Page 76 of Wicching Hour

Tyler put his hand over his mouth. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes,” I said. “That was my first prophesy. Afterward, I asked my mom for gloves. I didn’t like seeing my poor Aunt Bridget being torn apart by a demon. Let’s just say it put a damper on the party. It also became clear that I was in fact a Cassandra wicche.”

“Wow,” Tyler said, shaking his head. “Anyway, back to my point.” He looked at Declan. “Alexander appreciated our strength and loyalty to him. We were pack. Personally, though, he didn’t want to know about us as a mated pair.” He glanced at Jake and then back. “I could be wrong, but you seem to have his strength without his closed-minded arrogance.”

Declan didn’t say anything for a moment. “You know more about him than I do. They were both killed when I was small. I have feelings of warmth and love at the thought of them, but I don’t have any specific memories of either of them.”

“Let me look through albums,” Jake said. “I’m sure we have pictures we can give you.”

I felt Declan’s heart race.

“Do you?” He swallowed. “Thank you very much.”

Jake nodded.

“We can go to my place and look for chairs. Jake, Tyler, I have an apartment over my workshop and retail space. I’m still mid-construction, so it isn’t furnished, but it’s all yours until the bodyguarding job is done. It’ll save you time driving up and back to the Big Sur mountains.”

“Sounds good,” Tyler said, nodding at his partner.

“Well, wait until you see it before you decide.” Declan turned back to me and my empty platter. “Are you good to go?”

“Yup.” I went back through the studio door. “Let me put this down and grab my backpack.”

Declan’s property was quite literally across the road and down maybe three hundred yards.

Tyler pointed to their loot. “What about?”

“I can get it when we come back. It all needs a lot of wrapping so nothing breaks on the way home. And the gallery is only open on the weekends, so no one will be in to move your things.”

We filed onto the deck and I flicked my fingers to lock the gallery up. Leaning over the railing, I called, “You’re in charge, Cecil. I’m going over to Declan’s for a bit.”

Tyler waited to see if anything happened. Sure enough, Cecil’s orange tentacle slapped the surface. Shaking his head and grinning, Tyler followed me to the parking lot. Already, Jake and Tyler had split up, one in front of me and one behind.

I really hoped we’d be able to come up with a plan tonight. As much as I liked Jake and Tyler, I didn’t want them following me around all the time. A girl needs to have some secrets.

THIRTY-FOUR

A Seahorse Love Token

Tyler went to get his duffle bag and then he and Jake jumped into Declan’s truck bed. Declan drove us the short trip over, where construction continued.

“I’m sorry you’ve been missing your own renovation,” I said.

He squeezed my gloved hand. “That’s why I have a crew. They’re working, whether I’m here or not. Kenji keeps his hand in, and I’ve got a couple of my pack working on the crew. Come on,” he said, opening his door. “You haven’t seen it since it was a disaster zone. I want you to see the progress.”

I opened my door, slid out, and found three big werewolves surrounding me. I held up my hands. “I’m good, guys. At ease.” I felt a prickle at the back of my neck and turned to the road. “That’s him.”

All three turned, and then Jake started running. The podcasting stalker had his window down and his phone up to record me. Declan’s arm went over my shoulder and across my heart. Tyler stood in front of me, so I had to lean around him to see what was going on.

Jake ran across the street, not even pausing to check traffic, which was insane. The stalker’s eyes went comically round as Jake grabbed the door and leaned in the window.

Tyler and Declan laughed.

“What?” I asked. Their hearing was ridiculous.

“Jake told him that if he ever saw him hanging around you again, he’d rip off his head and shove it up his ass,” Tyler said. “He’s very good at growling intimidation. The guy seems to just be whining. Jake told him to get the fuck out of here and never come back.”

The stalker floored it, his car fishtailing onto the road. Other drivers had to slam on their brakes and honk. Amid the chaos, Jake jogged back.

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