Page 4
McIntyre
H is teeth ground together as the confident man parked and entered the house. McIntyre swapped cameras and followed Dale Cummings as he marched through Lanie’s home like he owned it. When Dale entered the bedroom, McIntyre nearly threw his mug at the screen.
“Take over for me,” he said to the guard accompanying him. Roy nodded and moved his chair to watch the mansion.
McIntyre walked out and headed for the small yard staff used. He tilted his head back, dragged in a deep breath, and blew it out.
Why Dale Cummings had affected him so badly was anyone’s guess. Hell, McIntyre had only known Lanie less than a week. She wasn’t anyone to him.
Except she was. And he couldn’t deny that. Ranson would bust his ass if he knew what McIntyre was thinking. He had to get his emotions under control. Whether she realised it or not, Lanie Cross needed his help.
Lanie/Lamia
After spending the night at the castle and returning to tell Ranson she was staying at home for the weekend, Lanie relaxed as she watched her family.
Emmaline was complaining about Vladimir and Amari and how spoiled she was, not just by her father but by all the shifters.
Jase held Amari in his arms as he whispered things in his goddaughter’s ear while he kept a sharp eye on Willow.
Other Legendary Shifters were dotted about, Lanie noted as she turned to see who was present, but her eyes noticed Willow’s bump. It rippled alarmingly, and Willow winced.
Lanie moved closer as Willow placed a hand on her stomach, and her face took on a faraway look.
“Are you okay?”
“I’ve got back pain,” Willow muttered. Jase’s sensitive hearing caught her words, and Amari was handed back to her mother.
“Baby?” Jase asked, approaching, his long legs eating up the short distance between them.
“I’m fine… ow!” Willow cried.
Heads snapped towards her.
“Get Maeve, Lily, and Andie!” Jase yelled, scooping Willow up.
“Lanie!” Willow wailed.
“What?” Lanie stated.
“Don’t leave me with him!”
“Er, Willow…” Lanie began.
Willow’s head twisted, and she sent Lanie a glare that should kill. “He’s your brother!”
“Okay, I’m coming,” Lanie muttered as she chased after them. Willow had looked completely capable of killing someone in that moment.
Jase headed to his quarters and told Lanie where to get the special sheets they’d bought for birthing. It would keep the bedding and mattress clean. He quickly laid Willow down on them as her water broke.
“Did I just pee myself?” Willow demanded, horrified.
“No baby, your waters went,” Jase said calmly.
“This is too soon. I am twelve weeks early. I’m only seven months!” Willow cried.
“Amari was born at this time. Perhaps we have a shorter gestation,” Lanie soothed, brushing Willow’s hair out of her eyes.
“Where’s that goddamn witch?” Jase snarled.
“Which one?” Maeve answered as she entered. “Stop being a waste of space and fetch a blanket to cover Willow while I examine her. Lily is coming, but Andie can’t.”
“What is wrong with her?” Jase demanded.
“She is unable to come,” Maeve stated, and the stare she sent Jase dared him to argue.
Lanie was distracted by Willow grabbing her hand and screaming as she crushed the bones in Lanie’s fingers. Lanie yelped herself.
“Oh boy, that’s quick,” Maeve muttered.
“Maeve?” Jase asked in panic.
“Like Emmaline, the labour is progressing quickly. It appears our pregnancies are shorter, and delivery is much quicker,” Maeve said as she moved into the bathroom and scrubbed her arms and hands.
“This is a problem?” Jase demanded as he wiped Willow’s brow.
“No. Just curious. Lanie, do you remember yours?” Maeve questioned gently.
“Yes, Callidora was seven months, too. And my labour was less than an hour. Harpy delivered Callidora. Could it be our blood and race?” Lanie asked, even as Willow squealed and squeezed again. Lanie cried out with her, too.
“Maybe. Relationships and children were forbidden to us. You were the first, Lanie, to experience love and birth a child. We’ve no knowledge how a pregnancy would affect us,” Lily said, entering. She was pushing a baby unit, with Sela and Jess following her.
Jase’s eyes grew wide, and Lanie saw panic flash across his face.
“Calm down,” Lanie murmured to him, and his gaze crossed to hers. “You’ll be a great dad.”
“Do you think so?”
“No. I know it. Get behind Willow and support her back,” Lanie ordered, and Jase climbed on the bed and took Willow’s weight.
