Chapter 2 #2
“Seamus will be here with Jess and Sloane in about ten minutes.” Liam scowled at his phone, which he had given up on returning to his pocket when it kept on chiming at him. “I’ll stay with you until then.”
“Sounds like you miss the wards already.”
“Brentwood has been a vacation in that sense. No calls, no texts, no emails. It’s been peaceful. People had no clue how good they had it back in the days before cellphones. This twenty-four-seven availability crap is for the birds.”
We reached GSG without further interruption, and Liam hauled the pools out of storage and filled them after ordering me to the break room for a sugary soda and a bag of chips with a questionable sell by date to help me recover from my magical expenditure.
I was tossing my trash when he walked in with sweat dotting his brow.
“Seamus just pulled in, so I’m out.” He stole a bottle of water. “Call if you need me.”
Chugging as he left, he exited the building through the employee entrance, and I headed out the front.
Jess was backing out of the bed of the truck when I hit the sidewalk, the struts creaking with relief at the lightened load. Sloane, her phone camera aimed at Jess’s fluffy bottom, recorded the bear with the next best thing to cartoon hearts pouring out of her eyes.
Until Jess got cooled down, she wouldn’t be able to shift back onto two legs. The stress on her giant body was too great. She ought to eat something too, after expending so much energy humoring Sloane.
“Thanks for bringing them, Seamus.” I met them at the curb. “Any word on Becca?”
“Nothing so far.” He climbed behind the chromed wheel. “I’m heading that way now.”
“Can you text me an update if you get one?” I flashed what I hoped was a winning smile.
Life would be easier if I won over more enforcers with a tighter inside track than Sloane had access to as a new recruit.
“I would visit after I get Jess cooled down, but I promised Goldie to help with refreshments for the kids at tonight’s gathering. ”
“Glad to do it.” He dipped his chin. “Your time is better spent on the wee ones. Their safety is our priority during this transition.” He wiped a hand over his impressive beard.
“Goldie is a clever lass and eager to lend a hand, but children her own age flummox her. She’s always gotten on better with adults, but even then she’s slow to form bonds outside her family.
” He sucked on his teeth. “I’m glad to see she’s taken to you so quickly.
” He hesitated. “Earning that child’s trust, well, it’s not nothing. ”
“She’s a good kid.” I eyed Sloane guiding Jess into the backyard through the side gate. “I’m thinking of asking to apprentice under her. She’s got those self-made millionaire at eighteen vibes. I’m not that ambitious, but it would be nice to grow a nest egg for retirement.”
“You have no idea, do you?” His chuckle turned into a jaw-cracking yawn, proving he had been awake and running last-minute errands for the clan for hours. “Ah, well. I should get going. Lots to do today.”
Lifting my index finger, I rocked forward, about to follow. “No idea about…?”
“Save some snacks for me,” he called, waving as he got in and drove away.
“Sure.” I anchored my hands on my hips. “Glad we had this talk.”
Footsteps pounded out behind me, and Sloane flung her arms around my waist.
“Did you see?” She jumped in a circle, kicking off a best friend mosh pit. “I rode a polar bear.”
Clearly, she had elected to go the distraction route to keep my mind off Becca, and I appreciated the momentary reprieve.
“That was you?” I winced as my teeth clacked together. “I am both shocked and stunned.”
“I’m going to frame that third photo you sent to go on the mantel next to my parents’ urns.”
“I thought you loved your parents…”
“I did. I do. I always will.” She kept bouncing until I crushed a buttercup under my heel. “I only meant it can serve as a symbol of how they taught me to always pursue my dreams.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Because rubbing her rule breaking in her parents’ urns’ faces would be wrong.
Tightness gathered in my chest to see how close she was to them. That even in death, she wanted to share a joke they would have laughed at had they still been here. Probably after they understood Jess wasn’t a wild bear but a shifter.
“Jess is happy in her pools, so I’m going to walk you to Rían’s so you can get started baking.
I saw the list Goldie was working on, and it’s brutal.
You should also be aware there were notes in the margin about a pay-to-play scheme.
I don’t know the details. All I saw was the name: Operation No Child Plays Alone. ”
“Sounds innocent enough.” A smile tickled my lips in curiosity over what that particular child had dreamt up this time. “Rude of you to assume she has an angle.” A snort escaped me. “Okay, I can’t even say that with a straight face. It’s Goldie. Of course there is one.”
“Hmm.” Sloane checked her phone each time it pinged, and every time, a sigh escaped her.
Most everyone else wore the same weary expression, giving the impression it was a habit none of us had missed since the Walsh occupation of Brentwood began.
“Fayne had your supplies brought to her house.” Her eyes closed for a moment. “Your escorts will meet you there.”
Escorts.
A pretty word for guards.
A vise clamped over my chest, making it hard to breathe, but I shook off the uncomfortable sensation.
“Hey.” Sloane gripped my wrist and shook my arm to get my attention. “Look at me.”
With no small amount of effort, I hauled my gaze up to hers, my pulse still pounding.
“This is a temporary safety measure. Just until we see how things go with the wards being down. The guards and extra precautions aren’t forever. Rían is being shadowed. Fayne and Goldie too.” She rolled her eyes at me. “You’re not special.”
A startled laugh burst free, breaking the tension pinching my chest. “Thaaanks.”
“Besties’ primary jobs are to keep each other humble.”
“Consider your job done.”
“You’re welcome.”
Before we left, I checked on Jess, who was belly up in what remained of the bigger pool, which was now split down the sides and mashed flat from her rolling back and forth in the ice. Based on the even rise and fall of her chest, I was convinced she had fallen asleep and decided not to bother her.
The not bothering her part required me fisting the back of Sloane’s pants and dragging her away before the rapid clicking of her camera app woke Jess.
Halfway to Fayne’s, I received the promised update from Seamus, and my grip on Sloane went slack.
>>Becca was poisoned with dragonsbane.