Page 17 of Druid Dreams

I answered with a laugh, “Them.” I straightened my face, adding, “This is Atlas, Cronus, and Helios. My guard dogs.” Helios cut his eyes at me. I shrugged my shoulders slightly in response. “Now that they’re behaving,” I cut my eyes back to Helios, “You can shake their paws and introduce yourselves, then they’ll scamper off to go hunting or whatever they want to do today.” I half smiled at them, trying to fight my own dry humor while simultaneously waiting to see what they would do.

“Are you being serious? I can’t tell.” The Vampire spoke up in a playful tone. He shook his head and tried hard not to smile at me.

“Ya named yer dogs after Titans?” The Mage questioned, completely unconcerned with my request.

“Of course. Who else would I name them after? Angels? Archbishops? Kings?” I shot back at him as I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I named them after Titans, and yes, I am serious.” I then tilt my head left and right while scrunching my face up in a noncommittal sort of way, “About everything except the paw shaking. You don’t want to shake Helios’ paw. He has a temper.” I shook my head vigorously and smiled as sweetly as I could at the group as they exchanged looks. “I know it sounds insane,” I waved off their hesitation, “But I have a feeling this won’t be your only visit here. I don’t want the hounds trying to eat you if you come back and I’m not around. Also, I don’t know your names either, and it’d be nice to get that out of the way. The hounds don’t actually give a fuck about what you call each other. They just need a scent to store and a voice sample to hear. You could literally all say “shit” and the hounds would remember you. So, you’re introducing yourselves to me and also making sure you don’t end up as supper in the same breath. Make sense?”

The hounds sat beside me as I stood in the grass at the edge of the patio. Helios was between Jack and me on my right, while Atlas and Cronus perched on my left. Jack took a seat and popped a grape in his mouth, like he was watching the show. The Mage of the group shrugged his shoulders then stepped up to me. “I’m Palmer.” He extended his hand with an amused expression playing across his features. As we shook, that odd pull doubled in my fucking chest. This is a joke right? I noticed he had a slight Irish accent to his singsong voice. I could listen to him talk all day. He stepped back after releasing my hand, and immediately I missed the minuscule warmth his grasp exuded. He raised his eyebrows at the Vampire and gave his other friends an indifferent look. I couldn’t quite decipher either expression.

The Vampire came next. He was a little antsy, maybe excited. After he introduced himself as “Novak”, Helios swung his head to me again like he just couldn’t handle this anymore. He wasn’t the one who sniffed out lies though, so I paid him no attention. What I did pay attention to was that vexing fucking pull. It was so strong that I had to fight the urge to rub on my chest. What. The. Fuck. Is going on with my body?

I waited patiently as the Shifter stepped up. That godsdamn pull grew even stronger in his proximity. He was the largest of the group, and I bet his wolf would be even bigger than mine. It didn’t happen often. Something told me he was massive when he shifted though. “Briggs,” he rasped and tilted his head in acknowledgment, one beast to another. I didn’t mind. I wasn’t expecting them to be formal. He moved his eyes over my hounds, and I knew he sensed that they weren’t dogs. Not that Helios did a good job of hiding it.

“I’m Stone.” The Demon was gruff. He’d know more about hellhounds than his friends did. It didn’t surprise me that he looked like he was ready for them to leave. I was almost positive he could see right through the bit of glamour they wore. The magic infused collars might not work on a demon. They didn’t work for Jack. Stone wasn't scared of them though. I found that I liked that about him. The wrenching feeling in my chest was so strong after meeting those four that it was becoming a nuisance. I finally reached up to rub once at my chest and then flip my hair over my shoulder to hide it. Jack was eyeing me strangely. That bastard knew something.

“And you already know who I am,” the Fae stated. Atlas growled low in warning. Vaughn peeked at me with a questioning look. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.

“Drop the fake accent. He sees through your lies.” That was all I needed to say. I’d read his file. I knew he wasn’t from Washington. He’s a fae. He should’ve known better than to try and hide that from me. I wouldn’t hold it against him though. He didn’t owe me an explanation, but I did expect honesty. Last night was a different situation.

“Fine, I’m Vaughn.” He announced to the hellhound on my left in his almost English accent. He raised his eyebrows at me, and I gave him a sincere smile. “Why didn’t you call me out on my fake American accent last night?” He inquired.

