Jamison let out a low whistle. “Damn, they must have really pissed your friend off.”
“They hurt his child, which hurts me. Do you understand, Jamison?”
“I hear you, loud and clear. You gonna pony up the cash if I jerk a knot in him?”
“I will. Now I’m going to pass the phone to a young friend who will tell you the specific professor who needs to be reminded how to treat people. Let us know the outcome.”
Eduard passed the phone to Henry, whose mouth had fallen open in shock. He took the phone, though, and rattled off the professor’s name and what had happened. There was more to the story than he’d shared before. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time the professor had been less than professional with his students or with Ben in particular. No wonder Henry had been raging.
“Holy shit,” Ollie said once Henry ended the call. “Did you just get him fired? I think you got the asshole fired. Henry, this dude is seriously awesome.”
Henry met his gaze in the mirror once again, the anger fading from his eyes. “Thank you.”
“Why don’t we grab a bite to eat while we’re out, if you’re feeling up to it?”
They’d pulled into the parking lot of one of the nicer steakhouses in the area. Henry rarely left the pack lands, so this would be a treat for him. Ollie bounced in his seat, the young wolf eager for a good meal.
“That would be nice. Let me call my dads first and tell them where we are.”
Henry made the call, and then they walked together into the restaurant. Before they’d finished their meal, Eduard had received a follow up call from Jamison. “Progress so soon?”
“Yeah, it was easy. Money talks and bullshit walks. They’d already had a couple complaints against this guy so he’s gone. I’ll get the endowment paperwork started and send it to your office.”
“Thank you, Jamison.”
“I’ll take piles of cash from you anytime, Eduard.”
Eduard laughed as he ended the call then shared the update with the others.
He’d gotten a real smile from Henry then, the first of what had turned into many. They’d had a lot more bumps in the road until they met Sawyer and Draco, but Henry had definitely warmed up to him after that. But Eduard had never been able to forget that moment of angry ruthlessness he’d witnessed in the young mage. Henry would have done anything to protect his brother in that moment. And he would be wise to remember what depths Henry was capable of when pushed.
Draco seemed to realize that Henry meant business as well. He followed Eduard down the beach, scooping up the first body they came to while Eduard went to gather the second. They carried them down the beach and found a small area between a few boulders. After tossing the bodies down, Draco shifted and blew a scorching amount of fire over them. By the time he was done, there wasn’t much left to speak of.
He waited for Draco to shift back before snagging his arm before Draco could hurry back to the cabin.
Draco took one look at him then blew out a breath. “You okay?”
“I don’t think any of us are okay.”
“Good point. I’ve never seen Henry like that before.” Draco glanced across the cove to where Henry had resumed his position kneeling among the trees. Saeward had disappeared, likely back inside with Sawyer once more.
“He’s stronger than we think. We’re his pack now, and as he told me once before, no one messes with pack.”
“No one,” Draco agreed.
Henry
It had been quite some time since Henry had so much trouble controlling his emotions. Something in the situation triggered a lot of memories from his past and he’d not been able to shake the feeling of impending doom. The air had tried to reassure him, but he couldn’t quite manage to quell his fear. Instead, he’d turned it into action. Saeward had agreed to come back with them, so they needed to get him packed and his cabin secured. Andvari and Draco helped hang the storm shutters on the windows while Saeward packed his few belongings into a single trunk. Eduard’s eye had twitched at the state of the clothes Saeward wore.
Henry found himself standing in the doorway to Saeward’s bedroom for the fifth time in as many minutes. He couldn’t stop going to look, to check and make sure he was still there, still whole and breathing. Eduard waved him over, but Henry shook his head. He was better served by being outside right now. The wind had whispered to him that another boat was approaching. Based on the time, Henry suspected it was the yacht Augustus had sent for them, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
Once Saeward was ready, he walked with the newest guardian out to the beach. They both breathed in the salty air and watched the water as it shimmered in the late afternoon sun.
“We need to figure out what to do with the boat,” Henry murmured. “Can’t just leave it there. And we need to—”
“We can set it adrift,” Saeward said.
“What?” His voice must have been sharp because Saeward took a step back and lowered his head.
