Page 2 of Secrets at Dawn
“Toby, no!” Dad growled the words as if he had both wolf shifter and warlock blood like Toby. But that wasn’t the case. Dad had always said he was just an ordinary warlock. He’d said he wasn’t special like Toby, but Toby always thought his dad was the most special person on earth.
The hunter disappeared as if he had never been there.
The other hunters stilled, blinking and sucking in a breath. Their eyes were wide as they stared at the spot where their friend had been. “What did that freak do to Mark?” The man who had been in the middle recovered quicker than the other one. He aimed his gun at Dad. His expression hardened, and he repeated his question. “What did he do?”
Dad got a shot off but aimed over the man’s head, not wanting to kill anyone. “He’s still alive.”
“You won’t be, fucking freak.” It was then that Toby realized the hunters thought Dad had made their friend disappear.
Toby didn’t have time to conjure another vanishing spell. He covered his head when the shots rang out, falling to the ground, trying to make himself as small as possible.
The shooting stopped, and the forest stilled.
Toby stood. The two remaining hunters were dead, and his dad struggled to breathe.
Toby’s chest tightened and his stomach rolled as he scrambled to his dad’s side. That he could made him realize the dome had disappeared. His dad was too weak to keep the magic going. Toby took off his coat and pressed it to the bloody spot in the center of his dad’s abdomen.
“Hang on, Dad.” Toby could make his dad vanish into a hospital, although he wasn’t sure what one looked like. He’d only heard about them from the stories his dad had told him about Toby’s birth. “I don’t know what to do.”
Dad shook his head. “I said… never.”
Toby’s tears made icy trails down his cheeks. They felt frozen to his skin. He tried to wipe them away, but only succeeded in smearing Dad’s blood on his face.
“Tell me how to help you.”
Dad shook his head. Blood coated his mouth, spilling out when he choked on it. “No-not… going to… make it.”
Toby sobbed. The tightening in his chest got worse. “Yes, you are. You have to.”
Toby pressed harder, trying to keep the blood in Dad’s body. That was the only thing that would keep him alive. He laid his head on Dad’s chest. “No. Please. You can’t.”
Dad patted his shoulder, keeping it there until the life left his body.
Chapter One
Griffin Palmer hated crowds. It took a lot to get him in a bad mood, but the fastest way possible was to stick him among a bunch of congregated people. That it was the Fortune Falls pack meeting sent his mood sinking even further. But his dad needed the extra backup. It still wasn’t saying much since one guy growled at another, baring his teeth.
Griffin threw up a black wall between them before they started tearing each other apart. “Anyone who fights is going to lockup for assault. No questions asked.”
Bobby Ball puffed out his chest. “I know you aren’t talking to me, son.”
“I’m talking to everyone.” Griffin met his gaze. “Including you.”
Bobby Ball huffed and narrowed his eyes. He, the king of used cars, had the best cars in Fortune Falls, according to him and his commercials. But Griffin had worked on some of his cars for people who’d bought from him when the car they had just bought broke down. He was about as crooked as they came.
Griffin ignored Bobby but left the barrier in place as he walked through the crowd.
Griffin never wanted to be his father’s deputy, but Iven had deputized him a few months back when fighting amongst the pack had been at its worst. The process had happened within seconds and consisted of Dad just telling him and Riley that they were a part of the crew. And Griffin had been going to the pack meeting ever since. There was less fighting among the wolves. Things were improving, but progress was slow.
Riley and Cass stood on a wooden platform that the pack had built. The meeting took place in a clearing in the middle of the forest. Every resident of Fortune Falls knew the forest belonged to the pack. Griffin wasn’t sure whether the pack owned the land legally or had claimed it and scared off anyone willing to challenge them for it. Either way, people steered clear. Griffin grew up knowing which forests he could play in and which to leave alone.
Dad had also deputized Riley, but he wasn’t doing his job. He was smiling lovingly at Cass. And Cass, being a deputy and a wolf, should have been paying attention to the crowd, too, considering a lot of them were acting as though they were feral. But nope. Cass was making heart eyes at Riley, which doubled down on the cavity-inducing picture they made.
Even his dad, who was there as the sheriff because his job was to keep the peace, wasn’t paying attention to anything other than Marric, his mate. His hand was even on Marric’s ass. Marric laughed at something Iven said, which drew the attention of several wolves nearby.
But at least Iven and Marric weren’t on the platform as though they were putting on a show like Riley and Cass.
Griffin couldn’t be the only one here whose teeth hurt.
