Page 23 of How to Trust a Hellhound
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered. “Could he really have been stupid enough to steal money from his immortal grandfather?”
“Looks like it,” Liam sighed.
Humans. The evil ones never ceased to amaze me with their stupidity.
“Ok,” I said. “Maybe I’m being shortsighted, but I don’t see an impact on Aiden. He didn’t get the bulk of the inheritance.”
“No, I don’t think the grandfather gives a shit about Aiden. He does care about the money, though, and he’s started making inquiries into this area. If you know what to look for, it isn’t hard to find out that Paradise Falls has a lot of afterlifers. I’m not sure what conclusions he’ll draw about anything or if he’ll be a problem for the area.”
I sighed. “We’ll keep an eye on things. We’re already grounded here, and I think we’ll sense a descendent of Cain in town.”
“Well, that’s the other thing…”
I raised an eyebrow when Liam looked over at me.
Liam breathed out a sigh before continuing. “I can’t find his exact whereabouts, but I think he may be in league with a cult. I’m not sure if he restarted the cult, if it’s something that runs down his family line, or if he just happened into it and he’s now taking advantage of them, but there are clear ties between the cult and the person searching for Aiden’s brother.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “I hate cults. Nothing but trouble. Rotten to the core souls taking advantage of the innocent. Despicable.”
“Is there an afterlifer in charge of that territory? I usually wouldn’t think to deal with other afterlifers, but this town has quite a few, and they’re all willing to help,” Liam said.
I shook my head. “Cults were the creation of humans. Free willand all that. No afterlifer is in charge, and the humans being sacrificed even get all the power now after a memo went out a few centuries ago. It curbed some of the cult activity, but not all of it. Cults are an earthly creation, and thus they fall under our domain. Cain does not, but if he’s in league with a cult, then it has become somewhat our problem.”
Liam nodded, looking back at his screens. “I’ll keep digging and find out what I can. I’ll get in touch with other hellhounds, too, to see if there’s any info on the cult.”
I clapped him on the back as I got up. “Good job, son. Keep me posted. I know you’ll protect our pack, and we’ll sense if anyone evil is nearby. Perhaps for now, a hellhound should go with a human packmate whenever they leave town.”
Liam turned to smile at me. “Already being done. You don’t think any of us would let our mates out there without a hellhound for protection, do you?”
I laughed. My boys were always overprotective of each other, so yes, I imagined they were even more protective of mortal packmates. Not that their mates were quite mortal anymore, but I knew it was no use arguing that.
I made it to the doorway before I turned around and asked, “Which cult?” They were all awful, but it helped to know if it was one I’d run into before.
“The Order of Asterphagia. Aster is a plant, and phagia means to eat, so I’m not sure what that has to do with anything. Are they eating plants or something ridiculous like that? I can’t find much on them at all. They don’t have an online footprint.”
“Aster means star in old Greek. It’s a cult with ancient roots.” I sighed. A pain in the ass, that’s what they were. They’d been dealt with a dozen times over the centuries, but they just kept coming back.
“The star eaters?” Liam asked, turning to look at me.
“The devourers of the stars—they seek to end the universe as weknow it. They seem to have an uncanny knowledge of afterlifers, as well. I’m not sure who fucked up on giving someone too many details, but it’s been passed down through generations. They’re trouble.”
Liam blew out a breath. “And Aiden’s grandfather is in league with them.”
I walked over and rested my hand on his shoulder. “You’ll dig deeper and find out what you can. Our boys will be safe, Liam. We’ll all make sure of it.”
Liam nodded, and then he turned back to his computers, effectively dismissing me. I didn’t mind. He was heading into the zone, and he’d be focused on unearthing every scrap of knowledge about the cult that he could.
I wandered out, following my instincts and grabbing some nuts from the kitchen on my way out the back door. I guessed I was going to see Corbin.
He was in the forest, sitting cross-legged on the ground, crows surrounding him. I sat by him, taking a moment to feed and pet the crows. We chuckled over the antics of his friends, and then we sat in comfortable silence. I wasn’t surprised when Atlas, in his wolf-like form, came and laid down beside us. The crows didn’t pay him any mind, and we all basked in the sunlight filtering through the trees.
I felt my tension fade as the warmth seeped into my skin. I hadn’t realized how agitated I’d been. The last week had been harder than I’d acknowledged, even to myself.
“It’s in your nature to help,” Corbin said, as if he’d read my mind. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities. I don’t think Corbin himself even knew how he knew things.
“It is,” I admitted, “but it’s more than that.”
“I still remember when Atlas came to us,” Corbin said, gesturing toward him. “Or should I say Fluffy?” he joked.
