Half-Blood Secrets: A Paranormal Series (Half-Bloods Book 2) Read online

  “And then I came along and ruined you forever.” Julian plopped down beside her with his own drink.

  Verity rested her head on her brother’s shoulder. “I found what real love was with you.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but you aren’t going to get far if you try any hanky-panky with me.”

  She snickered. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

  He grew quiet. The only thing their father cared about was building a family so that he wasn’t alone. He demanded compliance and expected certain things from his kindred. Love doesn’t come naturally in those circumstances. But when Julian came along, Ramsay and Verity’s dysfunctional duo broke apart.

  Julian drank from his cocktail glass. “He always hated me.”

  She presumed he meant their father, although both of their brothers were repulsed by his existence as well. It had been apparent quite early to Lycos that he would be unable to breed Julian with any potential offspring because of his “weakness” for men. It was around that time when Verity refused Ramsay, and Lycos gave up on the thought of building a family from offspring who only disappointed him. He’d gone into seclusion instead.

  “Hating you might mean he’ll leave you alone,” she suggested. Verity tried to take another drink from her glass without dribbling it on either of them but was unsuccessful.

  “Well, there’s a thought.” He lifted his glass, then looked down at her. “What if we ran away again? Hid better this time? We weren’t really trying before, were we?”

  It was an appealing idea. Just thinking about the home they’d grown up in made her stomach twist in knots. Their “vegetarian” diet wouldn’t be supported there. Just living under the same roof as Lycos made her ill, but what frightened her more was defying him outright and paying the price.

  “He would find us. Eventually he would, and then what?” she asked. “I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”

  They sat silently sipping their drinks, listening to the soft lapping of the sea in the distance through the open windows. Then Julian cleared his throat. “Do you think these changelings are really real? Would he make it up just to force us home?”

  Verity adjusted on the settee to face him and balanced the base of the glass on her knee. “He might, but it’s quite an elaborate lie. Maybe we really are in danger.”

  “Not with this gator wrestler next door to you.” He winked at her. “I wouldn’t let anything hurt my sis.”

  She loved him for his loyalty. There was no way she’d ever let anything hurt her little brother. A melancholy smile touched her lips. “We can’t ignore Lycos.”

  His playful expression fell away, and he answered seriously, “I know.”

  “Maybe we can reason with him,” she suggested. “Negotiate to come back. I would rather die than suffocate in captivity.”

  Julian nodded in agreement and emptied his glass. She did the same, and he got up to fill them up again.

  “I can refer out my clientele.” Verity stared at her palms, thinking about her options. “We don’t have to sell the property. We could keep it, just in case.”

  A look of disappointment darkened Julian’s eyes. “If I had to, I could give my gators to Ron’s gator farm, but I’d rather look for someone to manage the business on the outside chance we can return. Maybe someone who could do public feedings and care for the rabbits while we’re away.”

  “What do you think? A few weeks to get things worked out before we scurry back to him?” She got up and stood by her brother. He turned to her with downcast eyes. She was angry at their father for causing Julian pain and for upturning their lives yet again.

  Verity put her arms around her brother, trying to console him. They would have to enjoy their last moments of freedom before returning home to a man who cared only about himself.

  Deane drove into the TailGator parking lot and parked his rental car in the shade of a persimmon. It was late morning and the temps were mild, yet the humidity wouldn’t let up.

  The air on his legs was refreshing, though not something he was prepared to get used to. The khaki shorts Emery had picked out for him fit nicely but were a departure from the trousers he preferred. At least he’d had his way and was wearing a white button-up shirt, although Emery had rolled up the sleeves and insisted he leave it untucked and casual. The work boots were a comfortable eyesore compared to his normal leather dress shoes. He’d left the lodge without looking at his reflection.

  Resigned to his mission, he followed the arrows to the entrance and spotted the help wanted sign Emery had mentioned. He walked along the wooden pathway past shrubs and vegetation, looking for Julian or anyone else he could talk to about the job. A small wooden hut labeled The Gator Shack had stuffed animals and T-shirts hanging in it, though it was unattended.

