CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Grape Creek, Texas
Frankie~
“I still don’t understand how Frankie’s lava worked if she hadn’t activated it,” Mom said with a puzzled frown. “I thought blood was an inseparable part of the transformation.
Lincoln and Beverly were sitting across from her and Cam. Mom and Dad were at one end of the table holding hands. Hardy was having his afternoon nap in Grandma Angel’s portable crib.
“It is,” Dad said. “You must have gotten blood on the lava, Frankie. Turned it into an Egg of Immortality. That’s the only explanation.”
“Her feet were badly cut and bruised when she returned to Grape Creek,” Cam said. “And she was definitely using her talons to grip the lava, weren’t you, Frankie?”
She nodded. She wished she felt as chipper as Cam appeared to. But she had woken groggy and spaced out, and her brain felt as if it were soaked in formaldehyde. Could she possibly have a hot springs hangover? She glared resentfully at Cam. He had drunk as much of that intoxicating beverage as she had. Why wasn’t he feeling loopy?
“I cut my finger on a broken wine glass at our wedding,” Lincoln said reminiscently. “I accidentally got blood on my chunk of lava.”
“Next thing I knew,” chimed in Beverly, “He was hauling me away from the dance floor and out to the desert.”*
“But it was worth it, wasn’t it, dear heart?” Lincoln asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Beverly admitted with a blush.
“If you got blood on your lava,” Dad said, “You’d have only had until sundown to feed it to Cameron. Lucky for you it was still active when that Cerberus attacked.”
“Nothing about that attack was lucky,” groused Frankie. “So if Bear Boy ate an activated egg, why doesn’t he transform into greater phoenix?”
“That will remain one of life’s little mysteries, daughter.” Dad’s voice held a reproof. “I very much doubt if eating another rock will make any difference. Anyway, I thought Cameron was happy to still be able to shift into bear.”
“I am.”
“He is.” She and Cam spoke together.
“Problem solved,” Dad pronounced.
“Which it was.” Cam had moved easily from bear to lesser phoenix, and from lesser to man. Clearly he had mastered both his morphs. Nevertheless she felt grumpy and out of sorts. Hungry, although the thought of food was nauseating. Definitely hungover.
Lincoln’s cell rang and with an apologetic murmur he took the call.
“Monday works.”
“What’s that? No sign of a short, eh?”
A pause while her brother listened. “No, I don’t have any explanation. I don’t think he smokes.”
More listening. “Anyway, thanks for putting a rush on this, buddy.” Lincoln ended his call and slipped his cell back into his breast pocket.
He looked around the table at the others and grinned. “Ferdy Muller will start rewiring the cottage on Monday. Once that’s done, he’ll have a crew begin the renovations.” His deep voice rang with subtle satisfaction.
Dad nodded. “But what about the fire marshal? Shouldn’t we expect a visit?”
“Since we’re not filing an insurance claim, Dad, we don’t have anything to say to the fire department.” Lincoln held out his mug for a refill. Beverly poured more coffee into it.
“You’re telling us that Ferdy Muller bought your story about faulty wiring causing the fire?” Frankie checked. Despite having slept her full eight hours, she still felt half asleep. Coffee, she needed coffee. Coffee made everything better.
Cam silently refilled her mug.
“You wish.” Linc snorted. “Nah.” His big thumb flicked across the table towards Cam. “He thinks Reynolds here was smoking in bed.”
“Oh, Lincoln.” Caroline clucked her tongue. “You did not tell the worst gossip in Texas that Frankie’s husband-to-be is stupid enough to smoke. And worse, to smoke in bed?”
Frankie exchanged glances with Beverly, who was rolling her eyes. Lincoln looked innocent. “I explicitly told Ferdy Muller that it was the wiring. Not my fault if he looked over that old knob and tube and found no electrical short.”
“Well, there wasn’t one,” Cam said reasonably.
“It’s pretty obvious that the fire started in the bedroom and mostly took out the bed,” Lincoln continued. “What was anyone going to think? That you guys set the sheets on fire with unbridled passion?”
Frankie groaned. “I’m sorry, Cam.”
“I know, sweetheart. Not your fault.” He patted her hand tenderly. “My shoulders are broad enough to take a little ribbing and some flak.”
