Jax (Immortals of New Orleans Book 7) (29 page)

“You will, Kat. I promise you,” he told her. With his lips pressed to her hair, he continued. “The thing is that when we go back to New York, you need to be strong.”

“I know.”

“What did you think of what Mick said?” Jax hesitated, almost afraid to speak the words. He would never force Katrina into being with another man. If she agreed, it would be her decision. “About needing another Alpha to help us?”

“Jax, I…” Katrina stuttered, and turned to face him, her eyes on his. “I need to tell you something.”

“What?”

“It’s about an Alpha. My brother. I called Tristan today. I asked him about my mom and dad. But also…I told him we mated.”

“You should have told me before you did that, Kat.” Jax shook his head, frustrated she hadn’t asked him first. Tristan’s incendiary reaction would come swiftly, probably assuming he’d forced her to mate.

“You don’t understand. He already knows I’m with you. I think he was okay with everything until I mentioned we mated.” She cringed and gave a half smile. “Please don’t be mad. I needed to talk to him. I had to ask if something happened to me when I was a child…anything that my parents could have done to bring this demon to my feet.”

“It’s not that I don’t understand, but Tristan? It’s going to take time for him to accept us, after everything that happened.” Jax’s mind spun with possible ways of handling the situation. If he called Tristan, he might make it worse, because he’d likely tell him to fuck off if he challenged their mating. “We’ve got to get home as soon as possible. Your brother is going to be pissed.”

“More like, ‘is pissed’.”

“We’ll deal with this together. The bottom line is that he has no choice but to accept the situation. He’s not your father and even if he was, it’s what you want that matters. He’ll get over it.” Jax tilted his head and smiled down at Katrina. “He has to. Because there is no way I’m giving you up.”

“I’m not giving you up either.” She embraced him, laying her head against his chest. “Tristan doesn’t know anything anyway. After this mess is over, we’ll go see him and make peace.”

“Kat, we need to talk about the warlock. What he said about finding another Alpha…I don’t think he meant Tristan.” Jax let the silence linger between them, waiting for her to draw a conclusion.

“If you’re suggesting we find an Alpha just so I can…” She averted her gaze and shook her head. “I don’t want to be with anyone else but you. I just found you. Besides, I can’t just have sex with anyone. No, I’ll just have to face these things with my magick as it is.”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all. I want you to remember something, little wolf. No matter how bad you think it is, you can always trust me.” A stone skipped across the river, and Jax’s attention went to the wolf, who gave him a curt wave. “What about Jake?”

“What about him?” She glanced over to Jake and back to Jax.

“Hear me out, okay? We never really talked about what happened in the kitchen. I’ll be honest. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it when he slapped your ass. But your reaction said it all. The whole thing with him there? I enjoyed it and I know you did too. It was hot.”

“Yeah it was. And if you don’t stop talking about this, you’re going to have to fuck me right here on the dock, because you’re making me horny. You know that, right?” She laughed.

“You’re aroused just talking about it? What do you think it does to me?” Jax brought her hand between his legs to cup his straining erection.

“I love it when you’re hard like this…do you know how much I want this right now?” She gave him a flirty smile.

“Not as much as me. Now come on…stay on topic, woman.” He laughed.

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” She stroked him, stealing a glance behind her to make sure no one saw them.

“We’re talking about Jake.” He coughed. “You keep doing that and I’m going to come.”

“Ah…Jax,” she sighed. “Do I want to play with him? With the three of us? Yes, someday.” Katrina gritted her teeth and shook her head, blowing out a breath. She removed her hand and faced her mate. “Look, what we did the other day was great, but given a choice, like if all this wasn’t going on? I just want to be with you.”

“Jake’s going to be an Alpha. Someday he’ll lead his own pack.” Jax’s expression flattened as he told her what he suspected.

“Jake? But he…he’s not even beta.”

“It’s the reason he and I go at it sometimes. I’ve been trying, in a most subtle way, to prepare him. When I came back, I was surprised to see him. Logan had sent him to San Diego, and I thought for sure he’d end up staying, taking over that pack.”

“Maybe in some ways he did what you thought he’d do, though,” she mused.

“How’s that? He was with Finn.”

“Exactly. Finn wasn’t running the pack. Jake was there for him.” She shrugged.

