Page 94 of Obsessed in Blood
“I suppose you stopped to see Hank.”
“Yes. He didn’t seem very happy.”
Cato grunted as he pulled down two mugs from a cupboard and then a plate. “Loretta left him again.”
“Ah. How long?”
“About three weeks so far. The pool at the bar is up to four hundred dollars on when she’ll return.” Cato opened a canister and placed cookies on the plate.
“Hank suffers from PTSD,” Remus explained to Devon. “He’s fine during the day when he has to be around people. But the nights can be hell when he forgets to take his medication. Loretta puts up with as much as she can then leaves him when it gets too rough. Then Hank goes back on his meds, and Loretta eventually returns.”
Cato poured coffee into the mugs and passed them to Devon and Remus, sliding the plate of cookies toward them. “They’re oatmeal and raisin. And we drink the coffee straight in this house.”
Devon bit into what appeared to be a homemade cookie, nodding his approval. Then chased it with the coffee. “That’s truly exceptional.”
Cato grunted and wiped down the counter. A cat the size of a small poodle jumped onto the counter. It was a hefty, stocky thing with long gray hair and bright green eyes. It sat on its haunches and stared at Devon, its lazy tail wrapped around its front legs, gently flicking as it judged him.
Cato drank his coffee and stared at the cat. After a minute, the cat stretched its long body, licked its lips, then jumped down. It trotted toward the couch, where it jumped up and curled into a ball.
Cato scratched his jaw as he gave Devon another look. “Wasn’t expecting that.”
Devon wasn’t expecting any of this, either, but his only response was to finish the cookie and take another sip of coffee.
“As I said,” Remus started. “We won’t stay long, but what we’ve come to ask won’t be an easy subject.”
The older wolf scratched his chin then rubbed his eyes. “It’s that important?”
“It’s the next step in our mission against Venizi.”
Cato’s gaze turned hard, his fist tightening around his mug until his knuckles turned white and Devon was convinced the mug would shatter. His grip eventually loosened but his eyes lit with an amber glow for a quick second.
Remus didn’t move a muscle, and neither did Devon. If Cato was going to attack, this would be the moment.
“What do you want to know?”
Devon felt Remus relax at the same time his own defenses stood down. Remus nodded to Devon. This was his dime.
“We’ll be infiltrating the island during a social gathering this evening in order to extricate a prisoner who was kidnapped a long time ago. We can get onto the island without a problem, but a safe exit is proving challenging.”
“You want to know about the cave.” Cato looked Devon in the eyes, and he didn’t flinch from the shifter’s steady stare, once again lit with amber.
“Yes.”
Cato grunted then ran a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s been well over a century since I’ve been on the island. He might have men down there for security. But with the current technology, he probably replaced the men with cameras and other security nets.”
“We expect that and have it covered.” When Cato’s brow rose, Devon gave him a wicked smile. “We only need to know how to access them.”
“You have a hacker?”
Once again, Devon was surprised by the shifter. He wondered which of them would be left standing if Remus hadn’t been with him. He nodded at the question. “She’s human.”
Cato dropped his mug to the counter and let out a long, deep laugh. After several seconds, he wiped his eyes. “A vamp that’s working with shifters and humans. I never thought I’d see the day.” He pulled a pad of paper and pen from a drawer. “I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less from Guildford’s son.”
“You knew my father?”
“I met him once, the morning after the island rebellion. He was with Graylord, the lead alpha before Remus, at the meeting place where the shifters were in hiding before being transported out of Venizi’s immediate reach. I never thought I’d see a vamp help shifters. But Graylord spoke to your father with an ease he’d only give an ally.
“I’ve heard rumors over the years of shifters and vamps partnering in business ventures. But I also know vamps who would prefer to put their boots on the necks of shifters once again.”
