Dog Eat Dog World: Limited Edition Bundle (Black Dog)

by Hailey Edwards

  “All those in favor of relieving Haden of his liaison duties?” Not a single hand lifted. They knew without asking the person to vote him free would take his place. No one wanted that. “Let it never be said this pack doesn’t practice democracy.”

  “I get no respect around here,” he huffed before slapping the shoulder of the quiet man sitting beside him. “Maybe you’ll have better luck. Dell, this is—”

  “Tahvo Virtanen.” I had recognized the man, his bright-eyed intellect, on sight. “Do you have something for us?”

  “Due to technical difficulties—” he cut Haden a scowl, “—I don’t have a full report prepared, but I can tell you the bulk of the strikes center over the town proper with major hits at the Cantina, Panda Crossing and the grocery store while minor ones occurred at The Pie Barn and the Holston Inn.”

  “That makes this one hell of a smart storm front,” I murmured.

  Or it meant we had a much larger problem than the rift igniting rogue weather patterns.

  “The most damaged area lies outside of town.” He passed over a folded map delineated by red hexagons. “I believe the property is used as grazing land. That would explain why targeted reports are scarce.”

  Without looking, I knew what I would see. The area where Zed and I had been attacked was a hot spot in more ways than one. Meaning our mystery fae must be involved. The possibility of that type of control over a deadly element made my dry tongue stick to the roof of my mouth.

  “Thanks for your help,” I managed after working up enough spit to swallow. “Anyone else?”

  This new information required digesting, and I needed a few more minutes to chew on it.

  Moore lifted two fingers in the air. “I bought a garage on a few acres. I should be back in business in a few weeks. And no, that doesn’t mean free oil changes or that you can hunt me down to pester me about rattles, squeaks or squeals.”

  Not bothering to lift a hand, Zed tacked on, “The back half of his property is actually my property.” He thumped Moore’s ear. “Unless you want to take up my half of the payments too?” Moore grumbled about his name being on the mortgage but didn’t push. “My junkyard is open as of…now. So if you need parts for a project, come pull them.”

  That announcement perked up the rest of the room.

  “My exam room has seen more excitement this week than, well, ever,” Abram announced. “While I appreciate having the rust polished off my skills, I would prefer fewer life-or-death situations cropping up in the coming weeks.” He looked right at me. “Be careful out there. These are strange days for us all.”

  I mashed my lips together to keep from pointing out Enzo and Zed had had their share of scrapes too. No one ever intended to end up in an ER-style situation. It just happened. Among wargs, it happened a lot. Abram ought to be used to it by now, but mother henning was his shtick.

  “Y’all know what I’ve been doing.” Nathalie hooked her thumb toward Aisha. “Babysitting.”

  A haughty glare twisted the ex-alpha’s face. “I’m running patrols and keeping tabs on the Stoners. I’m contributing to this pack.”

  She was also on her best behavior because the alphas weren’t here for her to antagonize. The rest of us were hardly worth the effort of breaking a sweat in her book.

  A throat cleared, and a brown-haired man in a dress shirt and slacks raised his hand. “I’ve been hired by Terrell Associates to handle finances for their multinational conglomerate. The office is two hours away, but I only have to put in biweekly appearances. The rest can be handled online or over the phone.”

  A round of cheers and applause broke out in the room. Job straightened his shoulders and grinned. “Is this the part where I say now that I’m gainfully employed again you guys have to go back to using TurboTax?”

  Pained groans chorused in surround sound.

  “Just kidding.” He rubbed his hands together as if preparing to dig into a meal instead of a stack of paperwork. “I don’t mind helping file your taxes. I do, however, expect the paperwork February first. Later than that, and you’ll have to face the IRS firing squad on your own.”

  More claps and catcalls rose in thanks for Job protecting us all from the horrors of itemized deductions.

  “I’m not pack,” Enzo said from the back of the room, “but this is as good a time as any to update you all on my progress.” He stood. “The wards surrounding Stone’s Throw are secure. We’ve had no breaches, and the fact it repelled Isaac proves the anti-fae charms are working. The wards surrounding the lake are weakening. I need to anchor them soon, or I’ll have to start over from scratch.”

