Impulse: Southern Arcana, Book 5 (24 page)

She was loved. Maybe. Probably. Even the most cynical, scathing part of her broken human heart was sure he hadn’t dropped those words out of gratitude for a little kinky ass play. No, it felt real enough, which only made her smile goofily as she picked out a bag of chips and a couple packs of bubblegum.

She rounded the corner and slammed straight into the clerk, who’d apparently been hovering at the end of the aisle, watching Julio. He jumped back with a muttered apology and hurried around the counter, and Sera tried to shake off an uncomfortable attack of paranoia as she moved to Julio’s side. When she glanced back, the clerk was still leaning against the edge of the counter, his suspicious gaze fixed on them.

Creepy. She edged closer to Julio. “You almost ready?”

“I think so.” He glanced at the items in her hands. “Got everything?”

“Enough junk food to make it to Tennessee. You?”

A bottled soda dangled from one hand. “I’m not really hungry.”

She took his drink and grabbed one for herself. “Then let’s get out of here.”

His eyes had taken on a glazed, far-off look. It lasted only a moment before he shook it off and held up the keys. “Want to wait in the car?”

A premonition. Her skin prickled, the spot between her shoulder blades beginning to itch as if she could feel the clerk staring a hole through her back. “Is there trouble?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

An offer, then, but not an order. If he’d thought for a second she’d be in danger, Sera had no doubt he’d have hustled her out the door without giving her a choice. This was that confusing middle ground between blind obedience and trusting submission.

Her decision. She didn’t
want
to leave him, not when something in the air felt wrong, so she shook her head. “I’d rather stick with you, if that’s okay.”

“Sure.” He made his way up to the counter, where the clerk had busied himself with straightening a display. They made plenty of noise piling their merchandise beside the register, but the man didn’t acknowledge them.

A snub. A deliberate one, and she had a few seconds to be baffled that it seemed directed at Julio before the truth drove a fist to her gut. They’d spent so much of their trip surrounded by wolves who looked at her and saw
other
that she’d forgotten that the small-minded bastards in the human world had their own jackassy prejudices.

Her nails scratched across the counter as she struggled to keep her voice even. Julio probably wouldn’t appreciate her tearing out the clerk’s throat. Probably. “Excuse me? Could we pay?”

No answer, but the clerk began to tally their purchases. When he finished, he glanced at Julio with barely veiled contempt. “Anything else?”

Julio pulled in a deep breath, but he couldn’t keep an edge of bite out of his tone. “No, that’s everything.” He had to check the cash register’s digital display for the total, and he handed over a folded bill. “We’re fine without a bag.”

Sera snatched up the purchases and glared at the bastard until he looked away, as if he couldn’t even commit to bigotry when it required some sort of actual confrontation.

Fucking coward.

Julio crossed the lot and unlocked her car door in silence. When he slid into the driver’s seat, he gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

The urge to stride back into the gas station to perpetuate some redneck-on-redneck violence ratcheted up another notch. “I’m sorry,” she said instead, dumping the food into the back seat.

He shook his head. “I don’t even—it’s not the stupid shit, not really. Being watched like a hawk in the store or people who assume I don’t speak English. Not even people who tell me to go back to Mexico where I belong. The part that bugs the
hell
out of me is…there’s nothing to do. I might embarrass someone, but I’m not going to change their minds. At best, I could have made that asshole in there feel like an asshole. But at worst, the whole goddamn thing could have turned ugly.”

It would have turned ugly, but not because of Julio. It would have gone bad because she could shrug off the sneers and the slurs and even the threats when they were directed at
her
, but the instinct to protect would always rocket to the surface when someone hurt the man she loved.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, reaching for his hand. “Sorry that people suck, and sorry I almost made it worse. If this is how you feel when the wolves talk shit about me, I’m sorry I keep telling you to ignore it.”

He finally met her gaze, turned his hand up to close around hers. “That’s a lot of sorry, especially considering none of it is your fault.”

“Well, the last part kind of is. I want to go back in there and beat the hell out of him for hurting you. That makes me a big dumb hypocrite.”

The clerk was staring out the window at him, the telephone receiver in one hand. Julio snorted and started the car. “Let’s be hypocrites together, then. But not here.”

