Rules of Engagement

by Lynn Hagen

  The blood kept coming. Chavez knew head wounds, even if minor, bled. But that amount of loss worried him. Keith Nelson was mated and had a little girl at home. There was no fucking way Chavez was gonna let his friend die and leave them two alone.

  He pressed his hands against his knees and closed his eyes, relieved when Nelson shifted. Chavez checked the wolf’s head wound and was thankful he didn’t find any bullet holes. Either Nelson was shot or the bullet just crazed his skull.

  He spun, baring his canines as he stormed across the room, ignoring Thor’s vicious snarls as he grabbed Korby around his body and slammed him into the wall.

  That was when Chavez saw the gun on the floor by the fireplace. It was one of Korby’s. “Shift or I’ll fucking tear you apart.” When the wolf came at him, Chavez crushed his hand around his throat. “Do you think I’m fucking playing with you?”

  Korby shifted at the same time Reno did. “The son of a bitch tried to take us out. He got a shot off that hit Nelson but wasn’t fast enough to kill me.”

  “Nelson isn’t dead,” Chavez snarled. “The bullet must’ve just grazed his head.”

  Reno let out a fast breath. “Thank fuck.”

  Chavez turned his attention to Korby. “What the fuck, man? Why would you try to kill them? We’re brothers. If you got a beef, use your fucking words, not your weapons.”

  He still had his hand wrapped around Korby’s throat. Chavez lowered him to his feet and eased off a bit but not enough for Korby to take advantage of the lesser hold.

  Reno swiped the gun from the floor and walked over, pointing it at Korby. “Talk or I’ll do to you what you tried to do to Nelson. Only I won’t miss.”

  From the corner of his eye, Chavez saw Thor pad over to Nelson. “Stop him!” he shouted at Reno.

  Thor slid his paw in the blood around Nelson and then limped, keeping the bloody paw off the floor, to the closest wall. He started scratching at it.

  “Didn’t I say to shoot him?” Chavez asked.

  “Technically you said to stop him, but now I’m too damn curious to see what he’s doing.”

  “You better not.” Korby growled the words at Thor.

  Chavez tightened his hold. “Shut the fuck up. I’m still ready to rip you apart.”

  Thor completed a sloppy T. He went back to the blood then returned to the wall. A crooked R.

  “You’ll pay for this!” Korby struggled to free himself, but Chavez slammed him against the wall. For what he’d done to Nelson, Chavez cocked his arm back and clocked Korby’s jaw.

  “I said to shut the fuck up.”

  Korby’s head snapped back, and he appeared dazed. When Chavez looked back over at Thor, the dog had written what looked like an A, but could’ve been a rejected C.

  “This is beyond fucked up,” Reno said. “That dog ain’t no dog.”

  “No shit,” Chavez said as he waited to see what Thor would spell out. When he finished his message, both Chavez’s and Reno’s jaws dropped.

  Trapped.

  Thor lowered himself to the floor, as if the exertion had exhausted him.

  “Trapped?” Reno looked from Thor to Chavez. “What does that mean?”

  Chavez gave Reno an exasperated look. “Dude, put two and two together. Thor isn’t a normal dog. Obviously he’s not a shifter. Either someone did brain surgery on him and made him super intelligent or someone is trapped in that dog’s body.”

  Reno’s brows shot up. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. How? How do you trap someone in a dog’s body?”

  “Hell if I know.” Chavez glared at Korby. “But I have a feeling you do.”

  “That’s it. I’m done,” Reno said. “Fuck trying to beat the answer out of Korby. I’m calling an expert.”

  Reno walked to the other side of the room and sat next to Nelson. He rubbed his hand in the wolf’s fur while he pressed the phone to his ear.

  Chavez narrowed his eyes. “We’re gonna find out what’s going on. It would be in your best interest to cooperate.”

  “Fuck. You.” Korby curled his lip.

  Chavez was truly taken aback by Korby’s acerbic attitude. They’d always been friends, counting on each other, and had many good times. What the hell had happened to Korby since Chavez had left the team?

  This guy wasn’t the Korby Chavez had known and loved. This was a complete fucking stranger in his home.

