“Excellent. Achim, you stick with him. When Calli gets here, we’ll go.”

  Achim nodded. “We haven’t seen anything, but there’s definitely something in the air. It’s unsettling.”

  Sol raised his head and let his senses take over. He could feel it as well, an itch at the back of his neck. A slight hint of something not-right in the air. Barely noticeable, but present if you focused. It unnerved Sol more than he cared to admit.

  “We need to move.”

  They moved as a unit into the house. Cody had Izzy and Sophie up, and the little girl was less than happy to be woken up once more. “Cody, grab their bags. Shelly, I need you with Teague and Achim.”

  He hated to separate them, but there wasn’t enough room in his Jeep for everyone, and he didn’t want to be the only hellhound with the pack’s unaware humans. Calli would need to stay with him for backup.

  “No problem,” Shelly said. “I’ve got mine and Walt’s stuff. Where do you need me?”

  “Shaq’s truck.”

  She nodded and walked toward him. He scented her neck and leaned in close. “If something happens, you stay low and call me. I’ll be there.”

  “I know you will. Walt’s okay?”

  “Yeah. I sent him on a grocery run.”

  Shelly snickered. “That ought to keep him calm. Okay, see you there.”

  Sol heard the swoosh of a portal opening behind the house, and then Calli came inside. “Clear.”

  “Let’s go. You’re with me.”

  She nodded and they went out to the Jeep. Cody piled into the backseat with Izzy and Sophie, while Calli took the front. Sol followed Teague and Achim as they flew down the back roads which led to his cabin. He could feel the change in the air, the tickle of wrong fading into nothing, and let out a sigh of relief.

  “I felt it, too,” Calli murmured.

  “We need to make sure we aren’t being followed.”

  “I’m not sure we can. You think we could get Henry to set some wards for us?”

  The young mage was one of the Jerrick pack that they’d rescued, and he’d become much more powerful now that he’d found his mates. “He’s still in the fae realm.”

  “Dammit,” Sol said.

  “Henry’s not the only person we know who can set wards.”

  “I know.”

  “At the very least, we could get some advance warning so we can get them out.”

  Sol nodded. They kept their conversation quiet, but Sol wanted to focus on the road, and not on the possibility of putting the coven at risk. He glanced into the rearview mirror and found Cody staring at him. “Not much longer,” Sol said quietly.

  “We’re good.”

  Sol nodded and returned his attention to the drive. Teague had disregarded all speed limits and was flying at a rate that would be dangerous for anyone without their instincts. It was early enough that no one was on the road, and the closer they came to the cabin, the less chance they had of running into anyone.

  When Teague finally slowed as they approached the turn off to the cabin’s drive, Sol let out a sigh of relief. They pulled both vehicles close to the house, and Sol hopped out of the Jeep quickly. He inhaled, letting his senses roll through the familiar scents. Nothing jumped out at him, and the scent of not-right wasn’t present.

  Cody climbed out behind him and Sol took a moment to grab him by the shoulder. It was only then that he noticed Cody had slipped his leather jacket on. It hung on him and the sleeves covered his hands. Sol tried to ignore how deeply affected he was by the sight. “Will you show everyone around for me? I want us to take a look around here and make sure it’s safe.”

  “Sure. See you in a minute.”

  Sol nodded as Cody guided Shelly, Izzy, and Sophie into the house after snagging the spare key from the hiding spot under the swing. Once the door closed, Sol turned to his pack. “Anything?”

  “Nothing,” Achim said. “It’s better here.”

  “Good. Let me know if that changes.”

  “I’ll do a quick run,” Calli said. “Make sure I don’t pick up anything following behind us.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Jedrek said.

  “Do it,” Sol said.

  They turned and ran, disappearing into the trees a second later.

  A portal opened nearby and Walt came through it pushing an overloaded grocery cart. Vice followed and the look he gave Sol had him biting back a laugh. Of course, that was the moment the door opened and Cody came out onto the porch.

  “Sol, do you care if… Walt, did you steal a cart from the grocery store?”