  A self-service payment system by way of a wooden box with a slit in it stood beside a lagoon enclosure. Bandstand seating was built around one side of a cemented barrier facing the gator enclosure. A sign stated it was a $5 entrance fee to support the gators’ healthy appetites. Deane shoved some money in the box with a shake of the head and moved on, peering down at the three gators sunning themselves on the sand.

  A man’s voice cut through the wilderness, and the sound of clapping and laughter reverberated in the air. He followed the trail to a walled-in, cemented moat. Row upon row of stadium seating was half-filled with an audience of interested faces.

  “I chose the largest of my gators for you to admire today, folks. Her name is Gertrude, and she has a special place in my heart because she gave me this scar here.”

  Deane spotted Julian standing on the sand-covered center of the moated area. The gator wrangler was wearing jeans, a TailGator button-up shirt and a mischievous grin as he pointed at the knuckles of one of his hands. The audience murmured in response. He held that hand up and smiled. “She’s not going to get me today, though. I fed her well.”

  Deane went to stand beside the seating and leaned against a wood post to watch. It didn’t feel right sitting among the audience. It was where the paying visitors sat. Never mind that he’d actually paid, it had been ingrained in him when he’d worked with the circus to never sit on the bandstand. He’d had a job to do and was expected to do it.

  “We have all females here at TailGators, so we can control our population. But if we had any males and things got ‘romantic’—children, we’re talking about the birds and the bees—then it would depend on the temperature to determine the sex of the babies. When it’s cooler, females are likely, and when it’s hot, we get males. And speaking for hot-blooded males everywhere, that’s about right.”

  A few men hooted from the audience, and scattered clapping filled the air. The trees provided patchy shade over the seating, but Julian stood in broad daylight on his center island. He pointed at the still form of the gator floating in the moat. “Our lovely Gertrude is doing what gators do best—pretending she’s a log. She can’t fool me—I know she’s there, but in the wild, you might have a tricky time spotting gators because they blend in with their swampy surroundings. That’s how they hunt for their prey. Believe it or not, they can swim 20 miles per hour in the water. However, they’re not so quick on land.”

  Julian entered the water behind the gator, took hold of its tail and pulled it backward. He stepped back out of the moat, sloshing water onto the sand as he dragged the creature with him. “Now, gators’ eyes are positioned on the sides of their head, which means they have two blind spots. One is directly where I am, at its tail, and the other is in front of its snout.”

  He let go of the creature, leaving it in the center of the sandy island. The alligator remained still and opened its mouth. Julian walked around Gertrude to stand directly in front of her. “Gators have amazing jaw strength.” He hovered his hand between the open jaws, and when he moved it out, the alligator’s teeth gnashed together in a loud clap. The crowd gasped. “But when it comes to opening their mouths, they are much weaker.”

  Julian touc
hed his fingers below the gator’s snout and raised its head to clamp his fingers around its closed jaw. The sound of the audience filled Deane’s ears, and he could almost imagine the circus tent above and the ring before him. He could smell peanuts, sweat and cigarette smoke in the air like he was eighteen again, watching the tiger tamer’s show from behind a fold of canvas. He remembered the sweltering heat and humidity, the grit of dirt on his sticky skin and his eagerness to prove himself.

  “Oh!” Shouts of surprise startled him from his reverie.

  Julian was sitting on the alligator’s back and resting his chin on the tip of its pointy jaw. He held out his arms for a few moments before tipping back as the gator snapped its mouth shut. He moved out of harm’s way just in time while securing the animal’s snout between his hands once again.

  The thrill the bystanders were experiencing was something Deane had felt day after day when he watched the exotic animal performances in his youth. His favorite, by far, had been the tiger. Its strength, aggression and independence had appealed to a young man who was alone and hungered for a better life. Deane watched Julian dramatize the danger and might of alligators from a numb distance. He might have enjoyed a show like this during his circus years, but now it only reminded him of a period he preferred to forget.

