Hunted (Pack of Dawn and Destiny, #1)(67)

“Nah, it’s not important,” I said.

Hector approached us, holding his cellphone. “Pip…”

“Let me guess, I get to make another incident report?” I asked. “And testify that these bozos were high on wolfsbane?”

Hector gave me a sympathetic smile. “The Curia Cloisters is requesting it.”

“Great,” I grumbled. “This better make the case watertight—because I’m getting sick of all of this paperwork.”

“Take her home,” Greyson instructed Hector. “She can make her statement on the phone there.”

“Hey, thanks for asking my opinion!” I sarcastically grinned at Greyson and gave him a thumbs up.

“You must not be injured.” Hector held my backpack—which looked ridiculous with his suave, professor-y get up.

“You can’t smell it?”

“No. You’ve retained your refreshing sense of humor.”

“Oohh, nice one! See, Greyson? You should be taking notes—this is what fun looks like!” I took my backpack from Hector.

Greyson flatly stared at me, then switched his attention to Ember.

Hector beckoned for me to follow him down the path. “I do wish you hadn’t said that.”

“Why?”

“He is fond of you.”

“Fond of me the way dogs are fond of chew toys, you mean.”

“That I cannot deny.”





Chapter 18





Pip





“I can’t believe you’re here.”

I looked up from the computer where I was working on ordering another shipment of the little wolf keychains that howled. “What do you mean?”

Shania leaned over my hexagonal desk to peer at me. “You were attacked yesterday. And now here you are, at work—as if nothing happened!” She waved her hand around the welcome center for emphasis. “You should have taken off the rest of the week—or at least today!”

“Why?” I glanced at the visitors—three elderly ladies—who were checking out one of the displays. “Ember nearly force fed me a potion last night, so I’m not even hurt.”

“But it had to be traumatizing—to be attacked out of nowhere!”

“Oh. No, I’m pretty used to that, actually. And since the Fletchings are driving the entire Low Marsh Pack down to the Curia Cloisters, it’s not like I can do anything about the case. The Curia Cloisters will let us know when they finish questioning them.”

“Unbelievable.” Shania shook her head, then plopped her chin on her fist. “You complain about the wolves’ lack of sense, but you’re nearly as bad as them.”

I patted her hand. “It’s okay, Shania.”

“Why are you trying to placate me?” she demanded.

The bell on the door jingled, and together we turned toward it with bright smiles. “Hello! Welcome to Timber Ridge.”

Two new visitors entered, both possessing a beauty and sense of elegance that instantly marked them as fae.

My smile slid off in surprise when I realized I knew them. “Lord Linus? Lady Chrysanthe?”

“Ah, you do work here!” Lord Linus beamed at me as Chrysanthe took a picture on her phone with the flash on. “Chase told us you did, but he wasn’t sure if you’d be on duty today or not.”

Lord Linus had his perfect hair pulled back in a ponytail and was wearing slacks and a dress shirt rolled up to his elbows that—matched with his crooked grin—gave him a more casual appearance.

Lady Chrysanthe was a little more…intense. Even though she was just in jeans and what appeared to be a flannel shirt—a second glance made me realize it was actually a knit cardigan with a flannel pattern, and she had it belted fashionably at the waist—her innate elegance made her look more like a celebrity trying to blend in. But she was taking pictures of everything, and didn’t stop moving her head as she went from display to display.

“What brought you all the way up to Timber Ridge?” I asked.

“Officially, I’m delivering a report to your Alpha on some of the things he asked Chase to look into.” Lord Linus stuffed his hands in the pockets of his slacks and casually meandered up to my desk. “Unofficially, Lady Chrysanthe and I are here to see what kind of place shaped our dear Director of Security. Isn’t that right, Lady Chrysanthe?”

Lady Chrysanthe twisted to look back at us, holding her cellphone pointed at a wolf statue. “Yes.” Her testimony given, she immediately went back to her picture taking, oblivious to the three old ladies who were gawking at her.

“And there you have it.” Lord Linus slapped his hand on my desk, then delivered a devastating grin to Shania. “Hello.”

“Hi.” Shania blinked. “Director of Security?”

“He’s talking about Chase Washington, Ember’s younger brother,” I said. “Lord Linus and Lady Chrysanthe are members of the fae Night Court, where Chase works. Lord Linus, Lady Chrysanthe, this is Shania—a friend and coworker of mine.”

Lord Linus turned all his attention to Shania, his purple-ish, blue-ish eyes shining with curiosity. “It’s lovely to meet you, Shania. Tell me, what is it like living side by side with werewolves?”