Maler gave a curt, displeased nod.
“Agreed.”
“He’s agreed, sir,” Maler spoke into the cell phone. He listened for a few more seconds before disconnecting. When his gaze traveled between Brock and me, I knew without a doubt that this man would have loved to install tracking devices in every single one of us.
“My supervising officer has agreed,” Maler said, “but only for now. We’ll be revisiting the issue at a later date.”
“Then let’s get this over with,” Brock growled. “I have far better things to do with my morning.”
Maler tipped his head to a soldier behind him, and a man with sandy blond hair growing low on his forehead went to retrieve a metal briefcase from the nearest vehicle. He pulled out a scary-ass contraption with a huge, long needle attached to it.
“You can’t let him inject you with that,” I whispered urgently to Brock.
“I have to,” he said, extracting his arm from my side. He approached the soldier while pulling his shirt over his head and offering him his bare shoulder. “I take it that it doesn’t matter where you inject the tracker?”
“No, sir,” the soldier said.
“Good. Then let’s get it done.”
An alcohol swab and thirty seconds later, my future husband could be tracked by the US government anywhere, at any time. Not a single aspect of this was sitting well with me.
The three witches stepped forward then and clasped hands. “We’ve been ordered to do a quick spell to hunt out any demons you may have on the property. This is non-negotiable.”
Panic ripped through me, but I kept my face calm. Thank God we’d gotten Cass into hiding. I just hoped the gate kept him hidden or we were in for a world of trouble. Brock nodded, and the three witches started to chant.
I recognized immediately that they were doing a power of three spell. I’d seen Gran do a few of them outside in the back yard with her friends. They were powerful and little could hide from them.
Please let Cass be okay.
A white mist rolled out from their hands and shot out across Brock’s land in one quick burst.
The head witch raised an eyebrow. “No living demons on the property, but there has been one here recently. The essence still lingers.”
Fuck!
“Yeah, the entire town just fought a fog demon,” Brock interjected.
Thank God for his quick thinking, because I’d had no idea what to say.
The woman nodded her understanding, and the witches broke apart.
“My second-in-command has a full list of every single wolf under my authority,” Brock announced to the agent in charge. “He’s bringing it out to you now.”
On cue, Ray emerged from the house, a sheaf of papers clutched in one hand.
“That won’t be acceptable,” Agent Maler said. “We need to take down their names in person and confirm them with their state-issued IDs.”
Brock crossed his arms over his chest and glared. “The list is all I can offer at this time.” A patch of fur worked its way up Brock’s arms and the lead agent’s eyes widened a little.
Maler’s jaw worked, and when Ray handed over the papers, he snatched them out of his hands and stared at my man. “This isn’t over, Brock Adams. It’s far from over.”
Brock’s lips curved into a frigid, deadly smile. “You can count on it.”
When Maler stomped back to the lead Hummer, the soldiers and witches under his command followed suit. Within minutes, they’d all peeled out of the driveway, leaving clouds of dust—and a shitload of anxiety—in their wake.
14Fuck you, Agent Fuckface
I was farfrom happy about how things had gone down with Agent Fuckface, but at least it was over—for now. The first thing I did once the convoy of trucks faded from sight was hightail it to the site of the gate. With the flag marker, it was easy to locate the part of the gate that was cracked open—making sure I didn’t fall straight through. Because I’d consumed Cho’s potion, I wouldn’t be able to shift for twenty-four hours. Not that I would want to anyway; I needed to take it slow for the baby’s sake.
