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“Are you with Saul and Wolf?”
I have a nasty suspicion Blake Steele knows exactly where I am. Probably who else is here, too.
I put him on speaker and put the phone on a table.
Wolf says, “Hey. Cam up, man.”
Steele laughs. “Yeah, right.”
Saul says “Hello, Blake.”
And my scalp starts to tighten as Blake starts in.
“Look, I’m getting a sense of this Lucian guy coming into the circle and I’ve been doing some background…”
I cut across him, “Hey, hey, Blake.”
Wolf starts with a low, soft voice. “Yeah, I’ve been wondering about your interest in the local deputy. I mean, what you do is up to you, alright? But for my taste, this charmed circle has got enough lawmen in it already.” then he adds, “No offense, Steele.”
I can see Saul keeping his eyes still so as not to react. My head throbs.
Even on the phone, Blake catches the edge in Wolf’s tone. He just says, “Right.”
Wolf looks to me, imploring. “Maybe we need some kind of a process. Or…”
Blake says, “Yeah, or maybe you should get to pick and choose. Right, Wolf?”
“Aw, Man,” Wolf spreads his hands, “All I’m saying, maybe there’s enough of us now. I mean…”
“Hey!” I say, “This is not some committee. We’re not going to vote people in or out or black-ball them or whatever.”
“I just think,” Wolf’s voice hardens, “There should be a, I don’t know, a procedure.”
“I know what you want,” Blake raises his voice to be heard. “You want…”
“Stop!”
A light floods into my head, and it hurts like hell. But I can feel Saul, quiet, keeping his feelings to himself. He has feelings on this, though. I can sense them. I can touch them. I stroke them and hold them.
Wolf does, too. As I feel and hold the glow inside of him, he calms and quietens down.
Even Steele. I can reach him, even across this distance, just through the sound of his voice.
I can feel their worries. I can feel their pain. I can hold them. And I can soothe them.
I tell them, each of them, “It’s alright.” But I do it without making a sound.
I tell them all, “We’re connected.”
Saul and Wolf look thunderstruck. I hear all three of them silently say back. “We’re connected.”
Chapter Eighteen
Here in my house in Deep Channel Valley, having all four men under one roof makes me jumpy inside. Not all of it in a bad way. All the uncertainty and anticipation of what’s about to happen plays out in my body.
I’m buzzing and crackling. My nerves jangle and my mouth dries. Storms and winds swirl in the pit of my stomach. Every unexpected noise makes me jump.
My men all bring me strengths, qualities that I need. I want my four men to get along, or at least to be able to co-operate, but I really need them to come together.
