Page 81 of Live Love Lasso

“We need Bishop,” Furyon says.

Nodding, I bury my face in his neck as he calls the sheriff and Echo. It’s half an hour before they descend upon us and the entire story comes out. Bishop takes off to find Letitia and Varek. Father and Hunter rejoin us. Father’s ruby eyes drift to my claiming mark on Furyon’s chest, and he purses his lips but says nothing about it.

And you know what? I don’t care. I’m not going back to Rainbow. He’ll have to pry Furyon out of my cold, dead hands. Even thinking about him trying to separate us has my fangs descending, claws punching through my fingertips, ready to fight.

I think back to that day Furyon told me he didn’t expect me but that he needed me. I feel the same way about him. Nobody could have foreseen that I’d flounce into Pine Gulch in sparkly pink boots and find the love of my life. The girls are never gonna believe this. Except maybe Shadow, since this happened to her, too. I don’t know what’s in the water in Pine Gulch that we both found love here.

But whatever it is, it’s fucking magical.

Furyon

I stare at Varek through the bars of the jail cell. Bishop stands next to me, frowning at the expensively dressed minotaur. Although, after a night in the jail cell, his three-piece suit is rumpled, the shirt wrinkled and open to reveal his furry pecs. It’s hot in here, and I told the sheriff to leave the air conditioning off last night.

Let Varek and Letitia fucking sweat. Sheriff caught her packing up her office and, whaddya know, in possession of a Giant Arakna. They’re illegal to hold in captivity, as they require a lot of resources and space. Poor thing was traumatized, but Echo’s currently returning the huge spider to the Brazilian haven where she’s from. Turns out, Letitia had several bottles of the Arakna’s venom stashed around her office. That alone is enough to send her to Belcastle Prison for decades.

Varek grips the bars and rests his forehead against them, closing his eyes. “I don’t know how many more ways to tell y’all that I didn’t have anything to do with Letitia.”

“Lemon heard you,” I bark.

He straightens and shakes his head. “No. She heard me pressing Letitia for a potion, and I did do that. It just has nothing to do with the animals.”

Bishop growls. “Hard to believe considering their sickness was killin’ the land. You’re the only one in this entire fuckin’ haven who stands to benefit from the land becoming less valuable. We know you’re broke.”

Varek lunges forward, raking his horns over the bars. They rattle under his impressive weight. “I want nothing but the best for this haven. I’ve always wanted to settle and be accepted here. I want to build something we don’t yet have, a smaller community for those who don’t want wide-open spaces. Destroying this place is the last thing I want to do. I’m a Gulcher through and through, even though I’m not from here.” He shoots us a wry smile. “It’s funny how closed off you home-grown Gulchers can be sometimes, given that the whole vibe of this place is a spot for misfits and wild ones to find community, to find themselves.”

He leans forward, sneering, “I found myself here, and the reason Lemon overheard me with Letitia is entirely personal. The potion I needed has nothing to do with what she did to the animals OR Lemon.”

“What’s it for then?” I examine my nails as I consider his story. My intuitive gift pings. I don’t sense he’s lying, but the evidence against him is piled too high to let him free. And so far, Letitia’s not talking to absolve him of anything.

He shakes his head. “Like I said, it’s personal, and I’m not gonna tell you. Keep me here, I guess, if you have to. I know I didn’t do anything wrong, and I don’t think you’ll be able to prove that I did.”

Sheriff Rygold kicks at the bars. “Couple days in here with no air conditioning might change your mind.”

Varek ignores him but looks over at me. “One of the pit hells bonded to me. She’s out at my place probably begging to be let out and fed. Can you take her to your place and watch over her until I’m…until whatever happens happens?”

If he’s faking, he’s good. But he looks morose. I narrow my eyes but nod. “I won’t let her suffer on account of you.”

He nods and turns his back to us, shuffling to the rear of the cell and dropping onto the singular platform cot.

Rygold turns to me, narrowing his eyes. “Hearth representatives are coming later today to interview and remand Letitia to headquarters for trial. She’ll be outta our hair soon, but they’re likely to have questions for you and your woman.” His scowl falls a little. “She’s yours, right? You smell different.”

I can’t help the smile that overtakes me at knowing I even smell taken. “Yeah.”

He claps me on the shoulder. “Happy for you, Furyon. You deserve a good woman. Rate I’m going, I might have to hire someone from one of the mating agencies just so I don’t end up alone for the rest of my life.” He runs both hands through his short, slicked-back waves. “I been stone-sleeping my troubles away a little bit too much. I need to be around more. Maybe I coulda, I don’t know, headed some of this off at the pass.” He waves at Varek.

I don’t know the answer to that. But with the vial of Arakna poison stashed in Letitia’s office, Lemon and Rykan have been hard at work on an antidote. They’re combining what we know about how antihistamines work with reverse engineering the potion from Letitia’s office. I’ll be real busy the next few weeks getting all the infected animals fully sorted.

My comm watch pings, Lemon’s name hovering above the blue surface. Rygold disappears toward the front of the jail.

Smiling, I lean against the wall. “Mate, everything okay?”

She sighs. “Father and Hunter are leaving today, and they want to have lunch with me. I suspect they’ll try to convince me to go home with them. Come with me?”

I growl at the idea that, even now, after the crash and our claiming, her family would try to take her from me.

“Where?” I grit between clenched teeth.

“Whiskey Business. I’m there now.”