Paradise Lots 8 Marie-Ann Warns Bridget
The were-coyotes were coming
Marie-Ann made fresh coffee. While she waited, she checked last night’s receipts against cash on hand. Lurleen had cost her all of last night and the night before, not counting what she’d given Bridget.
The women were right. Lurleen did not belong here. She needed her own space, her own way of making her living. A way that did not include returning to her husband or his pack of feral junkies.
Nobody in Due Now would hire her, even if there were jobs to be had, partly because of the hell she had raised as a teen, and partly because of the family business.
She might work for her father, doing the books for both of them, if she could pass the accounting test.
What would the test cost? How much would a divorce cost?
Marie-Ann hoped Bridget had some better ideas, but she lived off the land she’d inherited from her family, notorious bootleggers. She was off the grid as much as anyone could be.
What did the Man of the Wood want with her? Surely he didn’t want her to hide away in the woods. Why would he protect her and her sisters from the coyotes?
Marie-Ann closed her eyes and opened her Sight. She’d never told anyone about it, but she used it any time that she felt a threat. A threat was coming, like a dark cloud flashing with red lightning, headed this way.
It was the last night of full moon energy, but the moon rose later, at least an hour after sunset, maybe enough time for them to be prepared.
Dean and his pack would come tonight; whether as men or as were-coyotes, she could not see. She could not tell if her wards would hold. Human or coyote, both were dangerous.
They all knew Dean on sight, but not all of his pack.
Maybe she should close, put up a quarantine sign. It would hurt business, but it might keep the locals safe.
The coyotes would not stop to read a sign, just leaping over the gate to swarm towards the campers to find their prey. They might just want Lurleen, but what would they do with her sisters?
She’d never heard of seduction changing a shifter back to human, not just for sex. She didn’t have any silver pellets for her shotgun, and unless loaded for bear and shot at close range, it would just piss them off.
She wished that Bridget had a phone. At least then she could consult with her, find out what she knew.
An image appeared in her mind. Lurleen’s silver amulet. Marie-Ann had not seen it on her when she came in last night. Had she taken it with her when she left, years ago? Was it still here? And if so, who had it?
Again she closed her eyes, seeking the amulet. A man’s hand gripped the chain, the amulet swinging below.
She tried to widen her field of view, but everything around the amulet was dark. The amulet began to swing in a different direction.
It must be Dean using the amulet as a pendulum to track Lurleen. They would not come here at all, but go straight to Bridget’s. She had to warn her.
She called Mac and Shorty to the office.
“We’re closing tonight. Stop anyone who tries to come in, whether you know them or not." She stopped to think. "Tell the women to arm themselves and stay the night here in the office. Load the shotguns with buckshot. It might not kill a were, but it might slow them down.”
She took the cashbox, her purse, her coat, and a .45. She drove down to the gate, locking it behind her.
Her daughters would be safer in the cinderblock office than in the little campers. They all knew how to shoot. Likely the pack would not even go to Paradise Lots, but if they did, they’d be shown they were not welcome.
Now to find a way to help her eldest.
…
Bridget jumped out of Cattywampus as soon as the car slowed to park. She stomped up between the Man of the Woods and the porch steps.
“What are you doing here?” She propped her hands on her hips. He was a foot taller and at least that much wider than she was, but she’d dealt with big men before.
“I told you I wished to speak to Lurleen.” He said. “I have done so. I also wish to confer with you and her mother. I have a plan, if Lurleen agrees to it.”
“What plan?” Lurleen got out of the swing and stood by the porch rail. “Why do you need to discuss it?”
“Your husband will be here tonight,” he said. “I have seen it. I have done what I could to protect your sisters, but it will not be enough for him.”
“You are not going to take her away,” Bridget said. “I’ll protect her here.”
“Your wards work well when people acknowledge them.” He held out his hand to Lurleen. “Come to me. Ignore the ward. Come now.”
Lurleen walked to the steps, slowly, and put her foot out to step down. She pushed hard against the force of the ward, but her foot managed to poke through. She stepped down, holding on to the roof support.
Her body came through as if she were walking through a thick gelatin, but she came out.
“If such a wounded person can do that,” he said, “the shifters will not slow down enough to notice. She is not safe here.”
“I still have my 12-gauge, Bridget said. “Silver shot, 16 mag.”
“And then what?” The Man of the Woods paused for a few seconds, but got no answer.
“What do you want to do to me?” Lurleen wrapped her arms around herself. She shivered even in the warm sun.
“I wish to teach you to access your power.” He put his hand over his heart. “I also wish to protect you in ways that magic and even projectile weapons cannot. Will you give me permission to do that?”
Before she could answer, they heard Marie-Ann’s Jeep scrambling up the trail, honking to get their attention.
Bridget put her arm around Lurleen, as much to comfort her as to support her.
“They are coming,” Marie-Ann shouted, even before she stopped the Jeep. “Whatever we’re going to do, we have to do it now.”
“He wants to take her off somewhere for protection.”
“That might not work. Dean has her amulet, using it to follow her.” She cut off the Jeep and jumped out. “I closed the Paradise, shut the gate, and told everyone to hunker down in the office.”
“Will you come with me?” The Man of the Wood said. “Coyotes hunt alone or in pairs. Dean will likely split up his gang to find you.”
“Do you think they’ll come as men or coyotes?” Bridget asked. “Can they shift before moonrise?”
“Dean can shift anytime,” Lurleen said. “Some of the others, only in moonlight. They are dangerous and unpredictable either way.” She looked at the Man of the Woods. “What will you do if all six or more of them come for you?”
“My space is well-protected, cannot be burned out or blown up. That is not true of this cabin or of your mother’s property.” The Man of the Wood shifted into his full superhuman form, eight feet tall, wide antlers and big ears, a pelt of fur down his back and arms, and hooves instead of bare feet. “A pack of coyotes is no match for me.”
“If I come with you, will that help protect Mama and Bridget?” Lurleen asked. “I don’t want anyone else hurt on my account. I’m sorry for ever coming back here.”
The Man of the Wood held up his hand for silence. “I will protect you." He gestured at the older women. "You must do what you can to protect yourselves.” He held up his head, sniffing the air and listening. “They will be here by dark. If Dean is tracking Lurleen, he may come here, but he will then be led to where she is.”
Bridget scoffed. “Knocking a few holes in his engine will slow him down considerably. I have a few other tricks up my sleeve as well.”
“He uses magic, too,” Lurleen said. “You might not be able to hurt the truck, and he heals very quickly.”
“Are you willing to kill?” asked the Man of the Woods. “You may not be able to stop them without deadly force. You may have to burn them or cut off their heads.”
“Yes,” Marie-Ann said. “I will kill to protect my own.”
“It would not be the first time,” Bridget said.
“I will go with you,” Lurleen said. “I do not know if I can kill, but if I can learn my power, maybe I can help.”
'I would kill to protect my own.' Pretty much any woman, anywhere.