Page 42 of Moody as a Minotaur

“Yes, well… I don’t need to be dragged off to underworld today, thank you very much.”

Van rubbed his forehead. “Hellhounds don’t…” He shook his head. “You know what… There is going to be a lot you don’t know. I guess I should give you a break. But I will say this. Hellhounds are usually considered the good guys.”

Levi poked his head into the room. “That’s true. They can scent lies, but they can’t tell them. Lies make them uncomfortable.”

“You should get in touch with Jeremy,” Van said. “Herecently learned about supes too. He can probably help explain things from a human perspective.”

I barely hid my grimace. Jeremy seemed like a nice enough guy, but he was… a little, um, exuberant. I wasn’t sure if I could handle talking to him for a long time, let alone turn to him for answers. But maybe I was being harsh.

“Hayden can help too,” Van continued.

“My mechanic?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Van nodded. “He’s our alpha.”

“Alpha?” I couldn’t hide my disgust.

In my experience, guys who called themselves alphas were assholes. What was that meme always going around on social media? Something about an alpha version being untested and problematic, the first version of something that would ultimately need to be improved before it was fit for purpose.

Levi walked by the office with a mop and bucket next. He glanced at me and stepped toward me like he wanted to fix whatever was bothering me. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Hayden is an alpha?” My disdain dripped from that last word. “I totally misread the guy.”

“Yes…” Levi nodded slowly, like he still didn’t see the problem. “He’s our alpha. Why is that a problem for you? Have you met other alphas? I didn’t think you knew about supes until today.”

“Alphas are…” How did they not know this? “I mean, people call them alpha-holes for a reason, right?”

“That must be a human thing,” Van said. “For us, alpha signifies a kind of local community leader. And,sure, some of them can be assholes. But that’s like anyone, right?”

“You should think about calling him something else.” I shuddered. “I didn’t get the whole toxic masculinity vibe from him, but…”

Van and Levi wore matching looks of confusion. Okay. Obviously, this was a me problem.

“Never mind.” I waved my hand through the air.

“Do you have any other questions?” Van asked as Levi swished the mop over the floor.

I shook my head. “Not right now, but I probably will have some questions later. Finding out supernatural creatures are real wasn’t on my bingo card for this year, but I’ll figure it out.”

But not on my own. I’d figure it out with Levi’s help. Yep, I would be just fine. Particularly if he forgave me for laughing. And it’d be even better if I could talk him into kissing me.

Levi grunted at my words and hauled his mop and bucket away.

“Okay.” Van nodded. “We’ve asked Levi to get close to Fin and his friends to find out what they know. Can you help with that?”

Spend more time with Levi? Sign me up!

Did this mean I was an honorary supe now?

14

THE PLAN

LEVI

I dumped my bucket of dirty water down the toilet and wondered if anyone would notice if I left by the back door. Returning to my office to face Parker was the last thing I wanted to do.

Our friendship had changed today. Irrevocable damage had been done. I had panicked. Even now, my lungs weren’t quite working the way they were supposed to. My chest hurt. Dizziness swirled through me, like the water draining out of a toilet bowl.