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“Fine,” Clint replied. “I just don’t know what they would be hiding.”
“And that is what we are going to find out.” Dax leaned back in his chair for a moment and took a sip on his beer. “It’s on me that it has even gotten this far. I got soft.”
He looked around the table, and to preempt any of the pack, he continued, “And yeah, Bloom probably had something to do with it. She thought I should go easy on the woman and daughter, and truthfully, I didn’t think there was much more to their story anyhow. But with two people dead – and the way that shifter freaked out…and now a fae…”
“Don’t forget about the poor bad guys you offed,” Dayton added.
“They don’t count.” He shook his head as he continued his train of thought. “I thought that SUV going in the river was the end of it, but it’s only gotten worse.”
The door to the front bar swung open and Duke stuck his head in. “Hey Dax, they’re here. Want me to send them back?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Duke. Give us two minutes. And another one for me,” he added, pointing at his beer.
“Make it two,” Dayton said, raising his empty bottle.
“Got it. Two minutes,” he said as he held up two fingers before retreating and closing the door. He poked his head back in for a split second, “And two beers,” he added with a wink.
After acknowledging Duke, they looked at each other.
“Just be nice,” Rollo said. “And remember, Kim is just a kid.”
Be nice?Dax felt his dragon stirring. Even his own pack seemed to be missing just how much danger the town could be in.
“The time fornicehas passed. Of course, I’m not gonna be a dick. And I definitely don’t want to scare the kid. But we need answers, Rollo. Did you see McKenzie’s? Or the curio shop? I’m done playing.”
He looked around at his pack. They knew they had all underestimated the danger of this drug. The chaotic nature of its apparent effect on shifters and fae was unsettling to say the least. He knew that none of them were too pleased with themselves.
And I am not gonna let this town fall apart.
An image of his father during their final discussion popped into his head.
You’d like that, wouldn’t you, dad?
“Okay, boss,” Rollo said as the door opened again, bringing Dax back to the moment. Bloom appeared in the opening, followed by Chris and Kim.
The assembled pack all got to their feet.
“Gentleman,” Bloom said, maybe a little stiffly.
Despite not having seen or heard from her over the past few days, Dax felt a thrill as she entered the room. His dragon stood at attention as well, with his mate near.
Despite his reaction, he was still mad at her for how she had acted the last time he’d seen her.
How dared she try to tell him how to do his job? In front of his men and all those self-important fae?
Did he come to her bar and tell her how to pour her drinks? No! So what right did she have to tell him to calm down and to be nice or whatever. They didn’t need nice. People were dying. They needed action. Answers. A leader who acted. Someone who could get things done. And so far nothing he had done was working. He was failing and failure was not an option. It was time to step it up.
“Ladies,” Dax said as he offered the three women chairs around the larger rectangular table in the room.
Chris, the mother, had a distinctively frightened, and maybe a bit sheepish, look about her, while her daughter kept stealing glances her way.
“To what do we owe this ‘summoning.’”
“Summoning?”
“Oh, come on. You could have made the trip over to The Tree to visit with them yourself. Tell me this isn’t some kind of power play?”
“We have given them more than a few chances to discuss this under what might have been more, let’s say, casual circumstances,” he said firmly. “And let me remind you that you are part of the reason that didn’t happen, okay?” He gave them all a stern look. “Out of respect for you and for what you ladies have been through I did my best to be patient. Perhaps that was a mistake. We are doing it my way now. This is not just about your convenience. This is about the safety of the whole town. I would think you of all people would appreciate the threat we are dealing with.”