  “You’re the one who’s gonna be fucked.” Chavez’s hand was cramping. He wanted to let go but didn’t trust Korby one bit. Chavez might have the upper hand, but Korby wasn’t without his own set of skills.

  When his fingers locked up, Chavez released him. He looked over at Thor. “Keep an eye on him. If he tries to escape, eat him.”

  Thor got up and padded across the room. He sat on his haunches and stared at Korby.

  “You’re gonna wish you were dead,” Korby snarled at Thor.

  Chavez was dying to know who was trapped in there. They just might be trying to release an even deadlier enemy.

  “Thanks.” Reno hung up. “Help is on the way.”

  “Who’s coming?” Chavez asked. If Thor was pure evil, they would need some powerful backup.

  “I am.”

  Chavez jerked around and saw Panahasi and Christian standing in the den doorway. Talk about some heavyweights. Chavez wasn’t sure if he should bow or not with the demon leader and the prince of vampires in his home.

  “Is this the creature?” Christian asked as he approached Thor.

  Thor backed away, as though he was ready to bolt from the house.

  “Sorry I’m late. I had some reaping to do.”

  Chavez stared at the stranger who’d just arrived. Thor barked and backed himself into a corner. Did the guy just say he had souls to reap? Was Chavez looking at the Grim Reaper? What the hell had Reno just gotten them into?

  The stranger cocked his head as a smirk appeared. “Basta. Finally the outside reflects the inside.”

  “Thanks for coming.” Reno got up and nodded his head toward Christian. “Knew we weren’t going to get any answers out of Korby, and after what he did to Nelson, I’ll gladly hand him over to you guys.”

  “We were in the middle of a meeting,” Christian said. “I came along because I was truly curious.”

  Chavez was fascinated with the vampire. Sure, he’d met plenty in his time, but Christian was over two thousand years old, the first vampire ever created. Or born. He was so old no one knew his true origin. But he was elegant, refined, wearing an expensive suit with dark hair that touched his shoulders in soft waves.

  From what Chavez knew, the guy had two mates and some grown children. He even had grandchildren. Then again, there had been a lot of men and women born into Christian’s lineage before he’d met his mates.

  Panahasi caught Chavez staring at the stranger.

  “This is Jaden,” Panahasi said. “And yes, he is the Grim Reaper. He’s the Grand Reaper, daddy of them all. He commands legions of Reapers, but he’s the big kahuna in charge.”

  Chavez took a step back, startled that the guy had read his mind. “Uh, my soul is just fine where it is, thank you very much.”

  “So who is Basta?” Reno asked.

  “A demon,” Jaden said. “And not a very nice one.”

  Was there such a thing as a nice demon? Chavez took that thought back. He’d met plenty of decent demons who just wanted to live their lives in peace.

  Just as long as he hadn’t said Thor was a hellhound. Then again, Chavez would’ve guessed that since hellhounds sucked out all the happiness wherever they went.

  Panahasi crossed the room and placed his hand on Korby’s forehead. Korby tried to struggle, but one look from the demon leader settled him.

  Moments later, Panahasi dropped his hand. “Greed. This was all about money.” He looked at Chavez. “Do you know anyone by the name of Benjamin Trails?”

  Chavez snarled. “We ran a covert op a decade ago. Trails or, as we called him, Jack Frost had his hands in many
dirty pots. When the sting went down, Trails escaped.”

  “He’s a warlock.” The words dripped like acid off Panahasi’s tongue. “A rare breed in this day and age. He cursed Basta into that body and forced him to come here to kill all of you. Korby was paid to make sure the job was done. Basta was promised freedom once you four were dead.” He looked around. “Your mate is upstairs at the landing listening to all this.”

  “I told him to stay in the closet,” Chavez said between gritted teeth. He didn’t think his mate would ever fully listen to him.

  “We can deal with this scum.” Jaden nodded at Korby.

  “But reversing Trails’s curse might prove difficult,” Christian said. “I was raised around witches and warlocks. They have powerful magic in their blood.”

  Christian had said the word magic like ma-sheek.

  “I will do some heavy research,” Christian offered. “Until then, I would prefer if Basta remained here, out of sight of humans.”

  “Hell no,” Chavez barked. “Are you kidding me? The dog looks at you like he wants to know what the marrow in your bones tastes like.”

