We did.
Abby pulled out a bar stool for me at a massive granite island, then started taking sandwich supplies from a forty-eight-inch refrigerator.
Titus went straight for an upper cabinet, from which he pulled down a bottle of bourbon and four glasses. “You’re old enough, right?”
“For anything you can imagine,” I said. With no thought about how that might sound.
Titus’s brows rose again.
Jace and Abby both glanced at me in surprise.
“I’m twenty-two,” I clarified. “Old enough to drink, and to make my own decisions. At least in human society.”
“Ham or turkey?” Abby asked at last, breaking the fragile silence.
“Yes,” I said, and she laughed as she set a paper plate on the island in front of me.
“Fancy.” I held up the disposable dish, to contrast it with the high-end appliances.
“No one likes doing dishes,” Abby explained as she piled shaved ham onto a slice of bread on her plate.
“Time to make that phone call.” Titus set his cell phone and a short, thick glass in front of me. Clearly, alcohol trumped the “no real dishes” policy.
“No.” Jace slid the phone out of my reach. “Not until we work out what she’s going to say.”
“She’s going to tell the council that I had nothing to do with breaking her out.” Titus set his phone in front of me again. “And she’s going to do it now, before they figure out on their own that we have her.”
“Then what?” Jace demanded. “We can’t tell them she’s here until we’re ready to send her back, and I don’t think she’s going to go willingly.”
“If we don’t tell them she’s here, we’re actively hiding her,” Titus insisted. “And every second we spend hiding her gives them a stronger reason to consider us enemies and reject our petition!”
“Are they always like this?” I whispered to Abby, as I watched Jace and Titus argue.
“Not always. They’re good friends. But two Alphas living under one roof is always a prickly situation.”
I layered a slice of ham over a slice of turkey on my sandwich. “So why don’t you move out?”
“We will.” Abby wiped the tip of the mustard container with a paper towel. “But it’s complicated out here. Most of the strays didn’t get any help or guidance after they were infected. They figured out on their own that exposing themselves to humanity would be a bad idea, mostly from TV and movies full of government labs and scientists. And those the council knows about got warnings about following all the rules. But until Titus took over, there was no real regulation out here. They’re used to living however they want.”
“Like the Wild West,” I mumbled.
“Yeah. Kind of. And these cowboys have never met a cowgirl of their own species. Most of them are just curious, but…” She shrugged, and her sandwich flopped in her hand.
“But until the law gets a better hold, you’re circling the wagons.”
Abby nodded. “I think we’ve pretty much exhausted that metaphor.”
I laughed. “Agreed.”
“Fine,” Jace growled from across the kitchen. “But if it starts to go south, let me talk to Faythe. She’ll listen to me.”
“It’s not going to go south.” Titus turned to me, holding his cell, with Faythe Sanders’s contact page on the screen. “You’re up, Robyn.”
FOUR
Titus
“We’re in trouble here. Do you want my advice or not?” Jace snapped softly, while Abby and Robyn assembled sandwiches across the kitchen.