  “Oh my gosh, that was so close!” a woman exclaimed nearby.

  He glanced sideways at the onlookers. Families sat together in startled excitement, the young sitting alongside the old. Beams of sunlight broke through the bushy tree canopy and fell on the elevated seating. A woman threw her hands over her eyes with a scream, and without warning, he saw Kristie’s face as if it were 1891 all over again… her brown hair swept up in a bun and her large doe eyes wide from the death-defying thrill she’d just watched—but Deane hadn’t known what was happening in the ring because he was too absorbed with her.

  There had been nothing showstopping about Kristie. She liked to say she was plain, but he’d thought she was more than that. His first and only experience with young love. She was the only girl to ever give him the time of day. He had no stature or wealth. He was a circus laborer, but she encouraged his attention, despite the fact it would lead to more misfortune.

  Deane pinched his eyes shut, feeling himself get caught up in the past. It wasn’t the time for this. He was there to apply for a job. He wasn’t going to get far weeping and acting the fool. He clenched his jaw and cleared his mind.

  “Thank you, folks.” Julian’s voice crackled over the speakers. “I hope you’ve enjoyed the show. You’re welcome to try to spot Gertrude’s friends in our lagoon or visit The Gator Shack for a T-shirt or plush toy. Please tell your friends about your visit, and we’d love to see you by here again real soon.”

  Deane opened his eyes. The audience was clapping and moving closer to the moat to get a better look at Gertrude. Julian climbed out of the cement enclosure and answered questions from curious visitors. Deane hung back, waiting for the crowd to disperse so he could talk to Julian privately.

  At least fifteen minutes went by before he got his opportunity. Julian’s eyes kept glancing Deane’s way, and he seemed to be expecting Deane’s approach when he finally walked up to him after the last visitor’s questions were answered.

  “How ye doing?” Deane shook the gator wrangler’s hand.

  Deane could swear the man blushed as Julian grinned back at him. “How’d you enjoy the show?”

  “Great.” Deane gestured at the moat. “Ye have a real nice place here. Ye can tell ye take real good care of the gators.”

  “They’re like family, but gators don’t draw as much blood.” Julian laughed, and Deane stood in stunned silence, wondering if he’d just heard him right. Julian leaned in and touched Deane’s arm. “It’s a joke.”

  “Aye,” Deane muttered. “Of course.”

  Julian ran his fingers through his dark hair. “Where are you from?”

  “Oh, I was born in Ireland, but I moved here when I was young.” Deane took a deep breath, remembering a time when it was a bad thing to expose your Irish accent, especially when seeking a job. It had been a long time since he’d been on an interview and tried to remember to put on the charm. “I saw your help wanted sign and wondered what kind of help ye needed.”

  Julian’s pleasantness slipped away and was replaced with a somber expression. “Well, I was looking for someone to help out around here. It’s a lot for one person to handle, but things have changed. Due to family issues, I need to move home for an uncertain amount of time. I’m looking for someone to take care of the gators, our rabbit farm, animal feedings and maintaining the property. It’ll be a lot of work, but I won’t have a lot of time to train, so you’d have to come with experience.”

  Deane was surprised. The blood-suckers hadn’t mentioned anything about moving away when he’d gone undercover in tiger form. “I used to work with the circus and handled many exotic animals, including gators.”

  “Did you?” Julian’s brow raised.

  “I wouldn’t be comfortable doing what ye did today, but aye, I have some experience.”

  Julian nodded, then touched at the nametag on his shirt. “I’m Julian, the owner of TailGators. What’s your name?”

  Deane needed to do whatever it took to get himself into the job, especially if they were planning on leaving soon. He flashed a smile. “I’m Deane, and I’d be willing to work with ye on a trial basis until ye make up yer mind or find someone better.”

