Page 16

Chapter 16

Aiden

“A re you sure about this?” I asked Q.

“Little late not to be sure,” he muttered.

He was probably right, since we were already sitting on yoga mats in the studio. New age music was playing, incense was burning, the lights were dim, and the room was warm but not hot—I didn’t think I was ready to jump into hot yoga, and I thought Q might kill me if I made him do that.

The studio was a good size, and we were spaced far apart from everyone else, with Q and I taking positions in the back. It was supposedly a good class for beginners, and since it had been ages since I’d done yoga, and Q had never done it, it seemed like a good fit for us.

It had been a bit of a spur of the moment decision, but since we had off today, Q had said we should take a class. Helene had been telling me to get back into things I enjoyed, and yoga had been one of them. Jude had driven us, because the rest of the guys had gone to work on some construction project.

I thought Atlas’s cabin was pretty much done, but maybe not. I hoped he wasn’t planning on moving. I really liked him in bed next to me every night. Of course, he might want his own space, which I totally understood. That didn’t mean I liked it, but I also didn’t need to be codependent. So what if I was already codependent with Q? Ok, I was probably codependent with Fluffy as well. Maybe I needed to try to be more independent? I didn’t want to annoy anyone.

My slight spiral was broken by the sound of a singing bowl, and the instructor guided us into Padmasana and began some breathing exercises. It was calming, and I felt the tension slip from my body and the thoughts slip from my mind.

By the time we had done some stretching and breathing and were starting on a flow, I felt loose and limber and relaxed. I breathed deep, enjoying the warmth in my body and the feeling of my muscles working. I looked over at Q, who had good form in the warrior pose. He saw me looking, and made a face. I raised my eyebrows.

“I’m just standing here. Why the fuck does it hurt so much?” he whispered.

I smirked in amusement. The instructor moved us into another position, and I heard Q mutter, “Finally.”

He lasted about thirty seconds before he whispered, “Shit. This is worse. My legs are shaking.”

I tried not to laugh, although a little chuckle did escape me. Thank goodness the music was loud enough to cover his complaining.

We were both sweating by the time the instructor moved us down to the mats for some work, and Q whispered, “Thank god.”

I couldn’t help smirking again. I assumed he thought mat work would be easier. By the time we were in boat pose, Q was cursing quietly under his breath again.

“Fuck this breathing into my core. My core is dead. I’m dying,” he muttered.

I chuckled, trying to sober my face when the instructor walked by. We ended up in waterfall pose after that, and when the instructor started guiding us into plough pose, I almost started laughing again before Q even said anything. He didn’t disappoint me.

“What the fuck? Is this how guys can suck their own dicks? My body does not bend that way,” he whispered.

I couldn’t help the giggle that I tried to cover with a cough. I was smiling as I moved into plough.

“Holy fuck, Aiden—you probably could suck your own dick. Have you tried?” Q whispered. “And how am I supposed to breathe all scrunched up like this?” he asked.

The woman next to him must have heard him, because she looked over and muttered, “Try it with boobs. I feel like they’re about to suffocate me.”

That was it. I broke position, laughing and coughing to cover it. I took a drink of water to try and get my shit together, but Q and the woman were both grinning mischievously as the instructor looked over at us.

When the instructor told everyone to take a pose that spoke to them in the moment, Q just looked around disbelievingly.

“That person is balancing their whole body on their arms, which are on their knees. And what the fuck is that? Pretzel pose? I don’t think the human back is supposed to bend like that,” he muttered, looking around.

“That’s crow pose, eight-angle pose, and scorpion. Here, try happy baby,” I whispered, showing him that one.

“Fuck yeah,” he said. “I can do happy baby.”

The woman next to us laughed again, and I was still smiling when the instructor led us into Savasana.

“I can definitely be a corpse,” Q muttered, making both me and the woman laugh.

I was able to clear my mind and focus on my breathing, and when we did our namaste at the end, I was really thankful for the experience. Everyone was stretching and rolling up their mats.

Q muttered, “A little woo woo at the end there.”

