Page 76

Week Three

“I don’t like it,” I growl as the leprechaun and Jolene walk to my drugar’s car. “Saoirse may be a Guardian, but she’s a loose cannon.”

“Don’t be a wet blanket, Boone. Magpie deserves some time to let off steam after that nightmare.” Hamilton lifts an arm, wiping sweat off his brow as we finish the clean-up in the gallery.

The people of Whistler’s Hollow aren’t accustomed to keeping things tidy without staff, and they’ve left champagne glasses, plates of hors d’oeuvres everywhere. Jolene refused to hire a wait-staff, saying it was an unnecessary expense, and she threatened to maim any of us if we did it for her. Our woman is stubborn to the core, and she’s determined to make her business work with no help. I admire it, but as a Society member and the local judge, I know she’s in for a hell of a surprise when she emerges.

Jolene’s parents were far less middle class than they pretended, and because their wealth was re-invested into Society ventures, her true inheritance won’t pass to her unless she emerges. It’s a shitty by-law, and I’ve voted to change it many times, but my father is the great hold-out who sways the members every time.

Zeus forbid any of the ‘lost ones’ come back to reclaim their fortunes without being able to contribute to our cause.

A hand on my shoulder draws me out of my reverie, and I startle as Wolfgang tilts his head at me. “You felt… troubled, Edgar. Don’t worry; I believe Seer will take care of our sugarplum. She’s got more going on under the surface, I’m certain of it.”

My head dips as the rush of calm flows from him to me. Wolfgang rarely uses his Fae abilities on anything but animals—as far as I’ve heard—and I’m curious why he chose to help me. The three of us are bound by our connection to Jolene, but before her, we definitely did not run in the same circles. This situation will take some getting used to, and I’m working hard not to let the curveballs throw me.

“You’re doing very well,” he whispers when I look up. The look in his eyes is full of nerves, but the young vet covers it with a smile. “The family we’re forming with sugarplum is outside of your typical purview, Edgar, but you’re handling the changes like a pro.”

Well, I’ll be damned. No wonder Tilly adores him; Fletcher is like a warm hug in human form.

I clear my throat, trying to sort out what I want to say. Affection for the sake of comfort rather than appearances has never been common with my parents, and this is a lot of emotion I wasn’t prepared for. Hell, I don’t even know exactly how I feel, but I sure as fuck can’t tell him that.

“Boone?”

Hamilton’s voice saves me from my dilemma, and I look over at the doctor expectantly. “What?”

His grin widens as he looks at me, and he shakes his head. “You’ll probably just want to let it happen. I know there’s a thousand things absolutely destroying your world view at the moment, but you’re already a goner, man.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Waiting until Wolfgang heads out the door to the dumpster, he jogs over and sock my shoulder. “Once Lucy’s got his hooks in you, there’s no fighting it. Trust me—as the charter member of that club, I can spot it from a mile away. Be careful with him, but magpie and I will share.”

My brows furrow and I roll my eyes. Of all the ridiculous nonsense I’ve heard come out of his mouth at meetings, this trumps all of it. Fletcher is probably his mate and definitely my drugar’s mate, but he’s simply being kind to me. Even if it is an unusual experience for me, it doesn’t mean anything more than that. We all have to take care of another and communicate, or this weird rectangle won’t work.

Right?

The Fae in questions pops back in, smiling brightly, and the force of his sunshine smacks into me. Presley smirks when I shake my head and I growl at him in irritation.

“Something wrong, guys? We’re almost done, so I called and placed an order for Chinese. It’ll arrive just after we get home. I don’t know about you, but this teeny chicken food was not enough.” Wolfgang bustles across the room, looking around to make certain we put everything back in place correctly, and turns back to us. “Prez, I got you Pad Thai. I ordered a bunch of soups and apps ‘cause I didn’t know how hungry we’d be, and Edgar, I guessed you might like spicy Mongolian beef. I asked them to spice it up extra, and the girl knew exactly who it was for!”

Son of a bitch.

“I, uh… thank you, Wolfgang. You guessed perfectly.”

He rolls his eyes at me. “Edgar, we sleep in the same house with the same woman. Call me Wolfie like everyone else. Stop being so… formal.”

“Yeah, Boone, stop being so formal,” Presley snickers as he heads to the back to let the companions out.

Jolene’s cats, giant bird, and my dogs come racing into the gallery space and I breathe a sigh of relief. This has been the weirdest night of my life, and I have no idea how to parse all the thoughts and feelings racing around in my brain. Kali gallops up to me and nudges her head into my palm, bringing a sense of focus that rivals the calm our vet filled me with earlier.

“Are we ready to head to Jolene’s? I promised the gal at Wok’n Roll I would call when we were leaving,” Wolfie asks.

“Yes, love, we are. Boone, if you’ll take your dogs, we’ll take the cats. Eurayle can fly.” Presley winks at me, and I nod curtly. “Great. We’ll see you at Magpie's. I spied a deck of cards in the entertainment center and if I’m not mistaken, you enjoy a game of chance, eh?”

