Gideon was the first to crack a smile. “You made us a cake?”
I smiled back in relief. “Yes. I got up early to bake it. From scratch. It's pineapple pistachio.”
“That sounds amazing! Doesn't it, guys?” Gideon smacked the other two in their arms.
Garret jolted out of his daze to say, “Amazing.”
“Holy shit,” Gage said.
“Shit,” I whispered. “You don't like it. I'm sorry. I just wanted to do something nice for you. And when you said you were made, not born, I thought, well, you must have never had a birthday.” I set the cake down on the island and bent over it to blow out the candles.
“Stop!” Gage shouted.
I jerked upright.
“Those are my birthday candles!” He hurried over. “I get to blow them out. Right? I don't get my wish if I don't blow them out.”
“Right,” I said, grinning again. “But share with your packmates.”
Gage nodded, his face split in a broad grin that I had never seen on him before. It wasn't sexy or smirking. It was pure, innocent pleasure.
Garret and Gideon came over and the three of them surrounded the cake. They grinned at each other and then, as if someone counted them down, blew out the candles together. With the flames extinguished, I cheered and clapped.
The men stared at me, goofy grins locked into place.
“I wish I could have gotten you some presents,” I said. “But I hope you like the cake. There's ice cream too.” I waved at the gallon of vanilla I had brought out of the freezer to soften along with the cake.
“I adore you,” Gideon declared.
I giggled.
“Seriously, Indigo,” Garret said. “This is so thoughtful.”
“It's better than thoughtful,” Gage said. “It's . . . shit. I feel . . .”
The men looked at each other and nodded.
“Yeah,” Gideon said. “Exactly. This is special.” He looked at me. “Thank you, Indie.”
“It was my pleasure,” I said. “Now, how about some cake and ice cream, birthday boys?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Garret said. “But first, what day is it?”
“Uh, it's . . .” I had to think about it. Everything had gotten jumbled up in my head. “It's September . . .”
“September 16th,” Gage said. “Our birthday.”
“Really?” I whispered. “You're going to let me choose the day you celebrate on?”
“Of course,” Gideon said. “That's what you've given us. Hades may have created our bodies, but you just brought us to life, Indigo. Thank you.”
I stared at them a moment, my throat closing with emotion, then I said, “You're welcome. Happy Birthday.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Four days passed with nothing happening. We went out to eat at least one meal every day, but no one approached us. I was getting to know the hounds even better, and the more I learned about them, the more certain I was that Silas was the liar. These guys were just too honest. Their expressions, down to the micro twitches, were perfect. No one can control micro-expressions. Not that I'm an expert, but I once took a class in reading faces. I thought it would magnify my instincts and help me be a better lawyer. I never knew I'd need that training to figure out which supernatural being was deceiving me.
And then one evening, an alarm went off. It was blaring. I thought it was a security alarm. It wasn't. We were in the living room, watching “Shrinking” on TV, and the guys reacted too calmly for it to be a security issue. Gage just got up and hit a panel on the wall.