Willow bore down as Maeve peered between her legs. “I’m examining you, don’t push until I okay it.”
“I need to now!” Willow growled at Maeve.
“Not yet!” Maeve replied and ducked under the blanket covering Willow’s lower half.
Willow’s stomach rippled alarmingly, and Lanie swallowed hard. Her memories of labour had never faded, but watching someone else go through it was alarming.
“Andie is on standby for an emergency, but we’re not to call her unless life-threatening,” Sela muttered.
Lanie wondered what was bothering Andie. She seemed to be losing weight and had started to isolate herself. She was clearly suffering from something but wouldn’t talk to anyone.
“You’re fully dilated. On your next push, bear down,” Maeve ordered as Lily headed into the bathroom.
Seconds later, a heart-rending scream erupted from Willow as she grunted and pushed hard.
“I’ve got the head!” Maeve announced. Willow gasped, and, moments later, pushed.
“A boy!” Maeve called triumphantly. She handed him to Lily, who immediately began checking him over.
“Maeve, I need to push again,” Willow cried.
“When you’re ready,” Maeve replied calmly.
Five minutes later, a second boy was born, and he was passed to Lily.
Further minutes ticked by, and Maeve started to look a little worried. Willow’s contractions seemed to have stopped. Jase murmured in Willow’s ear, telling her how much he loved her.
After fifteen minutes, Willow cried out, and a baby girl was welcomed.
Lanie had tears in her eyes as Jase looked swamped with love and awe.
“We need Andie,” Lily said softly.
Lanie’s head shot up with Jase, but Willow didn’t hear.
“What is it?” Jase snapped.
“Boy two is struggling, as is the girl. I don’t know why,” Lily replied and shifted into Lilith. As Lilith, her power was stronger. Maeve changed into Baba Yaga, and they began to work on the babies.
“They’re having difficulty breathing,” Sela said, and finally, Willow realised something was wrong.
Lanie watched as her brain worked furiously.
“Their father is a water god. Get them in water!” Lanie ordered.
Lilith and Baba Yaga snatched them as Lanie headed into the bathroom and started running a lukewarm bath.
“He’s shifted!” Lilith cried, holding the boy.
“Quickly,” Lanie said, and Lilith put him in the tub. Immediately, he began to breathe.
“Oh hell!” Lanie exclaimed. In front of her disbelieving eyes was a tiny merman.
“What!” Jase bellowed as Andie walked slowly in. She headed for the bathroom just as Baba Yaga placed the little girl in the water. She changed into a merbaby before everyone’s eyes.
“Someone better get this baby!” Sela shrieked, alarmed.
Lanie rushed out and saw the eldest boy had also shifted. Straight into an uber merman with tentacles and everything.
“Crap!” she cried and grabbed him and placed him in the bath.
“Well, this is interesting,” Andie said, her eyes glowing as she checked them over.
“Someone tell us what’s going on!” Jase bellowed with fear in his voice.
“The babies can shift. At the moment, we have two in merform and one uber merman,” Lanie announced as Baba Yaga hurried back to check on Willow.
“We have what?” Willow demanded in disbelief.
“They can shift into all three forms. However, they seem to prefer their water side,” Lanie explained.
Baba Yaga chuckled. “You’re going to have to revise your living arrangements.”
“They are fine now. They needed to touch water. I’m not required, so excuse me,” Andie said as she stumbled out.
“Andie, shift into Pandora,” Lilith ordered.
Andie shook her head. “Call someone to help me back to my quarters, please.”
Vladimir arrived and, seeing the commotion, picked Andie up and disappeared with her.
Lanie returned to the bathroom and watched the babies frolic about. The second boy, on realising his brother had a different shape, scrunched up his face, and Lanie thought he was going to poop himself. Instead, he managed to change into his brother’s form. A wave of happiness hit Lanie, and she realised it had come from him.
The little girl had been happily flapping about, but now her brothers had something she didn’t. Moments later, she, too, had shifted and was slapping her tentacles around.
“Do they seem advanced to you?” Sela questioned.
“Yeah. In this form, they’re not totally helpless. Swimming is natural to them,” Lanie noted.
“Was Callidora the same?” Jess asked.
“Yes. She was advanced at shifting and using her tail.”
“Holy crap. I could have a baby Loch Ness. How the hell would I manage a baby that size?” Jess gasped.