  The side of Panahasi’s mouth curved into a smile. “I assure you, he’ll behave, or he’ll gain personal knowledge of what it’s like to spend time in the underworld.”

  Damn, that had been pretty harsh, but Chavez was glad Thor…Basta…whatever had that threat hanging over his head.

  Lenny had eased his way down to the bottom of the steps and poked his head around the corner.

  Chavez sighed. “Come in, novio.”

  Lenny shuffled in, his hands tucked behind his back. Chavez wasn’t fooled. He didn’t think there was a demure bone in his mate’s body.

  “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, little one.” Christian smiled at Lenny.

  Lenny gave a slight bow. “As is yours.”

  Chavez smothered a smile with his hand. He was gonna tease the shit out of his mate later.

  Panahasi bent and placed a hand on Nelson’s wolf. He glared at Jaden when Jaden moved closer. “Back off. He doesn’t need his soul reaped.”

  “I was just trying to help,” Jaden argued. “Just because you’re Life doesn’t mean you have to be a dick about it. I have learned new skills since I had to walk in your damn shoes.”

  Panahasi was Life? Seriously? Chavez was blown away. He was aware that the demon leader had some mad skills, but…fuck.

  Nelson stirred and opened his eyes. He shifted and sat on his ass. “What the hell is going on?”

  “What about Trails?” Reno asked, ignoring Nelson’s question.

  “I’ll send out my best men to track him down,” Christian said. “Unfortunately, warlocks are clever at hiding themselves. We might not be successful for some time.”

  That wasn’t what Chavez wanted to hear. He was kind of hoping the demon leader could snap his fingers and turn Trails to dust.

  Jaden flashed from the room, taking Korby with him. As angry as Chavez was with his ex-friend, heaviness settled in his chest. At some point Korby had made the decision to betray them for money. Had he been that shady all along and had just hidden his true nature? Had he just been pretending to be a part of their team, a part of their family?

  “Don’t,” Panahasi said. “You’ll drive yourself mad trying to figure out why.”

  Chavez wanted to ask the guy to get out of his head but refrained from it.

  “Message received.” Panahasi and Christian walked out.

  “What the hell just happened?” Nelson asked.

  “We adopted Thor.” Chavez grabbed Lenny’s hand and headed out of the room. It had been a long fucking night, and all he wanted to do was get some shuteye.

  Chapter Nine

  It had been weeks since some of the Ultionem leaders had left the demon in Thor’s body, and Lenny was so over the whole adopting-a-stray thing. At first Lenny thought Thor would be the best pet in the world. Seriously. Who wouldn’t want a dog that size who had been cuddly and fun?

  “I don’t care if you’re bored or dying to be set free or pissed, they left you hanging,” Lenny snapped. “You chew another pair of my shoes and I’m gonna shove them up your ass. You’re being annoying as fuck on purpose.”

  If Thor stood on his hind legs, he would doubtlessly reach the top of the doorframe. His size had been emphasized many, many times, but never more so than when Lenny stood in front of the behemoth and read him the riot act.

  Thor could nearly look him in the eyes just standing there. But Lenny wasn’t intimidated by the dumb mutt. He was annoyed, frustrated, downright pissed off, and was ready to make Thor sleep outside for however long it took to come up with a solution to his problem.

  The damn dog literally rolled his eyes and trotted downstairs, leaving Lenny fuming mad. “I can’t take it.” He threw his hands up. “I just can’t take it anymore.” Lenny gnashed his teeth as he joined the others in the kitchen.

  The one good thing about the passage of time was that they finally had some furniture. Lenny’s back was thankful for the comfortable bed, even though he had to constantly chase Thor out of it.

  They also had a dining room table and a couch in the den that had fur all over it thanks to the demon. Lenny still couldn’t think of him as Basta. The name Thor was stuck in Lenny’s head, and that was the name he used.

  Besides asshole, jerk, inconsiderate fleabag, and many others.

  “What’s he done now?” Chavez asked as he cooked breakfast at the stove. Lenny took a seat at the kitchen table where Reno was seated, typing away on his laptop.