“Just think about it, Kat. I won’t ask you or make you do anything you don’t want to do. It’s just that I’m worried about you. I know you feel stronger, but I also know the reality of the situation.”

Jax caught Jake watching them out of the corner of his eye and hoped he hadn’t overheard their conversation. Taking Kat into his arms, he gazed down into her eyes and his heart caught. The unfamiliar yearning in his chest was so much more than lust and he struggled to accept the emotions that rooted in his chest.

“I want you to know…this thing between us.” His eyes darted to the glistening water and back to Katrina. “I told you that night we met…I’ve never met anyone like you. I meant that. I mean it even more now. You’re determined. Strong. I’m not sure what I’m trying to say, but…”
Goddess, I sound like a fool. Get your shit together.
He gave a small laugh, realizing that for the first time in his life a woman was making him nervous. “I care about you. A lot. I won’t do anything to jeopardize our future. As much as I want you completely healed, the ball is in your court. We…us…our relationship is more important. We’ll figure out a way to deal with things, okay?”

A broad smile broke across Katrina’s face upon his revelation. Her palm cupped his unshaven cheek and she rose to her tiptoes.

“I care about you too. More than you know.”

Jax gave in to desire, and kissed his mate. Nothing mattered but Katrina, her happiness and their new journey. He almost wished he had the control to stop thinking about her, but relenting to the overwhelming need to be with her was impossible to resist.

The rolling waves lapped against the dock, drawing his attention back to their task and he begrudgingly broke contact. Jax opened his eyes, still focused on his mate. In his peripheral vision, he caught sight of Jake holding his palms upward, mouthing the words, ‘what the fuck?’, and he laughed in response.

“I think that our friend is getting pissed at us.”

Katrina glanced at Jake and smiled. “He’s patient. I’ll give him that.”

“Let’s go. This could be a long night.”

Jax took Katrina’s hand and led her down the steps. He turned to the strangers and growled, his eyes flashing red. Amid their screams and the dog barking, Katrina’s voice cut into the night.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“We don’t need an audience. Plus, I don’t want anyone else getting hurt. I don’t know what’s down here. Maybe something bad. Maybe nothing.” Jax waited until the area cleared before meeting Jake at the bottom. “Okay, you’re the local. Where do you think most people throw ashes?”

“Well on Mardi Gras day they usually come on up here with the parade…you know, through Jackson Square to the river. But shit, I mean you know people probably do it other times. That’s a human thing. Us wolves…we’ve got our own rituals. Puff and flush isn’t one of them.”

“Jake,” Katrina admonished him.

“I’m sorry. I’m just sayin’ you know we don’t do this kind of thing. Back in the old days, who the hell knows what they did?”

Jax and Katrina rolled their eyes at each other, aware that Jake truly had no idea how long they’d lived. She shook her head, smiling, as he continued.

“Take the yellow fever epidemic of 1853, this city was filled with hundreds of dead people. They didn’t know what to do with the bodies. Some of them just rotted away in the houses until the stench could be smelled through the burning tar.” He sighed. “The cemeteries were full. But hell, I’m sure that through the years, people saw fit to make enemies wear cement boots, if ya know what I mean. And then you have the swimmers. I read just last week that someone died.”

“But for the sake of this message,” Katrina interrupted. “Ilsbeth did this. I’m pretty sure she’s older than even we are. She’s old school.”

“Traditional,” Jax added.

“I’d go with Mardi Gras. The coven house isn’t too far from here either. Dumaine Street. So let’s say someone
—
”

“Or something?” Jax interjected.

“Or something came after her. I mean she could get up to the riverfront fairly easily on foot.” Jake scanned the area. “She’s not going to hide something on a boat.”

“No, she needs a safe place. Somewhere not many people go.” Katrina bent down and ran her fingers over a smooth gray stone.

“Well, where we’re standing right now. It’s easy access to the river, but this place is usually loaded with people during the day.”

“Supernaturals?” Jax scrubbed his hand through his hair.

“Mostly humans,” Jake replied. “They play music. Sleep. Just kind of hang out here.”

“Okay, well, assuming I’m human, I’m not going to go to certain places,” Katrina surmised. She swiveled her head around, examining the area. “Dark places.”

“Dangerous places.” Jax honed in on the docks. Several sets lined the river’s edge.

