Page 47 of April's Fool
“He’d have help.” I’d forgotten the shifters were there. Alpha Blake joined the witches, greeting them all in turn. He was painfully polite to the new witches, clearly distrusting them, yet he was warm and welcoming to Thyme. Was there something his wolf could sense that I was missing?
“So what was the hit on me for?” Damon’s face was set in a frown. I squeezed his hand once again. I hated Basil for treating Damon as a pawn in his games almost as much as I hated him for targeting my innocent son. Cody didn’t deserve this.
“A warning? A distraction? Bait? Getting Cody out into the open? Who knows?” Thyme gave a shrug. “You’re trying to rationalize the behavior of an irrational man. Basil does whatever the fuck he wants and it’s down to us to stop him.” The fire in his eyes was blazing. I wasn’t alone in my hate.
“So, what do we do?” I asked.
This conversation, the entire situation, made me wish for Gregoris to be by my side. Keren was a poor substitute. He hadn’t moved from his position near the bar. Once Cody was here, I was sending him home, if not sooner. I was sick of his face. It was his fault Damon had been in danger!
“We get you two, then Cody and Toth, somewhere safe. Then we put as many protections on you as we can while we continue our hunt.” Oak cast an eye around Heatwave. “This place yours?” he asked Blake.
“As of now, it’s Mori’s.” Blake smiled at me. “You know, this would be a great place for you to stay while the renovations are ongoing. There are apartments out back. Between the witches and the elves, I’m sure we could have plenty of protections put on the place.”
“Could the sale be put under a different name? To hide that it’s yours until after it opens?” Damon looked thoughtful.
I shrugged, unsure. My tour of the place had shown an apartment with two bedrooms. Hardly ideal sinceit would be cramped with four of us. We’d just have to make it work.
“We need to get Cody and Toth here. Could Parker work his tech magic to hide the sale?” As much as I would have liked to keep this from Parker and Gregoris, they were our family. They needed to know.
“Yeah, I’ll call him now while the witches look at what needs to be done. You okay to call Cody?” Damon asked with a final squeeze of my hand before breaking away to make his call.
“Hey,” I called. Damon turned back. “Together, we’ll protect Cody.” I pulled him into my arms and brushed a kiss on his mouth. “I’ll protect you.”
A smirk stretched over his face. “No, I’ll protect you.”
“We’ll protect each other.”
“Deal.”
With one last kiss, we broke apart to make the calls we needed. Telling my son about Basil was going to break my heart. I didn’t want to be the one to take away his feeling of safety.
“Dad? Is everything okay? I’ve been trying to call Damon, but his phone was going to voicemail.” My poor boy had been worrying.
“Cody, I need you and Toth to pack as many things as you can and come straight here. Don’t talk to anyone. Just come here so we can explain.”
“You’re scaring me. Is Damon okay?” I wanted to cry at the fear in his voice.
“Damon is fine. Jorgoth came for him. He’s contracted to Basil.”
“Fuck! Okay. Where are you? We’ll have to bring Hela. That won’t be a problem, will it?”
“No, it’ll be fine.” Hela, Toth’s hellcat pet, was adorable. Though she had initially kept her distance from us, she had soon warmed up. She had completely vanished since Keren became my guard, only turning up for meals. Cody had reassured me she was fine, keeping to their rooms rather than wandering the castle as she had been before. With another assurance Damon was okay, I gave him the address and ended my call.
No sooner was I off the call, than it rang again. Mama. Fuck.
“Hey Mama—“
“Amorandes.” Threat lined my name. “You and my grandson are in danger. Were you ever going to tell me?”
“Of course,” I lied. “Just as soon as I got Cody here, I was going to ask you and Dad to head home.”
“Head home! Why? We can help!”
The magic bless her. My mom loved so fiercely.
“No, Mama. As much as I love you, I can’t have you in danger. This man will use anyone against Cody.Don’t you think coming here would create another weakness for him?” I heard her sniff. “If Basil got you, he would have me, Cody and Dad all out searching for you, making us vulnerable. The best thing you can do right now is go home and order Keren to return.”
“Keren? Why?” Mama had calmed some, obviously seeing reason in my explanation. My mother was overbearing at times, only out of love. She wasn’t unreasonable and did listen.
