Page 15 of How to Hack a Hellhound
“Well, I installed cameras outside your house,” Dex clarified.
“Yes, but that’s different!” Toby insisted. “You were protecting me!”
We all stared at Toby in confusion now. How was that different? I was just protecting Quinton and Aiden, although I did have to admit I gave Aiden far more privacy than I gave Quinton. That’s only because Quinton was mine, even if he didn’t know it yet.
Toby looked around at all of us and huffed before turning to me. “Liam, you cannot install cameras and watch people.”
“Why not?” I asked.
Toby shook his head, muttering, “I thought you were the most sensible one.”
“Hey! What about me?” Jude demanded. “I’mtotallythe most sensible one. I grew up with humans!”
“Yeah, but if you don’t have a problem with Liam spying on people, then apparently not.” Toby turned back toward me then. “Listen, you can’t watch Q in hisbedroom. He probably does private stuff in there, and people shouldn’t have their privacy invaded. I get why you watch over them, andmaybeI could see cameras in the living room or something, but cameras in the bedroom is a no-no. It’s like installing cameras in the bathroom.”
I stared at Toby, and he closed his eyes in exasperation. “Liam, please tell me you don’t have cameras installed in hisbathroom, for Christ’s sake.”
I just shrugged. It wasn’t like I watched him while he was dealing with his bodily functions. Anyway, the bathroom camera was new. If it was that big of a deal to humans, I supposed I could take it out. Although… what if he fell while in the shower? I thought I’d read somewhere that humans often had accidents and deaths in bathrooms.
Probably best to just leave the bathroom camera there.
“How did you even get cameras into his apartment? I can’t believe Cass agreed to that,” Toby said.
“They’re not in their apartment. They’re in the pool house,” Dex told him.
Dex got the death stare then, and I was just glad to be out of the line of fire. I took a bite of my sandwich and looked back at the computer screen while Dex and Toby “discussed” the factthat Dex hadn’t filled him in. Jude chimed in to defend Dex, since the pool house thing had only happened last night.
I mostly tuned them out and watched Quinton, who was starting to stir in bed. Good. I was beginning to get worried with all that sleeping.
“Well, at least when they go back to their apartment later they won’t be spied on anymore,” I heard Toby say.
I looked up, and everyone was looking away from Toby, including Dexter. I huffed. We were a pack of hellhounds, yet no one wanted to contradict one little human. Toby was pack now, but he was still just a human.
“Did you just growl at me?” Toby asked, looking at me. Rather than looking even the least bit frightened, he just looked curious.
“They aren’t going back to their apartment, even though I could still watch him there through his laptop camera. They’re staying here where they’re safe. Quinton wasdruggedlast night, and people know he isn’t dead now,” I said.
I expected an argument, but Toby just stared at me curiously. I breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled out a notebook and pen, but Dexter shot me a disgruntled glare.
“Now he’ll be plotting all afternoon,” Dex grumbled, pulling Toby onto his lap. “I had plans for us.”
Toby smiled at Dex and then looked over at me. “You know you have to take the cameras out. You can’t watch someone without their consent.”
He stared at me until I just shrugged again, and then he was back to his notebook. I continued eating my sandwich, watching Quinton sit up in bed. He was disheveled and looked only half awake, but I could sense his fiery nature even through the screen. I hated seeing his claws sheathed last night because of the drug—I had no doubt he would have ripped James apart himself if given half the opportunity.
Luckily he had me to watch out for him.
Chapter 7
Quinton
After I woke up for the second time (third time?), Aiden fed me again, and then he got a ride to the coffee shop from someone named Jude. He assured me that Jude had helped rescue him and that the guy was trustworthy, but I still told him to make sure to call me when he got to the shop. I didn’t even want just a text. It was easy enough to fake a text, after all.
Cassius told me to take the day off, which was fine by me. I still felt groggy and tired despite sleeping so much. I guess getting drugged would do that to a person.
Some of my clothes were in the dresser in the bedroom, which Aiden had probably brought over last night. Hopefully, a hot shower would put me right again, and then I’d get my own ride back to the apartment. I could ask Cassius, or even Dexter or Toby if I needed to.
Someone knocked at the door, and when I pushed aside the curtain and looked through the glass, I wasn’t terribly surprised to see that it was Toby. It was like thinking his name had invoked his presence. He was totally some kind of supernatural creature—I just didn’t know what kind.
