Page 44 of Thrown into the Mob

“He's different. I planned and Vasik executed. Together we were effective. Without me, Evander will lean on Vasik, and Vasik will be thorough.”

I tapped my fingers on the counter. “Are you saying he’ll find us easily?”

“He’ll try.” Flint's people had been running interference leaving false trails and misleading intelligence. “That’s buying time, but it won't last forever.”

“What else?”

“Evander is focused on finding us because he's not strong enough to move against the pack yet. But once he has everyone’s loyalty, that changes. If he can't find us, he'll start applying pressure to our families to draw us out.”

“We're the prize.” I sat down and pictured us as pigs on a spit being roasted slowly until our skin crackled.

“Sorry, I should have phrased it better. Evander wants you and wants me gone. Everything else is secondary to that.”

I thought about Evander running a dragon organization and hunting us with the same efficiency he used on me.

“Do you think he'd hurt me?” I asked.

I could almost see Conrad choosing his words carefully. “The Evander who brought you food? No. The Evander who burned our father alive? I don’t know what he would do.”

One thing I did know was that I wanted to be with my mate when he checked in with Flint. “I’m coming with you.”

“It's ten blocks.”

“I have legs.”

He grinned. “And very fine legs they are.”

My mate didn’t have to do everything alone from now on. “We're calling Flint together and we're walking back side by side, and at no point are you going anywhere alone. That's how this mate thing works when we’re in a sticky situation.”

It was a clear morning as we walked to the laundromat. The place was empty when we arrived, and the payphone outside was ancient and bolted to the wall. I was amazed it still worked.

Conrad checked his watch at two minutes to eleven.

“He'll call on the hour.”

“You really do love a schedule.”

“They keep people alive.”

“Awww, that’s so romantic.”

My mate rolled his eyes at me.

The phone rang, and Conrad answered. When he and Flint were done, he handed the receiver to me.

I took the phone. “Alpha.”

He asked about my shoulder and told me the kids were going stir-crazy being cooped up inside.

“Uncle Arnie is worried about you and wishes he was there to cook.” We both laughed. “Madd, Conrad's check-in reports have been thorough. He's good at this.”

“I know.”

“Stay safe.”

"We'll try.”

I hung up. Conrad was standing three feet away with his hands in his jacket pockets.