“Lucky bastard,” she muttered as Julio pulled back onto the highway. “You’ve never seen me issue a righteous beat down. I used to seriously get into it with the female wolves my age in high school.”

“I’m sure your dad was thrilled.”

“Honestly, I kind of think he was. I mean, he didn’t want me punching other girls in the face.” But Franklin had always fought to instill a sense of independence into her. A backbone and a confidence that she deserved decent treatment and respect, even from shapeshifters who outranked her.

Julio brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “But he wanted you to be able to take care of yourself?”

His phone rang before she could answer, and Sera freed her hand. “Want me to get that?”

He nodded to the center console. “You can put it on speaker.”

“Unknown number,” she told him as she dragged her thumb across the screen, a sudden chill slithering through her. Unknown calls. She hadn’t thought of Josh—not
really
thought about him, and worried about the fact that he was still out there—in days.

But the voice that spilled out of the speaker wasn’t Josh. It was a female voice, pitched low and thick with tears. Frantic. “J-Julio?”

A frown creased his brow. “Aunt Teresa?”

She exhaled a shaky sigh and mumbled something unintelligible, followed by words that chilled Sera’s blood. “They killed him. They’ve done it, because of me. What I told them.”

Julio’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “Who, Dad and Uncle Cesar?”

Her whimper turned into a sob. “I told them Veronica could choose, that her life was her own. I wouldn’t let them use me as leverage the way her father—” Something thudded in the background. “Where are you?”

“Georgia. Near Columbus, I think. Aunt Teresa, what the hell’s going on?”

Oddly, she calmed. “You could be here in a couple of hours,” she whispered, and Sera knew the woman didn’t expect to survive that long. “Come to my house and get your cousin. Help Veronica, promise me.”

Julio’s chest heaved, and he grabbed the phone from Sera’s hand. “Aunt Tere—”

“Promise, Julio. You have to—” The line went dead.

Sera already had her own phone out of her bag. “I’m calling Anna,” she said as she jabbed at the speakerphone. The sound of the ringing line filled the car. “Your aunt lives in Atlanta, right? I think Patrick’s there now.”

“If he is, he can be two steps ahead of us.” Julio swore and smashed his hand against the dashboard. “What have they done now? What the
fuck
have they done now?”

Something horrible, undoubtedly. Something that would force Julio across a line that could break him. Sera slid her hand over his and cut off Anna as she answered the phone. “It’s Sera. Is Patrick in Atlanta? It’s an emergency.”

“He is.” Anna’s words were clipped, efficient. “What do you need?”

Sera glanced at Julio, but it seemed to be taking all his concentration to keep his temper and keep driving. “Julio’s aunt is in trouble. Someone needs to tell Alec and Carmen, and someone needs to get Patrick to Teresa Coleman’s house. We were on the phone with her and the line cut off.”

“On it. Any idea what he’s walking into?”

“My family,” Julio answered tersely. “Diego and Cesar. He’ll know.”

“Okay.” Anna hesitated. “Are you going too?”

“Yes,” Sera said, putting force behind the word. “I’ve got a magical gun, and I’ll cower and hide on command. I know what to do.”

“Well, be careful, goddamn it. Both of you.”

Sera gripped the phone. “Circle the wagons, okay?”

“Done.”

Anna didn’t waste time on goodbyes. The line disconnected, and Sera gripped the phone and smoothed her thumb over Julio’s wrist. “What do you need me to do? Tell me.”

He shook his head. “There’s nothing you can do.” The car sped, its engine roaring. “Not until we get there.”

There was one thing she could do. Flipping out her phone’s keyboard, she tapped out a quick message to Miguel. Aside from Patrick, she and Julio were closest to Atlanta. With no time to wait for backup, Julio would shoulder the brunt of whatever unfolded. He would need his brother in the aftermath.

Just over a year ago, she’d been on the other side of that phone call. She’d been the one locked in a bathroom, whispering to Julio’s sister as things crashed and thumped in the background.

She knew how bad it could go, and how fast.

She knew Julio would do whatever it took to protect his family and his people. That was his job as alpha. Her job was doing whatever it took to protect his mind and his heart, and she’d destroy anyone or anything who got in her way.

