Page 61 of Hunted

I shot a questioning look at Ethan who just shook his head.

“They’ve been fighting a lot,” he said quietly. “They agreed to be friends after the breakup, but it’s still too fresh, I think.”

“That, and August still has feelings for her.”

“Pretty sure it’s mutual.”

“He tell you what happened?”

Ethan shook his head. “And August is usually an open book. He’s always had hang ups about his disease, and learning last year he was probably going to have to go on Eclipse was a huge blow to his ego. He’s been taking it really hard.”

Dallas clapped his hands. “Okay you fiendish ghouls, and by that, I mean West.” The room laughed. West, replete in an intricate elvish Thranduil costume, took a bow. Topher, who was in cosplay as one of the dwarves, threw an arm around his neck. “Figure out your pumpkin carving teams for this year’s Caldwell Pumpkinfest and move to your stations.”

“Are we carving a pumpkin?” Ellie had already selected a small white Cinderella pumpkin with a long whimsical stem. Perfect for her kitchen witchery. Ten bucks said she wouldn’t have the heart to stab the thing with a knife and I’d be carrying it home for her when the night was over.

“I’ve been officially sanctioned after my pumpkins scared all the little kids in the neighborhood the last two years running and Dallas got complaints from the home owner’s association. Now I’m on pumpkin gutting duty as penance.”

Ellie burst out laughing.

“Like you’re surprised?” Hayden pulled her over to a stool by the bar next to her. “Just be on our team. We’re not carving. I think up designs and Ethan draws them on the pumpkins in sharpie. Sometimes I write lyrics on the back to go with his illustrations.”

“Remember, all pumpkin guts need to end up in the feed bucket by the sink so they can get washed and buried out in the back field and become next year’s jack ‘o lanterns,” Ben called out, to which London began humming The Circle of Life.

West shivered, coming up with an armful of orange slime and pumpkin seeds. “I forget every year how slithery they are on the inside.”

“Toughen up, soldier,” Brody barked, up to his elbows in pumpkin guts. London was filming the whole thing on her phone, grinning. “There are little wolves watching.”

Over at the carving table, Dallas was holding Luna, helping her draw designs on a small pumpkin.

Jonah looked on with keen interest as hollowed out pumpkins were passed around and the teams began to carve. He turned to Ellie, who was seated to his right, protectively clutching her white pumpkin just as I’d predicted. “Can I have a knife?”

“Um,” Ellie hedged.

“Of course you can, dear,” my mother cut in smoothly, selecting the sharpest steak knife from the knife block and passing it over, hilt first, then coming to stand behind Jonah as he began to cut, brow furrowed in concentration.

Ellie blinked up at me, eyes wide in alarm. “Jonah is… three?”

“Nearly four, I think.” I shrugged, washing pumpkin guts off my arms in the sink. “He’s a shifter. And he’s Fallon’s kid. Pretty sure this isn’t the first time he’s been handed a knife. How else is he supposed to learn good technique if he never picks up a blade?”

Brody came over to lean against the counter. “Any news on that safehouse?”

I flicked a glance across the room. “You mind keeping your voice down?”

He waved a hand. “It’s fine. Guillermo and Dad went to the study with London. She wants to revisit the idea of merging the North Austin pack with one of the People’s Insurgency covens in Austin, forming a hybrid vampire-shifter pack.”

“That… is a political nightmare. Zara and Cris will hit the roof. We have a tenuous truce and need their cooperation to protect the ALDD project.”

“She’s aware. But she also won’t be held hostage by the fact that Zara and Cris will never accept the legitimacy of the People’s Insurgency.”

“Because only London Blake would walk into the middle of that shitstorm and set the whole thing on fire.”

“That’s my woman.” Brody smirked. “Anyway… you hear back from Fallon on the op?”

“Fallon should have checked in by now.” I looked over to make sure Jonah was out of earshot, but he and Cal were busy carving up a pumpkin with my mom. “Which doesn’t necessarily mean anything. They could have run into complications and needed more time to clear the scene. It’s just driving me a little crazy being the one back here waiting for news instead of out in the field. I feel powerless to do anything.”

Brody pointed a carving knife at me. “You’re not powerless just because you can’t use your psychic gift. I get that it feels that way because you’ve had that ability since you were twelve and you’re not used to being without it. But now you’re just going to have to hunt Rossi the way the rest of us do. You think I sit on my ass every day on my shift out on patrol and throw my hands up in the air because I was born without your abilities?”

“That wasn’t what I meant, and you know it.”