Page 69 of Wolves Always Bite

“Willyou be okay out here by yourself?”Ashasked.

“We’llbe fine,”Isaid. “Go.Helpinside.Thosepeople need help.”

“Letme know when he wakes,”Ashsaid, as he reached over and squeezed my shoulder.

Ididn’t watch them leave.Myeyes were already back onJeremy, andIcouldn’t look away.NowIjust needed him to wake up soIcould tell him all the amazing thingsI’ddiscovered.

Mymate.

IcradledJeremyin my arms.Iconsidered taking him to the motorhome where he’d at least be more comfortable, but some instinct told me that the furtherItook him from the bomb the more his body would have to work to do whatever it was it was doing.Ididn’t know ifIwas being paranoid or not, butIthoughtI’dbetter trust my gut in case it was receiving messages from our developing mate bond.Giveneverything else that had happened today, that seemed like the safer bet.

Pushingmy face intoJeremy’sneck,Ibreathed his familiar scent in.Atleast my hearing had healed now, andItook comfort in the strong and steady rhythm of his heart beating.

Thesun beat down on us and the dark asphalt only made the heat worse.Mylittle human wasn’t as fair as some, but his skin was starting to pinken.Asgently asIcould,Ilifted him and carried him bridal style asIsearched for a shady spot.WhenIfound a sliver of shade by the building,Ilowered him gently to the ground.Ileaned against the wall and held him asImonitored the comings and goings in the warehouse.Idoubted any ofBabette’speople would come in guns blazing when we’d obviously bested her and the others, but stranger things had happened.

“Howis he?”Gage’squestion startled me.

Ijumped.Iwould never get used to how quietly he moved.Ashe came over and knelt beside us, his magic enveloped us.

“Teaguetold me about what he thinks happened,” he said.

“Doyou agree with him?”Icouldn’t resist asking, needing my leader’s reassurance even thoughItrustedTeague, especially given everything he’d shared.Gagewas my alpha in every way that mattered, andIneeded to know he had faith that everything would work out.

“Idon’t sense anything threatening or unnatural in his magic.Itis unfamiliar to me, but every kind of supernatural has their own magical signature andI’venever met a seventh son with magic before.”

Behindhim,IsawTeaguerush out of the building and jog toward where we’d left thePinkLadyandAsh’struck.Hadhe thought of something that might helpJeremy?

“Therehasn’t been any change.”IrubbedJeremy’sarm, taking comfort in the warmth of his skin and how the magic glowing around his body responded to my touch by curling around my fingers.

“Idon’t see any reason to worry yet,”Gagesaid. “Hismagic is powerful in its own way.”

Inodded.

“Letme know if you need anything out here,”Gagesaid. “And, when the police get here, tell themI’minside.”

“Ican do that.”

“ItextedVanwith our coordinates before we went in and told him to send reinforcements if he hadn’t heard back from us in half an hour.”Gage’sgaze drifted over the parking lot to the empty street beyond. “Ihad a feeling.”

Ididn’t understand how his demonic magic worked, butIdidn’t question his instincts, not whenIwas following my own whereJeremywas concerned.Somethings in this life weren’t meant to be understood.

Gagepulled out his phone and typed something.Hisfingers moved slowly over the screen; it was almost painful to watch him pecking away.Awhooshing sound suggested he’d sent a message. “I’veletVanknow we’ve got the situation contained but we still need backup.Hopefullythat’ll stop them from coming in like trigger happy cowboys.”Hefrowned. “Wedon’t need that kind of distraction.”

“Why?What’sgoing on?”

“Thelocks on those cages are reinforced with magic.It’lltake time and a hell of a lot of magic to open them all.Idon’t know what they used, but my magic alone isn’t enough.TeagueandIare going to have to do it together.KnowingTeague, he’s going to want to heal the prisoners as they are freed, but he won’t have enough magic to do that and help me open the cages too.”

Iguessed using magically locked cages made sense when you wanted to contain supes.Myshort time in the warehouse had told me most, if not all, of the people in those cages were supernatural beings.Magicstrong enough to contain our kind wasn’t easy to do.TheSupernaturalCouncilkept several covens under contract to maintain their prisons.Thattype of magic should have been impossible for someone likeBabetteto get her hands on.

We’dsuspected for a long time that she was a crook and a fence, but trafficking people was next level.Andnow she had magical locks too?Somethingwasn’t adding up.Shehad to be working for someone with power and money and access to a whole lot of magic.Thewhole situation made me want to shift and make sure the goblin told us everything—using whatever means possible.

“CanAshhelp?He’sa mage too.”

“Perhaps.”Gagenodded. “I’llask if he is willing to try.Idon’t want to depleteTeague’smagic, and there are lots of cages to open.”

“Doyou think another demon was involved?IswearIscented one when we foundBabettewithJeremy.”

Asuffocating and powerful magic rolled out fromGageand made me want to show him my neck.ThenGagenodded slowly as he pulled his magic back. “Yes.Ademon was here, but not now.Iwill look at the magic on the locks more carefully.Goodobservation,Adrian.”