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Before I could answer, the front door burst open and interrupted us.

Magnus strode into the house with long strides, like it was taking all of his control not to run. He made a B-line for the kitchen and slammed his hand on the table hard enough to rattle the dishes.

A few sausage links rolled onto the floor, where the dogs in his wake immediately snatched them up.

“Brody,” Magnus practically shouted, oblivious of the dogs at his feet that were stealing our breakfast. “I just heard news about Creed.”

A mix of hope and fear spread across Brody’s face. “Is he…”

He couldn’t even finish the sentence, but his question was clear.

Magnus smiled wide enough to show off a set of dazzlingly white teeth.

“They found him. He’s alive.”

CHAPTER 11

Brody

“What doyou mean they found Creed?”

Hearing my own voice, it sounded like I was upset by the news. Anyone who didn’t know me would have thought I wanted Creed to remain missing. This wasn’t true, obviously. I wanted nothing more than for him to be found, but this sudden turn of good fortune was too abrupt, and I couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

Magnus threw himself into the chair across from me at the table, nearly knocking the whole thing over in the process.

“What’d you think I meant? They found him.”

Taking a deep breath, I fixed the saltshaker, which had fallen over when Magnus joined us. “Explain.”

Beside me, I heard Ellis draw in a sharp breath. He was clearly uncomfortable but refused to say anything. For a moment, I thought there was something wrong between him and Magnus, until I noticed he was staring at the saltshaker still in my hand.

Oh, right.

Wasn’t there some superstition about spilling salt?

I’d never bought into such things myself, but Ellis clearly did. So, just to make him happy, I took a pinch of the salt and threw it over my left shoulder.

Ellis immediately relaxed, and he gave me a grateful smile.

Across the table, Magnus clearly saw the exchange, but chose not to comment on it, focusing instead on the more pressing news about Creed.

“One of my contacts just sent me a message saying that they’ve managed to locate Creed. He’s alive, and as far as they can tell, unharmed.”

“As far as they can tell?” I asked.

At that same moment, Trent also came through the open front door, taking the time to close it behind him before joining the rest of us at the table. “Don’t get your hopes us too much,” he said as he sat down, confirming what I already suspected. “They couldn’t give us much information. There was no explanation about what happened to Creed in the first place. They couldn’t even confirm that he’d been rescued from his supposed captors. All they said was that he’s been located, and that he seems to be all right.”

Magnus slumped low in his chair, arms crossed over his broad chest. “At least it’s good news. Yesterday, we didn’t know if Creed was alive or dead. Now, we know he’s okay.”

“And I’m happy about that,” I insisted, resisting the urge to reach across the table and grab Magnus’s hand. I’d leave the physical comfort to Trent. “I’m just going to hold back oncelebrating until we know exactly what’s going on. But you’re right. This is good news. So long as Creed is alive and well, then he’ll definitely find a way back to us.”

A smirk lit up Magnus’s face, bringing back the light in his blue eyes that had momentarily dimmed. “That bastard is probably already working on a plan. If the military hasn’t rescued him yet, they better get on it, or he’ll take care of the job himself.”

I nodded along. “It wouldn’t surprise me if getting captured was all part of some plan of his to begin with.”

I said it as a joke, and we both laughed, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to wonder.

Could Creed have orchestrated his own capture?