Page 50 of Seas the Reckoning

“He’s just so cute! You did tell me, but you really didn’t do it justice. Imagine if I made him his own little puppy portals. Pickles portals! It sounds like a brand, don’t you think?”

“Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Two women and a basset hound round the corner, and I nearly drop in relief.

Never stares down at me where I’ve half-collapsed against a hedge. The second woman, who has impossibly magenta eyes, throws a hand over her mouth when she sees me.

Pickles runs at me, jumping up to lick my face.

“I missed you, too.”

Something in him breaks the hold I have over my anxiety, and tears begin to fall.

20

A DANGEROUS WERE

Never steps over to me, hoisting me into an upright position and half-dragging me to a stone bench where I can collapse more comfortably.

“Used the song, didn’t you?” she asks.

The second woman steps forward, magenta eyes less than an inch from my own, her brown hair swinging in her face.

“Are you hurt? Are you trapped? Do we need to bust you out of here?” the other woman asks, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Never swats at the other woman, rolling her eyes.

“This one,” she tells me, gesturing with her thumb at the magenta-eyed individual.

“What are you both doing here? And, um, you know, who are you?” I say.

“I’ll assume you meant her, since no one could forget such a devastatingly talented Were as myself.” Never throws her silvery hair over her shoulder, attempting a wink.

At least I think she’s attempting a wink. It’s always tough to tell, since one of her sockets has a silvery metal eyepatch covering it.

“Danger. Nice to meet you.” The second woman shoves a hand forward for me to shake.

“You’re the valkyrie wolf!” I shout.

She titters, eyes gleaming and smile growing.

“That’s me! Hopefully you’ve heard good things?”

“Starla is going to be mad she missed you. She thought you sounded cool. Starla! She’s up in the office with her dad right now. She was supposed to be getting some information from him for our … mission.” The word sounds so serious, but I suppose it’s accurate. “How much do you know?” I ask Never.

“Jackal gave me the highlights. He, Exos and Ji-hwan decided that my personal brand of mayhem might come in handy for a plan they were considering implementing, and Feral very wisely suggested we bring in the portal-fiend here so we could do some quick travel and not risk getting caught.”

“Thank you,” I tell them both.

She smirks.

“Happy to oblige. I get to wreak a little havoc, and everyone in your crew can be in sight of an audience, so you’re all above suspicion. Plus, I do love an opportunity to set things alight. We portaled to the guys, and your little pooch here was bouncing around, fit to be tied. I could tell he wanted to come along. I swore to your mate that I’d keep Sparky McFlames here with me so he’d stay safe. And I did!”

“Easy peasy!” Danger adds.

I nod along. Feral had said as much, but seeing the distraction was different than what I’d envisioned they’d come up with.

“Okay, then, and again, I really am trying to sound polite here because I do appreciate it … what are you both still doing here?”