“We were in public. As fae, I understand that you must sometimes hide your appearance. Humans wouldn’t notice that you’re not from Oxford, though you don’t sound exactly... English. But other fae would, and you never know who lurks in the shadows.” I canted my head and lifted my shoulders. Jack gave us all a sardonic grin. He knew who lurked in the shadows. Usually him. He may look like a horse when he was in his demon form, but he was a predator down to his bones. Have you ever seen a horse eat a person? It’s fucking nasty.

Satisfied, the hellhounds turned to leave, but not before Atlas nudged my hip bone. I ran my hand across his head and down his back, all the way to the tip of his tail as he strutted away. He liked a reward for sniffing out lies, and I was happy to oblige him.

“They’re very protective, but they won’t bother you now. You can sit if you’d like...” I motioned my hand towards the table on the patio. “We do need to talk about Caplin though. I’ve gone through a quarter of the records this morning, and I’ll hopefully have the rest finished by tomorrow. I know you were investigating CBP, Vaughn, and I hate that the buyout put a damper on that, but I’ll be happy to help in any way I can. Also, you need not worry about budget cuts or firing sprees. I want the drunk lady on the factory floor fired, but that’s it, mostly.”

“What do you mean when you say mostly?” He asked dubiously.

“Mmm,” I lifted my eyes to the sky in thought before answering. “Well, there’s been some experimental things happening there, as you well know. I’ll be putting a stop to those and firing everyone involved. I won’t be releasing injections that stunt our abilities, and that’s what I found before you picked up the tour of the factory. Taylor and his father were very pleased with their progress, and they were happy to hear that we’d continue, but it was a lie. We bought the company to put a stop to it. I made sure to negotiate that we kept all the research and notes when we had our meeting. They had no patents and nothing submitted to the CDC. If Mr. Caplin and his son could have stopped eye fucking me for 30 minutes, and actually read the contract, then they may have realized what I was doing.” I shrugged one smug shoulder. I felt no shame for lying to them or cheating them out of the harmful drugs. Or talking their price in half. It’s no sweat on my tits, or however that saying goes.

Vaughn nodded his head as he digested what I’d said, and Palmer, the Mage, furrowed his brows and leaned his head to the side as he thought through it.

“It was ne approved?” He asked me.

“Correct.”

“But, it’s naw what ya were expecting when ya looked over the research. It does ne add up.” He surmised.

“Correct again.” I sighed. “It appears that a mage is influencing it, but I can’t track whoever it is yet. I can only assume that I’ll be accumulating pharmaceutical companies to stop it until I can find the magic source that fuels the drug.”

“Why are you telling us all of this?” Stone faced me and all eyes turned to him. He must not talk often. I saw that when he did it would be intelligent though. He asked the best question. He was suspicious of me, not that I blamed him. They had no reason to trust me, and what I was about to tell them probably wouldn’t help my case. I didn’t like starting friendships with lies. I needed their help. They had been digging into this for longer than I’d known about it. They just didn’t have the access and tools that they needed, but I did.

“Because, my Demon friend, you and the Vampire have been hired to hunt the fiends who’ve used the drug. They’re being lied to, told it will make them stronger. And it does, for a few weeks, before it turns their instincts against them. It urges them to seek and hunt other non-humans. The Mage has been spilling over the research, but it’s only half of the equation. The half that the Fae is able to steal from CBP. And, well, I’m not sure what the Shifter has been doing other than camping in the woods and visiting the closest local dive bar.” I waved my hand in his direction and Palmer covered his lips with the back of his hand.

I cut my eyes quickly to Jack sitting beside me and slid into his mind. “Am I being rude?”

Jack grinned at me mischievously and answered, “I mean, you could use their names. It’s not like they don’t have titles in front of them. You are looking at four apprentices and the Prince of the Winter Realm.”

I tensed and slowly turned the top half of my body towards Jack, squeezing my hands together on the tabletop to keep myself from making a fist. “Are you serious?” I asked aloud, wide eyed and utterly confused. I want to punch him right now! There’s no fucking way. All together? And friends?

“Serious as a heart attack, bitch.” Jack chuckled.

“Well, fuck me. I wondered but I had no way to really know for sure unless I dug deeper or flat out asked, which seems really rude. Were you going to tell me or just wait for me to figure it out?” I narrowed my eyes on him. This motherfucker. I bet he wasn’t going to tell me.

All five guys were staring at us. I realized that I just went from calling them out and insulting the Shifter, Briggs, to asking Jack a question that possibly made no sense out of the context of our telepathic conversation. That they couldn’t have heard.

“Oh, sweetheart. Let me blow your mind, please!” Jack begged and stuck his lips out at me in a pout. He was excited now, and he never called me sweetheart. I didn’t like it. Only one other person had ever called me that.