The tiny house sat at the end of a dead-end street, its windows dark, its front drive deserted. Julio jerked his seatbelt free as he pulled the car to a stop. “You sure this is the address?”

She checked the address against the message Patrick had sent a half hour earlier before typing out
We’re outside
and sending it back. “This is the safe house. I just told him we were here.”

Julio was about to cut the engine when Patrick appeared at the side of the house, waving him back. He pulled around the side of the house, the headlights illuminating the man’s face for an instant. He had scratches, bloody furrows that looked as if someone had clawed at his face.

Julio parked and rushed Sera out of the car. The sooner he got her safely inside, the sooner he could run down the list of ways he needed to freak out. “McNamara. What happened?”

“You forgot to tell me that your sweet-faced cousin is a kickboxer.” Patrick’s tone was light, but forced. The kind of forced that covered seriously bad news.

Julio clenched his hands into fists. “
Patrick.
”

“Inside” was all he said. He opened the door so Julio could usher Sera inside, then nodded toward the hallway. “Sera, Veronica’s in the back room. She says she remembers you from Alec and Carmen’s wedding.”

“Of course.” Sera squeezed Julio’s hand. “Do you want me to go check on her?”

He barely managed to croak out the word. “Go.”

Sera kissed him before slipping away to hurry down the hallway. Patrick watched her go, then scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry, Mendoza. I got there as fast as I could, but your aunt…” He shook his head. “Cesar was trying to get Veronica under control. I put him down.”

Julio blinked, tried to reconcile the words with reality. “Cesar’s dead?”

Wary tension sharpened Patrick’s gaze. “I didn’t give him a chance to take me out. He was beating the shit out of your cousin, so I made a call. If it’s the wrong one, that’s on me.”

“No, that’s—” Ever since Alec had let Cesar live, Julio had known he would have to face his uncle in challenge. Eventually, at some point, the man would grow tired of biding his time, and he would strike.

Now, that would never happen. Relief coiled through Julio, along with an odd sort of disappointment. On some level, that fight had been his. That
responsibility
had been his.

Patrick’s hand fell to his shoulder. “You gotta stay with me here, Julio. We are so far from out of the woods. Your father ran, and he’s still out there. I’m starting to think he’s got a lot more animal cunning than anyone’s ever credited him with.”

He’d worry about his father later. “How’s Veronica?”

“Hurting.” Patrick’s voice turned bleak. “Physically, I don’t think it’s too bad. She’s banged up and bruised to hell and back, but she’s healing. After I got her to stop fighting me, though…she shut down.”

Christ, he didn’t want to ask. Julio closed his eyes. “Aunt Teresa?”

“I think it was fast,” came the quiet reply. “Snapped neck. Her boyfriend was there too—the spell caster. He’d had his throat torn out.”

They killed him.
His aunt’s voice, shaky and desperate. “You did good, Patrick. Everything anyone could have done.”

“Tell me what you need me to do next.”

“I don’t know.” Too much, and Julio had to scramble to keep up. “Alec. Can you get in touch with him? Carmen—she needs to know.”

“Sure. Of course.” He squeezed Julio’s arm. “I’ve got your back, Mendoza. Just like you’ve had mine.”

Julio couldn’t stop the harsh laugh that ripped free of him. “Do you really think my father knew? That he’s been in this, really
in
it?”

“I think…he’s been willing to let your uncle take the risks.” Patrick’s eyes held a grim certainty. “You’d know better than anyone if that makes him clever or a coward. Listen to your gut. It knows.”

His gut said there was still a fight to come, even if his uncle was already dead. “I should check on Veronica and Sera.”

“Go. I’ll call Alec.”

The house was small, with only a plain nightlight to illuminate the narrow hallway. Julio crept down it, listening for sounds.

He found the two women in a bedroom, tucked in the corner on the floor. Veronica was curled up on her side with her back against the wall, her cheek resting on Sera’s thigh. Sera glanced up as he entered, her fingers still stroking through Veronica’s hair. “Julio’s here, honey. You’re going to be okay.”

He made it to the middle of the room, then hit his knees. “I’m sorry, Ronnie.”