed her with a scowl.

Vivvie was tempted to tell him where he
could get them but she saw her children fretting and rolled her
eyes. She took to the backyard and off she went, into the
woods.

Lucky for her, she managed to score
four more rabbits. Her children were hopping up and down when she
returned. Glaring, she tossed the rabbits on the table. Eli grinned
at her.

“Sandwich night? Is this some human
thing?” he mused as he skinned the rabbits for their
kids.

Vivvie rolled her eyes. It took too
long to explain why a working woman would want a break when she got
home from work. Nice thought not to have to track down, hunt, and
kill dinner every night. She knew no working mother had to do
that.

“
Yes, from now on, every
Thursday night is sandwich night.”

Eli smirked and said nothing, tossing a
skinned rabbit to Devon. He nearly inhaled his. Eli gazed at her in
obvious amusement.

“Something tells me we’ll need more
sandwiches next time, wife.”

Vivvie stomped out of the kitchen,
disgusted that only humans got a break with things like sandwich
night. She was feeling overwhelmed again. She took a deep breath
and closed her eyes, doing the counting thing her therapist once
told her was beneficial to calming a person down.

Eli came up behind her and hugged her
about the waist. “We can have this sandwich night if it makes you
happy, Vivvie.”

She turned and looked up at him, seeing
he was trying again. Eli had come a long way. She felt guilty to
know it was her who was falling behind, taking everything to
heart.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s not the best
dinner. I couldn’t find anything else so quickly.”

Eli nodded. “I have no problem running
down dinner if you’re tired, Vivvie. You need only ask. I know
you’re as busy as me.”

“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re
the best husband in the world?”

“No, they haven’t yet,” Eli replied and
smiled. “I don’t mind helping you, Vivvie. I realize we can hardly
stick to my people’s ways to the letter. That isn’t how you were
raised. A human woman doesn’t have to hunt. I know that
much.”

“And how do you know that?” she asked
archly.

“Who invented sandwich night?” Eli
asked pointedly and Vivvie giggled and wrapped her arms around his
neck, staring up at him adoringly. He really was the best husband
in the whole world.

~ ~ ~

Vivvie looked intrigued as Jericho took
all the ingredients and placed them within a pot to
boil.

“You have to be kidding? That’s it and
poof! We have demon?”

Jericho looked at her in disgust. “You
watched a lot of TV as a child, didn’t you?”

She frowned, realizing she had by his
standards. “What happens next?”

“We boil it down and make a tea. You
drink it and it allows you to commune with the spirits.”

“You’re on your own, pal!” Vivvie
snarled. “I’m not drinking bear ball bat shit tea! Are you frickin’
nuts? That’s nasty! No way!”

“Just kidding,” he admitted and grinned
at her horrified reaction.

Vivvie glowered at him. “Quit fooling
around! What do we do with it?”

“We boil it until it’s the consistency
of tar and pour it out to make a circle. We’re safe inside the
circle. That’s like a platform to the spirit world.”

“How do we call to it?”

“I’m hoping it finds us.”

“What did it say in the book?” Vivvie
asked and felt fear.

“It didn’t. We’re going to have to ad
lib a little.”

“I don’t think that applies to demons,
Jericho,” she said nervously.

“We don’t have much choice, Vivvie.
You’re running out of time,” he told her and his yellow green gaze
looked worried.

Vivvie nodded and left his clinic to
return to her classroom. Her students were all at recess. She
stopped in to see Eli and saw his office door was shut. She was
about to knock when the door opened and Tania stepped out, looking
sophisticated and beautiful in an ivory Chanel suit.

Vivvie would have liked to have the
finger paints handy but forced a smile. Whether she liked it or
not, this female was the same rank as a Chief. She had to at least
pretend to give courtesy here at the compound. She wouldn’t
embarrass Eli in front of the other council members who followed
her out.

“Ah, Vivvie, it’s so nice to see you,”
Tania purred, her golden eyes narrowed to slits. “I heard you’re
teaching our young. It’s so refreshing to see you giving back in
such a way.”

Vivvie saw the other two members waited
for her response. What she said would set the tone for their
assessment of her. She’d never met these tribe members before. They
were looking at her without expression.

“It’s just wonderful to be able to pass
on what I’ve learned as a human,” Vivvie gushed with a wide, happy
smile. “To think that all this knowledge I took for granted can
help so many is the least I can do for my tribe.”

Tania’s smile was brittle and she
mumbled encouragement. The other two looked pleased, shaking her
hand and thanking her for taking the position. Vivvie smiled and
passed the three, seeing Eli’s proud expression before she shut the
door behind her.

Vivvie looked around his newly
decorated office in disgust; knowing who did it. It was painted in
muted shades, the furniture dark and masculine. The artwork was
Indian and in good taste. It reeked with power and opulence. She
would have liked to say her rival lacked taste, but his office was
awesome, adding to her list of failures to compete with
Tania.

“Well done, Vivvie,” he said behind his
huge mahogany desk and regarded her warmly. She basked in her
husband’s approval. “That was some serious schmoozing there. I’m
impressed.”

She giggled and sat back in the chair.
“I forget I have to mind my manners here sometimes. I did it for
you. Don’t want anyone saying I make my Old Man look
bad.”

Eli grinned, looking so handsome in the
grey tailored suit she felt a tightening in her stomach; her eyes
darkening.

“I wondered if you wanted to go grab a
bite with me.”

He smiled at her cute reference. He
nodded and got up, removing his jacket and tossing it on the table.
“Only if it’s my treat,” he said with a grin.

Vivvie smiled approvingly. “I can get
used to this treatment.”

Eli grabbed her hand and pulled her
with him as they headed to the elevators to go up top. He waited
until he got her inside before he pushed her against the side and
kissed her before the doors closed.

Jericho looked over from boiling his
concoction and frowned to see Eli and Vivvie kissing in the
elevator. He looked away, surprised to feel a stab of discomfort
over it. He knew they went topside to hunt, possibly more by the
look of it. He ignored the wave of jealousy that swept over him to
know they would no doubt mate in the tall grasses with the sunshine
on their backs.