Dead Heat (Alpha and Omega) - Patricia Briggs Page 0,27
like that.”
“Not that I know of,” Max said. Then he called out, “McKenzie Veronica Sani, don’t you try climbing up there on the outside. Whatever you do, Michael will do. You’ll both break your necks.”
Like Mrs. Glover.
“There was that boy,” he said. “In Mackie’s class. He died in a car accident last month. He and his two brothers and his mom were hit by a semi when his mom crossed into the oncoming traffic. There was a rainstorm that day. Mom says Scottsdale drivers can’t drive in the rain.”
Anna’s phone rang, and she answered it.
“Might be useful if you came back,” Charles said. “Kage is helping his wife to clean up a bit and then we’re all going to be staying at Hosteen’s place for a while.” He hung up without saying anything more—a sign that all was not going well.
“You heard that?” Anna asked Max.
He shook his head. She was getting too used to being surrounded by werewolves.
“Charles said gather the kids and head back,” she told him. “Your mom is over the first hurdle. We’re all going back to Hosteen’s ranch.”
He closed his eyes briefly and heaved a sigh of relief.
“I’ll gather the rug rats,” he said, standing up. “Why are we all going to the ranch?”
“Because a new wolf needs help controlling herself,” Anna told him. “A more dominant werewolf can help her keep her impulses in line until she can do it herself. You might be staying there for a few months—at least your mom might be staying there for a while. Also, I expect, they want to keep an eye on all of you until they figure out if there is likely to be another attack on you and your mom.”
“Great,” Max muttered. “Mom will be ecstatic. She and Ánáli Hastiin are the best of friends.” He got up, took a step toward the play fort, and then said, “Mom’s going to be okay?”
She wouldn’t lie to him. “I don’t know. This means that she made the Change. But she’s still got to prove that she isn’t a risk to anyone, that she has the willpower to control the wolf.”
He gave Anna a half-worried smile. “Kage says my mother has more willpower than Mahatma Gandhi. He’s not usually happy about it, but I’m thinking it might mean that she’ll be all right.”
Anna smiled. “Go get the kids.”
They got back to the house and Charles, on his own two feet, was standing outside with a clearly fuming Hosteen. The latter noticed the kids and altered his body language to neutral. She could still smell his ire, but the kids were human and they would see only what he wanted them to.
“Is Chelsea okay?” she asked Charles.
He nodded, though the grave expression on his face wasn’t reassuring. Either he was worried about Chelsea still, or he was unhappy with Hosteen.
Hosteen looked at Mackie and Michael and schooled his voice into something gentle. “You are all coming to my house for a little bit, until we find out what happened to your mom.”
“It is chindi, Ánáli Hastiin,” said Mackie, and Hosteen winced.
“There are some words that should not be said,” he told her.
“Don’t start that,” said Max loudly. “She said it today and she thinks that’s what caused Mom to go nuts. So don’t start with that.”
Hosteen’s eyes flashed yellow, and he showed his teeth. “Careful, boy,” he said.
“Stop,” Charles told him. “Now is not the time. Listen to his words, old man, and let the rest go.”
Hosteen shot Charles a look that raised the hair on the back of Anna’s neck.
Charles looked at Mackie. “Your Ánáli Hastiin is right. It is not wise to speak the name of evil where it might hear you. But you didn’t call evil spirits to your mother. They don’t listen to children.”
Charles was intimidating at the best of times. Mackie stepped behind Max and peered out at him warily. “You are Brother Wolf?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Brother Wolf is sleeping. I am Anna’s husband, Charles.”
“The chindi are afraid of you,” she told him. “Anna says.”
“Is that what Anna said?” he asked. Anna could tell that he was smiling, though his lips never moved. “Then it must be so.”
“You can’t come hunt ch—” Mackie stopped and glanced at Hosteen. “You can’t hunt evil things with Anna and me. You’ll take away all of our fun.”
“You are planning on hunting down the bad guys?” Charles asked.
“When I am grown-up,” Mackie confirmed.
He nodded. “All right, I’ll stay home. But only if you