Longtree Family…
From Luke & Jezebel
“Do you recognize my last name?” Jezi asked.
“Longtree?”
“It’s obvious the name doesn’t ring any bells. I’ll just hit a few highlights of my family history as it pertains to Others. My grandfather was Jacob Longtree—a genetic researcher, he helped prove all werewolves have one specific mate, based on inherent traits. He instigated the Lupine Act, the amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing shapeshifters the unalienable right to claim their genetic match, against all opposition.”
Resisting the temptation to sprint to the door, she tried to remember what she was talking about. Her grandfather.
Words began tumbling out of her mouth. “There’s more. My mother, Naomi, was one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists before she married my stepfather. She found, researched and documented the existence of several hidden species—the most notable being the Loch Ness Monster.”
A flash of memory delighted Jezi and she couldn’t help but grin. It was a long time since she thought about her adolescent summers. Those summers were spent playing with Nessie, a fifty-foot vegetarian serpent, that loved hide and-seek.
Thinking of those times eased the ache in her body.
Luke’s eyebrows rose as if to question her smile, so she forced herself away from the trip down memory lane.
“I’ve been well taught the rights of Others. Several years after my father died, my mother was scented and claimed by a werewolf. My stepfather, Matthew Maxwell, is a male chauvinist Neanderthal, yet I understand his attitude has nothing to do with the fact that he howls at the full moon...it’s his overbearing personality.
“I dearly love my half-brother Jonaa, a werewolf. My sister is Eve Longtree. The scientist in this generation, she followed in my grandfather’s footsteps and became a world-famous geneticist. I don’t know if she has done anything for vampires, but while she was still in college, she discovered the cure for Were-parvo—a debilitating disease affecting werewolves. She’s been on the One Race Human Hit List since she turned twenty-two. Thankfully she’s at the bottom of the list, with only a few unsuccessful attempts on her life.”
“Are you in any danger?” Looking around his backyard, he tensed as if preparing for battle.
Frowning, she supposed the question made sense, even if the fierce protective tone of his voice didn’t. Often One Racers targeted family members of those on the list. They didn’t care if anyone else was near, they killed everyone. He was probably worried about his safety, not hers.
From Adam & Eve
He had no choice but to go on the offensive. “Is your name really Eve?”
She looked at him with a touch of humor. “Yes. Is your name really Adam?”
He groaned. “Yes. You know, of course, this means we will be the butt of many Biblical jokes?”
“Not in my family,” she grumbled.
Adam cocked an eyebrow at her, the question obvious.
Eve sighed and shook her head. He knew this wasn’t what she wanted to talk about. But Adam wanted something normal before she started listing her demands. He watched her; eyebrows raised in question until she gave in.
“My mother’s name is Naomi, my natural father was Abel. They named me Eve, my sister Jezebel, Jezi for short. My stepfather is Matthew, my stepbrother is Jonaa. Jonaa with two a’s no h, but Jonaa just the same. My sister’s husband is named Luke.”
Pausing, she looked up and seemed satisfied with the look of awe on his face.
“To my family, it will make perfect sense that your name is Adam.”
“Your parents actually named your sister Jezebel?” He was floored. What parent would do that to a child?
Books:
Luke & Jezebel
Adam & Eve
Vlad & Veronica
(Luke is also in Let Them Eat Cake & UnDuplicated Magic)
Best Family Excerpt… Jezi bringing Luke (Vampire) home to meet her very religious mother.
Before Jezi could comment, her communication unit made the most ungodly noise. Something between a whale call and a snuffling pig. Staring at it in horror, she literally felt her face drain of all color.
Luke crossed the room in an instant. “What is it? Who is it, love? Are you okay?”
Shuddering, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’s. My. Mother. Shit.”
“And her digital signature is what?”
She watched Luke relax. He wasn’t taking her fear seriously. Stupid man. “Nessie. It’s the sound the Loch Ness monster makes when she’s calling her children.” Jezi sighed. “I haven’t talked to her...oh, hell. In over three weeks. Since before we...”
“Mated?”
“Yeah, that. She is going to kill me.”
Finally finding her sense of humor, she grinned evilly. “And you. You are so dead.” She reached for the COM unit.
“Hi, Mom.” She waved her hand at Luke, hoping he would take the hint and get lost. He distracted her. And distraction around her mother wasn’t a good thing. Jezi needed her wits firmly centered on the conversation she was about to have.
Before she had a chance to think, she found herself agreeing to dinner that evening. “Yes. I’ll come, but...um...I need to bring somebody with me.” She sighed. “No, it’s not David.” She sighed again. “Yes. It’s a man. I’ll explain when I get there.” Another sigh. “All right. We’ll see you in an hour.” Glaring at the device in her hand, she turned to find Luke shaking his head.
She refused to give him any warnings. She was, however, going to call her sister. Eve would kill Jezi if she didn’t give her an opportunity to share in Luke’s baptism by fire into the family. And Jonaa. She needed to call her little brother.
An hour later…
Luke had an inkling of what the night would be like, once Jazz stepped out of the airglide and was assaulted by a pack of wolves of all sizes and colors. The damn beasts howled, slobbering all over and fighting for her attention.
They weren’t werewolves, but actual wolves. Stepping out after her, he snarled.
After a few more doggie kisses to Jazz’s ankles, they slunk away. To be replaced by a ripped, twenty-something blonde werewolf, who thought he could swing Jazz around like she was a doll. His first instinct was to swat the man down like a fly.
“Hey, sis!”
Ah. This must be Jonaa. Somehow the words little brother and this massive giant didn’t quite fit. He recalled Jonaa was the one who taught Jazz how to work on airglides.
