Chapter 22
Carter
I handed Laura the picnic basket. “Thank you. Everything was delicious, as always.”
She beamed. “I’m so glad. How did the picnic itself go?”
It was my turn to beam. “She told me she loves me.” It was easy to open up to our pack mom because she’d grown to feel like my actual mom.
Her entire expression glowed. “Must be the love potion I put in there.”
My smile faded. “What?”
She kissed my cheek. “I’m kidding, sweetie. It’s all you. What’s not to love?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t do that to me, Mom.”
“I can’t help it. You’re fun to tease.”
“Can I do anything to help clean up?”
She shoved me out of the kitchen. “Just go enjoy your girl. I’ve got this.”
Toby nearly walked into me. “Carter, I didn’t realize you were here. I have to talk to you.” He glanced around. “Privately.”
I followed him to his office, first checking on Katya. She sat in the living room with Victoria, Ziamara, and the group of kids. They were all laughing, and she didn’t even notice me.
Toby closed his office door behind us and indicated for me to have a seat on his couch. He sat two cushions away and took a deep breath.
“Is something wrong?”
“It’s less than ideal, but we have options.”
I groaned. “Lay it on me.”
“Gessilyn got called away in the middle of working on a cloaking spell for Katya. Her family’s working on something, but they don’t have anything yet. They say to give them another day or two.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “Why is a simple spell so difficult?”
“It’s extra-complicated hiding a jaguar shifter from her own family members, apparently. The details went over my head, but they’re working on it. Tap says she can stay in his guest room for as long as she needs to. Nobody will find her there.”
I nodded, my mind racing. “Maybe Tap’s place is the answer.”
“Or I can see if the vampires will house her. They won’t let a pack of enemy shifters near the castle. Plus, she might enjoy spending time there. She’s probably never seen the world’s largest castle.”
“Tap’s place is closer. I think that’s our best bet. He might even have some more of the potion he gave her last week.”
Toby nodded and gave me a sad smile. “She’s also welcome here. So are you.”
“I hope so—I live here.”
“Do you? I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
“Yes. This is my pack, my family. I just need to stay close to Katya to make sure she stays safe.”
Toby nodded knowingly. “I understand. Whatever you decide, let me know. Also, the second I hear from Gessilyn’s family, you’ll be the first to know.”
“I appreciate that.” I clenched my fists and rose. “Have you gotten ahold of other werewolf packs? We might need the backup sooner than expected if Katya has no cloaking spells.”
“You could always ask Darrell at the spice shop, though I suspect Katya has become immune to his concoctions. Otherwise, neither you nor the other jaguars would’ve found her.”
I nodded. “Right. I’m going to talk with her about staying at the Faeble.”
Katya was still playing with the kids. I sat next to her, and little Wilder climbed onto my lap.
“Where you been, Uncle Carter? I miss you.”
“Aw,” Katya gushed. “I’m sorry, Wilder. I’ve been keeping him away. We’ll stay so you can play with him.”
“Yay!” Wilder threw his tiny fist into the air and knocked me over flat on my back. The kid loved nothing more than wrestling.
An hour later, Katya and I headed outside. She turned to me. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to drop from exhaustion. My bed never seemed more welcoming.”
“About that…”
Her eyebrows came together. “What do you mean?”
“Tap’s protection spell is going to wear off anytime now, and we don’t have another one to replace it.”
“What are you getting at?”
“I think we should take Tap up on his offer to stay in his guest room.”
“What? No.”
“It’s only temporary. Gessilyn needs only a day or two to come up with a spell for you.”
Katya’s mouth formed a straight line, and she shook her head. “I won’t go.”
“Why not? Your family will find you without protection in place.”
“They’re not my family. Just relatives. Big difference.”
I nodded, understanding completely. “Still, they’re dangerous, and we’re not ready to face off with them.”
She dug her heel into the ground. “I am. I’ll have no problem telling them where they can stick their old ideas.”
“Can we sleep on it? I hear Tap’s guest room is amazing.”
“I don’t care. I’m not letting those jerks scare me away.”
Why had I thought convincing her to stay at the Faeble would be easy? I took a deep breath. “They’ve brought in a lot of shifters. The scent is strong, and continues to grow stronger every day.”
“I’ve noticed, but that doesn’t change my mind.”
“Even though what they want is to take you away?”
“Have you noticed they haven’t been successful? I’m still here.”
Irritation ran through me. I took a deep breath and squeezed her hand gently. “But now they’re amping up their game. It’s probably going to get ugly. When I faced off against my dad, his wildly popular club burned to the ground.”
She held my gaze for a moment. “The Jag?”
