Page 126 of Those That Are Lost
Agent Morris holds her hand out for us to shake.
‘Do we trust her?’I ask my mate. When he doesn’t respond, I glance up at him to see his eyes meeting those of Mitch, followed by Henry, then Ash. And finally Atlas.
They’re four males he has classed as friends. Four males with varying levels of involvement in all the revelations we’ve discovered tonight.
Mitch, the double agent.
Henry, the scholar who has been pushing for this exact thing in his research and academic publications.
Ash, the cousin whose parents are the closest thing to family Ty has left.
And Atlas, the only other sole survivor of Ty’s former pack. The one that remembers what was and how things should be.
Ty turns to me last.‘I think we should, but I won’t if you have any reservations. It’s you and me, Red. That’s all that matters.’
‘No.’I gently take his hands in mine.‘Each of the males surrounding us matter too. I want a home for me, but I want a home for them too. And you. You deserve this.’
As soon as we shake on the deal, Agent Morris breaks into a string of orders and we suddenly have a professional team to support the clean-up. Hours pass in a tired delirium as we burn bodies, bloodied clothing, carpets, sheets and scrub walls, floors, and ourselves.
It's well into the afternoon when we finally all gather back out in the garden area and collapse onto the grass.
The police squad are sitting close by, debriefing. The rest of us are laying in the sunshine, simply absorbing its warmth. A couple of the wolves have even shifted to sprawl out and nap. My body is so tired every muscle aches.
My head is nestled into the crook of Ty’s arm. He’s shirtless and I skim my fingers over the mottled skin where he was injured, the bruising fierce. His muscles ripple where my touch tickles his side and his hand tightens on my arm where he’s cradling my body.
‘Stop that,’he groans.
I giggle softly.‘Never thought you’d want me to stop touching you.’
‘I don’t. But if you keep stroking, me I’m going to get hard and I’m too tired to move.’He does lift a knee though, loosening his jeans around the crotch where the denim had been pulled tight as he laid flat out.
‘Spoil sport.’I sigh, and poke him this time, lower down and well clear of his injury site.
“Dinner’s up!” Atlas’s voice calls out from somewhere above us. He and one of the detectives, Carnell, had driven into the city to fetch us some food. And by food, I mean actual food for the detectives and blood for us.
Slowly we rise, as do Henry and Antares who’d been resting nearest to Ty and me. Despite reassurances, both had found it hard to allow any of the other supernaturals to spend any prolonged time in our vicinity. Hopefully, that will ease soon. Most of the vampires had expressed theirwish to bond to us, the only ones declining being Nazhir, who was returning to his brother’s pack, and Mitch.
We’d talked to Mitch more throughout the day. He answered all questions Ty threw his way and explained just how he was passing information back and forth. It had something to do with docks and stinking of fish. With regards to a pack bond, which he’d sounded enthusiastic for in West Scotia, he now asked for time to decide. I understood it. He had a career and a life outside of the pack. He would continue to be our liaison, but he didn’t know what was next for him now this mission was over.
The group of detectives shuffle, opening up their circle as we join them, bags of hot greasy takeout and a satchel of blood packets having been dumped in the middle by the two guys. The wolves waste no time in digging out the burgers and chowing down. The detectives are a little more civilised.
Ty hands me a blood packet of my favourite blood type, and comes to sit crossed legged beside me.
“We had better head back to the offices soon,” Morris says as she pops a few fries into her mouth. It's a weird image as she's still wearing her tailored suit, although minus the jacket. Whilst at complete ease in her role as leader, she is much more down to earth than she first appeared. She got just as stuck in with the cleaning as those she commands. It grew my respect for her greatly. Her grouchy bodyguard, however, barely speaks and only helped with things that directly supported his charge. Why she needed a bodyguard in such proximity all the time, I didn’t know and wasn’t going to pry about.
The detectives all mumble their agreement before more general chatter breaks out. A couple of the demi-Fae officers can't hide the squeamish looking grimaces as us vampires start piercing blood packsand sucking on the valves.
“Hey, I don’t judge your food choices.” Mitch elbows one of his colleagues.
“I’m not judging man, but it is weird to see,” he responds.
“Don’t want to try it then?” Mitch waves his own blood pack under the guy’s nose. They break into laughter as Mitch gets his arm battered away.
“We haven’t discussed blood supply yet,” Ty says to Morris, swallowing the last of his pack.
“No, but I’m sure we can work a deal out with the hospital. I expect your supply needs are only going to increase. Do you manage alright now?”
“You mean how we steal it?” Atlas chimes in.
