Chapter 9
Atlas/Fluffy
A iden got some snacks together even though they’d eaten at Toby’s. It seemed to soothe him to fiddle around in the kitchen. Liam poked away at his computer, frowning and muttering occasionally. I figured he was digging into the guy in the basement.
Jude knocked on the door before long, and when Q let him in, he said, “Oh, do I smell cookies?”
Aiden frowned at him. “You literally told the sheriff you have a torture basement. Why do you deserve cookies?” Then he stopped frowning, adding, “Wait, do you actually have a torture basement?”
Jude made his way over to the kitchen island and snagged a cookie. “We’re hellhounds. We send evil souls to hell. We may have a little fun doing it, but trust me, these are really, really awful people who deserve to suffer.”
Aiden glared at him. “You didn’t answer the question.”
Jude just smiled, taking another bite of the cookie.
“We’re all gonna end up in jail,” Quinton muttered.
“Nah. He likes me. He just doesn’t know it yet,” Jude said, smiling. “He’s so cute, isn’t he?”
“My god, you’re like a teenager with a crush,” Quinton snarked.
“Well, he is dreamy. I’d totally put a poster of him up on my bedroom wall,” Jude answered.
Stupid talk , Fluffy grumbled, and I agreed. We had more important things to worry about. I growled low in my throat, and Jude and Liam both looked at me.
“Right. Why don’t you two head over to see what our guy knows, and I’ll hang out with these two and eat cookies,” Jude said.
“We don’t need a babysitter,” Quinton muttered.
Liam just walked over and kissed him. “It would make me feel better. I know it’s a trial putting up with this asshole, but we shouldn’t be long.”
I walked over and stood next to Aiden. Liam and Quinton were still murmuring to each other and kissing, and Aiden looked over at them then at me. “I’m not kissing you goodbye. I’m mad at you.”
I gave a little whine, and he pet my head, sighing. I leaned against his legs for a moment, and then I walked off toward the door, Liam following behind me.
I changed into human form inside Dexter’s old place, snagging a pair of sweatpants from a basket by the door. If the sheriff did decide to check, Toby’s house didn’t actually have a torture basement—that was in Dexter’s old house, which I guessed was Jude and Corbin’s place now, and in the third house, which had been Liam’s. Only Liam now stayed with Quinton, so that house was basically empty most of the time, aside from when Liam was working.
Their living arrangements were confusing, and I had no idea where Wilder would stay when he got here, but I wasn’t concerned. I had my cabin out in the woods, and I’d been getting it ready for Aiden. Maybe I’d take him to visit it soon. He could add his own touches to it and make it a comfortable space for himself.
Not that I expected him to come live there right away. He could live with Quinton for as long as he needed to. We had eternity together, so I wasn’t worried.
Need to claim him , Fluffy grumbled. Yeah, we’d get to that too. I didn’t want to rush Aiden.
We headed down to the basement, and the guy was tied up in a chair. He smelled scared, but he was staring defiantly at us.
“This is kidnapping,” he said.
Liam took another chair and turned it around, straddling it and staring at the guy. I leaned against the wall, arms folded.
“Michael Frey, thirty-six years old, former military who was injured in the line of duty, became a private investigator and bounty hunter. You sometimes bend the rules a bit, but you generally do that when it’s for the greater good. You’re not evil, so don’t worry, we won’t kill you,” Liam said.
The guy—Michael—looked a little surprised at all of the information that Liam had.
“How do you know all that?” he asked.
“Oh, I know more than that. I know about your family—your parents in that nice retirement village, your sister and her kids, your girlfriend—you really ought to propose soon, since I know you ordered a ring,” Liam said.
The guy got paler with each mention of his family members, but he kept his lips tightly closed.
Liam continued, “I know that Caleb Astor’s secretary transferred funds into your account approximately three months ago. Quite a sum, and I’m assuming you’d get more for handing over his brother. I also know that you’re working alone on this case, and I don’t believe that you updated Mr. Astor about your current whereabouts. Your last update has all nearby locations checked, but not this area. You aren’t the only person on this case, by the way—he’s got people all over the country on it. You just happen to be the unlucky one hired in our backyard, so to speak.”
“Leave my family out of this,” Michael said.
“You were told his brother was missing and had been coerced by an abusive ex that he was now on the run from. You were told that he would be resistant to help because he would think it was his ex looking for him, but his brother only wanted to get him home safely where he could be protected. You were told to do whatever was necessary, as long as Alden wasn’t permanently harmed,” Liam finished.
The guy just stared at him. Liam stared back.
Boring , Fluffy grunted. Yeah, it was. But Liam was good at getting information, and this guy wasn’t hellbound, so torture really wasn’t on the menu. They stared at each other for a while, and eventually I shifted my stance, and the guy looked over at me. He paled a bit. I probably did look slightly more menacing than Liam.
“His dog turned into…” Michael started.
“Yeah,” Liam answered. “Not that anyone will believe that. Hallucination, probably. Maybe you got a little shock from using that taser.”
“What do you want?” Michael finally asked. He looked resigned.
“How did you find Alden?” Liam asked. “I can’t find a trail you followed. I know you looked into the coffee shop and found out where Alden lived, but what set you onto the shop?”