  I narrowed my gaze on him. “Has Abram cleared you to use magic?”

  “No, he has not,” Abram chimed in from his seat.

  “I didn’t use much.” Enzo appeared contrite. “Just enough to test the structural integrity of the spells.”

  “All right.” I grumbled an unhappy sound. “Ask before you magic next time, please. Your brother will skin us and wear us as coats Cruella De Vil-style if we get you hurt.”

  Enzo inclined his head and sat. I didn’t believe his easy acquiescence for a minute. Not that I thought he was lying. Magic was a part of him, easy as breathing, and breathing was a reflex. Not a conscious choice. Slip-ups were bound to happen.

  All eyes turned to Isaac. Technically, he wasn’t pack, either. Even if he was the alpha’s cousin. Still, they had to be wondering about the reason for the visit. Speculating, more like.

  “I’m here to offer technical support.” His lips ticked up at one corner. “Enzo has created powerful wards to keep you safe, and I’m going to build on that foundation. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be installing motion-activated cameras around the lake and the RV park. I’m commandeering one of the empty spaces down the hall and outfitting it as a control room, where feeds can be monitored twenty-four seven. The goal is for you to go into any confrontation better informed and better prepared.”

  Murmurs carried around the room, and several eyes made sly connections between him and me. If they were waiting for Isaac to admit he had come crawling back for me, there were other events more likely to occur first. Hell trademarking its own brand of brimstone-flavored popsicles came to mind.

  I clapped my hands for silence. “My turn.” I waited until everyone settled. “I’ll start us off easy with the mundane points. The clinic is near fifty percent completion. The rent is paid for the month and…there’s a tribe of fae kids robbing the town blind and possibly kidnapping restaurateurs.”

  No one batted an eye for several heartbeats, waiting on a punch line that wasn’t coming.

  “That’s who took Mr. O’Malley?” Nathalie rested her chin in her palm.

  “It looks that way. Ms. Zhuang too.” I told them everything we had learned without sparing details then tied in my weather theory to the data Tahvo had shared earlier. “We’re going into a hostile situation. There may be captives. There will definitely be dangerous—if young—fae involved. We have to be smart about this, or it will go sideways and our people will get hurt.”

  “What’s the endgame?” Moore glanced down the table. “These are kids. Dangerous or not, they’re kids.”

  “We’re not going to hurt them if we can help it.” I grasped for an example. “Think of them as a feral cat population. We’re animal control, moving in to capture and relocate.”

  “Where are we relocating them?” Aisha scrunched up her nose. Not a fan of kids, that one.

  “That will be determined by the conclave.” Months ago I met a kitsune who worked for the conclave as part of their youth counseling program, meaning there was framework in place to get these kids the care and supervision they required. “I’m calling the alphas once this meeting ends. I need to get their stamp of approval and give them a heads-up to start the ball rolling so these kids aren’t on our hands longer than they need to be.”

  A few more questions got answered, and then I shooed everyone back to their posts while I made my call. Enzo sli
pped into his lab, and Abram headed for his exam room. Zed kept his seat. So did Isaac.

  “This is a private call, boys.” I picked up the handheld phone and punched in Cam’s number. “We’ll regroup once the alphas have signed off on our plans.”

  Zed stood first and hesitated at the door. “She said boys, not boy. That means you too.”

  A stubborn frown cut Isaac’s mouth, but he got to his feet.

  “I’m wearing the watch.” I tapped the face. “I swear I’ll hit the panic button if Cam is mean to me.”

  “Don’t leave without seeing me first.” He lingered at his chair, waiting for me to pinky promise him. “Please.”

  The please is what did me in. I’m a sucker for a guy with manners.

  “Fine. I’ll pop in to say goodbye before we go. Happy?”

  His slight nod meant that no, he wasn’t thrilled, but he left with Zed and closed the door behind him.

  Flopping into my chair, I hit send and started counting rings. I got to three.

  “Ellis.”

  “Preston,” I answered back, voice pitched low and serious.

