Page 3 of How to Hack a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls #2)

Chapter 3

Quinton

I t was almost midnight by the time I went to bed. I hadn’t gotten very far in my online searching, probably because I really didn’t know shit about computers. I could google with the best of them, but unfortunately “sex traffickers who kidnap people” didn’t serve up a list of names. I had dived into Marcus’s life, but that was pretty much a dead end. The guy would’ve been caught if he had left any kind of trail that someone as inept as me could follow.

I probably needed to go back to the club where I’d met him. It was something I had avoided thinking about, but I needed to do something . I couldn’t just settle into this new life knowing that someone else could be locked in a basement right now. I’d started looking the club up, but my computer kept freezing, so I’d just given up at that point and climbed into bed.

I tossed and turned, and eventually, I must have drifted off to sleep. I was locked back in that basement room, and the door was opening. It was my chance to escape. I shot up in bed, breathing heavily, only to see a dark silhouette in the doorway, the lit hallway behind them.

Despite the dream, I recognized who it was. I let my racing heart slow down as I scooched over and threw back the comforter, inviting Aiden into bed with me. He walked in, leaving the door ajar—he didn’t like the dark—and climbed into bed next to me.

I laid back down, asking, “Was it my nightmare or yours?”

Aiden just shrugged, cuddling up next to me. I guessed he was right. Did it really matter what woke him? I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close while his own breathing calmed.

Weren’t we just two fucked up peas in a pod. I was a prickly son of a bitch who purposely pushed people away with my attitude—I’d had issues letting people in well before I’d been held captive. Aiden, meanwhile, had a hard time letting people in both emotionally and physically. He didn’t like being touched, and yet at the same time, he was incredibly touch starved.

Most nights, Aiden ended up in my bed, snuggled up with me, the sheet an extra layer between us. I didn’t mind. Somehow Aiden had become like family, even though I’d tried my damndest to keep him shut out. He was like a puppy dog, though, and you couldn’t help loving him at least a little.

God, I hope nothing happened to him.

“Are you staying safe?” I asked.

“I woke up, went to the shop, baked, and came home. I ordered take out to be delivered to the shop before I came home, so no one knows where we live,” Aiden said. Then he added quietly, “You went out today. You ok?”

“Yeah. It was like some kind of weird gay guy version of girls’ night. Toby wanted to invite you,” I told him.

I could feel him shaking his head against the pillow, and I chuckled. “Yeah, I agreed that wasn’t a good idea. Although they do live out sort of near the woods. It’s nice. Might be nice to visit them. Maybe talk it over with your therapist.”

“It’s hard, but it helps,” he whispered. “You should go.”

“Maybe,” I said, but we both knew I was lying.

I didn’t need therapy. I needed revenge.

We both eventually slept, and I vaguely heard Aiden’s alarm at the crack of dawn, although I went back to sleep for a few hours. Aiden usually worked every day, even though Cass yelled at him for it. If he wasn’t over at the shop baking, though, he was baking here in the apartment, and the place did not have a big kitchen. Aiden had once told me that he didn’t think about all his shit when he was baking, so I guess it was like another form of therapy for him.

Sometimes I wished I had something like that. Instead, I laid in bed and stared at my laptop, open and taunting me on my dresser. I knew I needed to go back to the city. If I was going to figure anything out, I needed to go back to where I met Marcus.

I rolled over and groaned before climbing out of bed, grabbing the laptop, and heading into the kitchen. I placed it on the eat-in kitchen table as I poured myself a cup of coffee—bless Aiden for always making it—and grabbed the blueberry muffin he’d left for me. I sat down and woke up the computer, getting ready to dive into more research.

Before I tried on the club again, I opened up my old email account.

It wasn’t like I was in hiding. When Dexter had asked me if I wanted to go back to my old life, I hadn’t said yes because there hadn’t been much to go back to. I didn’t think anyone even missed me. Marcus had chosen someone who wouldn’t be missed, and he’d covered his tracks.

I’d gotten an email from my landlord confirming the cancellation of my lease, so apparently Marcus had done that and had someone go clean out my clothes and personal belongings—the rental had been furnished, so I hadn’t had much.

I had worked at a temp agency, and though I’d been in the middle of an office job as a secretary, I’m sure Marcus had put a call in telling them I quit, because I hadn’t even gotten an email from them, although they had deposited my last check into my account.

I guess I was fortunate I still had my bank account and my storage unit, which held stuff from my parents’ house that I actually cared about, but I guess Marcus hadn’t had me for long enough to fully get rid of my existence. Thank fuck for that, at least.

