Deadlock

Chapter Seventeen

Nicole Peyton was five feet of snarly alpha wolf who looked nothing like her identical twin. Oh, on the surface Michelle and Nick shared similar features — big dark eyes, long brown hair and their mother’s slight stature — but Alec had never seen anyone mistake one for the other.

Maybe it was the clothes. Nick arrived at the block of mostly vacant warehouses in jeans and tiny little tank top that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a hip college kid. Or maybe it was just attitude. The Seer had spent years trying to fade into any background she could, but when Nick entered a room, you knew it.

Her husband herded Kat and Miguel toward the other end of the warehouse, to the bare-bones clinic where Carmen had begun organizing chaos through steely willpower alone. Alec gestured Nick over to the folding table where he’d spread out every cell phone he could get his hands on, along with his list of contacts.

Her frown deepened. «You look like hell, Alec.»

«You’re a ray of sunshine as always, Peyton.»

«I’m not here to blow smoke up your ass. I’m here to help, and I’m starting off by saying you look like you’re barely hanging in there.»

At least one thing in his life hadn’t changed — she was still an obnoxious alpha bitch. The constancy was almost soothing. «I’m trying to figure out how to challenge Cesar Mendoza without ending up with a council seat I don’t want.»

To her credit, she didn’t look surprised. «It’d be tough to pull off, especially if you expected the council to leave you any autonomy in New Orleans. They’d see denying the seat as weakness, for sure.»

«And if I leave another hole in the Southeast council, God knows who’ll fill it, or which one of those bastards will use the advantage to climb over the rest and onto the Conclave.»

«An unenviable position.» She sat on the edge of the table and nodded toward the other side of the cavernous warehouse. «Is that her? Carmen?»

Alec tensed, unsure if the emotion pounding through him was protectiveness or defensiveness. «Yes. That’s Carmen.»

«Damn.» Nick blew out a breath and flashed him a sympathetic look. «Puts you in an even tougher spot.»

Stress made him pissy. «You mean the part where I’m probably going to have to kill my new girlfriend’s uncle?»

It didn’t intimidate her. «Yeah, that part. It’d be hell on a relationship that wasn’t new, but this… This really sucks.»

His life in a nutshell. «Even worse, it’s tomorrow’s problem. Tonight’s problem is that the only safe place for supernaturals to get medical treatment just blew up, and I have no idea if we’ve got enough people to bury the weird details. Like the pool of Franklin’s blood we left behind, or who might have witnessed people dragging him out of the collapsed building.»

«Jackson and I are already on it. You’re not the only one who’s been a busy boy tonight.»

«Two-thirds of the shifters and spell casters in this town make their way through that bar of yours on any given weekend. You spreading the word?»

«In a manner of speaking.»

«As long as it gets done.» One more thing to cross off his mental list. «Does your father know about this yet?»

She bared her teeth in a fierce grin. «Cesar Mendoza can sidestep you all he wants because you’re not the boss of him. Incidentally, my father is.»

John Peyton would come down on Mendoza like a brick wall. Censure would be swift, and punishment would follow. Its severity would depend on how outraged the rest of the Conclave was, and it would be a slow process. It would take time, because if the Conclave loved one thing, it was listening to themselves talk.

Alec didn’t have to wonder where it would end. They’d bicker. They’d fight. John would push for civilization. Some would side with him for favor. Some would oppose him out of pique. The Conclave would fail to find a consensus or present a united front, and whatever sentence they handed down wouldn’t be enough.

The Conclave wouldn’t solve the problem. But they’d keep Cesar busy. They’d keep themselves busy.

He’d use every god damn minute of that time to come up with a way to end this bullshit once and for all.

Nick watched him, her eyes wide and nervous. «You look scary.» Instead of turning it into a joke, she made the observation solemnly. «Alec, don’t do anything stupid, okay?»

For all her dominant tendencies, Nick wouldn’t understand. Her battle had been for a quiet life, the right to live outside her father’s legacy and her society’s rules. She had her people — her tiny little pack — all those faces in the cheerful family photos that lined the walls of Luciano’s ranch. Keeping them safe was her job, and she’d fight for it. She’d kill for it, if she had to.

Alec envied her that clarity. Not even thirty and she’d found her life’s purpose. He was on the wrong side of forty and only starting to realize he’d been hiding from his.

