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“You showed no hesitation once you spotted the ring, you memorized her ring size, and you haven’t stopped smiling and talking about her since you walked in here. All signs point to yes.”

“Thanks, Charlie.”

Hunter shook the man’s hand, leaving a two hundred dollars in his palm as a tip, and walked out of the store with his future set in his mind and the ring box in his pocket.

He walked toward the same spot he arrived at and tensed when he sensed he someone close. Instead of stopping at his destination, he continued walking through the back parking lot and through a copse of trees that led up the mountain. Hunter listened for the telltale sound of the cracking of the branches or the snapping of dried out pine needles on the ground, but heard nothing.

When he passed a group of quaking aspen trees, the trunks hid him from view and he paused behind them, disappearing from view. He set the cake down on a nearby rock formation and eased the remaining bags on the ground. When he stood, he then closed his eyes and tried to sense who was tracking him and the direction they might come from.

After a few minutes, there was no shift in scents in the wind or no sounds that were foreign, so his body relaxed from its hyperaware state. He stood and reached for the bags and the cake from where he placed them as he freed his hands preparing to ambush his stalker and scanned the area once more. With no movement, he pictured Kai’s living room and soon stood next to Gunnar.

“What the fuck!” Gunnar grunted.

“Sorry man, I should have thought about landing at the front door, but someone was watching me and I didn’t think about it.”

“What do you mean?” Kai’s voice turned cold.

“I was shopping for Neri’s birthday present and when I walked toward the spot behind the party store to teleport back here, I sensed eyes on me. I went into the woods, but whoever it was, didn’t follow me in. Oh, Ax, can you put the cake in the refrigerator?”

Ax nodded and drooled over the cake on the way to the kitchen.

“Don’t fucking eat any of it, lion, I’ll fucking know,” Hunter threatened.

“Who do you think it was?” Ghost asked, pulling his attention back to the rest.

“Zahava’s seven foot tall boy toy, Damian. He has the same powers Neri and I do.”

It had been a few hours since their confrontation with Zahava, so he explained what happened when they ran into Damian and the shifters there to kill them and Thalia.

Not surprised Neri and Thalia trusted the two detectives, the group grew angry because it was next to impossible to find any information on the woman or the organization.

“Well, fuck,” Noah said.

Liv rushed in and grabbed the bags off the floor. “Enough about that tonight. We’re celebrating Neri’s birthday and I for one can’t wait. Hunter, why don’t you get her mother and her friends and we can start the setup.”

He nodded and flashed out of the room and landed in Tajo’s kitchen, startling Jack this time.

“Stop fucking doing that.”

He shrugged. “It’s handy. Are you three ready to go?”

“Shouldn’t we drive?” Tajo asked.

“Nah, I got it and I’ll bring you back after. Or you can pack a bag, Kai and Liv have plenty of room and we all stay there most of the time, anyway.”

“Sounds good. I want to spend time with my moró.”

Thalia and the others grabbed their stuff in record time. With each of them holding onto Hunter’s arms, within a second, the four of them landed back in Kai’s living room.

Hunter grabbed their bags. “Hey Liv, where can these three stay?”

“Upstairs. The last three rooms on the south side are empty.”

“Liv, this is Detective Cortez or Tajo. And Detective O’Connor.”

“It’s Jack. Nice to meet you.” After he shook Liv’s hand, he stepped back and took in the room. And like everyone who met the assassins, when they were in a group they shocked people, and Jack was no exception. “Holy crap, you… well, let’s leave it at holy crap.”

The others laughed and Hunter strode upstairs as Jack and Tajo introduced themselves to the assassins. He placed their bags in separate, empty rooms before joining everyone downstairs to decorate.