  Soft laughter filled the line. “Hey, Dell. What’s up?”

  The amusement in her tone worked the kinks out of my spine until I slumped over the desk in a state of bliss. Having known Cord for so much of my life, I had built up a touch of immunity to his Alpha Effect. I had no such defense against Cam, and I wouldn’t until she came here to stay and let us soak up her different brand of magic.

  “We have a problem. Several problems.” I eased down until my cheek mashed against the cool table. Of all the pressing matters to choose from, what popped out of my mouth was, “Why didn’t you tell me Isaac was coming?”

  “I planned to warn you when he headed that way.” Her breath hit the receiver. “Mom says he’s been going off on his own a lot since they left. Soul-searching, she calls it. He was supposed to take his truck in for a new set of tires last week and vanished. We didn’t know for sure where he’d gone until he called me to find out why I’d warded my home against him.”

  Isaac had failed to mention that call, but I should have expected him to reach out to her first.

  “You gave him that hellacious debit card.” I wasn’t ready to let her off the hook just yet. “You had to know he’d end up here.”

  “I did know,” she admitted on a sigh. “He asked for the card out of the blue. I was going to send it home via certified mail with instructions since we’re stuck here a while longer, and Lorimar’s need is immediate, but he was there and he offered...”

  “Why would he do that?” My exhale left behind a huff of condensation. “He made it clear he wanted the open road. Caravan living and all that. Adventures. New woman every night.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  Fair was not in my vocabulary when it came to Isaac.

  “You spelled out who he was for me, and he sounded out each syllable to make sure I understood the warning label plastered to his forehead.” The buzz of talking to Cam lingered, but the happy-happy evaporated in a snap. “Don’t tell me I changed him. That my magic who-ha cured him of his need to experiment. I didn’t, and it didn’t, and he’s never going to be anyone other than who he is.”

  “He wanted an excuse to go back,” she said at last. “He might not know it, but I do. So does Graeson.”

  I groaned and thrashed my legs under the desk. “Tell me Cord doesn’t know.”

  “He, um, smelled you.” Her voice lifted on the last syllable. “On Isaac.”

  Thumping my head on the table seemed like the most excellent idea I had ever had, and I liked to think I put my best thoughts to use. I banged my head until I was too tired to lift it again. “He asked for a job,” I scoffed. “Well, okay. No. He didn’t. More like he hired himself and cc’d me on the memo.”

  “He didn’t mention that to me.” She sounded thoughtful, always a dangerous thing. “It seems like he wants a reason to stick around.”

  Hope was the single most dangerous weapon ever wielded against a broken heart. “All that tells me is I’m still not enough.”

  “You didn’t call to talk about Isaac,” she said into the silence too deep to fill with half-assed placations. “What are the other problems you mentioned?”

  Grateful for the reprieve, I launched into a quick-and-dirty outline of the disappearances, the attacks and theft. Then, because Isaac deserved to be yelled at by someone he might actually listen to, I told her his bright idea to miraculously get close enough to take blood from a hostile fae without getting sung to death in the process.

  “I’m going to kill him if he doesn’t get himself killed first.” The frustration of being too far away to stop a plan already set in motion laced her voice. “Your plan needs work, but he’s right about siren songs counteracting each other. Harlow mentioned it to me once.”

  Harlow Bevans, a changeling raised by mermaids who once acted as a consultant for the Earthen Conclave. That was before a serial killer seized control of her mind and shattered it in the process. Cam still hadn’t forgiven herself for not saving the girl sooner.

  “How is she?” It made Cam sad when I asked, so I didn’t often pry.

  “Better,” she said in a too-bright voice. “The staff at Edelweiss is taking good care of her.”

  Lately Edelweiss was taking good care of a lot of us it seemed.

  “Oh, I almost forgot to ask,” she said. “Did Isaac give you your copy of the treaty?”

  I wrinkled my nose at the sense of impending homework. “Yes.”

  “Have you read over it yet?” she prompted.

  “I haven’t had much time for reading assignments.” Screwing up my face, I wheedled, “Give me the CliffsNotes version?”