The woman next to us came over, chuckling. Q turned a little pink. “Sorry if I was distracting,” he apologized.

“Nah, this was probably the most fun I’ve had in yoga class in awhile,” she answered. “I’m Seraphina, but Ser works,” she said, putting her hand out. Q shook it and then I did too.

“It was my first yoga class in a while, but I like the studio,” I said.

“Yeah, there are some great instructors here. You guys have to tell me when you’re coming back—I’ll come to class just for your commentary,” she said, looking at Q and smiling.

Q groaned. “You mean I have to come back? I don’t think I’ll be able to walk tomorrow.”

Both Ser and I laughed, and we chatted as we finished packing up and headed out. She saw Jude waiting for us outside the car, and she gave a hum of approval.

“He’s probably taken. He’s slightly obsessed with this one guy,” Q said, following her eyes.

Ser sighed. “All the cute men and women are taken. My brothers are both mated to cute guys, and I suppose I’ve been getting the bug to settle down, too.”

I liked that she made it clear she was LGBTQ+ friendly, but I thought her word choice was odd—I didn’t think I’d heard anyone but the hellhounds use the word mate before. She walked us over to the car, and Jude gave her a head nod, which was also a little weird. He seemed almost respectful, which was not typical for Jude.

Ser exchanged numbers with us, and we promised to meet up for another yoga class, despite Q’s sour face, which just made me and Ser both laugh.

“We’re totally going to be friends. I can tell,” she announced happily, and then she was off to her own car.

I felt good as I got into the car. I had enjoyed the yoga, I had made a friend, and I had stepped out of my comfort zone and done something new. Yeah, I’d had Q with me, but even if Q didn’t want to go again, I felt like I could take a class with Ser.

“Did you know her?” I asked Jude as we were driving.

“Oh, no, not really. She’s Nephilim, though, and she’s a really good soul,” he answered.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Q muttered. “You’re saying angel offspring are a thing?”

“Well, angel and demon offspring are both Nephilim, but their origins don’t determine whether they’re good or evil or anything. I’m guessing she’s got angelic ancestry, and that group can be really uptight, but she seems pretty awesome. I’m sure you’ll be safe hanging out with her. She’s a good soul,” he repeated.

It was a little too much to wrap my brain around, and I refrained from asking questions the rest of the way home.

When we started up the drive to the houses, Jude said, “All the guys are at Toby and Dexter’s having a bite to eat after working on the new cabin. You guys want to head there, or you want to head home?”

I appreciated that he asked, and I looked over at Q. I was ok with more people time, but I wasn’t sure if he was.

He just sighed. “Fine, but Toby better not be weird.”

Jude laughed, pulling up to Toby’s house. “I don’t think Toby can not be weird.”

* * *

Toby was indeed weird, but it was sort of endearing. He was awkward and super excited we had come over for dinner. Yeah, maybe it was a little odd that he asked about blood splatter while we ate spaghetti (and even flicked some sauce on his shirt to demonstrate—that was gonna be a pain to wash out). I tried to tune out Dexter’s enthusiastic answer about blood viscosity and spray patterns.

I didn’t want to know how he knew.

Still, it was kind of nice to hang out with everyone. Liam, Dexter, Corbin, Atlas, and Jude were all pretty funny as they teased and harassed each other, and it made me think about just how cold my relationship with my own brother had been.

There hadn’t been much joking around or teasing with Caleb, or even the familiarity that the guys had with one another. I always thought it was our age difference, but I realized now how detached he had been. Maybe it was our upbringing and being so focused on appearances, but it solidified that he probably wasn’t looking for me out of any sense of love. What these guys had was love; what my brother and I had was… I don’t even know. Responsibility? Obligation? I had a few good memories, but there weren’t many.

Atlas stuck close to my side and remained silent as usual, and the guys just took it in stride, occasionally teasing him. I thought I might feel weird, since Toby and Q were both mates with hellhounds, but the guys didn’t treat me any differently than them. Of course, Atlas had said I was his mate, but I still wasn’t sure what to even think about that.