My email account had a lot of random marketing emails, but that was it. And really, what did I expect? Who the fuck even used email anymore? It was all social media now, and Marcus had used my phone to post on all my accounts that I was taking a social media break to find myself.

I’d left them like that. I hadn’t posted anything. I hadn’t emailed or called anyone. After all, what was the point?

I had gone missing, and no one had even noticed. No one cared.

It was fucking depressing.

It was mostly my fault, and I knew that. I had lots of party friends, lots of acquaintances, but no one close to me. Not since my parents died and I left my hometown. I hadn’t let anyone get close. I had been a fucking island, and it made me easy pickings for a psycho like Marcus.

I leaned my head down against the kitchen table, probably getting crumbs on my forehead in the process, but I didn’t care.

I needed to look into Bliss, the club where Marcus and I had met and where I’d been a pretty regular partier. It was perfect for casual hookups and random fun nights, and I’d lost myself there plenty of times. Of course there were always rumors about the place, but weren’t there rumors about every popular club? Add in that this was a gay club, and of course people talked shit.

But Marcus had friends there. He knew people. It was a lead I couldn’t leave alone.

I just had no desire to go back to that life. I didn’t want to see those people, didn’t want to pretend that I was the same party guy I’d been before. I didn’t know if I could put on that persona anymore.

But I didn’t think I had a choice. I wasn’t the same anymore. I had a purpose now, and I hadn’t had one in far too long.

With that thought, I pulled up the club website, opening tabs as I clicked on all their social media accounts, reading over all the gossip and shit I’d missed over the last few weeks. It was weird to feel like nothing had changed in that world, when for me so much had changed.

I only had about an hour of scrolling before my phone alarm went off, letting me know I needed to get ready for work. I closed the laptop and hopped in the shower, trying to scrub away the feeling of grime from being back in that world, even just peripherally.

I got dressed, grabbed my phone, and walked out the door. I should probably just go to the club. Rip the bandaid off, so to speak. Get back out there and start putting feelers out.

I thought about it as I double checked the locks, set the security alarm, and went downstairs to head over to the shop. It was mid-morning, so it was pretty quiet when I walked in. Cass was behind the counter, talking on the phone. Except I knew that half the time Cass was supposedly on the phone, his phone was actually not on a call.

I didn’t ask questions. I just waved and headed into the back. Aiden had music playing and was mixing dough. I nodded at him and he nodded back. I grabbed an apron and headed back out to the front just as Cass took out his ear pods.

“How was last night?” he asked.

I stared at him, frowning. “You know, I thought Toby was asking me over for an orgy.”

Cass choked out a laugh. “Geez, Q, why would you think that?”

“He said he wanted me and batted his eyelashes. He was all awkward in that Toby way of his, and said I could sit in a corner and watch. He said I needed to get back into things. What the hell was I supposed to think?” I groused.

Cass laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, that sounds like Toby. He’s awkward, but he means well.”

“Yeah. They have a nice place out there. Would be nice if we could get Aiden out there for a visit. I think he’d like the woods and shit. He won’t go with that many people, though. Toby means well, but he might be a little much for Aiden for extended periods of time.”

Cass nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll talk to Corbin or Jude. Aiden knows both of them. Maybe a visit to see them would be good. Would you take him?”

“Of course,” I said. I didn’t add that I would probably insist on going. I didn’t like the idea of Aiden going anywhere alone. I started wiping down the counter as I said, “I might go into the city tonight. Aiden was gonna go out for a walk in the woods with Kushiel later, right? Maybe you guys could hang out with him for a bit after that?”

Cass had been leaning against the counter, but he stood up and stared at me. I avoided eye contact. “Of course we can, but Q, are you sure…” he trailed off, and I was saved by the bell chiming above the shop door.

A pretty steady stream of customers came in as lunch drew near, and we got to work filling orders. If Cass kept glancing my way suspiciously, I ignored it. I was a big boy, and I could go into the city if I wanted to.

If the idea terrified me a little bit, that was ok. I’d tell Cass and Aiden exactly where I was going. I had people who would look for me now.

There was a little voice in my head that said even if people would look for me, it didn’t mean they would find me, but I quieted it as best as I could. After all, these weren’t just people. Cass, Dex, and all my new “friends”—I was pretty sure they were all something not-human.

It occurred to me that I should probably ask for help, but that required trust. I trusted Aiden, but I would never ask him. He had his own shit. Besides, I didn’t know anything yet. I’d get some information, and then I’d decide what to do.

Stupid? Probably. But what harm could come from just visiting a club? I knew even as I thought it that those sounded like famous last words.