Marked Clan #2 - Red (21 page)

“Did you find anything?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Old wives’ tales, mostly. Your buddy Manuel might have something though.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I saw him grab a book from the service station before we left. It looked old, might have been Donald’s.”

We pulled up to the church about an hour later. This late at night the streets were completely empty. Cesar stood outside the sanctuary with two of his men, looking every bit the secretive gangster.

“I don’t see Justin,” I said as we approached.

Cesar shook his head. “It appears you took out a little insurance of your own in that regard. Am I right,
chica
?”

He motioned to one of his men, and I suddenly felt very vulnerable. They could mow us down right here. Why hadn’t I slipped that vest back on? Cesar’s man opened the door to the church and pulled out a figure in a hood. Justin?

“You see, although I gave you my word your friend would not be harmed, some of my men took it upon themselves to…anticipate my next move.”

He turned to the thug on his right and pulled a machete out of a sheath on his belt. It couldn’t be Justin. The man in the hood was much too muscular.

“Your friend got the good doctor free before this fellow could do any permanent damage. I must apologize for his behavior. Apparently, it’s come time to cull the herd. This will serve a dual purpose, however. I wanted you to witness what happens to people who betray me, just in case you get it into your head to talk to any authorities about what went on between us.”

He raised the machete and brought it down right there on the steps of the church. The hood and its payload rolled onto my feet. It was a fairly clear point.

“I know how to keep secrets, Cesar,” I said. “I hope you’ve also learned tonight that I’m not easily messed with.”

“He sure as hell better have,” Dree’s voice said. She walked into the light of the church steps next to Justin. He looked a little battered, but no worse for wear. I walked up to him and gave him my best imitation of Connor’s bear hugs.

“You’ve had a busy night,” he said. “You look like hell.”

I laughed. “I’m sure you can fix me up. Provided you’re still interested in being around me, that is.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “This one came to my rescue naked. I might just have a case of wandering eyes.”

That got him a nice solid punch in the chest. Dree just smiled. She had dressed herself before they came back, and I had to admit I was a little glad after his comment.

“Pleasure doing business with you, PJ,” Cesar said as he walked to his SUV. “I hope we never have need of each other again. You’re hard on my men.”

We went back to Celtic Knot, and Connor unlocked the door for us. He smiled at Slate, and she actually smiled back.

“Connor,” she said, “This is Danny, but he prefers to go by Lupin. You should see some of his tattoos.”

Connor laughed. “I’m sure I will. Bon, welcome back. I was a little worried. Been out on the town with the gang?”

“You could say that,” I said. “You living at the shop now? It’s a little late, even for you.”

“Just keeping a vigil is all,” Connor said. “Night everyone. Bon, see you in the morning. Don’t let the good doctor keep you up too late.”

Once Connor was gone, I started toward the back of the shop. Justin put a hand on my arm. “I should really get home,” he said. “Early rounds tomorrow…or I guess now it’s later today.”

I hugged him. “Are you sure you’re okay by yourself?”

“Not my first kidnapping,” he said. “Besides, I can crash at the hospital. Don’t want to go back to the condo until I can get the locks changed. Maybe a better security system.”

“You can stay here,” I said.

He looked around at the rest of the group. “We’ll talk. Tonight it looks like you have a full house.”

We shared a kiss that told me I’d be seeing more of him, and he walked to the front door. He had one foot out and froze.

“Uh, anyone mind giving me a ride to the hospital?”

I was about to volunteer, but Lupin beat me to it. “No problem, I’ll go. The ladies need their rest.”

“Be careful, Lupin,” I said. “Nothing crazy like earlier. I like that one.”

He half-bowed and gave me a wink. “Fear not. My performance for the night is over.”

I locked the door behind them. The rest of us went upstairs, and I trudged to my bedroom and flopped face-first on the bed. I didn’t bother getting undressed.

“Make yourselves at home, I guess,” I spoke into the bed.

“I actually would rather get going,” Dree said. “No offense.”

“Suit yourself,” I said. “Where are you three staying anyway?”

“Memorial Park,” Slate said. There was an awkward silence as my too-tired brain worked out that they meant
in
the actual park and not a hotel near it.

“Oh,” I said. “Well, you could have told me that before I came all the way upstairs.” I pulled my head up and looked at Slate. “I suppose you want to go too?”

The older woman nodded. I rolled onto my back, and then begrudgingly got up. Dree led the way to my front door. When she was through, I pulled Slate aside.

"I heard you laughing with my uncle. That didn’t sound like someone with a death wish."