We’d been intimate, and it had been really good. Did I want to be intimate with him again? Yeah, I totally did. Did it hurt in my chest to think of him not being with me? Yeah, it totally did. Was that what it meant to be mates? I didn’t know. Maybe I’d ask Q or Toby.

We were cleaning up when the guys all stopped what they were doing and looked toward the door in unison. It was kind of creepy. Liam walked over to his computer, fiddled with it, and sighed. Jude looked over Liam’s shoulder, and a wide grin split his face.

“Koo koo kachoo,” Jude said gleefully.

I guessed we were about to have a visit from the sheriff. I tried not to tense up. The sheriff was nice. He was a good guy.

Q pointed a wooden spoon he’d been washing at Jude. “Don’t you fucking start,” he hissed.

“Aww, he likes me!” Jude smiled.

I felt the collective sigh of everyone in the room, and then I heard the doorbell ring. It felt a bit like a bad movie as we all moved toward the door. Because, you know, it didn’t look at all suspicious if everyone in the house went to greet the guy. When I turned around to make sure Atlas was with me, I saw Fluffy in his place, and he trotted forward and leaned against me.

Maybe I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to deal with talking to the sheriff.

When we got to the door, Toby and Jude were having a bit of a shoving match as to who got to open it. Dexter growled low in his throat, and Jude huffed and let Toby open the door.

“Sheriff!” Toby said, giving a little wave, then putting his hands behind his back. “We were just finishing dinner. Spaghetti!”

He looked down at his shirt, then back up at the sheriff. “Just spaghetti sauce! Haha. We weren’t talking about blood pattern stains or anything.”

“Although feel free to use your handcuffs on me,” Jude murmured.

Dexter smacked him in the back of the head, and the sheriff ignored him completely.

“Writing a murder mystery, Toby?” the sheriff asked.

Toby smiled and nodded. “Yup! Lots of blood splatter in this one!”

“I can’t wait to read it,” the sheriff said. Then he stood there, looking expectantly at us.

“Oh! Do you wanna come in? We were just gonna have some cookies for dessert,” Toby finally asked.

“I’ll be happy to provide the milk,” Jude muttered, and this time it was Liam who smacked his arm.

I think I saw the sheriff roll his eyes too, but he walked in. Everyone sort of spread out, either lounging on the couch, sitting at the table, or leaning against the kitchen island. I sat on the couch, and Fluffy sat directly in front of me. I noticed that Liam had an arm wrapped around Q, and Dexter was half standing in front of Toby. I thought they trusted the sheriff, but… I didn’t know. There was a weird sort of tension in the air now that we were all inside.

I looked back at the sheriff, and he was standing in front of the couch and staring at me. I reached my hand out and rested it against Fluffy’s head.

Why was he staring at me? I took a deep breath, trying to relax. Fluffy growled, sensing my tension. Or maybe the sheriff’s tension. I didn’t even know.

“Quite the guard dog you got there,” the sheriff said.

“He’s friendly. Unless someone tries to hurt me,” I said. I felt like I was making a threat, and it was probably unwise to sort of threaten the sheriff, but something was off about this visit.

“What’s going on, Walrus?” Jude asked, and all the joking was gone from his voice, despite the nickname.

The sheriff ignored him and pulled a paper out of his pocket. He unfolded it slowly, and then he reached over and held it out to me.

I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t want to look. The sheriff just stood there, holding it and watching me. I reached my hand out despite my misgivings, and then I looked down.

It was a picture of me. It was old—probably from my last year in boarding school based on the uniform and my age. I felt a little dizzy, and Fluffy licked my face and then looked at the sheriff and growled.

Liam came over and looked over my shoulder, and I heard him mutter a curse under his breath. I wasn’t sure if the sheriff heard it or not.

“Where did you get that?” Liam asked.

At his tone, Jude, Dexter, and Corbin all wandered over and looked over the couch to see the picture as well.

“Aww, you guys, we can’t kill the sheriff. He’s so cute! And he’s my Walrus!” Jude whined.