Oh, that’s a mistake he’s going to regret.

“I do, Hamilton. Make sure you bring your wallet because you’re about to lose your birdseed money.”

Take that, you know-it-all winged wonder.

* * *

“Fold!” I stare at the cards in my hand in disgust. I’ve never had such a rotten run of luck in my entire life, and I swear to hell, it feels like I’ve been hexed or some shit.

Hamilton pops a dumpling in his mouth, maneuvering his chopsticks like he was born with them in his hands. “Jeez, Edgar. I could have sworn you were some kind of bookie. For someone so good with numbers, you seem to be striking out tonight.”

My eyes narrow at the avian doctor, picking up on the needling tone. “I am. Now that you mention it, this ‘dry spell’ is statistically improbable.”

“You don’t say?” he mutters, picking up a mini egg roll.

I look over at Wolfie, my gaze stern as I stare him down. The tips of his ears are pointed and I can feel the change in the air as his emotions escape the hold he’s had on them. Finally, he turns bright pink and throws his cards down.

“Okay, okay! I was reading you.” He gives me a shy grin and shrugs. “It was Prez’ idea.”

I’ll just bet it was.

I frown at him, pretending to be furious. Wolfie shifts, looking up at Prez and I through long lashes, waiting for someone to say something. Honestly, I’m not surprised or upset, but the squirming he’s doing in his seat is too adorable to ignore.

Wait a minute. Where the hell did that come from?

“Listen up, pup,” I drawl, arching a brow as I push a little dominant into my voice. “While that trick is awfully handy if we all choose to go to Vegas, we play square at home. No special abilities.” I pause again, giving them both a wolfish grin. “Unless you want me to cheat as well.”

Wolfie’s eyes fly wide and he looks over at Hamilton, who shrugs in his laidback manner. When his gaze moves back to mine, he flushes again and nods. “I’ll behave.”

Those words smack into my chest like a steel bar and before I can stop myself, I snarl softly. “You most certainly will.”

“Aw, see? We’re all copasetic now. Lucy loves the growls, and to be fair, yours are better, what with the hound and all. Magpie’s gonna be thrilled ,” Hamilton drawls, picking up his beer for a swig.

Thrilled by what?

“Prez…” Wolfie says softly as he watches me struggle. “Don’t push.”

“Push what?” I gather the cards, sweeping all the chips into the middle to re-divvy them out now that we’re playing fair. These two have been speaking in code all night, and if I wasn’t thoroughly amused by their company, I would have told them to fuck off by now. Something about the camaraderie is different, though, than my friendship with Benjy or even my other casual friends.

Despite their secret language, they’re just easy to be around and I feel like I can let my guard down.

Since the only other person I’ve ever felt that around is Jolene, I stayed. Being the town judge and the senator’s son and the head of an interstate gambling ring and the town playboy is… exhausting. I spend more time pretending to be things than actually being anything.

“Ooh, he’s lost in thought again, Lucy. We’ve made the great Edgar Boone brood.”

Scrubbing my hand over my face, I give Hamilton a pointed look. “That isn’t an answer. And yes, everything about the past two weeks has upended my life so thoroughly that I’m not sure which end is up. An unemerged mate who's the target of my teenage idiocy? Finding out she’s also attached to you two? Wrapping my head around this arrangement while you’re both being weird as fuck and our girl is out doing what knows what? Plus some fucking creeper roaming around her house in the night? It’s a lot, dude.”

A warm hand reaches over and covers mine. I look up to find Wolfie bathed in a light blue aura, his blue eyes electric as he murmurs, “You can deal with this, Edgar. Your edges will soften and your fear will ebb, if you breathe deeply and let calm wash over you.”

I pull my hand back, narrowing my eyes. “Magic does not fix everything, pup. We have to actually deal with emotions, not just fairy dust them away.”

His lips turn down, and he looks at Presley. The doctor glares at me as he holds his arms out for his companion. “Unnecessary, Boone. Lucy was trying to help, not cheat the process.”

Looking over at Wolfie as he perches on Hamilton’s lap, I can see the hurt flickering over his features. I didn’t mean for that to happen, and perhaps I need a little more time to sort out whatever is in my head before I do something else stupid. I suck in a breath and stand. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to snap. It’s not an excuse—just a reason—but I’m worried about Tilly. Something doesn’t feel right and it’s messing with my temper. I’m going to head back to my place for the night. Text me when she gets home, okay?”

Wolfie nods quietly, and Presley just glares. I head for the door, rolling my eyes when I find my dogs passed out on giant pet beds with my drugar’s cats. Clearly, they’re staying here until morning, so I stomp out to my car alone.

So much for companions.

Everything is out of sorts, and I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about tonight. Hopefully, I’m wrong and Tilly is okay, but if not, I’m going to lose the fucking plot.

That’s a guarantee.