Page 24 of Gray
“Sleep,”Sloth whispered.
And then, I did.
Chapter Four
Mason
My plan for the morning had just gone up in flames. I should’ve been on the road, heading south to a new town. Off on another hunt. Instead, I was holding a blond-haired cutie after he’d passed out in my arms.
And fuck was he cute. Too cute. He had a wide-eyed innocence that brought all my protective instincts to the surface.
I carried him to the passenger side of the truck and placed him on the seat as I figured out what the hell to do. I couldn’t leave him at the café. What if someone mugged him? Tried to hurt him?
“Goddammit.” I expelled a breath before checking his pockets. “Don’t worry. I’m just looking for your pho… Ah, here it is.”
I swiped the lock screen on his phone—not password protected. Nothing to hide or too trusting? His wallpaper was of a cartoon sloth wearing a nightcap. I clicked on the contacts icon and scrolled through the names until I found the one I was after, and then I hit the Call button.
“Gray?” a deep voice answered after a single ring.
“This is Mason Hawk. Gray—”
“The hunter?” he growled. “What happened? Where are you?”
“At the Sunnyside café. Gray’s fine. He fell asleep. I didn’t want to leave him alone.”
A pause. “Stay where you are. I’ll be there soon.”
Beep.The call disconnected.
I stuck the phone back in Gray’s hoodie pocket. A strand of his hair fell across his brow as he slept, and I fought the urge to brush it aside. I shouldn’t be touching him. Shouldn’t even be thinking of touching him. Even if it was an innocent gesture.
It had been too long since my hands had been gentle with anyone.
Not even five minutes later, a black Mercedes Benz pulled into the lot and came to a sharp stop beside my truck. The door opened, and Galen stepped out. The dude was decked out in a black jacket and combat boots and towered over me by at least five inches.
I had researched Nephilim after returning to my motel two nights ago. Not much was known about them. They weren’t even mentioned in the hunter database. But I’d come across a passage from a book on religious mythology that referred to them as monstrous giants.
Gray was far from both of those things. But Galen? He fit that bill to a T.
“Hunter,” Galen said, giving me the up-down. He neared the passenger side and gathered Gray in his arms. Gray instantly clung to him, even while fast asleep. Just like a little sloth. “I appreciate you looking after him until I got here.”
“No problem.” As he began carrying Gray away, a sudden panic clawed at my chest. “Wait.”
Galen turned to look at me. “What?”
The truth? I had no clue. But the thought of never seeing Gray again didn’t sit right with me.
“Are you sure he’ll be okay?”
“You’re worried about him.” It wasn’t a question. Galen’s expression softened just a tad. “Don’t be. It’s nothing to concern yourself with.”
“You say that like it’s easy.”
“What Gray goes through… the drowsy spells and complete immobility… that’s his burden to bear. He’s been dealing with it his entire life.”
“Why?” I asked. Gray’s wild blond hair was poking up, and he looked so fucking adorable. An ache shot through me, like a thin wire sliding across my sternum. “You’re the sons of angels, right? Why—”
“Some things are better left unsaid. You wouldn’t understand anyway. My suggestion? Leave Echo Bay. Forget you ever met us.”
