Chapter 20
Canyon woke up slowly from an intricate dream. He'd been on a mission to guard a princess inside a deep forest, and he’d completed his mission with honors… and maybe even a medal? Cool. He stretched. Why were his ribs sore? And why were his boots on?
He sat up, realizing he was on the hard floor in the dark, in the alcove at the back of the bunker and Timber was snoring next to him in a chair.
Canyon got up from the floor, wondering what the hell had even happened.
He didn’t remember needing a nap. Last thing he remembered was finishing Predator, helping Timber escape Mac and then…
and then? He plodded to the bathroom, thinking it had been one hell of a good nap, even if he was a little fuzzy about how it got started.
He cleaned up and went back to the bunker, nap forgotten, food on his mind.
When he pushed through the door, Timber was on his feet, rushing around the room. He stopped short when he saw Canyon, a strange look on his face.
“You’re awake!” Timber said.
Canyon looked at him like he was acting strangely, which he was. Yeah, he said in ruhi, which he preferred.
“What in the hell happened?” Timber said out loud at the same time that Canyon said in ruhi, I’m hungry.
“I bet you are,” Timber said, going to his desk and nodding at Canyon like something was up.
Wanna go to Taco Place?
“It's breakfast time,” Timber told him. “We'll go to Pancake Place.”
It's not breakfast time.
“It is. You slept for 24 hours.”
Canyon scoffed. I didn't.
“You missed all sorts of shit.”
Like what?
“Like a One True Mate murder.”
Nuh uh.
“No fucking lie, bro. Dahlia Woodridge was her name. Listen… first, Khain came and kidnapped a four-year-old human girl.”
Canyon waved a hand in disbelief, then flipped Timber off. Now I know you’re fucking with me. Khain?
“I’m so not fucking with you. Khain came to the Ula, took a little girl, killed a One True Mate, and you missed it!”
Canyon rubbed the back of his neck, then checked the time on Timber’s computer. He pointed at the date, shocked into speaking out loud. “It’s tomorrow!”
Timber rolled his eyes. “Pretty sure I’ve already said that.”
Canyon ran his hand over his face and felt a day’s worth of stubble.
Timber kept talking, pacing around the room. “Khain took the little girl, but we didn’t know it was him at first, and then me and Jaggar were assigned to find Dahlia Paige, but we couldn’t find her, because she’d changed her name.” He pointed at Canyon. “You found her late last night.”
Canyon pointed at himself. Me?
“You. You found her late last night, but Khain made it so she would die no matter what.”
He traded the little girl for her.
“Yeah, bro, you got it in one. Nobody could do anything. He traded the little girl for the woman, then he killed her.”
Holy shit, Canyon said, reality settling in on him in a way he hadn’t considered before. He had a fated mate out there somewhere, and Khain would kill her, too, if he could.
Timber kept talking, still pacing. “And then—get this—Mac knocked Crew the fuck out, and he disappeared, too.”
Hold on, what? Before or after his mate died?
Jaggar came through the door fast. “She's not dead.”
They both turned his way, saying, “What?”
Jaggar walked right between them and their desks, to lean on Canyon’s desk.
He pushed all of Canyon’s pens and notebooks into a neat pile while he talked.
“Crew came back, but now he's gone again, completely out of this world. He said his One True Mate is alive somewhere and he won’t be coming back without her.”
“How'd she live through getting her throat slit?” Timber asked.
“She didn't. She died, but she’ll live again because she's got an echo or something. I don't know—that's just what the dragen said.”
Timber and Canyon gave each other identical looks of what-the-fuckness, but then Mac came in the door, fists clenched, head lowered, like a bull about to knock shit over for fun, his focus on Timber. “All hands on deck,” he growled, while Jaggar backed away from him.
“Arrr, shiver me timbers,” Timber said, snorting.
Mac didn’t notice Jaggar and faced off with Timber. “Shut it. Trevor's pissed.”
Jaggar crept closer and closer to the door.
Timber looked at Canyon. “I liked Mac better when he didn't care if Trevor was pissed.”
Mac got in Timber’s face like a Drill Sergeant, saying, “I can hear you,” his voice low and tight.
Timber raised his hands in mock apology, then mimed closing and locking his mouth and pocketing the key. Behind Mac, Jaggar snuck out the door.
Mac glared at Timber for another moment, then said.
“Trevor’s pissed about Paisley White. After the little girl woke up in the hospital, the whole family disappeared.
They took the girl without the doctor’s consent and stole away into the night.
They ain’t home, and none of their neighbors are either. We don’t know what to think.”
“Aliens. With probes,” Timber said.
Mac ignored him. “Trevor put Sebastian in charge of finding Abigail White, and anyone related to her, and you two will help him.”
“Got it,” Timber said.
“You’re also taking over his foxen investigation.”
Timber looked at Canyon, who was nodding confidently.
“Can do,” Timber said.
“Roger that,” Canyon said.
Mac searched their faces, eyes squinted, like he thought they were full of shit, then he turned and left.
Pancake Place? Canyon asked.
Timber nodded sharply. “It’s the perfect place to discuss this new assignment—and I have to show you a video Sebastian brought by yesterday. It’ll blow your mind.”
Let’s go.
Canyon picked up his phone, and they headed out the door, talking as they went.