Page 17 of Hellfire

“Who’s this friend?” I snuck another cookie and bit off half of it.

Gable set his phone aside. “He’s one of us.”

The soldier in me demanded to know what side Gable’s contact played on. “Magical one of us? Shifter one of us? Ex-snake one of us?”

“Relax your handsome head.” Gable clapped the side of my arm. “He’s the first two and a bit more.”

“More?” I shoved the soppy cookie in my mouth.

“You’ll find out.” His promise tested me to trust him again.

I pressed both hands over my heart. “Aww. You called in a favor for me?”

Gable thumped me with the back of his hand. “Why not? We’re pseudo-friends. Practically family.”

At first, I hated his sense of humor. Now, I cracked out a laugh, appreciating it. “I’m touched you wasted it on me.” I slid out the encrypted Guild phone I brought him. “Got this for you. Use this when you call us from now on. I programmed all our numbers on it.”

“Awww.” He shaped his forefingers and thumbs into the shape of a love heart. “I’m one of you guys now!”

Yeah, he absolutely was.

I lifted my mug in toast. “To Team Rogue!”

CHAPTER 7 - TALON

Thirty minutes and another half a packet of cookies later, Gable’s contact strolled into his apartment, ushered in by the warlock. Hints of ink showed through his designer white t-shirt and on his hands. Ancient letters that looked like hieroglyphs. His tattooed fingers were heavy with biker rings. Thick, curled black hair framed his face. Amber eyes examined us from beneath dark lashes. The bronze of his skin and dark features pinned him of Middle Eastern descent. He was taller than Gable, about six-four, but a few inches smaller than me. No less deadly by the steel in his observant gaze.

Gable did a little introduction, stuffing tobacco into his pipe. “Castor, this is Talon. Castor is the enforcer of the Jackals’ Wrath MC.” He took a drag on the pipe end. “Talon is in charge of security at the Academy.”

Our kind? Hardly. The senior leaders of the Jackals were demigod bikers with shifting abilities. Avatars, I think they called themselves. I didn’t quite understand it. Whatever the fuck they were, the Guild crossed paths with them on our hunt to exterminate forbidden shifters born from gantii breeding with humans, like the werewolves hiding in the region. After the Jackals got involved, warning us not to fuck with them orthe shifters they aligned with, we stayed out of their business and they ours. We didn’t need enemies packing the powers of the Egyptian gods. That was four years back, before my appointment as Darnax.

Castor and I hadn’t met before. He must be a new addition to the club. Outwardly friendly, extending a palm to shake, he exuded calm, but on the inside, I sensed a darkness not to cross that made him perfect for the Jackals. I slapped my palm into his, intent on staying on his good side, having seen what the Jackals’ president could do during our last run-in.

“Tell me about this mystery, Talon.” Castor reclined in the one-seater, his gaze raking over Mary. “And get me those cookies you promised, warlock. I need fuel for this brain.”

“That’s my sister. Long story.” Gable brought the plastic bag of them over, set them on the coffee table, and gestured at me to go for it.

I took the seat beside Castor’s, shifting my angle to address him. “We’ve had some recent invasions, made practical by infiltrators who spread Fae dust to send gargoyles to sleep and charm the cameras to not record.”

Castor made a hmph sound and hoed into his cookie.

Gable sat on the arm of the three-seater to not disturb his sister, who curled into a ball, pulling her blanket higher at another stranger’s presence. “Do you think you could do your thing and get my man here his traitor?” He patted Mary’s feet, and she wriggled.

“Don’t insult my ability.” The Enforcer’s eyes glowed golden.

“What’s his thing?” I asked, needing to know the particulars.

“Hacking.” Gable grinned and rubbed his hands.

I lurched to my feet. “No. Tell him to stop.”

Fuck, it was just like Gable not to give all the details to make an informed decision, and I was the idiot desperate enough for a lead to ask.

I moved to grab Castor and shake him out of whatever he did. The Academy couldn’t afford anyone snooping into their security system. Ours was light years ahead of human technology since we had the best scientific minds like Cole onboard, but I wasn’t taking the chance that we had a weakness somewhere in the system that allowed a hacker to search through our set-up to mimic it and sell it to the highest bidder.

Gable grabbed me by my jacket and stopped me. “Whatever security you’re trying to protect, he can bypass it. That’s his god’s function.”

“God? I thought he was one.”

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