Lanie broke into gales of laughter. “Think of Salah with an infant Scylla.”
The women blanched.
“Or the woman who gives birth to a baby Yeti, Minotaur, or Big Foot,” Lanie said.
“Fu…” Sela shook her head.
“Let’s hope they all come out baby human-sized, or some woman’s lady bits will never be the same!” Jess cried.
They all began laughing as the babies watched them from the bath.
“Can we see them?” Willow asked weakly as Jase carried her in. Jase stared at the water in utter awe as all three babies turned as one and faced them.
“Did you see that?” Jess muttered.
“Could they have telepathy?” Lanie suggested.
Jase moved to the other side, and they followed suit. “Wow.”
“This is a family moment,” Sela murmured.
Lanie and Jess walked out of Jase’s quarters, where their siblings all congregated.
“Are they okay?” Dale asked.
“They are all fine. We’ll let Jase tell you their sexes, and what a surprise they are!” Lanie replied. Everybody frowned, but Jase appeared before them.
“We’ve two boys and a girl. We can’t bring them to you, but you can come visit a few at a time,” Jase announced. He looked tired but so proud.
Lanie loved this for him. Jase deserved this.
Lanie tiredly walked to her quarters. She had to rise early in the morning to return to her home, but this weekend had been something she needed.
McIntyre
Lanie and that Dale guy had spent all weekend in the bedroom. He had not seen them come out once, and he wondered how they’d eaten. Several times he’d checked the feeds were live because there had been no movement from them. Yet, this morning, they left her room and resumed their daily routines.
McIntyre felt a surge of jealousy. Had they been doing the obvious? Or had Lanie somehow fiddled with the cameras to loop back and hide their actions? Because two days locked in a bedroom with no food or drink wasn’t possible. Something was off, and McIntyre was determined to discover what. He couldn’t do his job if he didn’t have all the information.
He hadn’t been in the SBS for nothing. McIntyre had skills Lanie was completely unaware of!
Lanie/Lamia
She climbed into the car, wondering what was wrong with McIntyre. He seemed sullen this morning. Ranson and the second guard up front, Fisher, were fine. Shoving aside McIntyre’s grumpiness, Lanie pulled up her schedule and made a face. She had a meeting with Jonah Preston, a clothing designer whose designs she’d rejected. Lanie prided herself on having functional, attractive, and feminine clothing. She covered day dresses, to female suits, to evening gowns, to casual wear.
What Lanie disliked was wacky idiots who were determined to make a statement. Impractical clothing had no place in her business. Why Jonah had designed such a line, she had no idea. He should have known she’d never approve it. It was beyond ludicrous, with sharp angles and over the top pointed shoulders—and other ridiculous additions.
Lanie sighed and caught McIntyre’s attention.
“Ma’am?”
“Just a meeting I’d rather avoid. I can’t deal with drama, and this man’s going to give me it,” Lanie replied.
“Preston?” Ranson called over his shoulder in amusement.
“Yes. I have an eleven o’clock with him. It is a ten-minute meet, but it will run over. He’s very talented but so dramatic,” Lanie said.
“And you just nixed his latest designs,” Ranson replied.
“I did. Lord knows what he was thinking. I’d never use anything like that in my lines.”
“Some people like to push the boat out,” McIntyre added.
“He pushed the damn boat out and then sank it like the Titanic!” Lanie exclaimed.
“That bad?” Ransom asked, sounding amused, although his face remained impassive.
“Terrible. I don’t know what he was thinking,” Lanie replied.
“He probably wasn’t,” Fisher chipped in.
“Nope. And now I have got to deal with his flamboyant ass.” Lanie shook her head and resigned herself to drama!
◆◆◆
“Miss Cross, you’re not a designer! You’ve no idea what sells!” Jonah cried, flapping his hands about.
Lanie watched him with narrowed eyes. “I’ve no idea?”
“No. Clearly not. Fashion is not meant for the pedestrian,” Jonah snapped.
“Considering I run a multimillion-pound clothing company and designer line, I would suggest that I do know what I’m talking about, Jonah. My sales keep growing because the designs I release are what people want.”
“You could be a billionaire! If you listen to me.” Jonah flapped his hands again.
Lanie pulled a design. It was a dress shaped like a triangle with shoulders bigger than any potential body, and the dress made from stiffened material.
