Page 4 of How to Hack a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls #2)

Chapter 4

Liam

I was almost back to Paradise Falls, and my hellhound was… restless. I thought about pulling off to stop and check on Quinton, but I knew he was at work now. I’d watched him last night through his laptop camera. I’d also monitored his computer and interfered a time or two in order to subvert his attempts to look into the club that I’d already traced to Marcus.

I’d also watched him sleep for a bit. He usually left his computer open, and it soothed me to see him safely resting in bed. When Aiden came in for his nightly cuddles, I figured the two of them would be ok, and I’d shut down the computer and started the drive.

When I stopped for a break, I found out Quinton had done some research this morning, but I didn’t think he’d been noticed. He hadn’t activated his old social media accounts or contacted anyone, so he should still be under the radar. As far as the ring who had taken him knew, he’d died in that house fire. I wanted to keep it that way.

I crossed the border into Paradise Falls, rolling down my window and breathing in deeply. I resisted the urge to stick my head out the window. It smelled good here, like home. And Quinton was here. I suppressed a low growl of pleasure at the thought of seeing him in person.

I could wait. I didn’t want to scare him. He was feisty and had claws, but he was still a human. And he’d been kidnapped. That was probably damaging, and he refused to get therapy. Humans seemed to need to process events like that, and I wasn’t sure Quinton had done that.

I could be patient.

I pulled onto the drive leading to our pack’s group of homes. I thought about adding another house. We could build it without much problem. We all had construction experience in our backgrounds—Wilder had thought it an essential skill. Jude and Corbin were living in Dex’s old house, and Dex was living with Toby. For now I could live in the empty house, but I thought Atlas would eventually want his own place. The rest of the pack thought the pool house, built on the third property, would work for Atlas, but I had other plans for it.

Quinton and Aiden lived downtown in an apartment by the shop, but I wanted Quinton closer. I knew he wouldn’t go anywhere without Aiden, so it seemed like the perfect solution. Plus, those two were human, and they needed protection. It would be best to have them right in the middle of pack land.

I pulled up the driveway to Dex’s house since I could hear them on the front porch there. I checked my phone for any alerts on Quinton, but GPS showed him still at work, exactly where he belonged. I had a couple hours before I needed to start watching him.

“Liam!” Toby shouted as I got out of the car, jumping out of his chair and waving excitedly. Jude, Corbin, and Dex were all sprawled out in chairs on the porch as well, although none of them jumped up to greet me.

“At least someone is happy to see me,” I called out so Toby’s human ears could hear me. A crow squawked above me, and I looked up to see the trees full of black-winged creatures. Corbin was settling in well, then.

“Ah, here comes the sun. It seems like years since you’ve been here,” Jude joked, and I rolled my eyes, hopping up onto the porch.

“It’s only been a couple weeks,” I answered, reaching down and pulling Jude into a hug. I did the same with Corbin, then Dex. I hesitated when I got to Toby, but he pulled me in for a hug, even though I heard Dex growl just a wee bit.

“The gang’s all here,” Toby said excitedly. “And they said you’re really good with computers, and I have this new idea for a book…”

Everyone groaned, but I just laughed, happy to answer a few of Toby’s questions. He started asking about hacking, then he ran inside to find a notebook to write stuff down.

“Atlas is here?” I asked, because I didn’t smell him, but Toby had said the gang was all here. He hadn’t met Wilder, but he had met Atlas.

“He comes and goes,” Corbin answered. “We thought he’d love the guest house on the last property, but he hasn’t been staying there. He’ll stay in the last house sometimes since Jude and I are staying at Dex’s place.”

“Are all the houses prepped?” I asked. They knew I meant prepped for taking care of mortal hellbound souls.

“Not Toby’s,” Dex rumbled. I nodded. That was ok. We could keep our killing to the two houses and leave his mate’s house out of it.

“We’ve been talking about maybe adding a cabin,” Jude said.

I nodded again, saying, “I think that’s a good idea, although I’d like to make it livable as well, not just a place for work. Wilder might come out.” The guys all perked up at that, but I added, “Not right away. He said he was in the middle of something. But he seemed inclined to come at some point.”

I could feel a general calmness settle over everyone. Yes, with Wilder here, our pack would be complete. This was a good place to settle, and we’d all be together again. It had been too long.

Toby crashed out the front door at that moment, his head down as he almost tripped over the door frame. Dex was quick enough to pull him into a hug instead of letting him fall. It was like it didn’t even faze the little human. He hugged Dex back then looked at me.

“So, about being a hacker…” Toby said, opening his notebook.

I sat down in one of the porch chairs, checking the time. I had a couple hours to chat before Quinton got off work, and it looked like I’d be learning more about our new human packmate.