He looked away from Nick, toward the opposite end of the warehouse. The jumble of two-dozen voices made it impossible to sort out one from another, but his gaze found Carmen like she was magnetic north.

The helpless terror he’d felt in her earlier was gone — or so well hidden no one would believe it was there. She’d taken control of the makeshift clinic with the unwavering steel of any good drill sergeant, and people went running in whatever direction she pointed them. Life could knock the woman down as many times as it wanted, and she’d still get up and save the world.

God help him, he wanted to save it with her. For her.

«Alec.» Nick sighed. «Jesus, I hope Cesar Mendoza knows what he’s opened up.»

«Don’t think he could, Peyton.» Alec glanced back at her and smiled. «Because I’m going to do the stupidest thing there is. I’m going to fix our world.»

Carmen dragged her hair back into a sloppy ponytail. «Okay, Miguel. Clark needs help moving equipment out of the storage area and into the finished rooms on this end of the warehouse.»

He hopped off the desk immediately, moving with a grace he hadn’t always possessed. «Got it.»

She turned to Kat, who’d already pulled a sleek silver laptop out of her bag. «I hope you brought your own Wi-Fi, because there are a few things we need to find, and quick. They’re not in the inventory Franklin already stocked, but we need them in the next day or so.»

«I brought everything.» A boxy white MacBook and two tiny netbooks joined the first laptop on the table. «I figured you might need more than one computer online for the next few days, until I can set up something a little more permanent. I’ve got a mobile hotspot. The range isn’t great, but I might be able to boost it enough so that you can get a signal from anywhere in the building.»

«Thanks, Kat.»

Tara waved her cell phone at Carmen. «You said you called Sokolov up in Shreveport, right?»

«That’s right. She’ll be down first thing in the morning.»

«I know a guy who works in anesthesia at Our Lady of the Lake.»

«In Baton Rouge?»

«Yeah. He knows plenty of spells that could come in handy, including one that can slow Franklin’s shifter healing long enough for Dr. Sokolov to operate.»

The only member missing from their specialized OR team. Alec’s partner Jackson had offered to try if they couldn’t find anyone else, but the last thing any of them wanted to do was take chances with Franklin’s well-being. «Offer him whatever he wants if he can be here tomorrow.»

Tara grinned, already dialing. «I’ll talk him into it.»

Carmen slid her hand into her pocket, closing her fingers around the borrowed cell phone there. Kat had handed it over readily, without question, and it was time for Carmen to use it.

The offices that occupied one end of the warehouse had been modified and outfitted as exam rooms or meeting spaces. When she found one with a large desk and a single folding chair, she sat down to dial the number Franklin had given her.

It rang five times before the call connected. Carmen heard rustling, then the sound of a door clicking shut before a quiet, tense voice answered. «Hello?»

«Is this Sera Sinclaire?»

The sound of water filled the background. A shower, maybe, or a sink running. «Kat? Is that you?»

«Kat lent me her phone. My name is Carmen Mendoza. I’m calling because your father’s been hurt.»

Sera’s breath caught. Hard on the heels of the gasp came a protest. «He’s not — if you know Kat, you know…what he is?»

«I know.» Carmen swallowed hard. «I work with Franklin at his clinic.»

«Oh.» Her voice sounded young and afraid. «Is it — how bad is it? Is he going to be okay?»

«He’s all right. Stable. He needs surgery, probably tomorrow.» She hesitated. «Your father told me you live in Arkansas. Can we send someone to pick you up, or—?»

«No!» Something clattered in the background, then paper crinkled. «I’ve got a pen. Give me the address, and I’ll come.»

Carmen rattled off the address she’d already memorized. «If you need help finding it, just call Kat’s phone and someone will answer. I think most of us are going to be here all night.»

«Okay. How did — was it Kat? Did she track me down?»

Lying might have been easier, but Carmen refused to do it. «Your father gave me your number and asked me to call.»

Sera let out a soft breath. «Are you sure he wants to see me?»

A heartbreaking question, and so simple to answer. «I don’t think there’s anything he wants more.»

«Okay.» Relief, for a moment, but tension wreathed the words that followed. «I just need to talk to my husband. I’ll be there by tomorrow morning.»

«Sera.» Instinct — and Alec’s words — prompted Carmen to speak. «If you need help, if you need anything, call us. Please.»