  Deane could tell Julian liked the idea. His expression softened, yet he seemed to be holding back. He hesitated and said, “We should go talk to my sister. She runs the veterinary clinic on the other side of the property. See what she thinks.”

  “Whatever ye like.” Deane followed Julian away from the gator moat and along the trail to the parking lot.

  Most of the visitors had left TailGators except for a couple taking pictures of themselves beside a large painted alligator. Julian grinned at them as they passed by.

  Deane’s boots crunched on the gravel drive while he hurried to catch up with Julian, who’d already reached the lawn in front of the two-story house. A wooden sign hung just before the steps leading up to the porch. Julian opened the front door and peered through an open doorway to his right. “Sis?”

  Deane went inside, looking around closely. A waiting room took up the space to the left of the entry. A gate blocked the base of a stairwell that led to the second level.

  “What’s up?” a woman’s voice answered from the room to their right.

  Julian entered and gestured for Deane to follow. He entered the space, noting the metal exam table, the charts and posters on the walls and the desk at the opposite end of the room. The very same woman who’d cared for him yesterday turned to look at him.

  Julian picked up a model of a heart and fidgeted with it. “Deane here’s interested in the management position while we’re gone. He offered to stay on a trial basis until we agree to hire him or find someone else.”

  Verity raised her eyebrow at Deane and tilted her head, not seeming impressed with him. “Do you have any experience working with exotics… or getting dirty, for that matter?”

  Deane grit his teeth. The first thirty years of his life he could have more easily pointed out a dirty patch on his skin than a clean one. He was proud he’d elevated himself and chose to show that pride through his appearance.

  “I’m not afraid of getting dirty,” he practically growled. Then he remembered himself and tried to grin but wasn’t sure if it was enough.

  She looked at her brother warily, then returned her focus to Deane.

  Julian hadn’t seemed to notice Deane’s agitation and said eagerly, “He worked at a circus with gators before.”

  Verity’s blue eyes settled on Deane. “I didn’t know circuses existed anymore.”

  Deane flushed. It was true that the existence and popularity of circuses had seemed to come to an end, but he couldn’t say his work experience was from well over a century ago. “In
my youth, there was one still around.”

  She appraised him silently. “How long ago was that? You couldn’t be more than thirty and change.”

  His palms were getting clammy. He normally didn’t get flustered, he thought in frustration. Deane took a deep breath to get in control. “I got my job at sixteen and worked with them until I was just short of twenty.”

  He could have accused her of the same thing. She was the youngest veterinarian he’d ever met, but he thought twice about getting into a sparring match with her. He hadn’t been hired yet. He exhaled and waited for her next question.

  Julian appeared slightly annoyed. “Verity, we don’t have the time to find the next P.T. Barnum.”

  She shrugged. “It’s your business.”

  “Fine.” Julian turned to face him and held out his hand. “You can start right away. If I find your skills or abilities lacking, I’ll have to find a replacement. The pay’s fifteen an hour, and you work until the job’s done.”

  Deane shook Julian’s hand, relieved he’d actually done it. “Great, that’s great. When do ye want me to start, Boss?”

  “Right now,” Julian answered and crossed the room. “There’s some overgrown bushes I’d like you to meet.”

  Five

  Emery crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow. “I can’t get him to do anything. He won’t go sightseeing with me—or even ten feet out the back door to the pool. What hetero seventeen-year-old boy wouldn’t want to go look at bikini-clad women in South Beach?”

  Deane wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen her more in her element than she was here, dressed in a red polka-dotted bikini top with blue boyshorts. She lowered her cat’s-eye sunglasses to show him just how serious and concerned she was.

  “Right,” he mumbled. “I’ll talk to him before I go to work.”

  He’d started to leave Emery’s guestroom when she shouted, “Wait!”

  Deane stopped and turned around to see her dive for a plastic shopping bag sitting on the floor beside her suitcase. She pulled out a blue T-shirt that had “Florida” written across the top with an alligator below it. She threw it at him. “So you blend in.”