Michael looked like he was mulling over what to share. Finally he said, “Luck. I was showing his picture around, and some guy mentioned that it looked kinda like the baker at this little coffee shop he’d been to when he was passing through Paradise Falls. I didn’t actually know if it was Alden, but I came to check it out. I had no other leads to follow, so I chased this one down. I managed to see him at the shop, but he looks different from the picture. I figured I’d check it out anyway. I was just hoping to get a look at the property. It was stupid luck that he was walking that path when I was on it.”
I grunted, and the guy looked at me again.
Liam sighed. “The problem, Michael, is what we’re going to do with you. We don’t really know why his brother is looking for him, but I don’t have a good feeling about it. There is no abusive ex. He’s on the run from his family, and they mostly left him alone until recently. You really aren’t a bad person, so we can’t kill you. But we also can’t have you giving up Alden’s location to his brother.”
Michael hesitated, and then he gave us more information. “I never spoke to Caleb Astor, only the secretary. She was… Well, let’s just say she made it clear that Mr. Astor didn’t mind if there was collateral damage. It rubbed the wrong way. I’ll bend the law and do what I need to, but I’m not out to hurt random people. The story about the ex changed a little bit when I met her in person. It seemed fishy, but it was one brother looking for another. I figured it wasn’t my business as to why, and he clearly didn’t want his brother hurt.” Michael shrugged.
I heard footsteps, and Corbin appeared, crow on shoulder.
“Who the hell are you guys?” Michael asked, staring at Corbin.
“Alden’s protection,” Liam said.
Corbin walked over and placed his hand on Michael’s shoulder. The crow hopped down onto it, too, cawing in his ear. The guy moved his head away and grimaced, but he didn’t struggle.
“What do we do with him?” Liam asked Corbin.
Corbin thought for a moment, his crow cawed, and then he nodded. “I’ll take care of it,” he answered.
I shrugged and turned to go upstairs, and Liam got up to follow me.
“Hold on. Wait a minute,” Michael said, sounding a little frantic. “Why are you guys leaving me with him?”
“Don’t worry. He won’t kill you. He’ll just do some witchy shit. I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Liam answered, and then we walked upstairs.
The guy was still calling out, but there was a caw and he fell silent. Corbin was good with witchy shit. My hellhound trusted that he’d protect Aiden. He knew Aiden was pack.
When we got to the door, Liam put a hand on my arm, stopping me. I turned to stare. I was anxious to get back to Aiden, and I didn’t really want to talk.
“Atlas,” Liam started, and then he trailed off.
I just continued to stare. He eventually let my arm go, and I pushed down my sweatpants and turned back into Fluffy. Liam sighed, but he opened the door, and we went to the back house where Aiden and Quinton were. Jude heard us approaching and met us outside. Liam started to fill him in, but I had no patience for more talk. I walked in.
Quinton was in the bathroom, and I could smell Aiden in his room. The door wasn’t shut, so it was easy enough to walk over and push it open. I leaned my body against it until it was partly shut, but I didn’t latch it. Aiden didn’t like closed doors.
He was already laying in bed, his back to me. The nightlight illuminated his side of the room, but I was in relative darkness. I hopped up onto the bed, laying down next to him. His breathing was even, but I knew he wasn’t sleeping.
He didn’t turn around when he spoke. “Will you change to talk to me?” he asked. “I don’t want you to change if you don’t want to change, but I kind of want to talk to you.”
I was human in a moment, laying naked next to him. He was under the covers, though, and I was over them. I tugged a blanket at the foot of the bed up and over myself. I wasn’t sure how he’d react if he turned over.
“I’m not sure if I’m ready to meet you yet. I know that’s really stupid, since I know you already, but… You were a dog. Even if you weren’t a dog, I thought you were a dog,” Aiden said.
I grunted.
“Yeah, ok, maybe I knew there was something more to you. Maybe I should’ve asked questions, but I sort of made it my policy to not ask the guys too many questions. Then you turned into Fire Fluffy. Or Fire Atlas,” he said.
“My hellhound’s name is Fluffy,” I answered.
He shifted, but he didn’t roll over. “Liam’s hellhound doesn’t have a name. I got the impression that they weren’t, like, separate?”
“My hellhound was the only company I had for awhile. He talks to me. I don’t think anyone else is like that,” I said.
Aiden made another noise, but he still didn’t turn over.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he finally asked.
“You weren’t ready,” I answered. “That’s ok. I like being with you in any form.”
Aiden was quiet for a while, and I wondered if I should change back or stay in human form. I didn’t mind either way. I just wanted Aiden to be comfortable.
Finally, he spoke. “I might still want cuddles. I don’t know…”
“That’s fine,” I said. “We like cuddles.”
I didn’t know if he wanted me to change, but Fluffy didn’t have arms to wrap around him, so I scooched closer and snuggled him close. The sheet and comforter were between us. He was stiff at first, but I sniffed along his neck and breathed in his scent, and he relaxed at the familiar routine—Fluffy liked to breathe his scent in, too. It was warm and comforting. Eventually he put a hand on my arm, gently rubbing along it, like he was learning what I looked like from touch.
I thought Aiden was almost off to sleep when he spoke softly again. “I can’t believe your hellhound lets me call him Fluffy. I definitely can’t believe he likes it.”
“It’s the first time anyone has ever given us a name. Of course we love it,” I answered, and I snuggled him closer, breathing in his scent again. He felt relaxed and warm, and I let myself drift off, thinking I’d change back to my other form before Aiden woke in the morning.