“Unnecessary.”
“Necessary,” he countered with a growl.
“It’s unnecessary because I’m not going to Los Angeles. I’m going to bring the bookseller here. Floyd will have to pay extra for the trip, but if he wants the book, he’ll do it.”
One of Ida’s saucy brows shot up. She mouthed the word,Really?
I smiled. Winked.
“Exactly what have you got planned?” Ronan asked.
“You’ll see.”
“Try not to cause too much trouble.” He dropped the anger and laced some grumbly wolf into his tone.
Damn. The man had a phone voice that stroked down my chest and tried to unzip my jeans. Maybe the next time he asked me out, I’d say yes.
The proverbial angel on my shoulder clicked her tongue.No, you will not, Betty Lennox. You have plans.
The devil on my shoulder spoke up.No reason we can’t have a little fun on our way out of town…
The angel won this round, but narrowly.
“No promises,” I said, and hung up.
Ten minutes later, Ida had gone home, and I was setting my trailer to rights while listening to Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon."
The phone rang again, and I answered and put Floyd on speaker. In the background, a door slammed, water splashed, and someone growled. Finally, he said, “It’s for a barter, okay? And no, I’m not telling you the other party.”
“What do you get out of the deal?”
“None of your godsdamn business.”
I ended the call.
He called back. “Keep doing that shit, and I’ll send my new second over there to remind you who you’re dealing with.”
Newsecond? I’d thought Ronan was his second-in-command. What was going on in the Pallás pack?
“You want me to stop? How aboutyoustop hemming and hawing. You don’t have to give me a name, but I want to know the deal. I need to know what I’m getting into here.”
“You need to know nothing except that if you succeed you’ll get a lot of money and a new senior citizen in your park.”
I went silent.
“Don’t hang up,” he said.
“Start talking. What do you get out of this?”
“Fine.” He let out an “I’m too old for this shit” sort of sigh. “I get a favor.”
Now that I understood. “Must be a powerful favor.”
“It is. So don’t screw it up, or I’ll come for you, witch.”
He growled, reminding me that yes, he was an asshole, but he was also a violent, morally bankrupt asshole who would do almost anything to stay in power. It wouldn’t be smart to push him too far. The alpha commanded a large population of wolf shifters and had an alliance with several shifter groups in Smokethorn County.
Instead of clapping back at him, I hooked a sharp left, conversationally speaking, and played a hunch. “What do you know about Mictlantecuhtli, Alpha?”
