Page 8 of Bound to the Hellhound
“I want to go with you.” He said.
“I would prefer that you hang back until I check him out.” Valerian offered.
“He's a shifter, so he was hired. My father doesn’t have any shifters working for him.”
“That makes it even more suspicious.” Valerian pointed out.
“He won’t do anything to me with you there.” Theo was pleading. “I want to know what he wants.” Valerian thought about it for a while and then acquiesced.
“Stay behind me and do not go near him.”
“Okay.”
"When we finish, I want to have a discussion on how much you know about shifters," Valerian added with a cock of his eyebrow. They took one of the cars since the main gate was a fair distance away. Valerian was delighted that Theo was relaxing around him.
Theo had a strength that saw him through the worst of what his family threw at him, and Valerian looked forward to drawing that out further and reinforcing his confidence. There was a lot to this small man, a lot that others did not recognize.The look in his eyes was a steel resolve that flashed when confronted. He had a way of contemplating that indicated a deep intelligence. He was so much more, and Valerian was going to make him see it.
He pulled up by the gatehouse and stepped out. Theo got out but did not move for a moment, remaining close to the vehicle. Valerian glanced over to him, indicating for him to stay there for now. The shifter, a large man in a cheap suit, stood with the guard and looked their way.
Valerian got a bad feeling, but he couldn't pinpoint the cause, except that it was a stranger sent by the Tuffin family asking questions about his mate. That was more than enough reason to be wary. Theo cautiously rounded the car and stood by the gatehouse. He watched Valerian walk over to where the man stood with the guard.
"Theo Tuffin?" The guy asked, but no one answered. Everyone nailed him with stares that could blister. He then looked around, gauging his surroundings, and stepped back. He looked over to where Theo stood. "Your brothers sent me to check on your well-being. They're worried about you." He told them, and the lie was so bitter and obvious that even Theo grimaced.
Theo kept his promise and stayed back. After what he went through back in Detroit, he was in no hurry to face anyone sent by his family, but he wanted to know what was going on. The man wasn't giving information; he was simply stating lies and gross distortions of reality. Theo had no idea what he was after.
“My brothers wouldn’t care if I was run over by a truck, so why are you lying?" Theo stated his question, but did not movefrom where he stood. The shifter, as Valerian had called him, gave Theo the creeps. Valerian motioned for him to come closer, so he stepped up behind Valerian and placed his hand on his back. It helped to settle his nerves and calm his fear.
The connection they shared was strong and strange, but it felt right and good, so Theo wasn't going to question it, at least not right now. Valerian reached back and tucked Theo further behind him. He must be feeling the creeps as well.
"I don't know anything about your familial relationship, but I was hired to find you and inform them of your condition." That was basic and probably true, but the reason was not brotherly love, and probably more likely, they just wanted to know if he was dead or not.
"Tell them I'm not dead and leave it at that," Theo stated with a firm authority he'd never felt before. Having someone like Valerian Keller in your corner certainly boosts confidence.
“They want to talk with you, and they want you to come home." The guy took a step forward, and Valerian advanced on him. The guy quickly retreated with his hands up, palms out. “They’re worried.”
"He said to leave it." Valerian's deep gravel tone scraped across the guy, and he visibly winced.
“Time to go.” The guard grabbed him by the upper arm, and he tried to shake off the grip. “You either go under your own power, or we will make you go; the choice is yours." The guard did not mince words.
They stood and watched as the guy got into his car, an older model black sedan, and drove away. Valerian nodded to the guard, and Theo could tell that something was being said without words.
“What are you going to do?" Theo asked. "I saw how you looked at the guard." Valerian turned, tucked Theo under his left arm, and drew him up close to his side.
“I’m having him followed.”
“Good idea, he seemed pretty sketchy to me.”
"He was pretty sketchy. His words were not lies, except for the statement that your brothers are worried, but there was a vague, dark undercurrent to what he had to say. He's a cougar shifter, and they can never be trusted. They're not as ruthless as the jackals but just as deceitful.” There was a lot to unpack in that statement, but Theo chose to power forward for now.
“How do you tell them apart?” He asked as they got back into the car.
“By their smell.”
“Can you teach me that?” His father dealt with shifters all the time. Every lowlife in the city had shifters as bodyguards or business partners. His father never hired shifters before he was afraid of them, but he dealt with many in his daily life.
“Yes, I can.”
"Are you a shifter or a vampire?" Theo decided to just ask and get it out of the way. He knew that most of the DuCane people were vampires; he'd heard Parson and his men discussing it, but he didn’t get a vampire vibe from Valerian.
