Page 3 of Up in Smoke

“That’s because only lunatics fly,” I muttered.

Sandro’s mother laughed. “There are a lot of in-quadrant flights, Jade. It’s perfectly safe. You’re more likely to be in a car crash or a train derailment than a plane crash. It’s the boundary crossing that’s a bit iffy, and there hasn’t been a boundary crash in years. You’ll be fine. Sandro, catch her if she passes out again.”

“I caught her the first time. I’ll catch her again if needed,” the quadrant master promised. “I’m sure everything will be fine. I’ll even make certain I feed her properly.”

“Fool,” I muttered under my breath. After the doctors had realized I needed to eat more to keep up with my metabolism, I’d gotten showered with treats and larger portions at every meal.

Years on the run had taught me to be grateful for what I had and not ask for more, so the Morettis went out of their way to make sure more appeared on my plate as needed.

They held hope I might one day learn to ask.

All I held was doubt.

Sandro chuckled and guided me to the back of the family car his mother used when in Long Island, holding the door open for me. “You’ll like the airport, I promise.”

I slid inside, and to spare Sandro from having to circle the vehicle, I scooted across the seat. “I will? What am I going to like about sitting around waiting for our impending deaths? There are trains. We could have taken a train. I would have been all right with walking. Your mother thinks you love walking everywhere. I do rather enjoy walking from place to place, and I would have no problem accompanying you on this long ground-based adventure.”

With a low chuckle, he climbed in and buckled up. “This is faster, and the queens wanted us there as soon as you’re able. They’re edgy. When I spoke to Ryleigh after you fainted, she confirmed there is a lot of choir activity in Florida. They’ve already eliminated one choir causing trouble, but it’s not the one you saw.”

“Mansfield has several choirs in the South stirring up trouble in the Alley?” I growled, checking to make certain Alisia couldn’t overhear our discussion. The witch spoke to Sandro’s mother for a few moments before the women exchanged kisses on their cheeks. “I swear, if I could just lure him into a dark alley for five minutes, I’d solve a lot of problems.”

“I’d love to help you with that, but the timing isn’t right. First, we need to do our best to save what we can of Tulsa. Because of you, a lot of people have escaped the city. It won’t save everybody, though. The reports coming out of the Alley right now are fairly bleak.”

I frowned, as Sandro hadn’t even hinted there was trouble in the Alley during my recovery. The reasons he might hide that from me made a great deal of sense. Had I known the trouble had intensified since I’d been shot, I would have gone back to do what I could.

I couldn’t help anyone if I died due to being stupid.

“Jade?” Sandro considered me, and he frowned. “Are you all right?”

“I really want to lure him into a dark alley and beat the life right out of him,” I muttered. My fox urged me to chitter a warning so he understood I meant business, but I restrained her.

There’d be a time and a place for him to learn my furry secret, but I wanted to hold my shapeshifting close to my chest until I had no choice. What he didn’t know, he couldn’t expose to the wrong person.

“Me, too. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you there is more trouble in Tulsa. I didn’t want to worry you, and I knew you’d want to head back to the Alley to help. Oh, by the way, I found out this morning that your little friend from the bar was picked up by a good hunter, and Mom and Dad are going to pick her up in Albany after they drop us off at the airport.”

“They found Lora?”

“She’s a little worse for wear after being on the streets since making it to the East, but she’s fine. She’s a little scared, but that’s to be expected. Mom and Dad will take care of her, and depending on the situation, she’ll either be hired by the family as a live-in something-or-other or put up with a family wanting to adopt kids. She might go to one of my uncles or aunts. She won’t become a Moretti unless one of my brothers or cousins closer to her age takes a fancy to her and she takes a fancy to him, but she’ll be taken care of.”

“A live-in something-or-other?” I asked. “What does that mean?”

“Student, really. Mom’s going to flip when she finds out there’s no real education out in the Alley.”

I winced. “Yeah, there really isn’t. There’s no way to safely run a school. Sometimes teachers run tutoring sessions for basic reading, writing, and math, but a lot of people are generally illiterate there.”

“Which makes the contracting system even worse, since they can’t confirm for themselves what they’re getting into.” Sandro flexed his hands and muttered curses. “In any case, Lora will be fine. Since you like her, Mom will probably groom her to become your secretary.”

“My what?”

“Secretary.”

“What use could I possibly have for a secretary?” I blurted, twisting my ears back.

“Well, Moretti women often find themselves kidnapping people as part of bounties, and your secretary would handle most of the paperwork so you don’t have to. Lora would also check your schedule, make sure you don’t miss anything important, and otherwise be your right-hand woman through the tricky parts of high society life.” Sandro grinned and leaned towards me before whispering, “I have a secretary, and he’s one of the best presents my mother ever gave to me. He’s an old fart of a man who hates paperwork more than life itself, so he does it right the first time every time. He loves I wander around a lot, so all he has to do is make sure nothing goes wrong while I’m gone. His son is being taught to take over, and he’s much like his father.”

“This secretary was a present from your mother?”

Sandro chuckled. “Honestly, he used to be Mom’s secretary, but he wanted to retire from the big leagues, so he’s mine now. He gets paid the same to do a quarter of the work. Once we take over, he’ll help train our primary secretaries. Mom will beg him to help settle Lora. He loves kids, and he’ll be a grandpa type figure for her while she gets used to being a valued member of the Moretti household.”