AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“This isn’t funny,” Gideon snapped.
A raven’s beak briefly peeked out of the box’s hole. There were a few deep squawks and angry chirps.
“I’m not arguing with you about this,” Gideon declared. “Just give it back.”
More squawks. More chirps.
Gideon growled, balling up his hands. “Don’t make me come in there.”
“What’s going on?” Teague called out, stuffing his riding gear in his saddlebag.
Gideon turned to him. “One of the ravens swiped the last bit of my toast.”
“And you want it back?” Ew.
“It’s the principle of the thing.”
“Ravens are thieving little shits,” Leo chipped in from his seat at the bench, earning a squawk of complaint from the bird perched on a sleeping Hugo’s head. Leo tossed it a frown. “Well, it’s true.”
“They’re just bored,” said Saxon before biting into a bagel, ignoring the Alpha bloodhound that sat in front of him, licking his muzzle. The dogs were fed three times a day but never failed to ‘beg’ when others were eating.
Cupping his mug with both hands, Slade shifted slightly on the log beside Saxon as he eyed Teague carefully. “Spent the night at the harpy’s place again, did you?”
Yes. Just as he had every other night since he and Larkin had come to their agreement a week ago.
On a deck chair, Tucker shook his head. “This ain’t good, man.”
“Yeah, fucking her on the regular is one thing,” said Archer, sitting on a log across from Slade and Saxon. “Spending time with her outside of sex isn’t a little bit wise.”
Teague inwardly sighed. “I haven’t told her anything, and I won’t.”
“We’re not saying you have or ever would,” Saxon assured him. “But the more she’s around you, the more chance she has of picking up on something she shouldn’t.”
Tucker dipped his chin. “You don’t want that, T. We don’t want that.” He snatched back his foot as the raven who’d skittered its way from Hugo’s head to Tucker’s chair began plucking at the lace of his sneakers.
“She’s not going to pick up on anything, I’m careful.” And utterly unwilling to walk away from her just yet, so they’d need to deal with it.
“You’ve never had a problem taking such precautions before.” Finished his cereal, Leo drank what milk was left in his bowl. “What’s different this time?”
“You like her like her,” Gideon sensed, sinking into a deck chair.
Teague palmed the back of his head, exhaling heavily. “I do, yeah.” It seemed impossible for him not to. Everything about her drew him, compelled him, appealed to him. His inner entity coveted her just as much.
Leo placed his empty bowl on the table. “Look, I’m not trying to be an asshole here. The last thing I want to do is tell you to distance yourself from someone who you really like. But she’s Knox Thorne’s sentinel.”
“I know that,” Teague gritted out. “Don’t need the reminder. And if there comes a point where I feel she’s at risk of figuring things out, I’ll back away. Until then . . . ” He turned to head inside his wagon.
“Wait, before you go, we need to run something by you,” Gideon announced. “Something completely unrelated to the harpy.”
Teague slowly pivoted on his heel. “What?”
It was Leo who explained, “We’ve been tossing ideas around. And we think it would be good to set a trap for the shadowkin.”
Intrigued, Teague folded his arms. “What kind of trap?”
Slade smiled, setting his cup down on the ground—a cup Baxter immediately began sniffing. “One you’re gonna like.” He rubbed his hands together. “So, we were thinking that, given you killed the two shadowkin that came for you, Ronin is probably going to send even more shadowkin next time.”
Teague gave a slow nod. “I’ve considered that.”
“It makes sense for us to ensure that the next attack happens in a contained environment where it will go your way,” said Slade. “And what better contained environment than our own territory?”
“They currently can’t so much as step foot on it, thanks to the black salt,” Teague reminded him. “They have no way to penetrate the invisible shield it has created.”
“Ah, but we can change that.” Saxon ate the last of his bagel. “We can sweep aside just enough black salt to give them an opening, making it seem like an animal or breeze disturbed it—it’s highly probable they search our border periodically, hoping for such an opportunity. If you’re sat out here alone, they won’t hesitate to take advantage.”
Slade nodded. “They’ll step through the shield, unaware that we’re ready and waiting to close the gap behind them. Then they’ll be trapped and totally at our mercy.”
Teague swept his gaze over his entire clan, taking in the eagerness that glimmered in their eyes. “You feel left out of the action.”
“Yes,” Leo admitted.
Gideon nodded. “Absolutely.”
“It’s almost painful,” Archer added.
In the reverse situation, Teague would have been as keen to involve himself. He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Providing not too many shadowkin are sent for me, we should be able to kill them quickly and cleanly.”
