Page 57 of Hellhounds Never Lie

"The doctor said moving around and staying active would be good for me," I said as I waited for Dillon to open the heavy door.

"I don't think going to the pub was what he had in mind," he muttered.

Dillon was probably right, but we’d already come all this way. We might as well go in for a few minutes, right? Besides I was beyond ready to leave the apartment. I’d never spent so much time in my apartment, and I was going stir crazy, even with a sexy hellhound there to distract me.

It was funny how when my mother and my brother fussed over me, it irritated me no end and made me want to push harder to establish my independence, but when Dillon did it, I usually wanted to cuddle close and assuage the big guy's worries. But even that could only work for so long. I needed to be out with people.

As soon as we entered the pub, Paws let out a surprisingly feline-sounding yowl in greeting and everyone turned toward us and started clapping. My cheeks heated. Okay. I hadn’t expected that.

"Enough, enough," I said, waving my hand through the air.

We made our way to a small round table in the center of the pub and Dillon helped me ease into a seat. As soon as I was settled, Dillon left to get drinks for us. I doubted my darling hellhound would bring back anything interesting. Hell, I’d be lucky if he returned with a cola. But that was okay. I didn’t need alcohol tonight. Paws jumped onto the table, obstructing my view of Dillon's ass as he leaned against the bar. The cat stared unblinkingly at me.

"You look like shit." The cat emphasized his point with a sharp flick of his tri-colored tail.

"Are you insulting me? Because the big fiery hound over there might take exception to that."

"Oh, please," Paws said. "As if I'd ever be scared of a hellhound."

Which again begged the question: what was Paws? Even with my magical powers almost fully recovered, I couldn't identify the cat's magical energy. Maybe I should ask Dillon and see if he knew.

Dillon returned a moment later with our drinks. I eyed the white liquid. Then I sniffed it.

"Milk? Really?"

Dillon lifted his own glass of the same and clinked it to mine. Paws stared at my glass, then leaned forward more and more until his nose was mere millimeters from the milk.

"Hey," I shouted at him and pulled my glass closer. "If you want milk, Dillon will get you your own."

Paws jerked back and started cleaning his fur with frantic little licks.

"Are you embarrassed?" I laughed.

Paws hissed at me and resumed his bath, right there in the middle of the table.

Dillon looked around the pub, pausing now and then to study the way the humans mingled with the supes. On the day of the attack, supes of every kind had come out to defend our town, but this wasn’t the same. This was just an average day in Willow Lake.

I could see where it’d be a bit of a novelty to see such a wide range of different supernatural beings all socializing together and with humans too. Most humans wouldn't linger where supes hung out, complaining about the weird vibe. Honestly, for me, that magical energy was one of the many things that made Willow Lake so special. Maybe it was the same for some humans, maybe some were more comfortable with its effects than others.

I used to think humans were stupid for not recognizing the predators in their midst, but I wasn’t so sure about that now. Even supes couldn’t always sense the ones who’d prey on others. I could only hope that coming together and protecting one another would become the norm rather than the exception. That was the only way to build a stronger community, right?

At the moment, Dillon’s attention was on Parker, my ginger-haired boss at the Flying Rowan Café, who was flirting with Levi, the owner of the town’s motel. The poor minotaur was huffing and blushing as he rubbed the back of his neck and stammered out a response to something Parker had asked. The guy was terribly shy, but that didn't seem to bother Parker one bit. It wasn't that long ago I had considered the big, broad minotaur as possible dating material, but I hadn’t entertained that thought for long. Parker had obviously already called dibs, even then.

"They’ll figure it out. Eventually," Van said as he sat down at our table and saw who we were watching.

"Hey, Van. When we talked earlier, I thought you said you wouldn’t be able to get here until later," Dillon said as he smiled at the other hellhound. Then his eyes darted to me.

I pretended not to notice. I knew they’d talked earlier, although I was sure Dillon thought I’d been sleeping. It was obvious from the side of the conversation I’d heard that my hellhound had asked Van to look into my ex and his incarceration. Whatever Van had told him had appeased Dillon, which made me think Chris was not doing well. I couldn’t decide how I felt about that.

Seeing Dillon and Van together now made me think they were well on their way to creating a mini hellhound pack of two. I also didn’t think it’d be long before Van formally asked Dillon to start training as a deputy. They’d both been hinting at that since the attack and there was a rather obvious vacancy in the police department now.

"How did it go today?" I asked. The Supernatural Council had taken custody of Dot that afternoon.

Van took a long draw from his pint glass—at least someone got to have beer—and then set it down with a thump. "I don't know what they'll do with her honestly. It wasn’t that many years ago that they would have let her go, because no one died from her actions. They would have let the disciplinary actions fall to the local alpha of her herd, but without an alpha in Willow Lake, the SC has to step in. They are still so new to all this, having to figure out on a case-by-case basis what kinds of punishments are suited for which kinds of crimes. Since she was my deputy, holding a position of trust in the community, I expect her punishment might be harsher. But who knows what they’ll decide.”

Yeah. I knew all about the SC’s changes, for obvious reasons. The system wasn’t perfect, but it was better than it had been before.

“Dot's being cooperative,” Van continued. “She knows she fucked up, but she doesn't have a lot of answers. Her sister doesn't remember anything about her abduction either. But, at the same time, I know Dot’s lying to me. Even now. I just don’t know why or what she’s lying about. The situation is irritating the shit out of me."