Page 39 of Prey

I hear someone whistle low in appreciation and turn to see Joaquin and Laken walk in.

Laken winks at me. “Hello, princess,” he says. Kadi and Ethan growl. He just smirks at them and wiggles his fingers at them. Joaquin walks over to me and does a couple circles around me and whistles again. “Hello, Shiva,” he says.

Wait what?

“Um, how do you know that?”

“Oh, I met him years ago.” He waves a hand as if it’s inconsequential.

“Well I guess that does explain why he mentioned you then when he talked to me just a few minutes ago.”

Joaquin cocks his head but doesn’t ask what was said. I’m sure he doesn’t need to. Something tells me whatever happened is still ingrained in his mind.

“The other guys are waiting outside. We came in for orders and to see if you all are ready yet,” Laken says. That's when I notice the daisho he carries. One is a katana, the other what’s called a wakizashi. The wakizashi is a smaller sword and the katana he carries is long. Was he a samurai? He sees me looking at his swords and does a little Japanese bow in my direction.

“Laken, how old are you?” I ask, though I already know the answer. He has to be at least four-hundred years old.

“I am four-hundred and sixty years old.”

Holy shit. A real fucking samurai? Why didn’t the guys tell me about that? Jessa is going to flip shit. She and I have always been obsessed with Japanese culture. Emmett too. We all love anime and when we were kids we soaked up every bit of Japanese knowledge we could get our hands on.

“You know how I said Jessa was gonna be hard to win over?”

He nods.

“Just show her those. She will nerd out and you’ll be in.”

He laughs and shares a look with Joaquin. Hmm. I wonder what that’s about. Well, whatever it is, it’s a question for another day.

“He is being held here at Logan’s parents’ hardware store. In the basement. This is the address,” I tell them, flipping my phone around so they can see it. Joaquin starts.

“What?” I ask.

“We have been there, many, many times, and I never picked up any vibes like that.” He frowns.

“Don’t worry, I don’t think you ever ran into his parents. When we were together he said they were always away travelling, so whoever is working the store isn’t them. I’m also sure there’s going to be a barrier hiding the basement from magic users and supes that come into the store.”

He nods.

“I’m going to bring their barrier down before we go in. It will alert them to a breach so depending on where they are, we may have hours or just minutes to get in and out. Do you have any Fae in the Club? Are they with you?” I ask.

Joaquin nods and says, “We actually brought Alaric with us. He’s a Fae. We always use him for a lookout since he can let us know telepathically if anyone is coming.”

“Perfect. Exactly what I was after. I’m going to give Jessa a call too, before we leave so she can be on standby at Supe General. My dad is in bad shape and I might need to get him to her fast. Can one of the vamps handle that? I’ll need their speed,” I ask.

They both nod.

“That’s about as much as we can plan for now until we get there and see what the situation is. Go in, locked and loaded, grab my dad, and then get the hell out of there.” I clap my hands and then head up the basement stairs, everyone following me.

When we get to the top, all the guys pass me, and head outside, but Grams grabs my hand. “Please be careful Shasta. They can’t get a hold of you, but if they do, you remember the bond breaking spell right?”

We learn that as one of our first spells as a teen. Once we reach a certain age it becomes more of a priority. I nod. “You know I do; youarethe one that taught me, Grams.”

She sighs. Hugging me, she says again, “Please just be careful. I love you, my beautiful granddaughter.”

I hug her tightly and then follow my guys out the door.

Chapter twenty-one

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