Page 92 of The Wild Charge

Hunter.

Tenny, this is my sister, Kristin Hunter.

A driver’s license, as fake but as well-done as Tenny’s own. Reese’s staring face. His name: Reese Daniel Hunter.

A buzzing started up in the back of Tenny’s head; it sent pain darting through his teeth. “Hunter. Is he yourfather?”

“I don’t know,” she said, sounding helpless, frustrated. “Our mother handed over our birth certificates when she sold us to him, and he burned them. He gave us his name – just like he did with all his people – so things would be easier, he said. We could travel as a family that way. But I don’t think he is…at least, I hope he isn’t. Only DNA could tell you.” She paused, while Tenny’s heart tried to beat its way out of his chest. “Why?”

He shook his head, though she couldn’t see. “Are you alone?”

“Oh, um. No. Roman’s here.”

“Good. Keep him there. He’s useless but he’s better than nothing.”

“Tenny, wait, what’s–”

He disconnected and upended the bottle.

Twenty-Four

“You hired security?”

“Of course I did.” Eden looked affronted. “A firm in New York, to meet us at the hotel, and a firm here, for tomorrow. They’ll arrive in the morning to escort us to the private airfield.”

“Private airfield?” Albie asked.

Raven huffed. “Are you just going to parrot everything I say, Albert? Honestly. Yes, I have security, and yes, they’ll be escorting Cassandra and I to the private airfield, where we’ll be taking a private jet to New York. Ian’s taking us.”

Walsh blinked. “OurIan?”

“I said family – he’s club family, is he not? Or has your trust in him waned?” She sent a challenging look around the island, daring them all to deny that Ian had, despite everything, become a valuable and trustworthy member of the extended Dogs family.

“It’s not the worst idea,” Fox said, finally, when it became apparent no one else would.

She nodded, and calmed a little. “I called him last week and sorted everything. I knew that all of you had too much to worry about already, and that Ian had plenty of money and resources at his disposal. It seemed like the perfect solution.”

“Key word beingseemed,” Walsh said.

“Oh, what do you know?” she said. “You’re drunk.”

~*~

Tenny gave up on pacing, and took his bottle to sit in the plush leather chair behind the desk, elbows braced on the blotter.Hunter. The name scrolled through his brain like a newsfeed ticker.Breaking News: Your Boyfriend’s Old Handler Might Be His Father.

Blame it on the alcohol in his system, but he needed to know if that was true or not. He needed to know when he killed this guy if he was Reese’s blood father. Not that it would matter either way, but he craved the knowledge. It felt important, somehow.

What he did next could also be blamed on the alcohol. With far less hesitation than he would have had while sober, he dialed Ian.

“Shaman,” he answered, crisp and efficient. A voice sounded in the background, indistinct; kitchen noises. Ian was at home.

Once again, Tenny found his throat tightening, speech oddly difficult. “Ian.”

Immediately, Ian’s voice shifted – became more real, but also uncertain. Questioning. Only a few people knew his real name, and Tenny’s number wasn’t one of the ones programmed into his phone. “Yes? Who is it?”

He swallowed. “It’s Tennyson.”

“Oh.” A hand over the phone, hushed conversation, then footsteps. A door clicked, and then it was quiet. Ian said, “What do you need, darling?”

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