Unlike her, her lover looked fully restored by his regeneration. As if he had sucked her energy into his big frame. He looked good. Better than good. Cam’s thick blond hair was curling past his ears and down onto his forehead. His face and shoulders had filled out even more. But he had found a razor because that big square bear shifter jaw was flashing its dimple again.
He winked at her and laughed. “It’s at least better than speculation that we deliberately tried to burn down the cottage.”
“I guess smoking in bed is an improvement over arson.” But she didn’t much fancy having Cameron taken to be a fool. In fact, this morning she just felt cranky and spoiling for a fight.
His big hand pressed harder on hers. “No,” he said very softly. “Drink your coffee and wake up a bit.”
She drank obediently.
“I still don’t understand why that Cerberus female targeted Frankie and Cam. Or how?” Mom complained.
“I’d like to know too,” Dad said. He got up and refilled the coffee maker. “I think we all would.”
“Y’all already know I went to the Balderas Volcanic Field and sought the Gateway to Hell,” Frankie said. “Twice I was ambushed underground by a Cerberus. The second time, I killed him. Then I was attacked by his mate. We fought. I left her wounded and escaped.”
“Yes, but then you flew home,” Mom objected. “How could she know where to follow? That’s what has us all stumped. You didn’t exactly leave a scent trail for her to follow.”
“The egg,” George D’Angelo said. “I’ll bet she could sense lava from the Balderas, even over distance, and she tracked it like a radio beacon.”
All around the table, heads nodded. Faces looked grave.
“Makes sense,” Lincoln said. “She probably was attuned to it paranormally.”
“And she wanted revenge because you killed her mate,” put in Caroline. “I can see that. It’s a good thing you went back and eliminated her pups. The last thing we need is another battle of fire and brimstone here in Grape Creek.”
“I never heard of a volcano being guarded by a pack of Cerberus,” Lincoln said thoughtfully. “Not in the US. And I think that is one story I would recall.”
“It’s rare. They’re rare.” Dad said. He stood up and got the fresh pot of coffee. “At least they used to be. Just as the myth of Cerberus is a Greek story, the real Cerberuses were found in the Mediterranean volcanic fields.”
Dad poured Mom another cup. “I’ll admit I thought they were extinct. Just the stuff of legends nowadays, or I would have taught you kids to watch out for them.”
“That would have been nice,” Frankie said drily. Cam gave her hand a tiny shake of disapproval.
“Play nice,” he whispered.
Dad nodded ruefully. “Cerberuses live on lava, as we can. And for nearly as long. Plus, they are fiercely territorial. I guess Frankie’s presence antagonized the male Cerberus. When she took some of his magma, he defended his food supply.”
“I had no idea,” Frankie said gripping Cam’s hand in return. “And I apologize for bringing the fury of that bitch down on us all.”
“I hardly think you were to blame,” Caroline passed the coffee pot to Beverly. “When I think of taking you innocent kids to play in those hot springs, I cringe.”
“I don’t believe that the Cerberus and his mate were denned up there in those days,” Dad said judiciously. “We would have noticed.”
“I don’t know about that,” Frankie said thoughtfully. “There was no Cerberus spoor in the hot springs cave. They kept out of there.”
“It’s terrifying to think that we could have been attacked at any time while we were frolicking in the hot springs,” Mom murmured. “It makes my blood run cold.”
Dad covered her hand. “Now, Caroline. We took our kids there, treated it like our very own water park and nothing bad ever happened. And now that Frankie and Cam have wiped out the Hellhounds, it will be safe enough to take Quincy, Hardy and James there – when the time comes.”
Mom shook her head. “We’d still better make sure we spread the word, George. Our grandkids are too young, but they have lots of cousins who are on the cusp of adolescence. To say nothing of the ones who will be seeking lava to transform their mates. Cerberuses could be anywhere. In any volcano. It was sheer luck that Grant didn’t encounter some when he plumbed Vesuvius.”
“I’ll get right on it, sweetheart.” Dad patted Mom’s hand. “And we’ll scout the Balderas Fields before we use it for pleasure. Okay?”
“Okay.” Mom pasted a brave smile over her anxiety.
“The good thing is that Cameron appears to have made a full recovery,” Dad said bracingly. “How are you feeling, son?”
“Like a million bucks, sir,” Cam confirmed. “No headache, I can think clearly, and my legs are equally strong. Even the new knee is good to go.” He turned to Lincoln. “What do you think my chances are of remaining in Special Forces?”