  Walt gave him a look. “And what if I did?”

  Cody blinked at him, clearly at a loss.

  “I’ll take it back. I borrowed it,” Walt griped.

  “Uh, I guess that’s okay then. How did you even get it here? You know what, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

  Sol couldn’t hide his smirk. “Cody, did you need something?”

  “You mind if I start the fire?”

  “Go ahead.”

  Cody smiled at him and went back inside.

  “Whoa,” Walt said softly. “When did that happen?”

  “What?” Sol asked.

  “He’s oblivious,” Teague added.

  “Clueless,” Achim said.

  “I am not. It’s new. And you’re all assholes.”

  “Hey,” Walt protested. “I brought food.”

  “That only makes you slightly less of an asshole,” Sol grumbled.

  “It’s about time,” Achim said.

  Sol sucked in a breath and blew it out again. “Focus. We need to stay on our toes. Rotate patrols. If anything, and I mean anything, feels abnormal, you let me know. We will protect our pack.”

  He got approving rumbles in reply. Tensions were running high, but he needed them to be ready to do their job.

  “We won’t let you down,” Walt said.

  “No, we won’t,” Achim and Teague added.

  Teague grabbed his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Tell us what you need and we’ll make it happen.”

  It settled something deep inside Sol knowing he had their support. He glanced around the clearing and breathed in the fresh, clean air. He would do whatever it took to keep his pack safe. And if that meant going up against magic users, he would do it without hesitation. His eyes flared red and his pack responded by letting their eyes turn red as well. They were the most powerful creatures in this realm and whoever had come after one of theirs was about to discover what happened when you pissed off a pack of hellhounds.

  Cody

  Cody had always held the women he worked with in the highest regard. Izzy and Shelly were both rock stars. They worked hard and took care of each other. When Cody came to work at Hair of the Dog, it hadn’t taken them long to take him under their wing. He’d been a mess of frazzled nerves and heartbreak. Scared and alone. Someone had told him to go to the bar because the owner wasn’t an ass, so Cody had taken the chance.

  Remembering the first time he saw Shaq always made him smile. Some big college football thing was happening and everybody had decided Hair of the Dog was where they were going to watch it. The bar had been packed, and Shaq had been working behind the bar alone. Cody had quickly realized it wasn’t the time to ask about a job. Instead, he’d decided to take the chance to check things out and see how the big guy behind the bar treated his staff. And there’d been no doubt he was the owner. There was something about him. Everyone deferred to him, even though he was snarling and scowling at everybody. They all seemed amused by it, though. Or at least not scared. It was odd. This big giant of a man who seemed pissed off at the world, but they still hovered around the bar, talking and laughing. He was curious enough to want to stay and see what happened. Cody had found a spot at the end of the bar and ordered a beer. Shaq had given him a look before giving him his drink. “You’re new.”

  “Yeah.”

  The look intensified. “You hungry?”

  “No.”

  “Tell me if you are.”

  Cody had nodded, and Shaq had wandered back down the bar, yelling at them all to hold their horses, and he was moving as fast as he could. He should have been scary— and he was, a little. There was something coiled about Shaq. Dangerous in a way Cody wasn’t prepared to face after the breakup he’d just gone through. He’d seen Sol for the first time that night, too. But Shaq had been the one who kept his attention. Eventually, the bar had become so crowded and Shaq so frustrated that Cody couldn’t resist offering to help. The look he’d gotten. Shaq had basically begged him for help. With the two of them working together, they got the bar under control, and Shaq had offered him a job at close after stuffing a handful of cash in his hand that had paid for the deposit on his new apartment.

  He’d learned later that he wasn’t the first broken soul who’d shown up on the bar’s doorstep looking for work. They all teased Shaq about his collection of puppies. Cody wasn’t sure he understood the full meaning of the joke— probably something from their commando days now that he thought about it— but he’d recognized strength in Izzy and Shelly that he’d struggled to find in himself. They’d bonded quickly, and Cody had found himself a family that he hadn’t known he’d been looking for. Cody couldn’t imagine working anywhere else. He’d learned from Izzy and Shelly to take the hits life gave them in stride. They picked themselves up and kept on going. They taught Cody how to do that, too.

