“Was it active?”
“There was smoke.”
Lucinda pursed her lips. “I once heard about a plane like that. I never knew a name. It was a hellscape, so the individual who saw it called it Hell.”
“I can see why someone would think that,” I acknowledged. “Itfelt like a terrible place to live.” My mind went to my mother. “It’s kind of a fate worse than death.”
“That’s what Hell is supposed to be, right?” Lucinda prodded.
“I guess.” I leaned my head against Galen’s shoulder and he dropped a kiss on my crown just as the server approached.
She was young, maybe twenty-two but no older, and wispy thin with a shapely butt. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and she wore very little makeup. Only her eyes were done up, and they sparkled at Galen as she singled him out.
“Hi, Sheriff,” she chirped.
“Hello, Sadie,” he replied. He was friendly but not gregarious. “Anything good on special tonight?”
“There’s prime rib. I know you like red meat.”
All of the shifters other than Brody made appreciative noises.
“That does sound good,” Galen agreed.
“We have crab legs too,” Sadie added. “A pound of king crab legs with sides.”
Galen glanced at me. “Oh, look,” he teased, poking my side in an attempt to cajole a smile out of me. “They have something for both of us.”
Thatwasgood news. I looked up to find the server glaring at me. She schooled her features quickly when she realized I was staring, but too late to hide her disdain. “I’ll have a pear margarita, frozen, and a glass of water,” I said. “And the crab legs with mashed potatoes and the house vegetable.”
“Great.” Sadie’s tone was clipped as she jotted the order in her pad. She seemed happy to be done with me. She couldn’t stop smiling when taking Galen’s order and she gave Julian the same treatment. He was a new face on the island, which made him a curiosity, but Sadie seemed to like what she saw. Booker and Brody got wide smiles too. The rest of us were merely inconveniences.
“I don’t like her,” Aurora announced when she was gone.
I slid my gaze to her. “Who? Sadie?”
“She was rude to all the women and tripped over her tongue around the guys.”
“She’s young,” I replied. “She can’t help herself. Plus, Booker and Galen have built up their mystiques so they’re larger than life figures on the island. She’s only reacting as she’s been conditioned.”
“That’s an interesting way of putting it,” Julian noted. “Did you study psychology?”
“Oh, no.” I laughed at the suggestion. “I did take one course in college. I just like gauging people. One thing I’ve learned is that machismo still exists on the island.”
“What’s machismo?” Taylor asked on a giggle.
“An exaggerated sense of male pride,” I explained. “It’s when men puff themselves out for what has been designated as male behavior throughout the years, like bar fights to protect their women and that type of stuff.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Julian asked. He didn’t look offended as much as interested.
“It depends on how the machismo is displayed. In Galen’s case — and Booker’s — they show off by being overprotective of their romantic partners even though their romantic partners can take care of themselves.”
Galen gave me a pointed look but didn’t say anything. I continued as if I didn’t have a care in the world.
“Part of it for Galen is the pack culture,” I explained. “Men and women have clearly defined roles in the pack. Even you do it.”
Julian’s eyebrows hiked. “I do it? What does that mean?”
“Hadley.” Galen said my name on a growl and there was a warning there.