“Zip squat,” Linc said firmly. “They’ll have the medics assess you, and write in your chart that you seem physically sound, but that no one can predict when you will have a flashback. You’re done in Special Forces, my friend. Maybe in the Air Force. That PTSD diagnosis is the kiss of death.”
Cam nodded. Frankie checked his aura. He was taking this harsh verdict philosophically. “That’s pretty much what the colonel told me – Harrison,” he clarified. “I have to decide if I can bear to sign on to fly a desk. For the life of me, I can’t understand how Pierce sticks it.**”
“He’s been raised to do his duty,” Dad said sternly.
“He gets his excitement from flying with Diana and being a father,” Mom corrected. “And I am sure Diana prefers that he not be sent into combat zones.”
“I guess y’all will think I’m a shirker if I accept a medical discharge,” Cam said.
“Not at all,” Dad said. “You have to do what’s right for you, Cameron. You’re young enough to find another career. There are always jobs for engineers with a specialty in aircraft.”
Frankie could tell that Cam didn’t think much of this suggestion, but he nodded. She reached for his hand, rejoicing at its sturdy muscularity.
“You could always help out with the FAs,” Lincoln said. “Your ability to switch between phoenix and bear would be an invaluable asset when tracking rogue shifters.” He drank coffee. “Or I could make a job for a guy with your talents at D’Angelo Security.”
The FAs or Fuck Alls were the extra-official shifter police. Lincoln had been involved with them since he took his medical discharge from Special Forces. The FAs would be a good fit for Cameron, but it had to be his choice. She wasn’t sure about having him working in Michigan, which was where Lincoln lived and ran his operation. Not when she was posted to Florida.
“I’ll think about it, Linc,” Cam said with his easiest drawl. He lifted Frankie’s hand to his lips. “But I want a job where I can live in the same house as my wife.”
Lincoln nodded. “Might be time to open an office in the south. It would have been an asset last year when we were researching those wolverines in down in Clearwater.***”
“You make me a proposal when you’ve had a chance to think it through,” Cam said.
Time to move on. Frankie gave Cam’s hand a last squeeze. “So the only real fallout of our tangle with the Cerberus bitch is that half of Grape Creek thinks that Cam smokes in bed and the other half is about to think that.”
Lincoln snickered. “Don’t you fret, sister mine,” he said complacently. “Old Ferdy is so busy being the first with the news that you and Reynolds are an item, he won’t remember to discuss his theories about the fire.”
Mom rose to her feet. “Like I said. The worst gossip in Texas. I’d better get moving if I want to accomplish anything this morning. I’ll bet y’all dinner that right this minute Ferdy Muller is sitting in the Grape Creek diner drinking coffee and speculating. I’m going to be spending the rest of my day on the phone confirming the rumors he starts. Have we got a date to share yet?”
Dad cleared his throat. “Let’s aim for before the christening,” he suggested.
“What are you talking about?” snapped Frankie.
Cam cleared his throat. “He can smell that you’re pregnant, Frankie. I know we haven’t discussed kids in a while, but we’re going to have one.”
The penny dropped. “Is that why I feel like hell this morning?”
Beverly laughed. “You do look a little green. You should lay off the coffee and eat something soft and simple. Caroline, I’ll make her scrambled eggs and toast, if you want to get on with your chores.”
“You don’t have to look so delighted,” Frankie informed Cam.
He grinned. “Warrior Woman, no man was ever happier than I am to discover that he had knocked up his bride.”
“Maybe we could persuade Genevieve to lend you her wedding dress,” Mom said dreamily. “Start a tradition.”
“Dress blues,” Frankie squeaked. She so did not want a big frilly wedding. “I was thinking a nice simple ceremony like Tasha and Harry’s.”
“Tasha wore a beautiful dress,” Mom said dreamily. “And the girls looked adorable. What if we made plans for next Fourth of July? That would give us time to gather the clan again? Quincy and Becky could be flower girls one more time.” She looked around the table.
Cam tugged her to his feet. “Those all sound like great suggestions,” he said briskly. “Of course, it’s entirely up to Frankie. But right now, she needs a nap and those eggs, if you don’t mind cooking, Beverly? We’ll be in the sunroom.”
*Phoenix Aglow
**Phoenix Ablaze
***Phoenix Aflame