Page 6 of How to Trust a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls #4)

Wilder

D espite wanting to stay with Josh, I’d left him sleeping and checked in with the boys, then grabbed a couple hours of sleep.

I didn’t technically need to sleep, but it had become a habit that I enjoyed.

Once it was a reasonable hour, I had sought out Aiden and Atlas to see what the plan was for Josh’s morning.

As much as I wanted to see Josh, I had to remember that he didn’t know me that well.

I could be patient and give the man some space.

Also, he’d called Aiden for help, so perhaps it was best if Josh saw him first thing in the morning.

Aiden had already had food and a coffee maker packed up, and he was heading to the cabin with Fluffy.

I told him we’d go to Josh’s to get the rest of his stuff later, so he should find out what Josh needed, then I headed off to the main house to find Quinton and Liam.

They were already in their computer room, deep in a search on Aiden’s grandfather, who was a bit of a problem.

I stared over Liam’s shoulder at one of the computer screens in his office as he talked, going over what we already knew.

“So Aiden’s grandfather is a descendent of Cain, and he runs down the line of firstborns, so when he killed his younger brother in some sort of ritual, he got the mark of Cain. This protects him from dying, and it also takes him out of god’s sight,” Liam said.

Quinton, his mate, was sitting in an office chair next to him, tapping his foot restlessly.

I didn’t blame him. We knew all this, but Liam was processing information, so I just hummed in agreement.

Aiden was no longer in danger since his evil brother was dead, but Liam and Quinton still worried about the missing grandfather.

“So that means that he isn’t quite mortal anymore, and he’s obviously evil if he told Aiden’s brother that he should kill Aiden and claim eternal life as well.

Plus, you know, he murdered his brother,” Liam said.

“So far, we can see that Aiden’s grandfather withdrew all the money he set aside for his fake death, and then he seems to have disappeared.

I’ve tried tracking deposits in large amounts within 48 hours after the withdrawal, but so far I’ve had no luck. ”

Quinton stopped tapping and looked at me. “But he won’t be coming for Aiden, right? He has no reason to? Aiden is safe?”

“Yes, Aiden is safe from him,” I reassured Quinton.

“He has absolutely no reason to come for Aiden. My guess is that he probably doesn’t know or care that his grandson is dead.

It wasn’t like they had plans to work together or anything.

He clearly had a plan set up for after his ‘death,’ and it didn’t involve his family. ”

“So how do we get the fucker?” Quinton asked.

I really did appreciate the fact that Liam’s mate had a bloodthirsty and vengeful nature against those who were evil, and I felt a little bit bad at bursting their bubble. Once Liam was locked in on something, it was hard to change his focus, and I could tell Quinton was the same.

I sighed, and they both looked at me. “I’m afraid Cain’s descendent isn’t yours to deal with. You can’t do anything against him. He’s immortal. As hellhounds, we only have power over mortals.”

“But… that’s bullshit. He’s evil!” Quinton burst out .

“We can fight with afterlifers, though,” Liam reasoned. “A first gen I met a few years ago talked about facing off against a demon.”

Ugh. It was probably Demetrius telling stories, although I had no idea what name that particular first gen was using now.

It had been a few hundred years since I saw him, but he loved exaggerating and showing off for younger hellhounds.

Sometimes first generation hellhounds were insufferable.

Or maybe we’d just all known each other too long.

“Yes, it is possible to battle afterlifers, but we can’t kill them,” I answered.

“We can send them back to where they came from. It’s part of our allegiance to Earth.

We are her protectors, and thus we have dominion here.

The problem with Cain’s descendent is that he originated here, so sending him back to where he came from would just relocate him on Earth. ”

“So, what, we just have to be like, ‘Hey, you killed your brother and told your grandson to kill his brother, but go off and have a nice life now?’” Quinton asked.

I couldn’t help smiling at his sass. He really was perfect for Liam. Quinton huffed at me, and Liam reached over and dragged his mate into his lap.

“I know it’s difficult, but not all problems are ours to solve.

I have a feeling we might have a part to play with Cain’s descendent, but it’s a side part only.

We aren’t the ones who can deal with him.