  After what had happened with Korby, Nelson had gone home to be with his family. Lenny suspected that after having such a close call with death that the guy needed to be with his mate and daughter.

  Who could blame him? If a bullet had grazed Lenny’s skull, he would’ve been out of there, too. Then again, he’d been shot and was still with Chavez.

  “He gnawed on my damn tennis shoes. Those were my favorite pair.” Lenny slapped his hand against the table. “I say we buy a huge grill and have demon dog for dinner.”

  Reno gave a soft chuckle. “That sounds disgusting. If that’s what you’re eating, I’ll just make myself a plate of pizza rolls.”

  “He’s doing all this shit on purpose because he’s frustrated. I totally get that. It would drive me insane to be trapped in another body. But fuck, we’ve been nothing but nice to him.”

  “He’s a demon.” Chavez gave the needless reminder as he plated their food and brought it to the table.

  Lenny’s stomach rumbled loudly as he grabbed his fork and sliced into the soft pancakes with strawberry syrup.

  Lenny’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he moaned. “This is so good that I’m gonna marry you.”

  Chavez sat next to him and picked up a link sausage, feeding it to Lenny. Of course he thought of Chavez’s cock and sucked on the meat like he had his mate’s dick in his mouth.

  Chavez’s green eyes darkened as he slid the sausage back and forth between Lenny’s lips. Lenny slipped his tongue out and swirled it around the piece of meat. If only Chavez’s cock really tasted like maple sausage when he sucked on it. Wouldn’t that be fabulous?

  The flavor was robust, and Lenny grinned as he finally pulled it into his mouth and chewed.

  Reno grunted. “If you two are gonna have sex with your breakfast, can you do that upstairs? I, for one, don’t want to see you use a sausage that violates its terms of use.” He took a sip of his orange juice. “Some of us haven’t had sex in a while. You keep that up and Thor might start looking good.”

  Lenny burst out laughing. “Sorry.”

  Speaking of the asshole, Thor padded in and looked around, as if asking where his food was. To Lenny’s surprise, Chavez got up and grabbed a huge bowl from the counter and set it on the floor.

  It warmed Lenny’s heart that Chavez hadn’t forgotten about the jackass. Even if Thor wasn’t a true animal, Lenny still looked at him that way, and he really was an animal lover.<
br />
  Just some more than others. “If the demon is trapped in Thor’s body, when he’s released, will Thor still exist?” Lenny asked. “Or did Trails just turn Basta into a dog?”

  “I hadn’t given that any thought.” Chavez looked at Thor. “That’s a damn good question. Too bad we can’t ask him.”

  Lenny waved his hands frantically in front of his mate. “Shut up. Don’t give him any ideas. Do you know how hard it was to wash that blood off the wall? The way he’s been acting, he might use his own shit to write us a message."

  Lenny gagged at the thought.

  “Dude, I’m eating breakfast,” Reno complained but didn’t set his fork down. As hearty an appetite as Reno had, Lenny doubted anything short of death would stop the guy from finishing a meal.

  Chavez sat back down. “Hopefully the Ultionem leaders come up with a solution soon. That damn dog is gonna eat us out of house and home.”

  With Reno’s help. Chavez was a huge guy, but he didn’t eat nearly as much as his friend did. Reno was always in the kitchen munching on something. If Lenny didn’t know any better, he would swear the guy had a stash of weed somewhere.

  Lenny looked at Thor’s bowl. It was piled high with pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs, but within seconds, it was empty and Thor was looking at the table like he wanted to eat their breakfast, too.

  “But you heard them,” Lenny said in a whisper, as if Thor wouldn’t be able to hear him. “It might take a while since Trails is a warlock and can stay hidden, like, forever.”

  Lenny hoped not. Thor had overstayed his welcome already. If he wasn’t such a jerk, Lenny wouldn’t have minded letting him stay for as long as needed.

  Thor padded by the table. In one quick move he snatched the sausage off Lenny’s pate and bolted.

  “You asshole!” Lenny jumped up, but did he really want that sausage back after it had been in Thor’s slobbery mouth?

  Chavez rested his elbow on the table, pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. “Do you think they’d send me to the underworld if I shot him?”

  “I’m willing to find out,” Reno said. “That mutt touches my food and he’s dead.”