Page 58 of How to Hack a Hellhound
“He’s going to befine, because you guys will rescue him,” Cass said, and his pleading tone made me see red. Dexter squeezed my shoulder harder, and I realized little flames had erupted along my body.
“Rescue him fromwhat, Cassius?” Dexter demanded. He looked at me and then said, “I swear to god, you’re gonna have a feral hellhound over there in about two minutes if you don’t explain exactly what the fuck is happening.”
“I had a vision. Q was kidnapped by the guy you’re looking for. I just saw someone putting a black bag over his head, and then I saw him in a room tied to a chair. He wasfine. He’ll be fine, because Liam charges in and rescues him, and you guys will figure out who your bad guy is,” Cassius explained.
“You let him get kidnapped?” I growled out. My voice was guttural and low, and my hellhound was itching to come out and burn everything to the ground. Why hadn’t I put trackers in his shoes? On his clothes? Fuck.
“If I didn’t, I saw that you guys would never find this guy. He’d escape and go on to continue his human trafficking. I asked Q what he would do, and he said he would do whatever heneeded to in order to save more people. I have to respect what he would want, Liam,” Cassius pleaded.
Of course Quinton would say that. Of course he would sacrifice himself to find out who the last person was. But he would also know I would save him. Cassius was right about that. He would know that this time, someone was coming for him.
“Where was he taken from?” I growled. “I’ll use my computer, track the cameras?—”
Cassius interrupted me. “Just use the bond, for fuck’s sake. Who cares about your computer?”
I growled in confusion.
“Oh, my god, please tell me you realize you mated and marked him? Fuck! I figured you knew that! I wouldn’t have let it happen if you didn’t fucking know that!” Cassius yelled out.
“Slow down, Cass,” Dexter said. “Liam didn’t know, but I didn’t know either until you told me.”
“Fucking clueless hellhounds,” Cassius muttered.
“Focus!” Dex demanded, and Cassius shut up and listened. “You know about this shit, so you just have to tell us what to do.”
“I don’t know!” Cassius cried out. “I’m not a hellhound! I don’t know how you guys track shit! All I know is that Liam and Q are bound, and Liam marked him. You guys are the ones who are supposed to know what to do!”
I growled again, but I pulled myself together enough to say, “Keep Aiden close.” Then I grabbed the phone from Dexter and hung it up. Cass would be no more help.
I tried to breathe. Quinton was in danger. Quinton was kidnapped. I could search the cameras and follow his trail, I was sure, but that would take time, and I didn’t know how much time I had. Cassius seemed to think I had a better way of tracking him.
I looked up at Dexter, who was staring at me anxiously. “What do you feel with Toby?”
“Man, I don’t know,” Dexter said, running his hands through his hair.
“Stop! Close your eyes. Think about the night when you were shot and you went after Toby. Did you know where he was?” I asked. I was barely holding my hellhound back, and I didn’t think it would be long before any reasoning was gone. I needed Dexter to keep it together for both of us.
Dexter closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. I tried not to be impatient as fuck, but the growling was a low steady sound that I couldn’t stop.
“I woke up, and the bullet coming out of my head hurt like a motherfucker. I knew Toby was in danger. I was flaming, and my hellhound was in charge. I just… I just ran towards him. It’s like my hellhound knew exactly where he was. I thought I was following the scent of the rotting soul, but I knew Toby was ahead of him. I knew they weren’t together.” Dexter took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
“Ok,” I grumbled. “You drive, and I’ll lead, then.” I got up, letting my impatience surface and letting my hellhound come to the forefront. By the time we made it to the bottom of the stairs, my growl was loud and nonstop. Corbin and Jude were both running in to see what the issue was—they’d obviously heard something.
“Go stay with Toby!” Dexter demanded.
“And Aiden,” I managed to growl out. Someone needed to be with Aiden. He was pack, too.
Corbin and Jude both nodded, and we all headed out the door. Corbin went over to Toby’s house, and Jude got into one car while Dexter and I got into another. We didn’t bother with seatbelts as we peeled out and headed down the driveway.
How long had it been since I’d felt that pain? Ten minutes? Fifteen? Not long. We were not long behind them, and if the hellbound mortal took Quinton from the shop, he’d need tobring him somewhere. We would be right behind them. We would find them.
We got to the end of the driveway and Dexter paused, waiting on my say. I closed my eyes and breathed in. I smelled the bittersweet scent of Quinton, even though he wasn’t in the car, and I turned my head back and forth.
“Left,” I said, and Dexter pulled out and started driving, speeding up the road.
It was an exercise in frustration at first. I ordered Dexter to turn into the middle of an open field, which didn’t seem the best course of action. I was scenting or sensing or whatever it was by direction, not by roads. Driving and looking for the next road to turn down put us past where we needed to be. We kept driving, trying to find roads that matched my sense of direction, but I knew we were taking longer than we needed to. I felt time slipping through my fingers, and I felt Quinton in my chest. I felt panic but also anger. My little hellcat was going to let his claws out, and I hoped it didn’t end up getting him hurt. My heart raced at the thought, and I was reaching for my cell phone before I even knew why.
I couldn’t trace Quinton. I didn’t know what good my phone would do, but I found my finger clicking on my map app. I zoomed out and looked at the roads, and my vision went hazy. My hellhound had an affinity for computers, and my technology sense didn’t fail me now. It was like I could see a pathway to Quinton, and I kicked myself for not thinking of this earlier. Why had I let Cassius tell me I didn’t need computers? I tracked with technology. It was part of who I was, and I was going to find Quinton.
