Page 17 of How to Trust a Hellhound
“I’m sorry we didn’t do anything,” he said softly, and Toby heard him.
“Fuck. We knew something was off, but we didn’t want to push, and we should have pushed. We should have asked more questions. We should have gotten more involved.” Toby wiped at his eyes.
I stood up. “Please don’t do that. You couldn’t have done anything. I wasn’t ready to face the situation. I knew you’d be there for me, and that helped more than you know. I’m okay. I broke up with Rick, and for now I’m staying here. I’ll have to figure something permanent out, but I’m sure I have time. Right now, I’m just really glad to have my friends here, and I kind of just want to hang out andnottalk about all that stuff, if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course it is,” Sebbie said, standing up next to me. “And it looks like you have takeout waiting to be eaten, and we can order more food.”
Toby looked petulant for a minute. “We can still have himtortured and killed.” Sebbie gave him a look, and he put his hands up. “Ok, ok—food first. Ohhh, is that from that little Italian place? It smells amazing! You gotta let us try some!”
I smiled and grabbed the bag from the table, putting it off to the side and going to grab forks and plates for the food. For some reason, I didn’t tell them about the building sets, and I didn’t tell them who’d brought dinner. It felt nice that Wilder had taken care of me, and I kind of didn’t want to share that, even if it was silly.
“So, talk to me about normal stuff,” I said, coming back to the table where we all sat down. “How’s the hospital?” I asked Sebbie, “And what book are you working on now?” I asked Toby.
They started chatting, and we all ate. They occasionally glanced at my face for a little too long or looked at my wrist, but overall they acted like it was a typical evening. Yeah, there was a lot to deal with, and I’d have to tell them more, but we had time for that. I was glad to pretend that life was normal for a little while.
Chapter 8
Wilder
As hard as it was to keep my distance from Josh, I didn’t stay when we dropped off dinner, the stuff from his place, and my gift. Q had apparently checked in on him, and his advice was to let the human have some time to himself. I wasn’t sure if it was the best advice, and I probably wouldn’t have been able to resist checking on him anyway, but shortly after we left I saw Toby and his friend Sebbie walking to the cabin, so I knew Josh would have company.
I spent a restless night and did a little driving to check for hellbound souls, but I didn’t venture far, and I didn’t sense rot in close vicinity to Paradise Falls. We’d keep checking the neighboring towns, but it was reassuring to know that no one truly evil was in the town or those nearby. I knew I could hunt in the city about an hour away, but I had no desire to travel that far. My instincts were keeping me close, and I had long ago learned to trust my feelings.
The next morning I checked in with Dexter, Jude, and Corbin, and then I headed over to see Liam and Quinton. They told me they’d blocked Josh’s ex on all social media, and the guy was at work today, so apparently it was back to normal life for him. It washard to resist the urge to pay him a visit and exact some revenge, but that was outside our scope. I almost wished he would harass Josh so that we could teach him a lesson, but I knew that was petty.
I had been around a long time, and torturing souls that weren’t hellbound didn’t generally accomplish much. Still, it would have been satisfying.
When I walked out of Liam’s place, my eyes turned toward the path to the cabin. It was mid-morning, and we had stocked some food in the place, but I still had the urge to make sure Josh was fed.
I stopped by Aiden’s and Atlas’s little house, even though I knew Aiden was at the shop. Atlas opened the door to me—he was always intuitive, and he’d sensed I was coming.
“I was hoping Aiden had some treats I could bring to Josh.”
Atlas just shrugged and grunted, but he was in his human form, and he even had clothes on, which was rather surprising.
We walked in and he gestured toward the counter, where there were muffins, croissants, and some kind of other baked thing that smelled delicious. Atlas reached into a jar, took out a cookie shaped like a dog biscuit, and took a bite of it, leaning against the counter. I helped myself to one of each of the baked goods, and Atlas handed me a container to put them all in.
Then we both looked at the coffee machine.
I looked at Atlas and raised an eyebrow. He grunted at me and shrugged.
I knew how to make coffee. Of course I knew how to make coffee. I was a first gen hellhound, and I’d been on this earth since its inception. I could make fucking coffee.
Just not with this… thing.
“What the fuck is that?” I asked Atlas. It had coffee beans on the top in a little clear thing, and then… it was just all gleaming surfaces and wands and buttons and screens. “Is it a computer or a coffee machine?”
Atlas shrugged again. “Quinton wanted it, and Liam bought it, so probably it’s both. Aiden seems to know how to use it.”
Atlas walked over and pushed a button, and the thing lit up and started making noise.
“Is it supposed to do that?” I asked.
Atlas nodded.
“Now what?” I asked, and Atlas just looked at me.
Yeah, I figured he hadn’t taken much interest in the coffee maker.
