“Yeah, it was part of the plan,” Nicky said, “supposed to show her how powerful you are so she’d cooperate. Did you feel what she could do with her powers over the dead?” Nicky shivered, and I hoped his finger didn’t spasm on the trigger. “It was like water on fire, but it was power. So much power, Jacob, so much power.” Again, he did that shiver, but this time he did move his arm under the table so the gun was pointed at the floor. I appreciated the caution, and it made me think better of Nicky’s wisdom score.
Jacob’s power lashed out, not at me, but at his friend. I got the curl of it like a hot wave washing against my legs. It made me startle, and it was my turn to move the gun to the floor. “I don’t mind shooting you, but I’d like it to be on purpose, not because you’ve made me twitch.”
“Then keep it pointed at the floor,” Nicky said. His power smashed out at his friend, and again I caught that glancing blow. They were both very powerful; it was just a matter of flavor, not strength.
“Stop this, Nick,” Jacob said.
“Do you know how long it’s been?” Nick asked.
“Shut up,” Jacob said, and then he turned to me. “We knew about the wolves and the leopards, and we heard you cut quite a swath up in Vegas through the weretigers. You’ve got Jason Schuyler for your wolf to call, and Nathaniel Graison for your leopard, and even a leopard king in Micah Callahan, and we hear you brought some tigers back from Vegas and have bonded with them. You stole one of Chicago’s master vampire’s werelions to come down and take over your local pride. He’s your Rex, your lion king. You’re supposed to be all mated up.”
I didn’t like him listing my boyfriends, not one little bit, but he was wrong on one thing. Haven, the local Rex, was not my mate. I had slept with him, but he didn’t share well enough. He’d proven that when he slept over one night and started a fight with Micah, Nathaniel, and me the next morning. Haven had been surprised that I’d joined in on the other men’s side. He’d said, “The women don’t interfere.” I told him he had the wrong girl, and to get out. He’d actually apologized, which for him was a lot, but he was still not on my favorites list. “You got a point?” I asked the current problem werelion.
“Your Rex is lying about you and him. Your lioness doesn’t belong to him.”
“I don’t belong to anyone.”
“Liar, you belong to a lot of people, but you don’t belong to Haven. He’s put out the word that no more werelions need apply for your bed, because you’re his.”
“My dance card is full, so if his lies keep the others away, fine with me.”
“But it isn’t fine with your lion,” he said. He shook his head. “We didn’t know you were an unmated werelion. We wouldn’t have taken the job if we had.”
“Why not, and what job?” I asked.
“We’re being unprofessional, and I apologize for that, but you’ve caught us off guard.”
“Why are you here, Jacob?” I asked; maybe if I used his name it would speed things along.
“I’m going to reach into my jacket for a cell phone. I have pictures on it to show you. You aren’t going to like them. You’re going to get angry with us, but remember we were hired to do this, it’s nothing personal.” He looked past us. “Your waiter is coming back.”
“He’s probably going to take your orders,” I said.
“Would it really bother you if I killed him?” Nicky asked.
I finally realized that this problem, whatever it really was, wasn’t going to be settled by guns at the table. I stopped worrying about keeping an eye on both of them and just looked at Nicky. I gave him the full weight of my unfriendly gaze.
He blinked the one big blue eye I could see. “Nice look. It really has me quaking in my boots,” he said.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” I said.
“Tease,” he said, low.
Ahsan was back at the table. He wasted smiles on me and I was torn between wanting him away from the table and warning him. “Can I take drink orders?”
“No,” Jacob said, “we got called back to work, so no time for lunch. Just give us a few minutes to fill Anita in on the problem, and you’ll get your table back.”
He nodded, put his tablet away, and flashed me another brilliant smile. I tried to give one back, but knew my eyes didn’t hold it. I couldn’t pretend that well. He left us alone, and he would tell the rest of the wait-staff to avoid the table.
“Show me the pictures,” I said.