Rourke didn’t need me to explain anything. He already had his window down, his nose angled out the window.
The wolf sitting in the passenger side turned. “We haven’t arrived at our destination yet. It’s a few more miles down the road. It won’t be long.”
“No, stop the car right now,” I insisted, this time more firmly. “Pull over here.” Once the driver complied, I looked out the back window. Our vehicle had been in the lead, and as it’d pulled over, the other had pulled in line behind us.
Tyler sat up, using his nose along with Rourke’s to see what they could identify from the air. My brother had awesome scenting capabilities. “I know you picked up on something, but I don’t scent anything, Jess,” he said. “Nothing’s coming back as a red flag.”
“It’s not a threat,” I assured him. “The power signature was aimed specifically at me. It’s odd, almost cloaked, yet not. Just enough to let me know it’s there.” My wolf barked and then flashed me a picture. I smiled. “I know who it is.”
“Who?” my brother asked.
“Jebediah Amel, High Ambassador of the Coalition,” I said. “He must have some news for me.” I reached for the door handle.
Rourke growled, “I’m coming with you.”
6
Rourke and I stepped out of the SUV. Julian was already out of the second vehicle, coming toward us. “Why did you stop? This is my land, and it’s well protected. You are safe here. If there was a threat in my inner sanctum, I would know about it.” He made a show of scenting the air to prove his point.
“This isn’t a threat,” I assured him. “Someone has come to see me. If it’s okay with you, Rourke and I will meet him, and then we’ll head to the Compound.”
“I don’t understand,” Julian said. “I just told you that no one can access this land without me knowing about it.” He narrowed his gaze, consternation on his face.
“This is no ordinary someone,” I replied, trying for a casual tone. “He’s a very powerful warlock and very old. He’s my assistant, of sorts, and he can cloak himself really well. If he didn’t want anybody to detect him, they wouldn’t be able to.” I didn’t want to divulge too much. This wasn’t the time or the place to talk about the Coalition with Julian. To put his mind further at ease, I added, “He likely just arrived. He can materialize at will.” I said it like it was commonplace that everybody could pop in and out of time and space. In reality, very few supes could achieve such a feat. I actually knew of no other.
Rourke crossed his arms. He had nothing to add, but was showing the Alpha of the Mediterranean Pack that if he didn’t grant us our wish for a private meeting with Jeb, there would be a fight.
Julian’s gaze was intense as he looked between us. Finally, he bowed his head. “Very well,” he said. “I will send a car back to pick you up. I will instruct them to stay on the road and wait for your arrival.”
“Thank you,” I said. “We appreciate your willingness to help. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Like I said, this is no ordinary supe. And please don’t blame any of your wolves for the intrusion. There’s no way to guard against someone who can beam themselves into the middle of a forest.”
Julian’s grin faded. “I see we have much to discuss. I’ll leave you to your meeting, and we will talk later.” He turned back to his waiting SUV. Once he was inside, the vehicle pulled forward, stopping beside us.
Marcy rolled down her window. “You got this? Or do you want us to stay? You know, because mayhem follows you like a vulture to roadkill.”
“No, we’re good. We’ll handle this ourselves,” I told her. “You guys go on to the Compound and get settled. We shouldn’t be too long.” I had no idea how long Jeb would keep us, but I couldn’t imagine he’d stick around for any length of time.
Eudoxia sniffed from inside, “We’ve been on Italian soil for less than ten minutes. Leave it to you to find something wrong.” I hadn’t told the Vampire Queen about Jeb yet. I wondered for a moment if he would want us to bring her along. He was the High Ambassador of the Coalition, after all, and Eudoxia had a place on it.
I decided not to extend that offer just yet.
But I was curious about what the warlock had to say. I’d left him only a short time ago, so something interesting must’ve been written in that big ol’ book of his to warrant contacting us so soon. “It’s nice you have my back, Eudoxia,” I told her. “You make the world a safer place.”
“If you get yourself in trouble, keep me out of it,” she warned. “I don’t have the time or energy to bail you out again.” She was referring to the fact that she had traveled to the Underworld to help rescue me. Something she was loath to do. “I swear I will leave you to rot if you dig up something disastrous right now.”
“That’s reassuring,” I said, refraining from making a comment about her having absolutely zero things to do in the next few hours, except drink my blood. I knew she hadn’t forgotten about the feeding. It was a top priority for her, but she wouldn’t speak about it in front of Julian, which was smart. “I’ll be sure to take care of myself. I’m also taking a big cat with me, so have no fear. I’m certain we won’t be needing your stellar rescue services.” Rourke growled his agreement that one big cat was more than enough to protect me from danger, as Marcy winked and pointed upward. I gave her a slight nod. She was not-so-subtly letting me know she knew Ray was there, or she would’ve stayed. “We’ll see you at the Compound.”