Page 25 of Secrets at Dawn
“Frank isn’t going to tell us that.” Iven sighed. “I doubt he’ll take the deal Cass is about to deliver to him. But if he doesn’t, then that’s even more telling than if he does.”
“How?”
“It means he’s more scared of them than he is of us.”
“But you’re the police. He’s going to go to jail.”
“He’d rather go to jail than face the person who sent the letter.” That meant whoever it was had Toby on their radar, which put Toby in danger. Far more danger than Griffin had realized.
“What the hell is going on?” Griffin whispered to himself.
“That’s an excellent question and one I would very much like Toby to answer for us.”
Griffin’s stomach churned. He ignored the instinct to protect. Some questions needed to have answers. No doubt about that. “I don’t think he knows, Dad.”
“No, he’s not telling us something. We need to find out what that is. It could lead to the person who hired Frank.”
“I’ll find out.” Griffin had a better chance of getting the answers than his dad did.
Chapter Thirteen
Toby sighed. He had zero patience, which wasn’t usual for him, but he was in an unusual predicament.
Even with his wolf’s hearing, he couldn’t make out what was being said, and he sat right outside the door Griffin and the sheriff had gone through an hour ago. It had to be soundproof.
Toby’s shoulders went up to his ears, and he wrung his hands together when the door opened and Griffin walked through, followed by the sheriff.
Griffin nodded to Toby before heading toward the station door. The station was really just one big open-concept room with a few exceptions. Toby wasn’t sure what was behind some doors, but the interrogation rooms were obvious because they had labels, and so was the sheriff’s office.
“Let’s go, baby.” Was Griffin aware of how often he used that endearment instead of using Toby’s name? Toby had his doubts. And it wasn’t as if he disliked it. The exact opposite was true, but he just wondered how they were going to keep their mating a secret from Riley if Griffin slipped up.
Would Griffin want a mate if he found out about Toby’s weird ability? Nobody else had liked it. The elders had tried to take his abilities away from him. Mark Sibly and his buddies had killed because they disliked magic so much.
Entire magic councils existed just to control people like Toby. People with weird magical abilities who may or may not be a danger to society. He’d taken a chance by attending Dinsmore, and he’d stayed under the radar. Until he didn’t.
How long could he keep it a secret? He was already being blackmailed. That was more than enough reason to hightail it out of Fortune Falls and forget about finishing his degree program.
But he followed behind Griffin, watching the way his ass moved when he walked. Underneath Griffin’s frustration with Toby was a gentle nature. And he was the hottest guy Toby had ever seen. Toby didn’t have a lot of experience with hot guys, or any guys for that matter, but his body responded to Griffin in ways it hadn’t with anyone else. Like ever in his whole life. Griffin made him want to get closer.
He picked up his pace until he walked next to Griffin. He felt a hand on the small of his back right before Griffin opened the station door for Toby, allowing him to go first.
Toby stayed alert once they were outside. He didn’t see anyone, but he’d learned the hard way that it didn’t matter what he saw; the dickwads were good at hiding.
“Do you want me to drop you off at your car or at your apartment, baby?” Griffin wrapped an arm around Toby’s waist and pulled him closer, which was fine by Toby. It was easier to protect Griffin if they never left each other’s side.
“I don’t think anyone is watching us this time,” Toby whispered. He didn’t feel that itch in the center of his back or the hairs on his neck like he had before. “My dad used to tell me to pay attention to what my body tells me. Not just my gut.”
Griffin smiled. He seemed to always be in a good mood, even in the middle of the night after experiencing something scary. “My dad says the same thing. But he’s a warlock and my grandma, his mother, was a witch, so all that stuff about staying present and aware sort of comes naturally for my family.”
“Your grandma was a witch?” It wasn’t unheard of for warlocks and witches to bond and have children together. Or even magic users and shifters or vampires. It was when children had magic that it became a problem for the prejudiced dicks in the world. Or, gods forbid, someone had Toby’s magical abilities.
“Yeah. She was kind of on the older side for having kids when she and my grandpa had my dad. She died when I was twelve. My grandpa died before I was born.”
“I never knew my grandparents.” They had died trying to protect Toby’s mom. She had been like him. Their pack had a big problem with wolves who were magic users. Toby might have been four years old, but he remembered waking up to his mother’s screams and his father putting a hand over his mouth to keep him from making a sound. He remembered his father carrying him through the forest, running and then crying as the farm grew further and further away. Toby hadn’t been back since.
“My grandparents on my mom’s side are still around. They travel a lot. They’ve been to every national park. But they’re home base is my mom’s inn.” Griffin opened the truck door for him and then shut it behind him.
Griffin walked around to the driver’s side and got behind the wheel. Toby had never seen a more tired person in his life.