«I will.» A muffled male voice called out in the background, and Sera swore. «I need to go. Tell him I’m on my way, okay?»

«Be safe.» Carmen disconnected the call and rubbed her hands over her face. So much left to do, and all she really wanted to do was hide.

Her uncle, her family. All this pain and destruction, just because Franklin had flouted an authority that wasn’t supposed to extend to him in the first place. And now Alec—

She stomped on the thought, pushing it down with absolute determination as she rose and made her way back down the half-lit hallway. There was no mistaking Alec’s intention; he planned to make sure that nothing like this ever happened in his town again.

His town.

She pushed through the exit and into the controlled chaos of the main warehouse. Alec still sat at a table near the entrance, talking to Nicole Peyton. Though his glowering had subsided into a sort of quiet thoughtfulness, she didn’t doubt that rage still boiled inside him, high and hot.

He would challenge Cesar and end up with his council seat. He would do it because he had no other recourse, even though he’d lain in her bed only days before and told her that anyone who went up against the Southeast council would die trying to change it.

His town.

He’d survive the first round of challenges, maybe even the first few. But no one could stand alone against an establishment, against so many who wanted to keep things exactly the way they were.

Lady luck favors you if you bring a friend. Or two.

Wesley Dade’s words. Days old, but they echoed in her ear as if he stood beside her now, bringing painful clarity to the core issue at hand — Alec couldn’t change the council, the Conclave, by himself.

Spotters keep count, and the big player drops in to strike while the iron’s hot.

He couldn’t do it alone, but he didn’t have to.

«Carmen?» Alec’s fingers brushed her shoulder, bringing the warmth of worry and protection. «You all right?»

She must have been staring, so lost in thought that she hadn’t even noticed him crossing the warehouse. «I’m fine. I was…I was just thinking about something someone said to me the other day.»

Worry intensified. «What’d they say?»

«That counting cards is a group activity,» she answered absently. «What if you didn’t take on the council alone?»

Alec’s fingers closed on her chin and tilted her head back. «Honey, you’re scaring me more than a little. Do you need to sit down?»

«No, listen.» She grasped his upper arms and looked up at him. «One person they don’t want on the Southeast council? That person’s a target. I’m talking about bringing backup. Majority rule.»

Alec blinked. Frowned. «I’m trying to think of a reason why that wouldn’t work. It feels like it wouldn’t work. It feels…»

«It would take special people, ones you trusted. Ones who wanted to help, not take what you had.»

«And here I was about to say it seems too easy.» Alec’s gaze unfocused. «Strong enough to get on the council. Strong enough to hold against challenges. Willing to lead, but capable of following too.»

«My brother.» He’d kill her for even thinking it, much less mentioning it to Alec, but it was true. «You need Julio.»

He laughed suddenly. «Hell, if we’re going to break all the rules, why go small? Andrew. Andrew can damn near take me out. He can win a challenge.»

Carmen’s heart began to pound. «It isn’t breaking the rules because the rules are already broken.»

«Oh, it’s breaking all of the rules,» he whispered. «All the ones no one ever wrote down because they just are. The rules that need to be smashed into pieces.»

Exactly what she’d meant, but it didn’t matter. She moved without thinking, sliding her hands up to his face. «Could you do it? If you weren’t alone?»

«Depends.» He gripped her hips and pulled her close, seemingly unconcerned with the attention they were attracting. «Will I have you?»

It was so much more than anything they’d discussed before, and it took her the span of a breath to know the answer. «You’ll have me, no matter what you do.»

He smiled, a smile full of warmth and excitement and hope, and then, in front of half the people they knew and a dozen they didn’t, he dragged her to him and kissed her.

He kissed her as if nothing had ever been more vital, as if he would never stop, and nothing penetrated the haze of pleasure and possession until she heard both of her brothers calling her name in unison.

She broke away and turned to Miguel, who held the neatly lettered list she’d made for Kat. «Hate to break it up,» he murmured, his cheeks red, «but you told us you’d put this in order so we knew what to track down first.»

«Right.» They had twelve hours to find most of the equipment, eighteen at the outside. «I have to do this, Alec. Can you go see if Franklin is awake? Even if he’s not…tell him Sera’s on her way, would you?»

«Will do.» Alec smoothed back her hair and smiled. «We can do this.»

«Yes.» The council, the makeshift clinic, all of it. «We can.»