“How would that function in this office? Or at a garden party? Or even at a ball?” Lanie demanded.
“That’s not meant for an office,” Jonah exclaimed. “Nor a garden party. That dress ensures the wearer is seen . It’s for a red-carpet event.”
“We create elegant, functional, and beautiful clothing. This piece is none of that. Nor is this one, or any of them,” Lanie said, showing Jonah his designs.
“You’ve no imagination!” Jonah spat.
“I am known as one of the most elegantly dressed women in the world. I wear the designs my company put out. If I won’t wear any of this, I wouldn’t expect my buyers too, either. If you wish to design like this, there’s no place in my business for it. Last year, you put an excellent line together. The summer dresses were outstanding. I’ve no idea why you’ve gone this route,” Lanie said with a sigh. She was starting to get a headache.
“They were boring. Anyone could have designed them,” Jonah hissed, folding his arms across his chest.
Lanie withheld a groan. They were going in circles and not getting anywhere, and it had been fifteen minutes already.
“Ultimately, Jonah, the decision is mine. The answer is no. I will not allow these ridiculous lines to be sold in my company. I value your opinion, and you have created some wonderful pieces in the past. But the answers no. I won’t be featuring those designs,” Lanie said firmly.
Jonah leapt to his feet. “You’re making a mistake!” he shouted.
“It’s mine to make,” Lanie agreed.
“You’ve no talent, no vision. I’ll quit,” Jonah seethed.
“The door is there, and HR is on the floor below. Please hand your resignation in there,” Lanie replied.
“You’ll regret this, you talentless philistine! You deserve to die for your lack of fashion sense!” Jonah yelled.
“And you’re done!” Lanie stated as she pressed her security button.
McIntyre entered immediately. Jonah looked at him and puffed up, which made Lanie giggle. Not even on Jonah’s best day could he match McIntyre.
“Please escort Mr Preston to HR. He wishes to hand in his notice. Inform them Mr Preston can leave now, and we will pay any holiday money outstanding. Hell, I’ll be generous and pay him for the full month. But get him off my property. One of his colleagues can empty his desk, and we will send your items on Jonah. Goodbye and good luck.”
“I don’t need luck! I’ve more talent in my little finger than you have in your entire body,” Jonah hissed.
He flounced past McIntyre, who shot Lanie an amused look before following Jonah out. Lanie shook her head. McIntyre couldn’t exactly lose Jonah, as Jonah was wearing a bright yellow suit.
The rest of the day passed swiftly for Lanie as Jonah had put her behind, so she worked hard to catch up. She skipped lunch to get her schedule back on track, and when she finished, she was starving.
“Ranson, can we stop at La Chef on the way home?” Lanie asked.
“Certainly, Miss Cross,” Ranson replied. Lanie dialled and ordered through as they headed to the car. McIntyre took his place beside her in the SUV, and Lanie glanced at him. He still appeared sullen, but it had eased. Until he heard her place her food order. Then his chin clenched.
She had ordered for herself and Dale. Did McIntyre not like him? Or was it concern she’d not eaten? Unusually for her, Lanie was confused. While she’d been around men her entire life, Lanie would never claim to understand them.
McIntyre was proving to be a conundrum, and she was not sure if she liked it. Lanie wanted her life simple. A love affair wasn’t part of the picture.
Lanie reined her thoughts in. Where the hell had that come from? A love affair? Never.
McIntyre might be gorgeous, and he certainly was worth a second look, but Lanie wasn’t driven by her hormones. She’d broken the rules once and had paid the price. It had been too high of one for Lanie to ever risk love again.
The Jar’s Protectors were forbidden from forming relationships. Their sole focus should have been on the Jar of Fate. And deep-down, Lanie blamed herself for Pandora’s actions. If she’d been more alert, not preoccupied by Alainen, might she have sensed Pandora?
Even worse, in her darkest moments, Lanie had wondered if what happened to her and her squad had been punishment for her and Alainen’s illicit affair. Although nobody had mentioned it to her, she wondered if her siblings shared the same thoughts.
Callidora had been the best thing to come out of that mess, but Lanie hadn’t ever risked herself again. Some of her siblings had love affairs, but not her. Lanie’s bad behaviour had resulted in a harsh penalty indeed.
Her heart was fragile, and she’d never trust anyone with it.