Portia tapped his knee. “Lou, focus.” She nodded toward Ethan, signaling to go on. “The Tagnello wolves have a lawyer you’re familiar with. She’s hiring witches to curse you.”
“Sure sounds like you’re in a war,” Ruby commented.
Ethan shook his head. “No, no. It’s just a feud.”
“Just a feud?” Ruby repeated with a snort.
“Well, yeah. I don’t know how it started. My dad didn’t know either. It’s always just been this tension. Sometimes, we come to blows. Other times, we sue each other. Actually, no. That’s new. That came after my father died. Nat Ryerson is trying to contest my father’s will. She’s using the long-standing feud to prove that the land was taken from the Tagnello pack.”
“So devious. This is better than a soap opera. See! This is why we keep humans around.” Lou gave them a thumbs up with one hand while the other motioned for them to keep going.
“Well, I don’t know why she would resort to cursing us. She’s already dragging on the court case. It’s been a year now.”
“Now that we know the core of the curse, or, you know,curses… Now, that means we can try to reverse it. Maybe if we explain to Jazmin what’s happening, she will reverse it.”
“We can sure try,” Ethan said. “But I get the feeling Nat Ryerson will have a failsafe for a reversal in the curses too. She had the witch mewl, for Christ’s sake.”
“Easy!” Lou shouted with a gasp. “Don’t say that name here!”
Portia rolled her eyes. “In Hell or all Hellscape properties, the polite way to curse isfor Lucifer’s sake.”
“Cursing isn’t polite,” Ethan argued, confused.
Ruby giggled. “Well, youarewith demons right now. But I think we can forgive you, given that you’re going through a lot at the moment.”
Ethan sighed. “I hate to ask, but is there another way to break a curse?”
“Other than witches or warlocks?” Ruby shook her head. “No. It’s the only way. If we could get Jazmin to reverse it … It’s the only way.”
“What do we know about her?” Lou asked. “She’s from the Lovelace coven, but what do we know about her personally? Anything we can leverage?”
“Lou,” Portia said through a tight smile. “You know you can’t get involved with this.”
The bartender actually seemed to pout for a second, but the illusion faded too quickly for Ethan to be sure he actually saw Lou frown because he couldn’t get involved.
“I need a moment alone, please. Thanks, Portia and Lou.” Ethan dropped a kiss on the top of Ruby’s head before leaving the office. He made sure to close the door behind him. No guests should see what is in Portia’s office.
He let his feet take him where they wanted to go, right out to the beach bar under the full moon sky. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pleading with his father’s spirit to give him guidance. Wouldn’t this be the kind of place Ethan could actually get a response?
He waited a few seconds, but there was no sudden apparition that would tell him how to convince a witch to reverse a curse. That would’ve been too easy. Resigned to having a two-minute pity party before he jumped into action, he made his way over to the bar.
Sitting on the stool, nursing a beer … he didn’t trust anyone but Lou to mix a cocktail … Ethan tried to find a good plan.
“If you keep staring at your beer like that, you’re gonna fall inside of it.” Ruby settled beside him. “Are you okay?”
“I need to be all tough right now and tell you that I’m just fine. I’m not, though. If the Tagnellos came at me with brute force, then I would know what to do. That’s clear. But this legal battle mixed in with curses? How am I supposed to fight that?”
“Well,” she took his beer and sipped it. “For starters, it helps to know people. Friends can help. Portia is gonna help us as much as she can, but you’ve got me on your side. We’ll find a way to fix this.”
“I’ve been doing nothing but trying to be a good alpha. I can’t fail. I just can’t.” Ethan shook his head. “It would be the end of the Adair pack. What would become of my father’s legacy?”
“I’m pretty sure that the good man you are is legacy enough for a father who loved you and was proud of you. Now, we’re not gonna figure out how to reverse this by getting drunk.”
“We won’t be able to convince Jazmin to reverse the curses without Nat Ryerson giving her the permission, or whatever is the right witchy lingo. That means I need to face the Tagnellos directly and get them to call off their demonic lawyer.”
“She’s not a demon,” Ruby pointed out. “But I already know which room she’s gonna get in Hell, though.”
“Ha. It better be one hell of a suite.”