Page 92 of Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck

The favors Drest had called in for Stratton turned that all on its head. Evidently, they’d both been released from prison nearly six months ago. They weren’t even eligible for parole, let alone early release. They shouldn’t be out. And no one had ever notified him of their release. Every single thing about their release was fishy to Drest. It had all the markings of the Nightshade on it.

Someone on the inside of the Nightshade Clan had to be working with them. There was no other way to explain why the doors of the facility would be tossed open for two criminal masterminds at the same time, with zero warning given to anyone involved in their cases. Considering Drest had been the Hunter in charge of them both at the time of their incarceration, he should have been the first call made when parole was mentioned.

Instead, he was finding out the truth close to six months after the fact. Considering Henry had made monsters by the dozens in less than a month nearly thirty-six years ago—with limited access to technologies because of the sanctions on the Frankenstein family—it went without saying that he could have created an entire army over the course of the last six months now.

Whoever was helping them in the Nightshade Clan would pay dearly when Drest uncovered them and their agenda. He wouldn’t go through proper channels to deal with them. He was done being a rule follower. He’d dispense their punishments himself. To hell with what may come of it. He’d take on the entire damn Nightshade Clan single-handedly if need be.

From the feedback he’d gotten from those who had owed him favors, he wouldn’t be alone in the matter. They, too, were done with the Nightshade’s bad apples.

Whoever was helping Nile and Henry were clearly up to no good. Whatever nefarious plan they had needed to be stopped. But first, Nile and Henry had to be dealt with. There was simply no telling how many monsters the two could have created while combining forces over the past six months. The number could be in the thousands.

Drest shuddered, thinking about it all.

He was close to going out of his mind when barking from outside caught his attention. The dog was clearly a big one from the sounds of it, and something was wrong with how frantic it sounded.

Worried there might be more monsters in the immediate vicinity, Drest rushed out of Stratton’s house and nearly collided with a massive rottweiler as it came rushing around from the side yard.

It saw him and slid to a stop on the driveway, cocking its head to one side, looking almost surprised.

Drest blinked several times, sure his mind was playing tricks on him. The dog looked exactly like the one he and Stratton had dealt with eighteen years ago when they’d last been in Grimm Cove. There was no way it could be the same one, yet everything about it was familiar. More than that, it reminded him greatly of Astria’s goblin when it was in its animal form.

The dog snapped at him and then jerked its head in the other direction as if to tell him to follow it. As crazy as it was, Drest’s gut said to listen. It raced off in the other direction, and Drest pursued it, running full-out behind it, everything in him telling him not to lose sight of it.

Several blocks later, Drest realized he was close to Grimm University’s campus. He ran by one of the many gargoyle statues that adorned the grounds. The dog kept going, glancing back at him periodically as it barked as if to be sure he was indeed following.

It darted across a street and then ran right at the very house that had played host to the showdown Drest and Stratton had eighteen years ago. The very house that had demons, devil worshipers, monsters, and more coming out of the woodwork.

He knew then that his gut had been right to follow the dog. It charged at the home and darted around the side, going through a basement access door. Drest followed along behind it.

The dog took the steps three at a time, racing like mad to the main level and then up another flight of stairs. It crashed through a bedroom door, and Drest was quick to follow. He’d been expecting monsters, demons, or whatever else had infested the home over the last eighteen years.

What he was not expecting, however, was to see his cousin’s naked self standing there and a woman in a bed, wrapped in a bright purple comforter. Drest had been waiting at Stratton’s home, thinking he was out hunting monsters, when in reality, his cousin was here, hooking up with a woman.

Stratton’s gaze locked firmly on him.

Drest simply stood there with wide eyes. “Shit. I was at your house, and this one showed up, barking like mad.” He stared harder at the woman in the bed and realized she looked a good deal like the woman they’d encountered years ago. The one Stratton had been so caught up with. “Is he the same dog, the chick with the purple…holy shit, is that the girl who had purple hair?”

The woman in the bed gasped. “Uncle Drest?”

Uncle? Confusion filled him. “Uncle? I’m not your—”

Stratton snatched his pants off the floor and tried, but failed, on his first attempt to get them on. After a rather awkward display, he managed to get them on and zipped. He faced Drest, putting his hands up as he did. “I can explain.”

The dog walked in a circle before lying down, looking content as it stared up at Stratton.

The woman in the bed pulled the purple blanket higher to just under her chin. “It’s me, Uncle Drest. Astria.”

Air swooshed out of Drest’s lungs at her proclamation. No. It couldn’t be her. He stared harder at her, realizing then that he knew those dark eyes. It was his niece. And Stratton had slept with her?

Fury flashed through Drest. One second, he was standing dumbfounded in the doorway to the room, and the next, he was launching himself at his cousin. He pushed him back and then went to punch him in the face.

“Uncle Drest, stop!” yelled Astria, trying to get out of bed. It didn’t go as planned for her.

The sight only served to fuel Drest’s anger with his cousin. How dare he take advantage of Astria? How dare he even touch her at all?

Drest went at him again in a blind rage.

Stratton managed to avoid being hit only because the two had spent centuries sparring together. They were well acquainted with one another’s fighting styles and how to avoid getting struck. “Drest, let me explain.”

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