The Pixie in the Pickle Jar (Groom & Doom #4)

Chapter 1

one

There are some things in life nothing can prepare you for, and I was experiencing one of those moments.

That, or I was dreaming. No. Scratch that.

My imagination wasn’t this good. Normal people didn’t dream about their best friend galloping around the bases at an empty ballfield on the back of a polar bear while screaming “Do you see this, Ma?” at the cloudless sky.

From what Sloane had shared about her parents, they were probably rolling in their graves over her antics.

“How embarrassed are you that you chose that as your best friend?”

This was more proof I was wide awake. Otherwise, Rían—not Liam—would be standing next to me.

Probably wearing his little crop top tee and those gray capri sweatpants.

Mmm.

No. Bad Ana. Must stay focused. Sloane would break her neck without adult supervision.

Still. Rían would have gotten a kick out of this.

Too bad the wards coming down today had rolled him out of bed around four this morning.

Not that I had grown so attuned to his soft footsteps, each one meant to shield Goldie from his crazy work hours, that he woke me padding down the hall past my room.

“That chose me,” I informed Liam with a smirk, shifting my weight on the boxy red and white cooler I was using as a bench, “and I’m grateful for her every day.”

He gave a noncommittal grunt, but he didn’t take his eyes off her either.

More often lately, I got the feeling he wasn’t watching her for the same reasons as me.

And I don’t just mean so he could film her wiping out in spectacular fashion to share with all his friends.

“How much longer until the wards come down?”

“About two hours.” He clenched his jaw as Sloane attempted to stand between Jess’s shoulder blades like a stunt rider from a Wild West show. “I came to make sure you’ve got your phone on you.”

The fact Sloane was out here acting the fool hadn’t earned me an in-person visit, I was sure.

“Goldie left it out for me.” I patted my right front pocket. “After she added her number to my contacts.”

“That reminds me.” He snapped his fingers. “Fayne is hosting a gathering for the clan later today.”

“I got my marching orders this morning.” I stretched a kink out of my neck, the result of Sloane stealing my pillow last night. “Goldie left me a snack to-do list. I have a lot of baking ahead of me as soon as this wraps.”

Walsh clan kids had mandatory attendance so that Rían could explain the new safety rules.

That perked his mood, if the hand on his stomach was any indication. “How long have they been at it?”

“About an hour.” I checked the timer on my cell. “I’m giving Sloane fifteen more minutes before I call it.”

“Probably for the best.” He flinched when her wobbly handstand resulted in her faceplanting against the bear’s fluffy butt. “Shifter healing mends a lot of injuries, but she’s going to break her neck at this rate.”

Hearing him echo my concern was oddly comforting, but I clutched another big-ticket worry too.

“Polar bears overheat fast in this weather, so her neck is on borrowed time.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it.” He rocked back on his heels. “Keep an ear out for a text from the clan-wide messaging system. It’ll alert you when the wards are down and the tech is up, okay?”

“Hey.” I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Can you give me Rían’s number?”

“You don’t have it yet?” He held out his hand, and I slapped my phone across his palm. “I figured he would have tattooed it on the inside of your wrist.”

“He wrote it on the underside of my bra strap as a safety precaution before I entered Sartori territory.” I had forgotten about it until his question sank in.

I tried hard not to think about the day Carmichael struck me for the first time, shattering any illusions I harbored that he loved me and not my potential.

“Now that I think about it, I doubt it survived the fallout.”

I hadn’t been in great shape when I got back to Brentwood, and neither had Sloane. She had been in her wolf form, so no clothes. I was sure mine had been trashed after they stripped me down for treatment.

“That reminds me.” I braced myself for his answer. “Have the drones uncovered anything yet?”

Not that Liam required an excuse to play with his drone collection, but he had dispatched several to search for hints of where Carmichael had gone as soon as we heard the news that Mercer let him go.

“We’ve narrowed down his likely hidey-holes, but we haven’t caught movement coming or going from them yet. There’s one on tougher terrain with thick cover from the forest with thirty percent visibility. I’m betting that’s the area where we’ll find him.”

“Text me if you spot him.”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

“Behind the operator, you, Rían, and…?”

“You’ll be top five, okay?” Thumb frozen above the screen, he hesitated a moment to stare me down. “Just swear to me you and Rían won’t be one of those couples who converse only in emojis.”

“I make no such promises.”

This would be my first opportunity to do mushy couple texty stuff, and I wasn’t missing out on the fun.