“Who’s the vampire?”
Jazz sighed.
And Luke swung his gaze to her. There was something she wasn’t telling him.
“Luke. His name is Luke.”
“Hello, Jonaa. It’s nice to meet you,” Luke said.
Jonaa’s hearty laughter as he shook Luke’s outstretched hand and thumped him on the back clinched it. Something was going on.
“So, when are you getting married?”
Luke waited for Jazz to tell her brother they were already true bonded. He was shocked when she shook her head and mumbled, “About fifteen minutes after Momma gets a look at him.”
Jonaa roared.
Before he had a chance to ask what she meant, another airglide swooped into the compound and Eve jumped out. “Tell me I didn’t miss anything,” she demanded, glaring at Jonaa and Jazz.
“We just got here,” Jazz reassured her.
Luke felt like they were all speaking a foreign language. He wanted a few questions answered. “Jazz, what—?” He stopped when he heard the door open to the large, rambling stone house.
Jazz, Eve, and Jonaa fell silent, their gazes riveted to something—or someone—behind him. Inexplicable tension filled him and he turned, seeing a person who could only be Jazz’s mother.
The small slip of a woman—with black hair that must have been a lot like Eve’s before it was streaked with gray—looked like an older version of Jazz. The eyes were the same mossy-green. And she still had freckles. She was dressed in a long, flowing and very colorful gypsy skirt, with a red blouse.
Her dark eyebrows rose. “All three of my children are home for dinner. How...nice. Since I haven’t forgotten some holiday, I’ll assume this poor man standing with a look of confusion on his face is the reason. Hello,” she purred. “I’m Naomi, welcome to my home. And you are...?”
She said this as they all filed in the door and took seats in the front living room. Jazz, Eve and Jonaa all sat together on the couch. Naomi took a high-backed chair, leaving him the matching one across from her.
“His name is Luke,” Jazz, Eve, and Jonaa said in unison.
Luke turned to stare at them. “Have you lost your minds?”
“Luke.” This time it was Naomi who said his name. The whisper of sound held delight. Glee. And reverence—as if she had uttered a prayer to some long-forgotten god.
The small hairs on the back of Luke’s neck stood up. That’s it. To hell with being a good guest. He attempted to read someone’s, anyone’s, mind. And came up empty. Whatever shields Jazz possessed; the rest of the family had the same.
His mate’s mind was locked down tight.
“Luke—” Naomi cleared her throat and tried again. “Luke, I assume you came with Jezebel?” Luke winced and looked at Jazz, expecting her to scream at her mother for using her full name.
She just shrugged. It’s my mother. She can call me whatever she wants.
“Yes. I came with Jazz.” Now he expected his mate to explain they were true bonded. Or at least mentally explain what the hell was going on. But she didn’t say a word or give him any hint of what to expect.
“Have you known my daughter long?” Naomi gently questioned.
“No. I met her about a month ago.” When Luke looked at Jazz, she had a look of horror on her face.
“I see. A month ago. And have you met Jonaa or Eve?”
There was a wealth of meaning in that “I see.” Luke just wasn’t sure what it was.
Eve coughed, appeared about to say something. Until her mother waved her to silence.
“I met Eve about, what...three weeks ago? Jazz just introduced me to Jonaa.”
Groaning, Eve put her head down, covering her face with her hands.
“You met Eve three weeks ago.”
“Yes. When Eve found Jazz close to death and figured out she was true bonded to me, she brought her to my house and I more-or-less met Eve then. Since I was so sick, I didn’t really remember her. Then she helped us move Jazz into my house this last weekend.”
The three on the couch groaned in unison.
“What?” Their reaction confused him.
“Didn’t you have parents?” Eve hissed aloud.
Luke frowned. What did that have to do with anything? “No. Actually, I didn’t. I was raised in an orphanage until I was old enough to work as a gondolier.”
“You were a gondolier?” Jonaa asked in awe.
Eve and Jonaa started to ask questions.
Jazz just sat between them with her eyes wide. She hissed in his mind, You didn’t tell me about growing up in an orphanage!
“Children.” That one, soft-spoken word from Naomi brought silence to the room. Dead silence.
“Let’s not change the subject,” she murmured pleasantly.
Except Luke wasn’t sure what the subject was.
“So. Let me get this straight.” Naomi leaned forward. “Jezebel met Luke a month ago. If I remember from my studies of vampires and I do, she needed to spend time with him in a very...private venue...for a true bond to form. Then three weeks ago, Eve discovered her very sick sister and, with her extremely intelligent brain, figured out Jezebel was dying, had formed a true bond with Luke and took Jezebel to his home. Then Eve helped move her sister’s things from her compact, into Luke’s house. Where they are living in sin. And neither Jezebel nor Eve bothered to tell me, their mother, any of this. Did I miss anything?” Naomi ticked off each point on the fingers of one hand. Now she rested those hands in her lap and sat back.
Jazz and Eve shook their heads, responding in unison, “No, you didn’t miss anything.”
Luke blinked. Living in sin?
“If my daughter is your true bond mate, why isn’t she a vampire?” Naomi demanded.
Oh, shit.
He was spared from answering when an older werewolf stepped into the room.
“Naomi, are you okay? I feel your agitation.” Glaring briefly at the three sitting on the couch, he turned his attention to Luke.
His eyes went wide. “Luke Skylord. Why is the Sentinel in my home?” To Matthew’s credit, he moved to place himself between Luke and his family.
Before Luke could reassure the man he wasn’t here on council business, Naomi sighed and waved at another chair.
“Sit down, Matthew. Luke is here to help us plan a wedding.”
He was almost certain she mumbled something about Jezebel at least getting the name right.