“What the fuck is he doing?” I mumbled, staring at the CCTV cameras. I’d filled Toby in and chatted with the pack before heading to the last house to set up my computers. I had chosen a spot and ordered a lot of equipment already, so the bare minimum set-up didn’t take long.

I’d watched as Aiden had gone off with Kushiel—they liked to take walks in the afternoons, only Aiden hadn’t come home. I’d hacked the cameras to see that Kushiel had taken him back to his and Cass’s place.

Quinton had gone home, only he’d used his phone to order an Uber. I stared at the camera outside of his apartment as I picked up my phone and called Dex.

“Find out where Quinton is going,” I said when he picked up the phone.

He hung up without a word. Asshole.

I watched as he walked outside, texting Cassius the info on his Uber driver. He was wearing tight black jeans and a tight black t-shirt, despite the chill in the air, and his hair was casually tousled. I could almost make out eyeliner on him despite the shitty nature of the CCTV feed. He looked… delicious.

Where the fuck was he going?

My phone pinged an alert as Quinton texted Aiden. I’m going to a club called Bliss in the city. I’ll be home before 2. Call me if you need me. Bake me something good.

“Fuck!” I hissed out.

I grabbed my keys and wallet as I ran out of the house. I was wearing black pants and a dark button-down, so I should be fine for a club. No way was I letting Quinton go there alone.

My phone rang while I was in the car, Dex’s number coming up. I picked up and grunted.

“Cass said Q’s going into the city. He was glad I called. He was concerned, but he didn’t feel like he could tell Q no, since he isn’t a jailer or anything,” Dex said. “He wondered if it would be creepy if I went to the club he’s going to, cause he sent the name of it to Aiden.”

“I’m going,” I stated.

“Ok. That’s good. He doesn’t know you, so he won’t know we’re stalking him,” Dex said.

“We’re not stalking him,” I replied, swerving around a car and looking for the Uber Quinton was riding in.

“You’re already in the car,” Dex said flatly.

“Yeah. I’m on my way there now.”

“On your way to the club I just told you about, because you already knew where Q was going,” Dex said. “Probably because you hacked his phone. Or his credit cards. Or put a tracker under his skin or something.”

I paused, asking, “Can you put trackers in humans?” I hadn’t thought of that, but if that were a possibility…

“Nah, I don’t think so. I thought of it with Toby, but I think they’d notice if they woke up with a scar,” Dex said, and I heard the crunch of potato chips as he took a bite.

“Hmm,” I murmured, swerving around another car. I was about to get on the highway, and according to the GPS on Quinton’s phone, he was moving just about a half a mile in front of me. I’d be able to catch up.

“Anyway, I’ll let you get on with your not-stalking, and I’ll tell Cass you’ll look out for him,” Dex said, then he hung up without a goodbye.

I just rolled my eyes, concentrating on catching up to the car Quinton was in. When it was within sight, I was finally able to unclench my hands from the steering wheel. He was fine. He was in the car in front of me.

Dammit, I really needed to get access to his phone’s microphone. I should’ve hacked that before now. It would be so much better to be able to hear what was happening in the car.

Nevertheless, I remained relatively calm as we got closer to the city. The club wasn’t too far off the highway, and it at least had a parking lot. I’d be able to watch Quinton get safely inside and follow him in. He wouldn’t be out of my sight for long.

Fuck. This was such a bad idea.

I thought about taking him before anyone saw him. I could manage it easily enough, but he didn’t know me yet. And he’d been kidnapped, so that would probably be kind of traumatic. I didn’t think grabbing him and preventing him from going into a club would put me in a favorable light.

I passed the Uber when we were about a half mile out, pulled into the parking lot behind the club, and found a spot to squeeze my car into. It wasn’t technically a spot, but the place was packed, and I didn’t have time to wait or drive around looking for parking. I kept my eyes on the road, and Quinton’s ride pulled in a minute later, letting him out.

He stood there, looking at the club as the car drove off.

“Turn around, Quinton. Go back home,” I murmured from inside my car.

He looked entirely too lovely to go into that shithole. He did have on eyeliner, making his eyes appear wider and even more striking. His t-shirt was tight enough to show his nipples in the chilly air, and I swore even from here I could smell his soul—sweet but also with a hint of bitterness, like dark chocolate. I breathed in deeply, thinking again of grabbing him before he could walk in, my hellhound growling at the thought of him in danger.

Quinton scanned the parking lot, looking back in my direction suspiciously. His eyes lingered in my vicinity for a moment, almost like he knew he was being watched. I was too far away for him to see me clearly, and before I could do anything stupid, like hop out of the car and approach him, he turned around and walked into Bliss.