Page 53 of Snag
>Got most of that through your and the baby girl’s phones.
Then, a moment later,
>The kids are back.
Their eyes fixed on me, the Authority agents slowly exit their hulking SUV. There’s an identical vehicle parked a few lanes over, farther away from the hotel. Otherwise the lot is mostly empty. Presumably the matching vehicle is Reck’s.
Is Reck staying at the hotel? And if so, why? Why not stay with his family at the main pack house? Where does he normally live?
Right.
None of that is my business.
The Authority agents flash their badges at me in perfect unison. As if they’ve practiced the move. It would be adorable if they weren’t suit-swathed serial killers.
I have a hazy recollection of already proving my diplomatic immunity to some Authority agent in the last seventy-two hours, so these two shouldn’t be attempting to approach me at all. But then, they shouldn’t have been parked on the edge of my estate either. Based on Rought’s reaction, I have Reck to thank for that illegal surveillance.
“Ms. Gage?” Wilson loosely clasps her hands in front of her. It’s combat mage shorthand for ‘I come in peace’— as if I didn’t already know she keeps her wand, through which she channels essence, up her sleeve. “We’d appreciate a moment of your time.”
Shaw, shoulder to shoulder with his partner, stuffs his hands in the pockets of his pants, rucking up his suit jacket and slumping slightly to seem more casual, more approachable. As if he didn’t try to shoot me and the teens under my protection last night.
I have the weirdest urge to put both of them in their place.
It’s completely childish of me because I don’t wield power like that. It’s not my place to punish people for sheerstupidity. I simply step in when the universe directs me to do so.
Unless I’m rescuing a pastel-rainbow-haired young awry from asshole bikers. Then I apparently do a bit of fate-twisting all on my own. And pay for it.
“Yeah,” Shaw says, grinning widely and laying on some accent— New England, maybe— that I didn’t catch before. Presumably because I’ve simply ignored him every other time he’s spoken. “We can be friends, right?”
Energy shifts behind me, and though I’m expecting Rought and maybe Reck, it’s Cayley and Doc Z who step around the building, moving with that almost lazy shifter swiftness until they’re flanking me.
Doc Z is in her full Outcast cut. Strawberry-blond hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail, generous curves swathed in leather. Cayley’s wearing her envy-inducing leather jacket with all its kinky merit badges. I catch sight of the large badge on her shoulder, taking a moment to discern the intricate text-based design.Fuck the Authority. It looks brand new.
I wouldn’t mind that printed on an oversized hoodie, and I never wear printed clothing. I’m also supposed to maintain a certain level of neutrality, so …
“Ugh,” Cay says, curling her lip at the Authority agents. “There goes my appetite.”
Shaw narrows his eyes, shoulders tensing. “This has nothing to do with you, kitsune.” He uses Cay’s beast designation like it’s an insult. Which is an odd take for another canine shifter.
Cay huffs, then makes a show of angling her body toward me — thereby dismissing the agents. “We’ve been tasked to pick up dinner.”
“And me?” I ask, slightly amused. Grinder, or maybeRath, assigned Cay to watch over me. Though it’s possible that’s more for the Outcast MC’s safety than my own. I’m still not certain that Cay is officially patched to the club, as she doesn’t wear the cut. Though the Outcast is her pack alpha, maybe the kitsune is more valuable to the Outcast as a freelancer.
“Any time, any place,” Cay all but purrs. “Just give me a wink, and I’ll make it worth your while. Or, more accurately, worth your wild. Emphasis on the wild.”
“I’m completely certain I couldn’t handle you, Cay,” I say, laughing at her wordplay.
Doc Z breaks her stoic silence, though not her focus on the Authority agents, to murmur to me, “The Outcast has called a meeting with his lieutenants. Rath pulled me off patrol, so I circled around to meet up with you.”
Rought, Rath, and Grinder are all Outcast lieutenants, but I don’t know how many others there might be.
My phone buzzes with a text. It’s from Rought.
>Got called in. Surprised it took this long. I’ll meet you back at the estate? Text me if you need anything.
“We discussed me not needing a bodyguard, right?” I ask rhetorically.
Cay and Doc Z both ignore me.