She shook her head. “No, I guess it didn’t. Being here and spending time with family for the first time in a very long while…is nice. I feel as though there’s a place for me here—if you’ll have me."

"Of course,” I said. “But you have to promise to use the front door whenever you visit me or Justin."

She smiled. “I think that can be arranged. Be safe, PJ. You are the last unmarked Mackenzie.”

The wound on my shoulder suddenly itched. I reached to scratch it and felt no pain in my wrists. All my wounds from the previous battle had healed. Regular old humans didn’t do that.

“I’m not so sure about that anymore,” I said.

Slate did something then that I really didn’t expect—she hugged me. “Don’t worry,” she said. “If you were one of us, you would know it by now.”

I thought about all of them—Slate, Lupin, Dree, and Justin. My gang, my
pack—
three wolves, a doctor, and little old me. What would Poppa think?

I went back upstairs after locking up and caught myself chewing on my necklace again. I realized that it didn’t matter. This was my fight, and I’d make whatever friends I needed. The story Poppa had told me my whole life—the basis for his hunts—was a lie. The truth was much more gray.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The next day I paid a visit to Manuel’s botanica. His wife greeted me from behind the counter when I walked in. My curiosity must have shown clear on my face because Maria laughed and pointed to the back door.

“He’s being a farmer this morning. Says dirt washes off cleaner than blood.”

How much about our little adventure had Manuel told his wife? I wasn’t sure I should ask.

“I wanted to thank him for his help dealing with Cesar the other night,” I said. No need to get into details if I didn’t have to. “I couldn’t have done it without him.”

Maria nodded slowly. “I know what he did to help,” she said. “He’ll make up for it in his own way.”

“He said something last night,” I said. “It’s none of my business, but I’m curious. Something about salvation not coming at the end of a machete?”

Maria sighed. “My husband was not always the man you see.”

I walked over to the counter. “What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“He found God,” she said. “It changed him, changed us both.”

She pulled up the sleeve of her blouse, and I saw a faded circular tattoo on her shoulder. It looked like something you would see on an ancient Mayan ruin, with the face of a god sticking out its tongue for blood sacrifice. Underneath was a stylized number 13. I knew a gang tattoo when I saw one. Those were the kinds of jobs Connor was careful to avoid.

“How long ago was that?” I asked.

“Not long enough,” Maria said.

Manuel walked in with a small basket full of herbs. Maria smoothed down her sleeve and took it from him. “I’ll get these drying. It was good to talk to you, PJ.”

As soon as she was out of the shop, Manuel pulled out a cigar and lit up. He took a long drag, and then pulled a book out from under the counter. I recognized the Mackenzie crest on the top.

“I figured you’d want this,
chica,
” he said. “It has your name written all over it. Or is this purely a social call?”

“Did you read it?” I asked.

He nodded, but didn’t offer anything more. He looked a little pale today. Then again, he did just slaughter a pack of wolves and negotiate a truce with a drug cartel. That would take it out of you.

“Is there anything I should know about, Manuel? You don’t look so hot.”

He shook his head and worked on his cigar some more. “Read it. I’ve marked the interesting parts.”

I opened the book and turned to a marked page. One side had a set of runes I’d never seen before. They looked less Celtic and more…something else. The hand-drawn image on the opposite page stopped my thoughts cold. Were those…wings?

Manuel saw my reaction. “Your family made more than just wolves,
chica.
”

I closed the book and tucked it under my arm. This would need more research.

“Before I go,” I said, “I wanted to give you some more blood. Justin has an idea on how to reproduce it synthetically, but let’s just say I won’t trust it until I can do some field tests.”

Manuel led me back to the room behind his counter and pulled out his kit. I let him take as much as he could. He didn’t say anything about my suddenly healed wounds, and I thanked him silently.

I bought another candle before I left. Manuel wrapped it for me, but not before throwing in another baggie of wolfsbane.

“Just in case,” he said.

With Donald gone, there would be fewer wolves for a while. I wouldn’t hold my breath that they’d be gone forever. More always came out of the woodwork.

I’d have to talk to Justin and make sure he’s not the jealous type. I couldn’t have him forbidding me from hitting the clubs by myself. After all, it’s a full moon this week. I’ll want to go out hunting again.

What can I say? It’s in my blood.

About the Author

Maurice Lawless lives in Houston, Texas. He writes criminal justice software for local government and fiction in his spare time. He hopes one day that those roles can be reversed. If you enjoyed this book, feel free to drop him a line on his website, The Lawless Pen. He is also active on Twitter. Find him on his blog (
lawlesspen.blogspot.com
) or on Twitter as @
MauriceLawless
.

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