“Hey, guys, how can I help you?” the cheery young dude behind the counter said.
He must be new. I didn’t recognize him.
“I’d like a chili lime mango special please,” Brayden said and the young guy froze, his fingers hovering over the tablet. His gaze flicked to Brayden’s and he inhaled.
I did the same, wondering if he was…
Whoa.
He smelled like freshly cut trees and—fae. I noticed the two slightly pointed ears now that I was looking.
An older man I recognized as the owner stepped up behind the younger new kid.
“Hey there, Brayden,” the kind man Hank said, looking us both over. “Averly.” He appeared surprised when he saw me. Last time I saw him I was fully human, so I imagine it was a shock to now smell me as a wolf, as much as it was a shock to me to see two pointed ears on him.
“Hank,” I croaked.
“Veggie scramble?” he asked me.
Brayden shook his head. “Chili lime mango special.”
Hank stilled, looking over his shoulder and then back at us.
He leaned forward. “I could get in a lot of trouble if I gave you one of those.”
Brayden slipped a stack of cash across the table. “You owe me, Hank.”
Hank frowned and then looked at me. “Lena?”
Why was I surprised? Every supernatural in this town seemed to know Brayden and Lena’s history except for me.
We both nodded, figuring it was easier than explaining I could be Wren.
“She’s in trouble. I need this. Fight’s in three days,” Brayden told him.
Hank had owned the juicery since I was like five years old. I’d come here with my mom and Leah a billion times. When you lived in a small town like Sandpoint, you knew everyone and you got attached to people. At least I hoped Hank felt attached to me.
I gave him a pleading look, although I didn’t know why I was pleading for achili lime mango specialand he nodded. “Alright,” he said, and took the money from Brayden, slipping into the back.
Brayden stepped away so that the next person could order, and I was just about to ask him why the heck we were paying gobs of money for a smoothie that wasn’t on the menu, when Hank reappeared with a small brown to-go box.
“This never happened. I haven’t seen you in here in weeks,” Hank told Brayden, and the alpha nodded.
Brayden tipped his head to the back where the bathrooms were and I followed him. What the freaking weirdness was in the box? You didn’t box smoothies in a to-go box. My heart hammered in my chest as we walked up to the single unisex bathroom. Brayden opened the door and indicated that I go in with him.
I raised one eyebrow and he gave me a look that saidtrust me.
After all we’d been through, I guess I’d have to.
When he shut the bathroom door behind me, we pressed up against each other in the small space.
“If you wanted to tell me something private, you could have chosen a better spot,” I joked.
He opened the to-go box and revealed a golden egg, much like the one Silas had thrown at my feet when he’d portaled me to the Fae Lords’ castle.
“Ohh, this is how we get to the Briar Woods?” I asked. “I figured we would be tugging a lampshade cord or something.”
Brayden shook his head. “That portal clearly isn’t safe anymore and all of the other ones are monitored. We can’t have anyone knowing where we are going.”
