Page 48 of Home to the Hollow

Lost ones gravitate towards large cities with diverse populations—we’re not sure why, but given that the areas where the Society’s various projects are located are rural, it makes sense. A need to escape the grasp of the small and embrace being lost in the new is appealing to those who don’t feel as though they belong.

“Figure it out, O’Flanagan! We select Guardians from the strongest bloodlines, and are raised with immeasurable skills. You do not need us to give you instructions. Your obstinance is tiring. We expect a report by the end of the week.”

The line goes dead and I drop my head. It sucks great yak balls, but the great git on the phone is correct. Chance did not choose this life for me. I’ve earned it every day since I was wee, and I can figure this out. I have a little time before Julia and her men arrive, so I should find that idiot Boone and get started. He can’t ignore a direct order, either, and he’ll have to help me bend the rules to find a fucking supe team that can construct, detail, and then hide a massive building project in a town full of nosey Southerners.

Guess I’ll have to be a miracle worker, huh?

* * *

“Look,leprechaun. I don’t have the time to?—”

“This wasnota request, Boone. They said ‘get Cantwell and Boone to sort it out’. Here I am, and here you are, so sort it out!” I screech, rolling my eyes into the back of my head.

I don’t have the foggiest how this bastard is going to get Peanut to forgive him. He might have had a good reason for hot footing it after they had their moment, but his bloody alpha tendencies were going to be the death of him. Edgar can’t keep his own mouth shut long enough to keep his size thirteen feet out of it. If I know our girl—and I sodding do—she’s going to make him squirm for a dog’s age until she even lets him attempt to explain himself.

“Fine. I’ll go to Jamie and get the deed settled. He can finagle Nelia with some excuse. I’ll even call the bitchy elves for you, but you’re dealing with the pointy-eared little shits. I don’t have the patience or self-control not to eat the damned things when they mouth off,” he growls.

Rolling my eyes, I sigh. I cannot imagine Peanut dealing with one of him, much less him and the other two in tandem. How is she going to wrangle that much dick and attitude without losing her bloody brain cells? The testosterone is drowning me and we’re only on the feckin’ phone. “Thank you, Edgar. I will mention to Peanut how helpful you were.”

“Fuck off, O’Flanagan. I don’t need your help with my drugar. She’ll see reason soon enough.”

“Edgar, you might as well buy stock in tissues if that’s going to be how you handle her. Jolene Athena Whitley willneverlet you tell her what to do. She’s like a bolt of lightning on a spring day—she goes where she wants and shocks the shit out of you when she gets there. But good luck with your grumpy asshole schtick.”

The line goes click on my end this time, and I giggle at myself. I’m not wrong, and even if the good docs get it, this professional moron does not. I cannotwaitto watch Peanut put him in his place.

It’s going to be grand.

Talk of the Town

This morning was a flurry of activity. A house full of animals, people, and food smells filled my senses from when I woke to when I walked out the door. Wolfie and Presley got up and made waffles with an embarrassing amount of fixings. Saoirse flitted about the kitchen like a Disney fairy. We all had to be at important events, so the fashion show before we left killed me.

My first parents’ night at WHFS is tonight, and I’ve been working on my syllabus and displays all week. Presley has a presentation at the lower school; being the town doctor, he’s in charge of vaccination drives and physicals for sports. Wolfie is even more nervous than me. The sheikh arrived, and he’s meeting with Jamie and my baby vet about the training and care plan for Mehdi. I tried to talk him through some of the cultural aspects, but he’s been on pins and needles. Seer chuckled at him and gave me a big wink before she took off on whatever adventure she’s got scheduled.

I haven’t had this many people around in a long time, much less occupying my home as if they’ve moved in. It’s both cozy and weird at the same time. In Richmond, I was almost a hermit. I learned to keep myself busy with training and studying; here, I’m spending an equal amount of time working and socializing with the crew filling my house.

“Mow!”

Turning my head, I look over at Jekyll with a grin. The animals are the biggest change, and the one I’m having the least trouble accepting. Hyde adds her own yowl to her companions before sticking her head out the window again. I know Eury is flying above us, following with her sharp eyes, watching the landscape for threats. I’m not sure that I agree with the guys’ OR my animals’ overprotective stances, but rather than hurt any feelings, I’ve allowed them to fuss over me a little.

See? Even I can bend when I choose—I’m not a complete brat.

The facade of the municipal building comes into view, and I whip into a parking space near the front, humming under my breath. The purpose of this trip is to register Eurayle as a companion animal, but I have a hidden aim as well. My plan is to wander down to the public records section and take a peep at the history of the town. I want to figure out what that ‘hostile takeover’ nonsense Hazel spouted was. I have a feeling that it’s tied to whatever the hell my parents were into. Nothing in this town happens without the Town Council hearing about it, so I figure it’s got to be in the records somewhere.

I stride towards the front of the building, nodding at Eurayle when she finds a suitable perch on a bench outside. They can license her—or whatever—without cramming an enormous bird into an office building, I think. Jekyll and Hyde continue following me, and I chuckle under my breath. Neither of them let me out of their sight unless the guys are in my room, and even then it’s reluctantly. Wolfie has the best luck with getting them to trot off without a lot of glares. I don’t know why, but Prez always gives them a wide berth.

It’s weird, but what the hell about this town, the past week, or my current life isn’t?

The first set of steps is flat, but the second is older. The building is antebellum architecture—brick with a tall, domed clock tower. They’ve added onto it, but someone took great pains to match as much of the original structure as possible. The ornate wooden doors at the entrance look beautiful, but I can’t help thinking that Whistler’s Hollow always feels like it’s frozen in time.

Even in smaller cities across America, they have retrofitted city buildings to include emergency doors that lock and surveillance systems. The fear of mass shooters is real in our country—from the farm to the big metropolis—but our town looks much like I’d imagine it did sixty years ago. If it weren’t for the ‘hip’ new business names, I’d wonder if we lived in a Norman Rockwell painting.

Cold air rushes out as I push the heavy oak open, and I stride into the building with the air of someone that knows what she’s doing. I don’t, but fuck if I’m going to give the gossips here a chance to call me weak. Jekyll and Hyde tippity-tap across the marble floors as we step up to the huge maple desk. Aldous Basil Longworth sits on what has to be a special order desk chair that would make a Wall Street coke fiend weep with jealousy. His smug smile as he looks me over from head to toe makes the servals tense beside me and I try to send some sort of quiet... vibe… that lets them know to behave around this vulture.

“Aldous. It’s lovely to see you again,” I say as I widen my eyes and broaden my smile into the affect of a polite socialite. “How are Ophelia and her children?”

The little shit leans back in his enormous chair, folding his hands over his stomach in a mockery of a power pose. “Why, Jolene Whitley, I’m pleased as punch to see our newest citizen. Ophelia and the heirs are superb—in fact, I daresay they will be on top of their classes yet again this year. What brings you to my neck of the woods?”

I roll my eyes inwardly. School hasn’t started, so his rant about their academic prowess is wasted. Also, I went to school with both Ophelia and Jackson—neither of them were candidates for aMensamembership. However, I smile again, nodding as if I agree. “Excellent news, Aldous. I look forward to meeting them. As for why I’m here, I need to register a third companion. My harpy eagle, Eurayle, showed up at the end of last week, and I’ve been remiss in getting the paperwork done. I apologize for my tardiness while I prepared for students.”

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