“I lived there for a little while,” he said, half his attention still on her as he drove. His brain sorted through thousands of data points as he searched for the indicators that signaled danger, all while trying to look and sound as normal as possible so Persephone wouldn’t freak out. “Picked up some phrases.”
“The waitresses were impressed,” she said, and managed a smile. “You’re very popular there.”
He snorted. “Probably because I eat there about once a week, don’t hit on them or bother them, and tip well.”
“What a gentleman.”
He glanced over, trying to see if she was fucking with him, but Persephone gazed out the window with a faint smile on her face. Dodge had no idea what she meant, what the smile meant, any of it. He wanted to growl in frustration. Why was she such a mystery? Why couldn’t he figure her out?
The wolf remained surprisingly silent on the matter; the dick wouldn’t even help him figure out how to woo the female. Dodge shook himself and pushed that particular distraction aside. Closest alligator to the boat first, then he could get his mind right about Persephone. There wouldn’t be anything to figure out if one or both of them ended up dead.
He held his breath for the rest of the ride as the goons followed a few cars behind them. At least they weren’t aggressive, but there was no guarantee they’d stay that way. Eventually Bridger would have to deal with Persephone, and someone like Bridger... Dodge hated to admit it but he knew the loan shark wouldn’t take the chance that Persephone had seen something at the sanctuary. Bridger would assume the architect was a problem and would deal with her the same way Bridger dealt with every problem. Eliminate threats and destroy the evidence.
But Persephone didn’t need to know that.
He parked her car as close to Deirdre’s house as possible, relieved to see that Todd and Mercy lingered on the front porch to observe their approach. Dodge caught Persephone’s hand. “We’re just going to walk up to the house and go inside, find a comfortable spot to sit, and figure out the next alligator. Okay?”
“And nap,” she added.
And then she squeezed his hand back. Dodge’s heart jumped.
He had to clear his throat to keep his tone steady as he agreed, “And nap, of course.”
Persephone got out of the car before he could get his limbs to obey him through the shock of her responding to his touch. Dodge jumped out to close her door and escort her across the lawn up to the porch, just in case the goons who’d crept past in their dirty sedan meant to try something. Instead, the goons parked down the street and waited, not even being subtle about the fact that they watched the house.
Cricket sat in the front yard, washing his paw disdainfully, and only sauntered over when he saw Persephone. Dodge kept them moving, not even pausing for cat petting, to get to the front porch and the safety of a locked door between Persephone and the goons. Cricket hissed at him and bolted between his feet, almost tripping Dodge on his way.
Mercy beamed as she studied Persephone and would have launched forward for an enthusiastic greeting if Todd hadn’t caught her shoulder to keep her back. “So you’re the one they’ve been talking about!”
Dodge tensed. “We can talk inside.”
“What do you mean?” Persephone asked, her attention on Mercy. “Who’s talking? Who are you?”
Mercy blinked, glancing at him and Todd, then tilted her head toward the front door. “Yeah, we should talk inside. It’s not bad talk, Deirdre has been super excited about something you said and she’s mixing up stuff in the workroom like crazy and then a detective showed up andsheasked about you and –“
“Wait.” Dodge kept a wary eye on Persephone, in case she started to panic again, but growled as he confronted the other wolf. “The detective, O’Brien? She’s here?”
“In the workroom with the boss and Deirdre. Evershaw won’t leave Deirdre’s side and she won’t stop mixing potions and shit, so they’re talking in there. We’re supposed to fetch them as soon as you arrive.” Todd didn’t look particularly interested in fetching anyone, so at least Dodge had a few minutes to collect his thoughts.
From the look on her face, Persephone needed a hell of a lot longer. She wobbled to the loveseat she’d occupied just the other morning and sank into it, staring blankly at Mercy. “I don’t understand.”
“Smith sent the detective over,” Todd said slowly. Something in his tone made Dodge’s hackles rise, though he couldn’t have said exactly what it was. The pack’s second-in-command sat in the chair across from Persephone, moving slow and easy like Persephone was liable to bolt if startled. “O’Brien was here waiting for us when we got back from the restaurant. Whatever Smith told her lit a fire under her ass, and she’s hell-bent on talking to you about what you saw.”
Persephone’s wide eyes found Dodge. “I don’t think I can –“
“There she is,” a voice boomed, and Persephone flinched in alarm.
Dodge immediately put himself between her and the noise-maker, growling a warning, and braced for a fight.
Chapter 19
Percy
All I wanted was a nap or at least find a quiet place to be by myself and sort through the tornado of problems that swirled around me. There was just too much to digest and process. I needed to be alone in my head for a while without anyone else offering opinions or plans or whatever.
I wouldn’t have minded Dodge’s company, since he could be quiet and still. And he was comfortingly competent, which was refreshing. I felt safer with him around. I shouldn’t have, maybe, since I’d known him about two whole days, but there was something about him... He’d seen a lot of really bad stuff, based on his calm in the face of danger, and he didn’t get freaked out about anything.
Although when he growled at Evershaw and the woman who appeared in the living room, my hair stood up and I wondered if I needed to jump out the window and hide with Cricket on the porch. Dodge’s shoulders seemed to grow as he clenched his arms and fists, staring down the people who’d entered.
