Page 29 of Hansen

He swore and stepped back, finally letting go.He stared at the damn thing, sure it was twice as big as it had been before he touched it.

“That’s impressive,” a voice said from behind him.

He turned to find Matthew, a friend of Hansen and Davey, standing there.The man was staring at the plant, which was still growing, albeit more slowly than it had when Evan was touching it.

“I don’t know how to make it stop,” Evan confessed.

“I’m pretty sure you just have to wait.It’s slowing down.”

“I hope so because otherwise, Orion will have to deal with a jungle in his bakery.”Which might not be a bad thing.Davey and Hansen were on a raid, which meant that Orion and Evan were jumpy.They were worried, but Evan had been focused on his new ability, while Orion didn’t have anything but baking.Maybe creating a problem Orion had to solve would help him not obsess over Davey and what was happening.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” he told Matthew as he took another step back from the plant, just in case.

Matthew scowled.“Moore said I was a little too trigger-happy with my electricity.He told me to think about it while I stayed back.”

“Hansen mentioned you kept shocking an unconscious hunter.”

“The guy was a hunter.Who cares that I was shocking him?”

Evan couldn’t say he disagreed.As far as he was concerned, no one should have any pity for hunters.After everything they’d done to him, he certainly didn’t.

But he understood why Moore was trying to keep Matthew under control.Most hunters were evil, but some of them were probably like Orion and Perseus.From what Orion had said, hunting—Evan would call it kidnapping and torturing—supernatural creatures was somewhat of a family tradition for hunters.Sons hunted with their fathers and grandfathers, just like Orion and Perseus had been forced to.They hadn’t been able to refuse because they would’ve been hurt or killed if they had.They’d gotten out, but they’d been lucky.Other hunters might not be, and it wouldn’t be fair to hurt them, even though Evan had no doubt they’d hurt people.

“Well, Moore is your boss.If you don’t listen to him, he’ll put you in timeout,” Evan pointed out.

Matthew pouted.He was an adult, but he was short with blond curls and looked completely innocent.It was a stark contrast with the fact that he could fry people to death.

“Are you going to become one of us, then?”Matthew asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Your ability.”

Evan glanced at the plant.It had stopped growing, but itwasabout twice as big as it had been before Evan touched it.“I’m not sure how useful that ability would be in a fight.What am I going to do?Hand hunters flowers?”

Matthew hummed as he tapped a fingertip on his chin.“You could make plants grow to trap the hunters like in the movies, you know, with roots and everything.You could wrap branches around the hunters’ legs and immobilize them.”

Evan couldn’t imagine himself doing that.He couldn’t imagine himself going on a raid.He was terrified that something would happen to Hansen, and he doubted it would be easier if he was there with his mate.“I think I’ll stick with the bakery.”

“That’s fine.Not all of us who’ve been changed want to hunt hunters.”

“I don’t think I can do anything like that.”

“No one will ask you to.You can work at the bakery for the rest of your life.”Matthew grinned.“In fact, please do.I like it when you give me two cookies for the price of one.”

Evan glanced toward the back door.He doubted Orion would be angry, but just in case, he didn’t want his boss to hear.

Evan had a soft spot for Matthew, or rather, for the mutants Hansen worked with.He could see how important they were to his mate, and Hansen considered them family, so maybe he spoiled them a bit when they came into the bakery.He wasn’t planning on stopping.He wanted them to like him, and if he had to use a little bribery, he would.

Matthew’s phone started ringing.He took it out, frowned, and quickly answered.“Hey,” he said.“Are you coming back already?”

Evan couldn’t hear what the voice on the other side of the phone said, but the tone sounded urgent.Matthew’s smile vanished, and his serious expression was more terrifying than imagining him shocking hunters with his ability.

“Yeah, okay.I’ll be ready to help if Moore needs me.Yeah, in front of Moore’s house.”

He hung up and stared at Evan for a moment.Evan wondered if he was going to have to ask.He hoped not.

“The raid went sideways,” Matthew explained.“There were more guards and hunters than we expected.”

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