It seemed to break some of the tension, because the sheriff snorted. Only I didn’t think Jude was joking.

“Explain,” Liam demanded again.

The sheriff sighed. “As far as I can tell, that was emailed to every sheriff and chief of police in the state. It’s a supposed kidnapping that is apparently being looked into by the FBI. The email address it comes from is legit, but curiously enough no one else in the FBI seems to know about it.”

Liam grunted, going and grabbing his computer.

“Then there’s the fact that there’s no name with the photo,” the sheriff continued, “yet there are identifying features, including a current age and birthday. If they know that, why wouldn’t they give the name? The instructions are very specific as well—we are not to engage. We are to inform the FBI agent of the missing person’s whereabouts.

“If they know this person is in danger, wouldn’t they want them taken into custody immediately? If they’re a threat, we would be told to treat them as such. We’re just supposed to inform this one particular agent and go about our business.”

Liam was frantically typing on his computer. “Yup. Three states total—all sheriffs or police chiefs as well as dispatch got the email.”

The sheriff snorted. “Amanda quit last week, so I’ve been managing the general email account as well.”

“Aw, you need some help in the office, Walrus? I’m good at following orders,” Jude said, winking.

The sheriff ignored him, saying, “I came to the conclusion that although it bears a striking resemblance to Aiden here, it certainly can’t be him, since he obviously isn’t a kidnapped person. Still, I thought you guys should know that someone is out there disseminating pictures of someone who bears a resemblance to Aiden.”

I was still just holding the picture and staring at it, not really seeing it. The FBI? Three states worth of police agencies looking for me? What the fuck?

Fluffy leaned against me more firmly, and Jude came and took the paper gently out of my hand. I wrapped my arms around Fluffy, burying my head in his fur.

“Hmm, it does look like Aiden,” Jude said. “I mean, of course there’s an explanation for all this. We’re all actually supernatural beings—hellhounds, to be exact—and although Aiden was a kidnapped person, we actually rescued him ages ago and killed his psycho stalker. But now his probably psychotic brother is looking for him for reasons unknown. Don’t worry, though, because if he’s truly evil we’ll dispose of him in the torture basement. If he’s not evil, which is kind of doubtful at this point if he’s bribing FBI agents, then we’ll see a happy family reunion.”

Everyone was quiet, and I looked up at Jude and the sheriff, my mouth open.

The sheriff was staring at Jude, and he finally muttered, “You’re such an asshole.”

“Aww, Macca, that’s so sweet!” Jude said, actually looking gleeful at the insult.

The sheriff huffed. “My last name is not McCartney, I am not your Walrus, and I don’t know how these guys put up with you.”

Jude winked at him. “Don’t worry, baby—in my life, I love you more.”

“Aren’t I a rich man,” the sheriff muttered, rolling his eyes.

Jude pretended to swoon at that, grabbing his chest and yelling, “He loves me, yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Most of the guys chuckled, and the sheriff even cracked a smile. It released the tension, and Toby clapped his hands, asking who wanted cookies.

Everyone started milling about, but I stayed on the couch, arms wrapped around Fluffy. I couldn’t stop thinking about the picture.

“Aiden?” the sheriff said softly.

I looked up at him again, holding Fluffy tightly. His eyes were kind, though. They weren’t dead or evil eyes. I could see that.

“If you ever need anything…” the sheriff said, trailing off.

“I’m ok. I’m with my family,” I replied.

The sheriff looked thoughtful for a moment, then he looked around at all the guys bustling about. They looked busy and were chatting, and yet I knew that all of them had an ear and an eye on our conversation. They would protect me if they needed to.

“I see that,” he finally said, nodding at me. “You stay safe, and call if you need me.”

With that, he said his goodbyes, despite everyone insisting he have some cookies. Jude made some more flirtatious comments, and the sheriff said something back, but I was too focused on thinking about the damn picture.

What the hell did my brother want? Why was he looking for me?

I was afraid I couldn’t hide from him much longer.