“We need your help.”
He looks at me like I have three heads. “And you couldn’t just fucking ask, you psychos?!”
“Calm down,” Ares warns, and Ian pales a bit further, but doesn’t back down.
“And you. How the hell did you know I knew Morse code? How long have you all been watching me?”
Ozzy, Cole, and I turn to look at Ares as one. “That’s still a thing? I thought only military or conspiracy weirdos knew it?”
“Which is why it’s an effective code,” Ian and Ares defend simultaneously and I just blink in surprise before scrubbing a hand down my face.
“Okay.” I sit on the edge of one of the twin beds, facing Ian. “Long story short? Haven’t been watching you, some mages did something to him,” I gesture to Ozzy, not wanting to give up our names just in case, “and now he can’t shift back. So we figured we needed a mage to undo whatever they did and here we are.”
He looks at me incredulously. “I repeat; why didn’t you just ask instead of fucking ABDUCTING ME!?”
“Keep your damn voice down,” Cole snaps, glancing nervously at the door.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ian drawls sarcastically. “Would that be inconvenient for you?”
“Look,” I plead, drawing his attention back to me to try and diffuse the situation before it can escalate past the point of no return. “I’m sorry, but can you really blame us? Nearly all of the mages we’ve met are self-absorbed bastards that could blast us on our asses and we figured we’d only get one shot at this before word spread and it was a manhunt. Would you seriously have been inclined to help people you didn’t even know? Shifters no less?”
He starts to sit up and Ares tenses, like Ian’s about to attack. He notices, rolling his eyes. “With that attitude? No. Maybe if you offered to buy me a cup of coffee first and schmoozed a little though. Not all mages are pretentious bastards any more than every human sucks ass or shifters eat babies.”
“So can we just,” I huff, swiping my hair back from my face and groaning in frustration. “Will you help us? Please?”
He raises an eyebrow, assessing me as he debates. “What’s in it for me?”
Ares growls. “We won’t kill you.”
Ian narrows his eyes at him, but calms a bit when I force Ares to sit down so that he appears at least a little less hostile. “What do you want?”
He licks his lips before leaning forward again and resting an arm on his knee, ticking things off on his fingers. “One, you owe me a new phone. A good one too; those things aren’t cheap. Two, you keep your names to yourselves. I want to go home when this is all over, so the less I know about you the better.”
He taps his foot rapidly as he tries to think of something before his face turns hard. “And three, I want you to describe the people that did that to him. I’ve done just fine up until now by steering clear of drama. Whatever he got caught up in, I want no part of. If they’d go so far as to startabducting people,”he pointedly emphasizes and Cole flips him off, “then I have no doubt things will continue to escalate. World’s shitty enough without people fucking with the already precarious balance of things.”
“One more thing,” Cole says, crossing his arms and leaning against the door. “You pull this off and fix him, we need you to look at someone else. We aren’t sure it’s the same issue, but it’s our best guess.”
Ian narrows his eyes. “Going to just keep stringing me along like your personal slave? Not much of a way to start off a relationship when you’re the ones asking for countless favors and don’t have anything to offer in return.”
“It’s a kid. A little girl that’s been sick for a long time.”
Ian throws his hands up in the air and we all tense, waiting for a shockwave that doesn’t come. “Of-freaking-course there’s a sick kid! I’m not a doctor you know, or some wizard Jesus. Do you think I pull miracles out of my ass?”
I cover my mouth, but a snicker slips out. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help thinking we’d have gotten along famously if the situation were different.”
He sits back, the corner of his mouth twitching. “And four, I want a favor in return; a blank check to be decided on later. Since you’re tacking on more conditions, it’s only fair.”
I share a look with the guys as we consider the terms, but we all know that he’s got us backed into a corner. “Deal.”
Clapping once sharply, he stands up and shakes out his hands like he’s psyching himself up to do this. “Alright, hop up,” he tells Ozzy. Dragging the chair over to the edge of the bed, he waits for Osiris to move into position and it’s clear he’s reluctant to trust a mage after all he went through.
“Is it okay if I sit with you? You know, so I can punch him if he tries anything.”
Ozzy snorts.“You’re incredibly transparent, has anyone ever told you that?”
“Is it working?”
“Hold on a second,” Ian hesitates, looking between us. “You have a pack link? But you’re human.”