I won’t tell you to stop looking for him, because it would be useful to know where he is and what he’s doing, but I will tell you not to engage with him. He isn’t ours to dispose of.”

Quinton muttered grumpily, and Liam hugged him tighter.

“We do have an issue that we can deal with, however, and that’s Josh’s ex-boyfriend,” I said, ready to find out more information about the man who had hurt Josh.

“Aiden told us a few details, but not many, just that Josh was going through a hard break-up. He was heading over to the cabin this morning, and Quinton made sure he brought a coffee maker,” Liam said.

Quinton slid back into his chair as Liam started to do his computer magic.

“Josh has a lot of mixed emotions right now, so I don’t want this discussed with his friends.

He needs to be the one to decide what to tell them.

I’ll just say that Rick, his ex, is an abusive piece of shit,” I stated.

I didn’t like sharing Josh’s business, but they needed to know at least that much in order to be effective in their research.

“Fuck,” Quinton murmured. “I think everyone sort of knew something was up, but I’m sure Toby and Sebbie just thought Rick was a normal piece of shit, not that he was abusing Josh. Let’s find and torture the fucker.”

I smiled at Quinton proudly. He blushed a little at my look of approval, but I really did appreciate how well he fit in.

Liam was humming, flipping between screens and scrolling through social media accounts and emails. I put my hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. He really was amazing at this type of work.

“He doesn’t seem…” Liam trailed off, looking at me.

“No. He isn’t hellbound… yet. Atlas was at the apartment and didn’t sense that type of residue. I think we would all know if someone hellbound was in Paradise Falls, anyway. We seem to be tied to the land already. He is, however, on his way there. But he isn’t within our domain yet.”

“Aww, can’t we still torture him a little?” Quinton whined.

I smiled, because I’d been thinking the same thing. “At the very least, we can make sure he doesn’t bother Josh, and perhaps we can show him the error of his ways. Torture is probably not the best idea, though.”

Quinton pouted, and Liam kissed his forehead. “Don’t worry, my little hellcat, we’ll still scare him a little. A few threats are fine.”

“Ok, I guess,” Quinton answered, giving Liam a kiss before they both turned their attention back to the computer screen.

They chatted a bit about social media and hacking the guy’s cell phone, and based on Liam’s tracking, it appeared he wasn’t even in Paradise Falls right now, so that set my mind at ease.

His job was about thirty minutes away from town, but he wasn’t there, either.

It appeared he was at a house about an hour away, and Liam did some digging to find out it belonged to a childhood friend of Rick’s.

“Keep an eye on him, and let me know if he ends up back in town. I’m going to go over to Josh’s place to get the rest of his stuff,” I said.

Quinton and Liam both nodded distractedly at me, already engrossed in their research.

I headed outside. Jude and Corbin were both home, and Dexter was over at Toby’s.

I figured I’d leave him to his mate, and I’d see if Jude or Corbin wanted to go along.

I didn’t really need help, but it was always nice to spend some time together.

Jude and Corbin both agreed, and we took two cars over to Josh’s place.

Aiden ended up texting me on the way, and Josh didn’t actually need a lot, but this way we knew we’d get it done in one trip.

Aiden had also said that Josh really wanted it done before his ex got home.

I would’ve enjoyed running into the asshole, but I respected Josh’s wishes.

When we got there, Jude bent down to look at the doorbell.

He waved cheerily, then he stuck his tongue out at it.

Corbin and I stared at him, and he said, “It’s one of those camera doorbells.

This way Josh knows it’s us if he’s watching it, and if the ex is watching it, he’ll know Josh has friends. ”

We didn’t have a key—small oversight—so we just burned through the lock; we really didn’t care about the ex not having a locked door since Josh wasn’t returning.

Jude whistled when we walked in, and Corbin grunted, the crow on his shoulder fluffing up in agreement. The place was a mess—end tables were tipped over, chairs knocked down, and it looked like anything that had been sitting on the table or counters had been knocked onto the floor.

I breathed deeply, but Atlas was right. Rick was an asshole, and he was definitely on his way to rotten, but he wasn’t there yet. I told the boys what we were getting, and then we split up to pack the rest of Josh’s stuff.