Page 89 of Remington’s Mate

“I wanted to see Sutcliffe hauled off by the cops,” he grumbled.

“At least I didn’t make you give me your pants,” Remy answered. Colt gave him the finger before walking off.

Ten minutes later, the place was overrun with cops, ambulances and firefighters. Sorting everything out took forever; the police wanted statements from everyone, and they combed the grounds for Sutcliffe’s men. Luckily the crew had managed to remove any dead ones. Bodies would complicate everything.

Jaeda had insisted that Fernandez go with the crew, instead of turning him over to the police. Without him, she and Colt would be dead in the abandoned lab.

Brandon handled the cops, showing his PI license and telling them everything Sutcliffe had done.

Ethan Sutcliffe was handcuffed and loaded into an ambulance; Jaeda and Remy went to watch him go. He’d come to while they were treating him, but he was babbling like a lunatic.

“What happened to him?” the EMT asked.

“Crashed the SUV, trying to get away,” Brandon said. Before they left, Brock and Squatch had smashed the SUV into a tree to try to cover the blob damage.

“He probably has a head injury,” Remy said.

“Or maybe he takes drugs,” Jaeda added. “Or there could have been toxic mold in the building? He was hallucinating.”

The EMT nodded, making notes on the chart. “What did he say?”

“It was super-weird,” Remy said. “He said something about flying leopards. And he thought Jaeda was a giant blob from outer space that was going to engulf him and suffocate him.”

Jaeda said, “I know I could maybe lose a few pounds, but ‘blob’? That’s harsh.”

Brandon said blandly, “Fear of women engulfing and suffocating him? Sounds like mommy issues to me.”

Jaeda snorted.

Finally all bad guys were in custody, statements made, wounds treated, and they were allowed to go home. Home, Jaeda thought longingly. To the territory and their suite where everything was neat and serene, no one was trying to kill them, and the only spirit-creature around was Nick.

Of course, that wasn’t how it worked out.

The others had waited for them at the safe house, so they could caravan back home. It was after four in the morning when they got there.

As they pulled in, the headlights illuminated a trail of snack pack wrappers leading from the kitchen door to the tire swing.

And sitting in the tire swing, swinging idly back and forth and eating a Twinkie, was the Dragon Boy.

Naked.

“Who the fuck is that?” Brandon demanded. Remy explained.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Brandon muttered.

They all walked up and ranged in a half-circle, staring at him stupidly. Finally Brandon said, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Visiting,” said Dragon Boy.

“Why are you naked?” Callie asked.

“And what the hell happened to my snack cakes?” Kitty added.

“I don’t mind being naked,” he said to Callie. “You’re pretty.”

“That’s my mate, Dragon Boy,” Colt said. “I will bleed you.”

The boy just grinned. “I saved your life,” he said to Colt. “You owe me.”