Hour of the Lion, Cherise Sinclair [good story books to read TXT] 📗

splashed into an oval pond. Gold and red koi flashed just under the water‘s surface hoping for a handout. Crumbs scattered beside a tall-backed bench showed someone liked to feed them.

Herbs filled the corners adding the scents of rosemary and oregano. Vic turned in a circle.

What did this place look like in the summer? She felt a stab of envy. Must be nice to plant something and be around months later to see it blossom.

Still seemed as if a werecat should have a chicken house, not a garden. God, there was so much she didn‘t know about them.

The path led to steps climbing to the second-floor landing. As she put her foot on the first step, her heart rate increased with her anticipation...of seeing Calum. Oh, man, coming here was stupid, stupid, stupid. Growling under her breath like some wacko released from a psych house, she stomped up the stairs. There were two doors, not one, as if even the damned entrances were saying, ‗choose one brother or the other‘.

She pounded on the one with Calum‘s name.

"She‘s here!" Jamie‘s voice rang out. The door was thrown open, and Vic got her second hug of the day. She‘d had more hugs this season than in several years. Scary thought. "Hey, munchkin." The feel of the kid‘s skinny arms filled Vic with fondness...just fondness. Nothing more.

Vic pulled back, shoved her hands into her jeans pockets. "Nice garden you got here, kid."

"Did you see the fish? The red one is Peter and the gold one with orange marks is Wendy.

And there‘s a big guy with black patches—he‘s Hook." Jamie put her hands in her pockets like Vic. "Of course, I named them when I was just a little girl."

"Of course," Vic agreed solemnly. As she smiled, she saw Calum watching from the door.

The way his eyes softened when he looked at his daughter squeezed her heart. Then his gaze met hers. Heat seared her skin in a blast of fire. Oh, this was such a bad idea. "Hey," Vic said weakly.

"Welcome to our home." His lips curved as if he could see her worries. "Come in, Victoria.

We‘re eating lasagna tonight, not little humans." As he disappeared into the kitchen, Jamie grabbed her hand and dragged Vic after her like a pull-toy.

Calum checked the oven, then turned. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Beer if you have it." The heady smell of garlic filled the large kitchen, and her stomach rumbled.

As Jamie laughed, Calum smiled, poured Guinness into a mug, and handed it to Vic. "Don‘t worry. As soon as the bread is browned, we‘ll eat."

"I didn‘t realize I was hungry."

Calum took a sip of his own drink, a dark wine. As he studied her over the top of the glass, his gaze felt like a hot sun against overly sensitive skin. "You should eat more," he said. "You‘re underweight."

"That‘s rude, Daddy. I think Vicki is perfect," Jamie said loyally.

Laughing, Vic swung an arm over the kid‘s shoulders and frowned. "Have you grown?

Weren‘t you shorter yesterday?"

"Scary, isn‘t it," Calum said in a dry voice. "She‘ll have her first trawsfur soon and the thought terrifies me."

Vic‘s jaw dropped open. "Jamie will?"

"Daddy!" The girl turned to stare at Vic. "You told Vicki—"

"Ah, I forgot to tell you, dearling, Victoria knows about us."

Calum grinned at his daughter‘s bug-eyed look, and Victoria looked quite as startled as she stared at Jamie.

"You never thought of young shifters?" he asked.

"Um, no." Victoria touched Jamie‘s cheek so gently that his heart squeezed. "Will you turn into a cat? Like your dad? Is Alec a cougar too?"

Jamie giggled. "I‘ll probably be a cougar. And Uncle Alec is too."

"God, I bet you‘ll be beautiful," Victoria said, the wonder in her voice sending a pang through him. "So what happens the first time you change? Is it anything special?"

Jamie answered in such a serious tone that Calum was warned. "Well, sparks come out of our hands, and we make a big boom—"

Victoria‘s eyes widened.

He snorted as his evil offspring burst into giggles.

Victoria blinked, then gave her throaty laugh. "Little monster, you had me. Way to go." She turned to Calum. "I take it the first shift is nothing special?"

"Much like you‘ve seen. The major difference is a youngster‘s lack of control." He tried not to think about the children unable to trawsfur back, the ones that went feral, or those so overwhelmed and terrified that they ran themselves to death. His Jamie was level-headed. Smart.

She‘d get through it fine.

Jaw clenched, he turned away under the guise of removing the garlic bread from the oven.

He handed the basket to Jamie. "Let‘s eat."

As they sat at the round oak table, he saw Victoria glance at the fourth place-setting, and answered her unspoken question. "Alec usually gets off around—" Before he could finish, the back door opened and slammed shut.

His brother appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Damn, that smells good. Did you eat al—"

When he caught sight of Victoria, his words sputtered to a close, and he stared.

Bugger it. Having her here, in their home, had been a mistake. He was asking for pain for himself...and Alec...and even Victoria. He shoved out a chair with his foot. "Alec. Sit and eat before the food gets cold."

Alec took the seat beside Victoria. "I‘m in shock. We usually only have one lovely lady at our table."

Jamie giggled. "I invited her, Uncle Alec."

"Good job, kiddo." He served himself up huge helpings of salad and lasagna and added a piece of garlic bread. "Sorry I‘m late. Had to ticket a couple of city boys for looking ugly in a

‗no-ugly‘ zone."

Victoria‘s brows drew together. "Are you serious?"

"Weeell." Alec leaned back in his chair. "If I don‘t like the looks of someone, we just keep an eye on them, make sure they‘re not here to cause trouble. If needed, we‘ll give them a nudge to move along."

Calum smothered a smile. Alec had perfected the good-old-boy, we-hate-outsiders sheriff routine when he‘d lived in Texas.

"I keep forgetting you have a nasty side," Victoria murmured, looking