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“Never again.” Lamont stormed into the hotel suite, tugging out his phone and tapping on the screen angrily. “Coda? Coda, is that you? Did you see that? Were you watching that chaos on his majesty’s big fancy screens? Did you see the mess you just caused? Never again, do you hear me? That was carnage, utter and absolute carnage…”

Damon was yelling just as loudly. “That shit show was an absolute nightmare. You know we can’t hurt anybody, how we have to be careful with people around us. But did you bloody see all that? They were swarming like a flock of blooming locusts wanting pictures, tugging at him, touching him, and trying to get so close it was like they wanted to wear his skin. Enda was supposed to be safe, he was supposed to be seen out and about in a controlled environment designed to keep him safe. There were three fucking hellhounds there and we could not stop those people and why? Why was it?”

Lamont cut in. “I’ll tell you why, because every single one of those people were so freaking sweet. They were excited, being nice, shoving phones in our faces, flashes going off everywhere, people yelling and talking all over each other, we could barely hear ourselves think. How was that a controlled experiment? There was nothing controlled about that at all. There were at least fifty people in that crowd. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking I only organized twenty people.” The calm, measured tones from Coda could clearly be heard in the room. “I arranged for twenty people to attend to Enda, notice him, take pictures with their phones and post them to the social medias. I don’t know where the other ones came from. That was highly irregular and unexpected.”

“The other ones came, you dickhead,” Lamont yelled, “from the fact that as soon as people saw there was a crowd gathering, and people had their phones out, and other people were yelling and getting all excited, they thought, oh, celebrity sighting or whatever it is they do, and more and more people came. We were in the middle of Rome. What did you expect? That place is crawling with tourists.”

“I did ensure that I chose a day in the museum that wasn’t going to be overly busy. I trust Enda had a good time there.”

“How would I know?” Lamont was tugging at his hair. “I haven’t had a chance to ask. The poor guy was petrified, he was ready to faint, and all these people come swarming him, wanting to touch his clothes and stroke his hair, and Damon and I were busy flicking them off, and Giorgio was glowering like crazy, but it wasn’t like he can do anything else. We were in public, everybody was recording absolutely everything that was going on. Yes, yes, yes, I know that was the point of the experiment, but for fuck’s sake, Coda, why couldn’t this have been more controlled?”

“You don’t need to listen to all that,” Giorgio murmured as Enda found himself being led into a large and elegantly furnished bedroom. Enda’s heart was still racing, and he felt as if he’d run a marathon. They did have to run in the end, when the crowd got too big – Giorgio even picked Enda up at one point as they headed for the nearest hotel. Giorgio must have flashed a credit card or done something, or maybe it was the mysterious Coda, but within a minute, they had a suite, and they were able to escape the people who were happily following them.

Enda needed to process. The whole situation was so bizarre. Everybody seemed so happy to see him, and while it was fun, or it would have been if the whole situation wasn’t so life-threatening, it was all completely overwhelming. Maybe if he’d just been able to stop for five seconds and take a breath, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But one thing was clear. The hellhounds totally lost control of the situation. There was one point there that Enda thought he was going to be knocked down.

“Are you all right?” Giorgio was cupping his face with his hands, staring down into his eyes, and Enda was sure some of his agitation must have been going through their bond. “Tell me, are you all right? Do you feel okay? Can I get you anything at all? A drink? Something to eat? Do you just need to sit down for a moment, peace and quiet? What do you need?”

Enda rubbed the top of his head as it started to ache. “I need you to stop trying to act like a one-man crowd bombarding me with questions,” he said calmly. “That was far more chaotic than either of us expected, but I need you to calm down.” He could still hear Lamont and Damon yelling in the other room and assumed that Coda was getting an earful. “It would help to just have a moment to stop and breathe.”

“I’ve got you,” Giorgio said, wrapping him up in his arms, and Enda leaned against his chest gratefully. Giorgio’s heart was racing faster than normal, but the longer they hugged, Enda could feel it slowing down, and that, in turn, helped him.

The whole thing had been bedlam. Enda had no idea how long they’d been trapped by all those people, but it felt like a lifetime – a frenzy of noise, flashing lights, and people yelling at him.

For Enda, who had spent his whole life completely ignored or just treated like a servant, to have people around him who were so excited to see him was hard to accept. Most of the people there were so lovely, and it was easy for Enda to believe they were truly thrilled to see him, get a selfie with him, and just be near him for a moment. How much of it was real, Enda had no idea, but it was a heady feeling.

Enda had only heard snatches of the conversation and probably understood even less. Although some people spoke English, other people were speaking Italian. A sprinkling of French and German could be heard in the crowd as well. Enda could pick out the different tones and accents, but it was really, really difficult to make sense of anything that had gone on.

“I’m sure nobody there wanted to hurt me,” he said, his breath rippling across Giorgio’s shirt. “Although I did think a couple of times there I was going to fall over as people got excited and started shoving each other.”

“Yes, well, that’s...I’ve got no excuse,” Giorgio said. “I’m just so sorry. You’d think we’d be able to handle something like that. It was just a few people, for goodness’ sake, but then more and more people kept coming. I bet they were attracted by your hair.” Giorgio stroked down his hair as Enda sighed.

“So, it was my hair.” Enda touched his blue locks. “I really love it but if you want to change it back to its normal color...”

“No, no,” Giorgio said. “I was just teasing – badly, I might add. It’s got nothing to do with your hair, although I’m sure it’s definitely got something to do with how cute you are. Even if those people didn’t recognize you from the article, and I could tell some of them didn’t, they still thought that you were some form of anime star or something like that. Maybe they thought you were in a boy band.”

“Do I even want to know what that is?” Enda asked.