  A long-suffering sigh I bet she learned from Cord filled the line. “Keep tooth and claw off the earthborn fae, and they’ll return the favor.”

  “Not a problem.” I had no interest in policing the locals. This case was the exception, and the conclave couldn’t very well cry foul. An earthborn fae had retained me, and the alternative was allowing the crime spree to continue until the perp exposed us all.

  “I have to go.” Cam’s voice softened. “We’re being summoned.”

  “I’ll work on that plan,” I promised her. “I’ll update you when I can.”

  “Be careful, Dell.”

  Grinning down at my reflection in the polished wood surface of the table, I asked, “Aren’t I always?”

  I chose to interpret the strangled sound she made as a vote of confidence.

  Chapter 20

  After hanging up with Cam, I needed a pick-me-up and headed for Cord’s office. The last of my cupcakes sat in their box, all lonely and uneaten. Stale didn’t bother me. My palate wasn’t that refined. My fingertips brushed the doorknob as an ear-splitting shriek rent the air. I slapped my hands over my sensitive ears and rushed into the parking lot. I almost tripped over Enzo and did fall against Isaac. The sudden impact knocked him to the ground, but I didn’t smell blood, and I didn’t lower my hands.

  “What’s with all that racket?” I yelled in the hopes one of them was a lip-reader.

  A static burst exploded from Enzo, rocking me back on my heels. He gestured it was safe for me to put my arms down, but my ears kept ringing. I offered Isaac a hand up, and he wobbled on his way to standing.

  “The lake’s wards have been tripped.” Enzo wiped his nose, and his hand came away bloody. He glanced at his crimson fingers and then at me. “I’m fine.”

  “Sure you are.” I crossed to him and gripped his elbow until he regained his balance. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”

  “Magic is in the blood.” He leaned against me. “I could stop breathing easier than practicing.”

  “Come on, Witch Boy.” I wrapped an arm around his waist and led him to Abram’s exam room at the same time I reached for the pack bond. “One of your patients—who is not me—misbehaved. You might want to come up here and eyeball him to make sure he didn’
t do any permanent damage.”

  “My auction ends in two minutes.” Abram made a strangled sound. “I have the current high bid.”

  “We also have a bleeding witch.” Whose eyes kept crossing when he tried to focus. “Trust me, this is more important.”

  “You say that now, but wait until we need a gently used defibrillator.”

  Ending our connection, I parked Enzo on the exam table then searched for Isaac. As expected, he had followed us. “Can you keep an eye on him until Abram gets here?”

  “Delegation.” He didn’t do anything as immature as wrinkle his nose at Enzo, but his upper lip twitched. “Ever hear of it?”

  “Yes, actually.” I gestured between us. “That’s kind of what I’m doing now.”

  His scowl deepened.

  “Look, there’s a time for passing the buck and a time for owning your title.” I rested my fists on my hips. “Seelie don’t give us issues. Daytime is usually our downtime.”

  Seelie were considered good fae in most lore. Gemini, for example, were Seelie. The lines between the two ruling fae houses struck me as smudged at best. Mostly I considered Seelie diurnal versus the nocturnal Unseelie.

  “This is our first daylight alert.” I rushed forward to catch a woozy Enzo before he ate carpet. “That means I’m going.”

  “I’ll stay with the witch.” Isaac leaned over me and gripped Enzo’s shoulders, propping him upright.

  “Thanks.” I bit my lip. “Damn it. I take that back.”

  “You owe me no debts,” he said, voice earnest. “That I swear to you.”

  The formality of the phrase lifted chills down my arms.

  “I have to go.” Inanity, thy name is Dell. “Um, later.”

  “Be safe.” He freed one hand to point at my wrist. “Call me. For any reason.”

  “Will do,” I tossed back at him and met the others in the parking lot.

  “This should be interesting.” Zed smirked at my fancy new accessory. “You ready for this?”

  “Ask me again when it’s over.” We cut a path to the center of the pack so I could address everyone at once. “This ain’t our first rodeo, kids, but it’s the first breach we’ve had during daylight hours. Watch your back. Watch each other’s backs. Got it?”