  Case in point: neither one of them had broken down after the events of their evening. They’d taken it all in without question. Cody was kind of surprised to realize that he had as well. He trusted Shaq, Sol, and the rest of them with his life, and no matter what was going on, they had his back. He showed the girls around the cabin and they ended up settling in the kitchen. Shelly had taken one look at the flowers out on the counter and given him a look.

  She grinned at the roses before leaning in and smelling them. “They’re adorable. Idiots, but adorable.”

  “I know,” Cody said. “But they try.”

  “It’s sweet.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I think flowers are a waste of money,” she whispered. “I’d rather he get my oil changed and fill up the car with gas, you know? Take something off my list and make my day easier.”

  Cody sighed. “God, that sounds nice, huh?”

  She grinned at him as Sophie began to whimper. She hadn’t gone to sleep after being woken up for the third— or was it fourth? Cody had lost track— time, so she was cranky and miserable. “Come here, Sophie bear,” Shelly said. “I want to pick a movie and I need your help.”

  “By the way,” Cody said as Sophie began flipping through the stack of movies Shelly pulled out of her bag, “your boyfriend stole a shopping cart. I still don’t know how he got it here, but it’s outside. I think Sol’s giving him hell about it.”

  Shelly snickered and ran her hand over Sophie’s hair. “He’s crazy, but it’s what makes me crazy about him.”

  “Yeah.” Cody finished checking the fireplace before striking the match and lighting the kindling. He wanted nothing more than to go curl up in Sol’s big comfy chair and go to sleep, but he had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen for a while. They were all antsy and irritable, not just Sophie. “Hey, Shell?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you know what’s going on?”

  She smiled at him, and he knew she knew. He also knew she wasn’t going to tell him.

  “Ugh.”

  Shelly laughed and took the movie Sophie picked out of her hands. She got the TV turned on and put the movie into the player. It only took another minute for Sophie to be settled on the couch with her stuffed puppy in one hand and her fluffy blanket in the other.

  Izzy sighed as she came out of the bathroom. “Thanks, Shelly.”

  “No problem, hon. You want some coffee or something?”

  “I want to sleep,” Izzy said. “But I keep picturing Chuck banging on my door and…” Her voice drifted off and she shivered.

  “Is that what happened?” Cody asked. “No one told me. Sol just called and said pack and you and Soph were with him.”

  “Yeah. I think they think he was put up to it for some reason? I don’t know what it is those boys get up to, but tonight was the first time I was scared, you know?”

  Cody nodded. He understood completely.

  “It’ll be fine,” Shelly said softly. “Shaq and Sol will take care of it.”

  “Where did Shaq and Drew go, anyway?” Cody asked.

  Shelly put one hand on each of their shoulders. “I know this is all crazy and you have a million questions. I don’t blame you. But you can’t ask them right now, okay? And I know I’m asking a lot of you, but I need you to trust me. You do trust me, right?”

  “Of course, we do,” Izzy said. “But Shell—”

  “They can’t tell us, can they?” Cody said softly.

  “They can’t. But I promise you, they’ll make sure we’re okay. They’ve got bigger connections than you’d think, and they’ll pull any string they have to.”

  Izzy let out a soft sigh. “I do trust you. And them. But my kid is here, Shelly. She’s scared and confused and quite frankly so am I.”

  Izzy sniffed and Shelly pulled her into a hug. She looked over Izzy’s shoulder at him and mouthed, “Go get Sol.”

  Cody nodded and went for the front door. He opened it and found four strangers standing in the yard, along with a dark-haired woman in leather who looked vaguely familiar. Cody was pretty sure she’d been in the bar before, but the memory was a bit hazy. He wasn’t too worried about the memory, though, since she was currently looking at him like she planned on gutting him. And since she had what appeared to be a rather large and sharp looking knife in her hand, he was going to guess that gutting him was definitely an option for her. Cody gulped and she started walking toward him. Big knife. Very big knife.

