CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Valdez
“Caleb Cayce, it’s late. Why are you always where you're not wanted?” I bellowed as I slammed the door to my truck.
I’d dropped Kenai’s truck off at his place. I’d be more comfortable wrecking my own vehicle than his. Zom made his way to the merman’s heels with a not-so-menacing growl. Caleb was standing too close to Ellie for my liking. I was done playing with Others, even those that were semi-friendly.
“That's a hell of a hello, Val.”
“You should have gone home.”
“Missed the boat, so to speak,” he quipped with that signature quirked smile.
“Dez, what happened to your arm?” She reached for my wrapped arm; the blood had already soaked through the bandage.
“Injury. Just some need stitches.” I tried to keep my voice steady as I put myself between her and Caleb.
“Then you need to get to the hospital. What the hell is on Zom? He needs a bath.” She forgot about me and moved to my dog that sat at her feet, wagging his tail.
She caught Zom’s collar and shoved him inside the house.
“Grammy Hayes always sewed the boys back up when they got injured on a hunt, didn't she, Val? Is that why this is your first stop even though she’s gone?” Caleb bit, a slight smirk on his lips. “What was it this time? Caribou? Seal? Vamps? Weres?”
“You bastard.” I reached for Caleb’s throat with my good arm, but Ellie grabbed me first. “You keep your damn fish mouth shut before someone shuts it for you. Permanently.”
Caleb just laughed. “Oh. Be real, Val. You shut me up and they'll come after you. Your ex’s reach stretches farther than you care to imagine.”
“Marie has nothing to do with this.”
“You assume it's your son’s mother? Tsk tsk. You are thick, Sesi. You’ve got a few that come to mind that it could be. The one in Vegas, then there is my favorite—”
“Look. I didn't come to Alaska to get caught up in some sort of weird domestic situation,” Ellie interrupted as she shoved me away from Caleb. “This whole town talks in code, and I’m tired of it. Hunters? Vamps? You know what, I don't want to know. Not anymore tonight. Caleb, thank you for bringing me home. Dez, you need to get yourself to a hospital. I don't want you bleeding in the house, and I don’t know where to take you. Especially if your clinic person is out of town. That poor vet has his hands full.”
My temper flared at one sentence.
“I told you to stay in the house,” I growled, towering over her.
“And you’re not my keeper,” she bit back as she shoved my chest. “You need medical attention, you idiot.”
“I’ll take him, El.” Caleb’s quiet words drifted to us, and she took a step back, hand on the door knob.
“Good. Thank you. I’ll clean up your dog for when you get back.”
The door slammed behind her, the deadbolt sliding home. I turned my heated gaze toward the merman.
“I didn’t touch her, you clumsy human. Kody had me get her out of Broken Tusk. And just so you know, someone went after one of my guys tonight. He showed up at your sister’s bar, partially shifted with a slashed chest and arrow sticking out of him. Your precious human saw it all. Have fun dealing with that. Go get cleaned up before you bleed out and Kody has my ass for taunting you.”
“No loyalty to humans, but you’re worried what my sister would do to you?”
“I care for your sister. That seal of hers is my issue.” Caleb paused as I felt above the door frame with my good arm. “Where did you get that knife?”
“None of your business.”
“I've seen those stars on the handle before. That's your father's blade. Were you the cause of the explosion on the other side of town?”
“What of it?”
How did he know it was my father’s?
Caleb’s nose twitched. I hated dealing with Others and their extra abilities.
“Vampire blood and smoke? That was you in the harbor, wasn’t it?”
“Shove it, fish.”
“How many of me are you seeing, Val?” He chuckled. “I’m shocked you could even drive here in once piece.”
“I’d watch yourself, Caleb. There were some other fish looking for you. They claimed to be queen’s guards.”
There was a blue shift that rippled over his skin, but his expression didn’t change. “You sure it was me they were looking for?”
“Your kind doesn’t make a habit of staying in Alaska. You’re the only merman I know associated with my family.”
“That’s a little bit of shifter racism if I ever heard it, Val.”
I didn’t want to play his game. I was tired. I needed to stitch my arm closed, get a shower, and get some sleep.
“Are you telling me I should be looking for more merfolk? Maybe more merfolk that are running bodies for the Blue Market. Koda know about that?”
He only smiled at me, his Fae fangs glistening a true pearl white. “Did you know your sister is the one supplying me with the bodies? She’s not burning the remains from the hunts she goes on. She’s giving them to me to take care of. All those vampires and thralls from a few weeks ago? Those were me and my boys taking them to the deep blue. That wannabe loup garou, too. I could just as easily make you disappear if I had a desire to, Val.”
I’d deal with him later.
My sister and I were going to have another one of those talks that never ended well.
“The two said they were looking for the usurper and his kid. You’ve got a baby mama, Caleb? Maybe I should threaten her to keep you in line.”
The beads in his hair tinkled as he laughed. “Oh. You are in the dark as always. You can’t even get the right merman. I have no fry, and I’d sure as Triton’s dick not tell you who or where if I did. But your ex was a good lay. Been awhile since Willow and I hooked up. Good to see her pretty ass was in town. She asked me to take her to Ordeneige since she hadn’t seen it since she’d left town. Your guys have done some good things over there.”
I swiped at him, but the merman evaded my grab too easily as he hopped off the porch. “Are you behind bringing her back?”
“Are you that dense, Val? Why would I do that? Aside from wanting some seal tail?”
“She sent the loup garou.”
“She hired the loup garou to go after you. It went rogue.” His tone was dry, as if I was the one who didn’t have a clue what had happening.
“Let's clear something up, fish. Willow will tell you whatever you want her to if she wants your dick. So don't for a moment think that she sent that thing up here just for me. The only person she hates more than me is Kodiak. And she's never been shy about it.”
His sea blue eyes flashed violet. I’d hit a nerve. That tiny bit of payback gave me a great deal of satisfaction.
“Let me put it in terms that your scaly, cold-blooded self can understand. Willow put Koda in danger. Willow didn't even care that she almost got her own brother killed.”
A blue shimmer danced over his face, the odd glow of opalescent tattoos ghosting across his face as his eyes stayed violet. “Are you lying to me, Valdez?”
I stretched and found the key in the rafters of the porch. “I might have lied about Willow in the past, but, no, not this time.”
“What are you going to do to Willow, hunter?” There was a growl of disgust to his voice. That was what I was used to hearing from Others. I wasn’t used to being on such friendly terms with them for that long.
“Like I'd tell you.”
I didn't know what I’d do.