“Dental,” Josh finished for him. “We heard.”
Then Pretty Boy chose to finally say something. To his credit, his tone wasn’t accusing but was more like the flat, calculating tone of Red Wolf. “And what happens to our lives while we are training? When the police come looking or our families have our funerals?”
The captain spun in her seat to look at Pretty Boy. “I told you, Bing. We’re doing everything we can to minimize the damage. We didn’t mean to activate you.” Then her voice took on a more formal tone as she addressed everyone. “There’s no police, no one has reported any of you missing, and we’ve dealt with those who would most likely be worried.”
“How?” the actor pressed. “How did youdealwith them?”
Happy stepped forward. “She texted your agent, Bing. He’s handling things.”
Pretty Boy’s eyes widened in surprise. He glared at Happy for a long, uncomfortable moment, and then he abruptly got up from his stool and walked away. He headed down the hall and into what must be his bedroom. He didn’t slam the door, but the heavy click was statement enough. Pretty Boy was pissed off.
Join the club.At least Bing had an agent who handled all the details. How sad was it that Josh didn’t have any details to handle? Beyond Savannah, who’d had her memory erased, Josh didn’t have anyone who would care if he disappeared for a month. His thesis advisor would be pissed, not to mention the faculty head of his lab, but that wasn’t any different from usual.
And on that thoroughly depressing thought, Josh grabbed his bagel and headed out as well.
“What are you going to do?” Happy asked. In his defense, the guy just sounded curious, not like a paranoid mother.
“Research magical fire.” He looked hard at the captain. “That’s what you want, right?”
“Yes,” she said. “It’s what we want. And the sooner, the better.”
“Roger that,” he said, though he doubted she heard the sarcasm in his voice. He made sure he was out of earshot before he said the rest. “Right after Nero and I discuss a few things.”
But he must have misjudged how good werewolf hearing was. He swore he muttered the words under his breath, but behind him, Wiz burst out laughing. And just before he made it to Nero’s door, he heard the man’s mocking words.
“Good luck with that!”
Chapter 12
NERO WASsitting in his bedroom, thinking of all the times he’d been desperate to escape into the silence of his own room. Back when he was a kid, he and his sister had huddled together in the one bed while their mother screamed obscenities at her boyfriend, his grandparents, or worst of all, their landlord as he threw them out. Later, he’d longed for a moment’s peace after he’d been infected with lycanthropy and was trying to sort through the new demands of a body gone insane. And then there were the more recent times, when his team had plagued him with their petty arguments, boredom, or simple need for attention.
How he’d longed to be right where he was now, settled in his suite in a mostly silent mansion. He could read, relax, surf the internet, or even stream a Miami Heat basketball game. They might even be playing right now.
But he didn’t move from where he sat at his desk, staring out the window at a Michigan winter landscape—snow on the lawn, snow in the trees, snow drifting down prettily from a cloudy white sky. This was the perfect time for a pack run through the forest. The snow might bite a bit between the toes, especially when it was more ice than snow, but the rollicking good time more than made up for any discomfort.
Too bad he didn’t have a pack to chase snowflakes with.
Fucking A, he hated the silence.
As if in answer, he heard footsteps come down the hall. They were too heavy to be Captain M’s and too light to belong to Wiz. That meant it was a newbie who didn’t understand what it meant to come to his door. He already guessed it was Josh because no one else would dare, but whomever it was would learn the mistake. Nero readied a throwing knife.
No time like the present to make his point.
Knock, knock.“Nero? It’s me, Josh. We need to talk.”
Thunk.
Perfect throw, dead center. He knew that the point of his knife had shoved through the door to appear right next to where Josh had knocked. Take that, recruit.
Better yet, he heard the gasp.
“That’s emphatic,” Josh said through the door.
Take the hint.And just in case the guy didn’t, he threw another.Thunk. This time the point protruded right where Josh had knocked.
“That can’t be a werewolf skill. I’ll bet you learned it young. Cool.”
Nero frowned. Did he think this was a conversation? Apparently so, because he kept talking, proving he had a death wish.