“How did you know?”
“I’ve heard about it. It was really exclusive, then one day a mysterious fire destroyed it. There are a lot of theories flying around about it.”
“The truth is, it was a battle of the shifters. Jaguars and Wolves, mostly.”
“Wait.” Her eyes widened. “Your last name is Jag, and it was called the Jag. I never made the connection before.”
“It’s not a big deal. My point is that things can get ruined—lives will end. What if it’s your hotel? Your family?”
Katya’s eyes widened further.
“All I’m asking is that you hide out in the Faeble for a couple days until Gessilyn can work her magic. Once she does, she’ll have such a powerful cloaking spell that your fam—your relatives will think you’ve moved somewhere else. Then, so will they.”
“I understand what you’re saying. How about this bargain—?”
“You want to set a wager when your safety is involved?”
“Just hear me out.” She pleaded with her eyes.
I took a deep breath. “What is it?”
“Keep in mind that Tap’s potion is good through tonight—”
“We hope. It’s not an exact science. It probably won’t end exactly at the same time you took it last week.”
“But probably pretty close. I’ve been waiting all week to get back to that secret entrance we found. I’d have been there if I hadn’t needed to study so desperately. If we go check it out, I’ll hide out at Tap’s after.”
I frowned. “That’s the only way you’ll agree to stay at the Faeble?”
She crossed her arms and nodded yes.
“Okay. On the condition that if we sense more shifters, we leave immediately. Your safety first.”
Katya sighed. “Oh, all right.”
We climbed into my car and headed for the hotel. I kept my senses on high alert for other jaguar shifters, but we seemed to be in the clear. The potion was still protecting her—for now.
When we arrived at the hotel, the lobby was packed.
“Some convention on campus,” Katya told me. “We’re booked.”
I sniffed the air. The only jaguar shifters were Che, Katya, and me. I relaxed a little, then we headed to the off-limits area. The halls were like a maze with so many twists and turns, and each one looking the same. Even with our keen senses, it was hard to find the exact place we’d been a week prior.
Katya pulled out her phone and found the pictures. By some miracle, we managed to find the spot by following room numbers.
We both stared at the spot, and it all came back to me. The empty-sounding wall and her finding a button on the molding. I tapped the wall and listened.
It echoed.
She looked at me with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.
“Are you ready?” I tapped another section of the wall. It was solid. Only the one spot appeared to be echoing.
“Let’s do this.” She knelt down and ran her fingers across the molding.
I stared at the wall, my mind and pulse both racing. What were we going to find? A horrible thought struck me. What if we unleashed a new enemy? There had to be a reason for an entire wing being sealed off.
“Help me out here,” Katya said.
I knelt and felt along the molding. “You’re sure about this?”
“I’ve been searching for as long as I’ve lived here. I have to know if there’s really a secret wing that someone went to such great lengths to hide.”
“You don’t think it’s meant to stay hidden?”
“Carter, you sound like my mom.”
Maybe Jennifer was wiser than Katya gave her credit for, but I didn’t bother saying anything. It was clear there was no point in trying to convince Katya this could be a bad idea. I could only hope that whatever was sealed and hidden away was harmless.
Because people always went to such great effort to hide things that were no threat. I braced myself. Hopefully, we weren’t about to multiply our problems.
Katya studied her phone’s screen. “The button should be right here.”
My finger brushed over a slight bump in the molding. “Maybe this is it.”
She frowned. “That’s not where it was last week. It was right here.” She pointed to a spot about a foot away.
“A lot has happened between then and now.”
“Enough to make a button move?”
“Or to make us forget.”
Katya shook her head. “I wouldn’t forget something this important.”
“Well, I found something right here.” I pressed on the bump but nothing happened.
“That’s because what I found before was an actual button. Not a bump.” Katya pressed her palm along the molding. “Found it!”
I waited as she pushed on it.
“Nothing.” She frowned and pressed harder, more rapidly. “Come on.”
“Maybe it has something to do with what I found.” I pushed on the bump and it did nothing.
We both pressed down simultaneously.
Creak.
Katya and I stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Creak. Creeeeeak.
Crack!
I jumped back, pulling Katya with me.
The wall shook and kicked off dust, but didn’t move.
Katya stepped closer to me. “Is it going to open?”
Creak, creak.
I put my arm around her and prepared myself to jump in front of her at a moment’s notice. “I think we’re about to find out.”
The wall shook again, then moved away from us like a door opening to the inside.
It revealed a dark hallway with dark green shag carpeting. A musty odor escaped.
Katya stared at me, not saying anything.
I pulled out a small flashlight attached to my keychain. “Do you want to go in?”