Page 24 of Endless
The dog broke eye contact as he trotted over to me, tongue lolling out and his posture finally relaxed. I lowered to a crouch, scratching his ears and neck as I searched those big, dark eyes for that intelligence again. But he was all dog now, happy and smiling.
"Thank you for protecting my children," I said, then waited, searching his face for any kind of non-doglike response.
My heart stopped when those eyes met mine again, the ancient wisdom in them unmistakable.
It is not yet their time.
Just as quickly as it happened, it passed. Hades' eyes returned to wide and puppylike as he leaned forward to lick my face.
Ten
JANDRO
"Aurora May Wilder!" I pointed my wrench across the yard. "This is the last time I'm telling you. Leave those chickens alone."
My daughter put on a big show of stomping away from the chicken coop with a pout, arms crossed over her chest. But my dad-senses knew she'd be meandering back that way once she thought I wasn't looking.
I'd been telling her all afternoon to leave them be. Some new chicks had just hatched and she wanted to pet and hold them, but getting close to the coop aggravated our younger rooster, Trombone. He had already rushed at Rori a few times, crowing and flapping aggressively. If she kept pushing his buttons, she was going to get pecked or cut with a spur.
And after I'd already yelled at her fifty times to stay away, maybe it was a lesson she needed to learn the hard way.
"Jesus, these kids," I muttered, returning my attention to the motorcycle parts strewn out in front of me.
At my side, Larkan laughed as he stacked a set of piston rings. "I take it she's not getting a llama for her birthday?"
"Not in a million years," I huffed. "She needs to grow up, get rich, and getmea llama for my birthday."
"You can't have justonellama," Larkan's eight-year-old, Carter, chimed in matter-of-factly. "They're herd animals, so you need at least three."
"Then it's definitely not happening." I set my wrench down and wiped my hands on a rag, pointedly ignoring Rori as I gazed across the yard.
Noelle and Reaper were talking over whiskeys near the edge of the deck. Beyond them was a play fort we'd built a couple years ago. It had a slide, a small rock-climbing wall, and two solid wooden ladders to get up to the main area. Daren and his youngest cousin, Larkan Jr., who we all called Larkie, were horsing around in the fort, playing pirates or some such.
Mari, Shadow, and Gunner had gone off to ride for the day, which likely meant they went to the hot spring for skinny dipping, threesomes, and a picnic. Lucky bastards.
Not that I didn't love spending time at home with the kids and other family. Just with Rori testing my patience today, it would have been nice to have some extra backup. Rori didn't test her mother or Shadow like she did me.
"What about goats?" Larkan and Carter were still on the subject of adding animals to our little farm.
"Mari does want a couple of goats," I admitted. "She wants a regular supply of goat cheese, and to watch them headbutt us, I'm sure." I lowered my head and bumped it softly into Carter while making abahhhsound.
"Have you seen those goats that fall over when they get scared?" My nephew started giggling uncontrollably.
"That doesnotsound like an evolutionary advantage," I remarked. It was funny to think about, though.
Larkan sat back, his eyes lighting up. "You should think about getting some ducks too. Duck eggs are great, man."
"Do not put more animal ideas into my children's heads, please." I shook my wrench at him. "You're lucky Mari isn't here to endorse your suggestions."
"Ah, just you wait. Pretty soon it'll be like," Larkan started drumming a beat on the table, his grin too smug and satisfied as he sang, "Old McJandro had a farm, E-I-E-I-O."
"Shut your mouth." I waved my wrench more menacingly at him. "Before I smack you."
He knew it was an empty threat and carried on making the animal noises while Carter's laughter rang across the yard. Reaper and Noelle even looked our way to see what the ruckus was about just as a high-pitched scream hit my eardrums.
I looked in the direction the sound came from and couldn't stop the single peal of laughter before slapping a hand over my own mouth. Rori was running as fast as she could go, shock and terror on her face, with Trombone the rooster right on her heels.
She ran straight toward Reaper, who scooped her up and shooed the rooster away with his foot.
