Page 50 of The Hunt
Fenris immediately released me.
I swallowed hard and stared up at him with an intense longing I shouldn’t feel.
“Please walk away.”
His gaze swept over my face. He gave me a sad smile, then went inside. The urge to follow him rode me hard as I turned around and walked down the sidewalk.
Just as I reached my car, another one parked on the other side of the road. Eras and his friends got out. Laughing about whatever had been said in their car, they didn’t notice me. I watched them go inside then grabbed my phone.
Me: Eras just walked in. You should probably leave.
Fenris: Probably, but I’m in the mood for a little trouble.
Me: Then go feed Elbner for me. He can throw a shoe at your head to knock some sense into you.
With a growl of frustration, I got into my car.
Fenris: I’ll feed your vertically challenged rage machine, but you’ll owe me a non-contact favor in the future. Do we have a deal?
Me: Deals with you are dangerous.
Fenris: Deals = fun.
Then he sent a chicken and squirrel emoji.
Me: Fine. Just leave now so Elbner doesn’t feel slighted.
Fenris: Leaving now.
Objective accomplished, I started the car and pulled away. In my rearview mirror, I watched the red doors open and Fenris emerge with his herd.
* * *
Boston Cream pieshung from every tree limb. As soon as I finished one, another appeared. It felt like I’d been gorging on them for an eternity, but I wasn’t full or sick of the taste. I just wanted to keep going indefinitely.
Eventually, though, the dream faded away, and I drifted off into a deeper sleep that even the sun couldn’t pierce. However, the persistent buzz of my phone finally did.
“Hello?” I said groggily.
“Morning, beautiful. Any names you need me to add to the punch list?”
I smiled sleepily and rolled onto my back.
“I’m not even out of bed yet.”
“What? It’s four in the afternoon?”
I sat up and looked at the clock in a panic then scowled.
“It’s eight in the morning. You’re cruel.”
She laughed.
“No new names,” I said, answering her question. “But there might be today. I have to check in with Fenris to make sure Eras didn’t try anything with him and check on your goblin to make sure he didn’t do anything to Fenris.”
“So…you’re protecting Fenris?”
“Shut up. It’s not like that. Eras thinks I stole one of his meals and is trying to find ways to make me miserable. And your goblin has a special brand of hate for Fenris since Fenris purposely screwed up the goblin’s mash. Both things were my responsibility in the first place. I’m not going to let Fenris deal with the fallout of my actions, no matter how much he professes to love trouble.”
