Page 12 of Warwick

I shrugged. We were in the bedroom. I found the bookshelf, and although it had been tipped forward, it didn’t appear that they’d destroyed anything in it. I quickly righted it, putting the books back, and sent it and the books to the secure storage the council had. Atticus had several bags suddenly packed on the bed and was shaking his head.

“What?”

“Do you think it’s all warlocks and vampires with the suits? Or just some?” he asked and then pointed to the bags. “Three of those are suits.”

I snorted. There were only five bags on the bed. Three were obviously garment bags, and that would be where the suits were. “Master Edison is always in a suit. Same as Master Ambrosius. You’d have to ask them if it’s a requirement or something.”

Atticus gave me a look as if I had lost my mind. I shrugged before moving to the closet, which was now empty. “Where do you think this box is?”

Atticus joined me. “The message said it’s hidden in the wall on the right side.”

I gestured to the closet and stepped back. There was no way I was going to be able to fit my massive frame in the closet, so I let Atticus step in. I was glancing at the bags on the bed, wondering how he’d gotten all of those clothes in the closet, when Atticus stepped out and held out a box.

“What’s in it?”

“Not sure. It’s sealed with his magic. I don’t detect any sort of tracker, but he could be blocking that. I’ll let him open it in front of Master Edison at the storage facility.” Atticus tossed the box toward the bed, and it disappeared before it landed on the luggage. “You ready?” he asked. “Sorry to say your vacation is going to be readjusted. You’ll need to go back to the council for a day before you can continue on with your time off.”

I glared at Atticus. “I’m done with vacation. I want on this assignment. I was the one who happened onto it. I should be assigned to it.”

Atticus nodded. “I’ll mention it to Master Edison.” Atticus didn’t pick our assignment rotation, but I knew he understood my statement. This was most likely going to be a large assignment and would require several enforcers. There was a lot to unpack, and it was going to take some time. I glanced around the room again. Time didn’t seem as if it were something we had a lot of.

“What about him?” I asked.

“We’re to leave him. The coven will most likely send others here when those four don’t return and don’t check in. The coven will find him dead and the others missing. Master Edison wants to see how the coven master reacts.” Atticus held up his phone. “Back to your room, and once you’re packed, we can head back to Montana.”

I nodded before I left Dominic’s apartment and then reappeared in my hotel room. It was empty except for my things, which were still mostly packed. I hadn’t unpacked much, and with a little magic, that was taken care of, and then I left my key card on the dresser and thought about home. I was instantly standing in my place behind the council building, and after dropping my bag, I popped over to the council building’s entrance.

“Slater,” I said as I entered. He looked at me with wide eyes.

“I thought you were on vacation?”

“I was. Things changed. Is Atticus around?”

Slater shook his head. “Haven’t seen him. Was he supposed to be here?”

I didn’t know for certain. I couldn’t believe I’d beat him back. Unless he’d not come back to the council building. It was possible he had gone to the storage facility.

“Thanks,” I told him before I turned and walked back out of the building. Once outside, I pulled out my phone and texted Atticus.

Me: Did you make it back?

Seconds later, I got my reply.

Atticus: Yes. I’m with Master Edison and the others. You are to take the rest of the day off.

My beast and I were irritated when I read that reply.

Atticus: You’re not being excluded. You just need to wait. I’ll come by later. But you weren’t supposed to be working.

Even more irritation. It was starting to border into anger.

Atticus: Master Edison said you will be able to work this assignment. Just tomorrow after a plan has been formulated.

I took a deep breath and calmed myself. I could live with that. I wasn’t being excluded, which made my beast happy. I would be able to help with this assignment, which I assumed would be several weeks at minimum. That was exactly what I was looking for. I needed to be busy, and a longer assignment would work perfectly.

Since I was home early and didn’t have anything to do until I could be caught up tomorrow, I decided to go for a run. I glanced at my place as I walked through and shook my head. I hadn’t forgotten that I was going to make it nicer. I would do that after a long run. I knew how to decorate. Sort of. But I’d just never bothered because… I stopped with my hand on the back doorknob. Why hadn’t I decorated? I always enjoyed things when I visited others, so why hadn’t I put in the effort to make my place nice?

I didn’t have an answer, and that had me thinking. I shook my head, and after stepping outside, I knelt down and shifted. I shook out my fur and took off, immediately sprinting toward Dragon Falls. I wasn’t planning on going to the falls though, just in that general direction.

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