Page 52 of Hellhounds Never Lie

“I can’t believe they already let you out of the hospital,” Jeremy said before I could even say hello. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He was jiggling a little, so I imagined he was tapping his foot too. “I knew I shouldn’t have left. What kind of country bumpkin doctor releases someone with a gunshot wound after only two nights in the hospital? You were still unconscious yesterday morning for pity’s sake. Did they do any tests? Did they send you home with instructions? Was that doctor even awake when he examined you? Because he looked like he’d just rolled out of bed.”

Dillon lifted his head, turning his snout toward me. If he’d been in his human form, he probably would have lifted an eyebrow. I patted him on his toasty warm head to let him know he didn’t have to worry. The flames on his black furry coat curled around my fingers. Man, I loved that I could touch him like this.

“I’m fine, Jer, I promise.” And I was. I wasn’t healing as fast as most supes, but considering how disconnected I’d been from the Eternal Magic for the last seven years I was doing pretty good—good enough that the doc had sent me home.

“Pfft. You have a hole in your back, Ash. You’re not fine.”

“The doc sewed me up, and then there wasn’t much more they could do for me. The bullet didn’t hit anything important like my heart or my lungs or whatever.”

Jeremy frowned. “You are important. The bullet hit you.”

Dillon grunted, like he agreed with Jeremy.

“I love you too, Jer. But, seriously, you don’t have to worry about me.”

He leaned toward his camera. His blue eyes stared straight into mine. “You are my best friend. Of course, I’m going to worry.”

I loved Jeremy with all my heart. I wished I hadn’t been such a coward when we were teens, and then maybe I wouldn’t have to keep so many secrets from him. Jeremy, I was sure, didn’t hide a single thing from me. He was the most open and honest person I’d ever met. He said once that it was because he was the youngest of seven kids. With a family that big, all living together in a little midcentury bungalow, keeping secrets had been impossible, so he’d just stopped trying to do it.

It was one of the other reasons I’d never told him about supernatural beings. It wasn’t natural for him to keep secrets. He’d be a mess if he tried to keep such a big one from his family.

“Tell me about your new job.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes. “Not a very subtle way to change the subject.”

I smirked. “Was I supposed to be subtle?”

“Fine, Mr. Black Knight.” He huffed, but his blue eyes twinkled. “I’ll tell you about my new job, but only because you look and sound better than I’d thought you would. I’ll pretend it was just a scratch if that’s what you want.”

“A mere flesh wound,” I agreed with a grin.

Dillon tilted his big hellhound head in obvious confusion. Had he not seenMonty Python and the Holy Grail?We’d have to fix that. I scratched him behind the ear, and he dropped his head to my lap again. I sighed as the heat from his fiery body sank into me. He was so much better than any blanket.

“My boss is a little… odd, but the pay is good.”

“And you just go to farmers’ markets with her? That’s it?”

He nodded. “I might not even need to pay for highlights in my hair this year. I’m getting a lot of time in the sun.”

“Do you sell lots?”

“Not a single thing so far.” He snorted. “But she doesn’t seem to care, so whatever. I get to read a lot. Right now, I’m getting my fix of sexy gay vampires. You should definitely read the series so we can gush about the hot as fuck hero.” He sighed like he couldn’t imagine anything sexier than a vampire. Of course, he probably wouldn’t do that if he knew his childhood neighbor was a vampire. That man was an uptight bitch. A true male Karen before being a Karen was a thing. Then again, now that I was an adult, I could sort of see that living next door to a house with seven very active and loud boys might be challenging.

“What about your writing?”

Jeremy glanced away. “I’m working on some ideas.”

He was always working on ideas. I didn’t know if he’d ever finish a book, but I wanted that for him.

Then his eyes lit up. “Actually, you should tell me all about that boyfriend of yours.”

“What do you want to know?”

“So…” He pulled a crumpled looking coiled notebook from his backpack and started flipping through the pages. “I may have written down some questions.” He flashed me a page full of scribbles.

“You have that many questions? About Dillon?”

He waggled his eyebrows. “You know me. I’m always looking for inspiration. Maybe you and Dillon could be the heroes of my next novel. You know, I was thinking maybe I should write something paranormal. This vampire series is smokin’ hot. I bet I could write something like that, but with something other than vampires so it isn’t exactly the same. Oh… Dillon could be a bear shifter. And…” He stroked his chin. “You could be a little twink-ish fox shifter. Or maybe a cat? Something cute like an ocelot. I haven’t decided yet.”