Page 10 of Warwick

I spotted Jules as well as Grayson and immediately made my way over to them. Once there, I noticed that Orin and Jai were around the corner a bit, sitting on another love seat talking. I longed to be able to go over and hang out and talk, but I had next to nothing in common with them. So I moved closer to Jules, and when he glanced my way and smiled, I felt relief. When he paused whatever it was he was saying to Grayson, I wondered if I’d interrupted something important that I really didn’t need to hear.

I offered an uncomfortable grin before I took a step away. “You should join us, Cecil,” Grayson said.

I looked over to Jules. “Is that all right?”

“Of course it is,” Jules said. He patted the couch beside him, and when I moved to sit there, it wasn’t three seconds until Jai and Orin were walking toward us. I moved as far away from Jules as I could, allowing Orin enough room to sit beside his mate. I wasn’t at all surprised when Jai simply plopped down on Grayson’s lap, his legs dangling off the arm of the chair his own mate had been sitting in.

“Did you two decide on next week’s plans?” Jules asked.

“Maybe. We’ve narrowed it down to two,” Orin said. “It will really depend on Elliot and where he’s willing to take us.”

“We’re thinking his cabin in Alaska though. It will be wonderful to play in the snow and swim in the sea,” Jai added.

“Does your panda swim in just-above-freezing water, Jai?” Jules asked with a chuckle in his voice.

“Pandas are excellent swimmers. It’s true that I’ve never swam in my panda form in the Bering Sea, but I’m game for it if Elliot wants to take us there. I’m actually just wanting to go and play in the snow. He takes Troy frequently, and he always seemed so relaxed after he comes back from a long weekend there.”

Grayson snorted. Jai looked at his mate. “That’s not because he’s spent the weekend swimming. They were without their four kids,” Grayson said. Jai seemed to pick up on what his mate was implying quick enough. When he did, he rolled his eyes.

“Fine. Maybe we should just go to somewhere warm and sunny, and we can lie on a tropical beach for a weekend,” Jai suggested.

“That would be nice,” Orin added. “What would you rather do, Cecil?”

“Me?” Jai and Orin both nodded at me. “I’m really more of a homebody. My bear likes the snow and cold water though, so I’d probably opt for Alaska. Or Russia. I’ve not been back there in a long time.” I didn’t really miss it all that much. Not really. My friends that I did have were all mostly mated and had families of their own. I’d never looked for my mate. There truly was no use.

“You two can decide about your weekend away without your broods later. It’s time to eat,” Grandpa Lev said as he came over and joined us. He held out a hand to me, and I took it, suddenly finding myself being pulled from the couch.

I sent my parents another glance, and although they were walking toward the group, they wouldn’t even look my way. Not really unusual for them. I truly felt as if I was the unwanted child. I simply shook my head and followed the others to the large table. I could make it through one meal with my parents.

Chapter 5

Warwick

“What are the chances we can enter that place and get to the coven master?” Atticus asked as we were standing across the street from the office building I’d tracked Dominic to. I snorted at his question.

“You aren’t serious, are you?”

“I sort of was. But Brice would probably have my ass if I attempted it.” I snorted again. Atticus looked at me and shook his head. “Shut up. Fine. So we can’t go in there and look for the coven master.”

I rolled my eyes. “Since when did two hellhounds ever enter into an unknown situation once we were all working for the council?”

“Valid point. It wasn’t unheard of for one of us to leap first into an unknown situation before coming to this realm though.”

That was true. All of us had been like that. If not, we were simply removed from existence. I wasn’t sure why we had been sent here, but I guess I was happy rather than having been killed like so many others. Perhaps our creator simply wished for us to be banished here so we would cause so much havoc on his sister’s paranormals. Who knew except him?

“So what is the plan?” I asked Atticus.

“Well, we’re here to talk to Dominic and then take him back to Treasure Ridge. Master Edison will be watching over him closely. The coven here isn’t registered, which is going to make things more difficult. But Salvatore and his team are going to be looking into everything related to RC Transport. If your guy Dominic isn’t overly useful with information, we’ll have to figure out how else to get it. But I have faith in Salvatore. He managed to stay ahead of Orson and Marvin for years. I’m sure he can dig up more about Master Conti than the coven master expects.”

I thought about it a moment before nodding. Atticus tilted his head again, and we started walking away from the building. “Dominic said he was in marketing. I’m not sure what all he’ll have information-wise.”

“That’s fine. Any set of names he can provide will help.”

“True.”

“We need to make sure his family is relocated.”

I made eye contact with someone as they walked by, but when I pushed out, they didn’t give off any sort of paranormal aura. But when you were as tall and large as I was, it wasn’t unusual for me to draw attention. “He said he’s an only child, and his parents are gone. He’s not a young warlock.”

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