  “Sol?”

  Cody would like to say his voice hadn’t trembled at all, but he’d be lying. Sol was at his side a second later, though, and the crazy-knife lady lowered her weapon.

  “You okay?”

  “Izzy’s upset. Shelly said for me to get you.”

  Sol nodded and went inside. Cody followed behind, taking one last look at the strangers gathered in the yard. The scary lady was looking at him again, but it was the four guys who drew his attention. They were all about his age, and they appeared to be chanting or something. What the hell was going on?

  “Cody, come inside.”

  Cody glanced over his shoulder and found Sol watching him from only a step or two away. He closed the door and walked with him over to Izzy and Shelly.

  “She needs you,” Shelly said softly.

  Sol pulled Izzy close, and she cried quietly against his chest. He murmured words to her that Cody couldn’t hear, but a few minutes later, she nodded and pulled away. After wiping her cheeks, she looked up at Sol and the trust Cody saw in her eyes… it caused a wave of something to pass through him. Something solid and real. Something he didn’t understand but wanted more than anything to claim as his own.

  “Come on,” Sol said gently. “You need to sleep. We’ll watch Sophie.”

  Sol glanced Cody’s way and he took the hint. He sat down on the couch and Sophie curled up against him without taking her eyes off the movie playing on the screen. Sol smiled at him and led Izzy through to the guest rooms. Shelly followed behind them with Izzy’s bags. When Sol came back alone a few minutes later, he ran his hands over his face tiredly before glancing over at Cody.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Is Walt planning on leaving the groceries outside all night? Because seriously.”

  Sol grinned. “We got distracted.”

  “I saw. Who was that, Sol?”

  Sol stiffened for a moment before answering. “A friend.”

  “I didn’t hear another car pull up. You must have really good windows on this place.”

  “I do.”

  “Well, good. You aren’t going to tell me who they were, are you?”

  “I can’t.”

  Cody sighed. “I don’t like this, Sol. But I trust you. I’m struggling, but I trust you.”

  Sol gave him a heated look and Cody swore he saw the little red sparks again in his eyes. He must be more tired than he felt.

  “Good. I won’t let you down.”

  They stared at each other for a minute and Cody’s nerves settled a little more. Sol gave him a nod and turned for the door.

  “I’ll send Walt in. Give him some quiet, okay?”

  “I know. He’s out of sorts, as usual. He’ll be fine since Sophie’s here. Don’t worry.”

  Sol smiled at him, gently, like he was proud Cody knew Walt so well. Which was ridiculous because of course he did. They’d been working together for years. It didn’t stop his stomach from giving a little flip and flutter of happiness at the look. Which was also ridiculous.

  “I should get outside.”

  “Yeah. And you’re still going to tell me what’s going on, Sarge.”

  “I’ll get right on that.”

  Cody shook his head as Sol turned and went outside. Walt came in a few minutes later with his arms loaded down with bags of groceries. “Let me know if you need help,” Cody said softly.

  Walt gave him a head bob in acknowledgment as he glanced their way. Sophie looked over at him before wiggling down from the couch and going into the kitchen.

  “Uncle Walt?”

  Walt’s breath hitched loud enough for Cody to hear it on the other side of the room. Cody fought a grin as the older man knelt down in front of Sophie. “Yeah?”

  “I’m hungry. Will you make me some chickey nuggets?”

  Walt gave her a stern look. “You know how I feel about chickey nuggets.”

  Cody bit his lip to keep from laughing.

  “But they’re tasty, Uncle Walt. And you can dip ‘em in ketchup.”

  “Well, if that’s what you want. Although I was going to make some pancakes with sprinkles. But if you’d rather have chickey—”

  Cody lost control and a snicker escaped, drawing Walt’s attention. He got a really terrifying glare before Walt turned to Sophie.

 

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