“That one.” Jake pointed to a large pier, much wider than the others. “Under there.”

“If I were a human there’s no way I’d go underneath there. It’s dark. Dirty.” Katrina nodded in agreement. “Maybe I’d venture in to go to the bathroom or something, but it’s not safe under there.”

Jax took stock of the iron girders that emerged from the rocks. As on the steps, graffiti splattered their rust-covered surfaces. White drainage pipes caged the entrance but gave a wide berth for access. The gray blocks were littered with trash, clothing and other odd items. A cemetery of sorts, nothing living emerged. In contrast, the cemented river walk above teemed with life.

“We go in and get out. I told Kat that I think whatever we’re looking for, it may show itself to just her.”

“If Ilsbeth was in a hurry, she may have just stashed it,” Jake guessed.

“But she’d planned for me to find the ring. The knife. I was the only one to feel those things. It was my blood. The message told us where to go. Why wouldn’t she have planned this too?”

“Maybe.” Jax sighed, and reached for her hand. “Or maybe she planned to put it here but ran out of time.”

“We could be wrong about all of this, you know,” Jake pointed out. “Are you feeling anything,” he paused, incredulous he was even asking, “witchy? You know…any tingles?”

“No, smartass. I don’t feel anything. I think we have to err on the side of logic.”

“Kat?” Jake called to her.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Sorry about the witchy thing. I know it’s not really funny. I’m just frustrated.”

“It’s okay. And I wouldn’t expect you to treat me any different.”

“There’s only one way to find out what’s under here.” As much as Jax loathed the idea of exploring the filthy underbelly, they had little choice. “You ready to roll?”

“Yep.” Katrina gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand.

“Right behind ya,” Jake called over to them.

“Watch your step,” Jax warned. “There’s broken glass all over the place.”

The Alpha ducked as he stepped underneath the pipes. The stench of mold and stale water filled his nostrils, and he heard Katrina cough in response. He thanked the Goddess for his night vision, otherwise they’d be walking blind. Twenty feet into the cavern, he stopped to investigate the grotto. He ran his fingers over the peeling rust, and brushed it off on his jeans. A noise caught his attention. Focusing in, he observed an empty trashcan tossed about in the current that slapped against a wooden piling.

Reluctantly he let go of Katrina’s hand as she tugged it away. Scanning the darkened abyss, he reasoned Ilsbeth could have hidden an object practically anywhere. Heavy tires, steel beams and hundreds of mildew-covered rocks blanketed the ground.

“We need a plan,” Jax noted. “Jake, why don’t you search near the water? Kat and I will look up here.”

“Maybe we need to think about Ilsbeth,” Katrina suggested.

“How do you mean?” Jake asked.

“Well, let’s assume, giving her the benefit of the doubt, that she was trying to help us.”

“That’s a big assumption, Kat.” Jake picked up a stone and threw it into the water. “I know you guys think I’m coming down hard on her but you don’t know what it was like for D. She put him through hell. Jax, think about it, you know as an Alpha. What would happen to a wolf who could no longer shift? It’s kind of presumed that if you can’t shift, your beast is dead or doesn’t exist. He would lose his pack. His family.”

“True,” Jax acknowledged. It was a hard reality. Dimitri would have been an outcast. A friend of the pack perhaps, but he’d no longer be allowed to participate in pack activities. His entire life would have been destroyed.

“I’m not asking you to forgive her, Jake. And I’m certainly not saying that Ilsbeth is innocent.” Katrina’s attention went to the far corner of the dock and then back to her wolves. “I’m just saying that in this situation maybe she chose to do the right thing. There have been times that she’s helped people.”

Jax didn’t blame him for harboring resentment. The witch had cursed Dimitri in a most heinous fashion, one that could have resulted in his demise. Yet his mate’s words rang true. Jax had already tried on one occasion to get Jake to understand that without the facts surrounding Quintus, there was no way to judge the circumstances of her actions.

“As much as I hate what she did, because it was disgusting, I think we have to also be logical,” Jax insisted, his tone serious. “The more I think about this, the more I’m leaning toward her helping us. If Ilsbeth had meant us harm, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have made it out of that house. No, I have to believe that for whatever reason, she wants us to find something that will help us stop these demons.”