Giorgio shook his head and chuckled softly. “No, probably not, unless you can sing and were planning a career as a pop star. But yeah, I am sorry. I’m truly sorry. I thought we would have a better control over the situation than that. Look, let me order some room service. We’ll have our lunch here, and then maybe Coda, or Lamont and Damon, can come up with another plan.”

Somehow Enda didn’t think that involved going home and locking the doors. Nodding, he said with more cheer than he felt, “I’ll just pop into the bathroom and take a moment. I’ll be fine, honest. Go on back out to your friends. It’ll be all right. I’m not going anywhere. I’m just in the bathroom. I just need five minutes.”

Giorgio seemed reluctant to leave him, but in that moment, Enda needed space. A space where there were no people, no emotions, no expectations, no anything else. Just the space to breathe. If that’s my first time having anything to do with social media, he thought as he made his way to the bathroom, I don’t think I’ll be setting up any accounts of my own any time soon.

The bathroom was beautifully laid out, with everything a person might need. Enda looked longingly at the shower. So many people had clutched at his clothes, stroking them and even putting their arms around him - he didn’t like it. But Enda was still feeling antsy, and he didn’t want to be naked in a strange place. Besides, he knew that Giorgio was worried about him.

Enda quickly did what he had to do and then washed his face and flicked at his hair. This was probably the cutest I’ve ever looked , he thought glumly, turning to one side and making faces at his reflection. Photo-cute perhaps, but yeah, fame’s not for me . His heart beat faster, just thinking about it.

Sitting down on the toilet lid, Enda focused on his breathing.

Inhale and hold for the count of three.

Exhale, hold, and count to three again.

Inhale. Hold. Count.

Exhale. Hold. Count.

As his breathing slowed, Enda let the tensions ease from his shoulders, from his stomach, keeping his breathing steady as he systematically relaxed his whole body until his legs stopped shaking.

This is only day one , he thought. How on Earth am I going to get through a week like this? Maybe we should just send my father our address and let him come. To hell with all this subterfuge , which really didn’t feel like subterfuge to Enda at all.

It’s not for much longer , he tried to console himself. Enda always believed he could get through anything if he knew there was an end date – real or imagined.

It’s just for a week. I can handle a week. Enda didn’t want to let down his mate or his mate’s friends, but he could see a lot of self-talk in his future. It didn’t help that Lamont and Damon were as shaken as Giorgio had been.

Enda wandered back through the bedroom and stopped for a moment, opening the bedroom door quietly. He could hear the other three men. Their voices weren’t as raised, but they were still upset about what had happened.

“I can’t believe it. I genuinely can’t believe we got put in that mess.” Damon didn’t sound any happier than he had before. “For goodness’ sake, I’ve raced cars for a living and none of the paparazzi ever acts like that lot. What on Earth is going on? What did Coda say?”

“I’ve been trying to find the post that Coda said he put on social media,” Lamont said. Enda could see him fiddling with his phone. “I can’t see anything, I can’t find anything at all. For all I know, Coda just sent subliminal messages to these people to suddenly be in the vicinity of Rome today. I’ve got no idea.”

“The thing is, we can’t keep doing this,” Giorgio said. “Enda’s strong, and he’s doing so well, but he’s still in a fragile state. He doesn’t need to be swamped by people every time we go anywhere. Isn’t there any way we can change Coda or Zeus’s mind?”

“Apparently not,” Lamont said grimly. “I feel what you’re saying. I’m worried about our new packmate, too. But the experiment’s already underway, and Coda is determined to see this through. I mean, I can understand why. You heard him going on about how much of a benefit this might be to every other paranormal there is, but for fuck’s sake, who knew a bunch of teenage girls could be so freaking lethal.”

“Yeah, and they were very fond of squeezing our biceps and things like that, too,” Damon grumbled, rotating his shoulder. “I’m sure I’m going to get bruises. Some of those girls had really long fingernails.”

“It wasn’t just the girls,” Lamont said. “Some of those guys were freaking very handsy as well, wanting to know if I carried a gun and you know, did I have handcuffs? I mean, what is wrong with these people?”

There was something about the scene that tickled Enda’s funny bone. The men were all big, competent, and more than twice the size of anyone in the crowd who’d mobbed them. Hearing them grumbling about long fingernails and having their biceps squeezed put everything in perspective for Enda in that moment. He’d been scared, overwhelmed, and yes, terrified at times, but he had good reason. To know the others were just as rattled settled something deep inside of him.

He was still chuckling as he wandered into the living space, heading for a chair.

“Did you think of something funny?” Giorgio asked, although Enda could see that he was pleased that Enda was no longer visibly upset.

“You can’t see how funny this all is?” That just made Enda laugh even harder. “All three of you are hellhounds. That name alone has been feared by all across the ages. You have spent thousands of years chasing spirits and protecting the good people of the Underworld. Then you came to Earth, where you’ve all been very competently building your businesses and living your lives and doing what you needed to do. The strongest of your kind – the strongest shifter anywhere, likely the strongest paranormals, and you got run off by a bunch of teenagers.

“Can you imagine what it’s going to be like when they find out at one of Consort Ali’s Sunday dinners? How three hellhounds couldn’t control the enthusiasm and excitement of a group of young teenagers, men and women, who all just wanted to take a selfie? I think that’s hilarious, and I bet Consort Ali and the others will too.”

He sank into a chair, covering his face with his hands. He couldn’t stop laughing. There might have been a bit of hysteria in there as well, but it was mostly laughter.

After a moment, he heard Lamont groan, and then he and Damon were laughing, too. And while Giorgio didn’t join in, Enda could feel through their bond that he was very proud of the way Enda was handling himself. That was going to have to do for now. The hug Giorgio gave him and the arrival of food helped, too.