"We'll talk," Jed said gruffly, and I realized he was having the same reaction. "Come get me when the food's ready. And be sure to put at least five steaks on the fire for me. I'm suddenly powerfully hungry."
I grinned at him. "You reallyarerelated to me."
Before he could reply, my doorbell rang. Susan headed to the front of the house to answer it, and then I heard her welcome someone into my house.
"Jack," she called out. "The FBI is here."
Jed trudged toward the bed, and I took a deep breath.
Suspicious Fae runes carved into the wall of my well, Tess's headache, an unwanted eagle shifter, a surprise ancestor, a threat of impending doom, and now the FBI.
My day just kept getting better and better.
11
Tess
Iwoke up at six-thirty from very odd dreams, feeling fuzzy and tired, but thankfully the headache was gone. I glanced at my phone and saw I'd missed three texts and two calls from Aunt Ruby, but nothing from Jack. He knew I was napping, so that made sense, but still felt like a letdown. I quickly texted Aunt Ruby back I was doing much better and then put my phone down.
Lou was curled up by my feet, and one of my texts was from Uncle Mike, who'd had Aunt Ruby follow him over so he could drop off my car and my cat, so I spent an important and satisfying few minutes cuddling with Lou before I got up to feed her. Then I stared into my fridge for a minute or two, not really seeing anything, while I debated driving over to Jack's to find out what was going on.
"Or I could just call him," I told Lou, who was paying close attention … to the contents of the refrigerator.
She looked thoughtful.
"You're right," I told her. "I should just drive over. With pie. Also, if there are any clues to be found, I should be there to help, right?"
I'm almost sure she nodded. Then again, she might have been moving her head to more easily clean her paw. Anything is possible in a cat's world.
I grinned. "I should have askedyoufor headache cures. Although I'm not sure how much 'push everything you can possibly reach off the mantel' would really help."
I scooped her up and kissed the top of her silky head, and she started purring, so then we had to spend ten minutes on the couch for ear scratches and belly rubs. Well, she got belly rubs, and I got the lovely, warm satisfaction that people everywhere receive from the unconditional love of a beloved pet.
Also, tuna-breath in my face, but it was a small price to pay.
When Lou jumped gracefully up to the back of the couch to stretch and think Important Cat Thoughts, I headed for the kitchen to retrieve the chocolate cream pie I'd hidden from Jack in the produce drawer, the last place he'd ever look for anything.
The man wasn't a huge fan of vegetables, no matter his false green beans claim.
Whenever I brought it up, he just looked at me blandly and said, "Tiger."
Aunt Ruby and I always piled veg and salad on his plate when he ate at either of our houses, though, because we thought his human form might need actual vegetables. And even fruit thatwasn'talready baked into a pie.
On second thought … I glanced down at the pie in my hand and sighed. One pie for two shifters? Plus Susan and—if Logan came back—yet another shifter?
I put the pie down, retrieved a bowl of cookie dough I'd made a few days back from the fridge, and then took all of it with me to the car. The smell of cookies baking might help calm things down, if the situation had gotten tense.
And, all things considered, it was a fairly good bet thattensewould be an understatement.
When I arrived at Jack's house, he was standing in the front yard with another man who wasn't Jed or Logan. They turned to look at me, and I realized that the man was no stranger.
I hopped out of the car and rushed over. "Alejandro!"
Special Agent Alejandro Vasquez of FBI P-Ops—the Federal Bureau of Investigations' Paranormal Operations division—strode over to meet me and then caught himself when he reached out, arms open, for a hug. I hadn't realized we were at a hugging stage, but I was happy he felt that way. Alejandro had helped us on several occasions, and he was a friend to Atlantis too, like Jack. He was also madly in love with his wife, Rose Cardinal, a powerful witch from a magical family in Ohio, and they'd promised to take some vacation and come visit. I was looking forward to finally meeting her.
"I'm sorry, Tess," Alejandro said, turning the almost-hug into a graceful bow. He knew about what he called my "gift." "I wasn't thinking."
Jack snorted. "So, nothing new, Vasquez?"