“Ugh.” Typing away, he wrinkled his nose with less rancor than usual. “Keep me out of it.”

“It’s Sloane you have to worry about.” I rubbed my hands together. “Now that I know your kryptonite.”

One word from me, and she would flood his inbox with enough emojis to drown him.

“It would be a pity if something were to happen to her phone.”

“It would be a pity if I walked two blocks to Horizon and got her a new one on my lunch break.”

“It would be a pity if—”

“—I bought insurance so every time it broke the carrier had to replace it for free?”

A growl tickled the back of his throat, but he didn’t have a comeback handy for that eventuality.

“Ana?” Sloane galloped over on her faithful, furry steed. “Everything okay over here?”

“Fine.” I waved her on then called out, “Ten minutes left.”

Gratitude burned in Jess’s dark eyes even as Sloane draped over her neck in a dramatic pout.

“Here.” Liam sighed, long and loud. “I added all the other important numbers you’ll need too.”

“Thanks.” I pocketed my phone. “See you at the party?”

“As long as things go according to plan, yeah.” He saluted me then pivoted on his heel. “Later, Coz.”

The fact Liam deployed Goldie’s newest favorite trick, though she called me Big Sis, made me suspicious.

She wielded the heartwarming endearment like a blade when she wanted something from me.

Liam had yet to weaponize his nickname for me, but I sensed it coming the way a rising storm lifted your hackles.

With my phone an odd weight in my pocket, I hadn’t thought to snap any photos of Sloane living her dream, so I commemorated her final victory lap then whistled through my teeth to snag Jess’s attention.

The great bear’s shoulders slumped at the signal, and she smacked the dirt hard on her stomach.

Sloane vaulted off Jess’s back, twirling her way toward me with her arms held out to her sides.

“This was the best day of my life,” she panted, breathless. “Nothing will ever top this moment.”

“Glad to hear it.” I rose, cracking open the cooler, and tossed her two bottles of water. “For Jess.”

The state of her valiant steed kicked her into high gear as she raced to twist off the lids and pour the water down Jess’s parched throat. As soon as those ran dry, Sloane secured two more from me.

“She still doesn’t look that great.” Sloane scratched under Jess’s chin. “Oh. Hey. I have an idea.”

“Hmm?”

“You know those hard plastic kiddie pools we put out for Petpalooza in the summer? We always fill them with ice and water for dogs to drink and splash in? What if we fill one for Jess?”

“You’re asking the wrong person.” I gestured to the panting bear. “What do you think?”

With a low groan bordering on a plea, Jess nodded her giant head, begging for relief.

“Sloane, walk her to GSG.” I checked the time. “I’ll run ahead and get a couple of pools prepped for her.”

“I can do one better.” Her eyes brightened.

“Seamus has the biggest, most ridiculous pickup truck I’ve ever seen.

It’s been magically reinforced to handle shifters in their animal forms. He can swing by and give us a lift.

” She chewed her bottom lip. “Can you get word to him? I don’t want to leave Jess alone. ”

“No problem.” I dusted off the seat of my pants. “Take the cooler with you, if you don’t mind.”

The ballpark was on the edge of town, so I had a ways to go to reach GSG. I wasn’t sure where Liam had gone, but he tended to walk everywhere he went. He didn’t have much of a head start, just ten minutes, so I filled my lungs with air and let my senses off leash.

The smell of him was familiar, carrying hints of Rían in his scent, and I followed that trail to a building in a strip mall that might have once been a hardware store.

I couldn’t recall for certain, it had sat empty for too long, and its sign had been removed, leaving only a sun-bleached hint of what the words once read.

As I drew closer, the men and women standing on the sidewalk, dressed in black tactical outfits, sneaked glances at me from the corners of their eyes.

Sensations prickled over my skin, reminding me of how the pack had judged me without breathing a word in my direction.

The more vocal observers commented on everything from my appearance to my lack of abilities to Carmichael’s plans for a successor since I was a dud.

Had they forgotten I could hear as well as them? That I had shifter traits even without an animal spirit? Or had they simply not cared how deep their sharp words cut me? Something told me it was the latter, not the former.

These stares weren’t hostile or pitying, I didn’t think. I couldn’t work up the nerve to check. I was too afraid of what I might find when I was already rallying my courage to wade through them to the door.

Stuck to the window was a paper that read:

ENFORCER HQ.

Kitchens and More moved across town.

Enter at your own whisk.

“Are you Ana Sartori?”