“I’ve got no idea. From what I’ve been told, there is a currency they use in Hel, but they also operate on a barter system—mostly favors.”
Brent frowned. “I don’t know what favor a werewolf pack can provide to a group of humans in Hel, but I’m open to suggestion. Maybe we can trade them gems or plants or something.”
In the meantime, there was one more open thread we needed to follow. “Did you manage to get anything on Joseph Floyd’?”
“Not much.” Brent pulled out his phone and scrolled through his texts. “His e-mail address is linked to a username on a wilderness hiking forum. He’d expressed concern about the possibility of a bear attack on his upcoming trip to Alaska. Another forum member posted a link on his thread to the first video of the shifter attack, and told him ‘this is what you should be worried about.’ There was a whole exchange of ‘is that fake’ and ‘that can’t be real’ then the other guy sent him a link to Hit-The-Mark and told him he needed to be prepared.”
I looked over Brent’s shoulder at the screen shots. The conversation was a week before Joseph’s trip. No doubt he’d bought the bullets and had them rush-shipped, probably thinking he was a fool buying snake oil the whole time.
And that snake oil got him killed.
“Can you forward that to Sheriff Murray down in Ketchikan?” I asked. Buying bullets wasn’t illegal, but if we could push this from a different angle—that there was a company selling defective products that contributed to the killings—then maybe we could get the law to work on our side.
Brent pushed away from the counter. “Okay. Sabrina and Kennedy will check out Hit-The-Mark. Raphael is going to work with this mage in Hel to see about further identifying the spell, and possibly getting an antidote or something to shield against it. I’m ordering a bunch of protective vests and communicating with the other two packs on the situation. I’ll put out that all shifters should be looking for an elf—which shouldn’t be too hard to spot in Alaska—or someone who has access to an elf and has the know-how to run this kind of business operation. Our bad guy will understand how guided hunting tours work. He’ll be savvy about guns and have connections or possibly work in the outfitter industry. Anything else?”
Ahia, Raphael, and I looked at each other, then shook our heads.
“Good.” Brent thumped a fist on the counter. “Sabrina, be ready to head over to this outfitter with Kennedy in the morning. Let’s go get these guys. And let’s do it without anyone of us dying.”
Chapter Ten
Ahia and I walked out together while Raphael stayed behind to nail a few things down with Brent.
“So,” she elbowed me in the ribs. “You and Karl…?”
How had she known? I’d been careful to shower and clean up after our barbeque liaison. And had done the same when I got back from Ketchikan. I could see Brent picking up a trace of scent on me, but Ahia’s nose wasn’t all that good compared to us werewolves.
And yes, I was well aware that Dustin had known what I’d been up to the night before from more than ten feet away, but he’d politely not said a word, and wasn’t the sort of wolf who’d gossip.
Ahia laughed. “Oh, the expression on your face! Girl, I saw the way he was eyeing you last summer, like he wanted to drag you off into the bushes and rip your panties off. Plus, there’s a kind of mellow satisfaction about a girl who’s been up all night fucking. Add to that the fact that he asked about you the few times I ran into him in the spring, and that Brent mentioned Karl was accompanying you on this rogue-hunting trip, and it wasn’t hard to make the connection. Karl? Hunting a rogue? He’s more likely to tell Brent to fuck off before going back to chopping wood. Sudden cooperation like this was only because he wanted to see you and get you into his bed. Or den. Or whatever bears call their sleeping spot.”
“Den.” My face felt like it was on fire.
“So? Is he as good in the sack as I’ve been imagining in all my lurid fantasies over the years?”
We came to a stop and I leaned against my car. “Let’s just say I’m a bit obsessed. Sex with Karl is probably as close to a religious experience as I’ve ever had. But we’re so different. I can’t see this working out beyond the physical.”
She shrugged. “Don’t discount Karl. He’s got his reasons for isolating himself like some hermit. I don’t know what they are because the guy barely says more than two words, but I’m sure he’s got them.”
“Yeah, that. And his go-to response to any question is a grunt.” I folded my arms across my chest. “How well do you know him? You said you run into him from time to time?”
Ahia had been a member of our pack for centuries, before that living with the indigenous humans in the area. She was quirky, warm, sweet, and funny, and had been alive for over five thousand years. She had wings, as in angel-wings, and when she put on the speed she was like a streak of light flying by overhead. It wasn’t unusual for her to travel hundreds of miles away from Juneau for a quick afternoon jaunt.
“He’s brooding, which is sexy as all hell. He’s smart, but he doesn’t talk a lot so some shifters just assume he’s a dumb bear. He’s observant. He notices shit that goes right over my head, stores it away in that mind of his, then remembers it later and puts a whole bunch of random puzzle pieces together. That’s the kind of smart he is.
“And there’s more,” she continued. He replaced my truck tires with bicycle ones, welded my fry pans together. He gave me a squeaky toy hamburger between two buns at last year’s barbeque. Oh, and one time, he put a pissed off wolverine in my bathtub.”
My eyes widened. Did he really do that? “And what did you do to deserve all those things?”
I might not know Karl that well, but I’d known Ahia all my life. Mischief was her middle name. The angel loved nothing better than a good prank, although she was usually on the giving end.
“Nothing,” Ahia lied. “Absolutely nothing. But he’s got a sense of humor, and in spite of the dark-brooding-Heathcliff aura, he can be pretty lighthearted and fun. It comes out of nowhere, totally surprises you, but it’s there.”
So they did prank each other. Something sour and ugly unfurled in my stomach. Were they…? Did they…? There seemed to be such an easy familiarity between the two, an affection that made me want to sprout claws and go nuts on the angel in front of me.
Ahia reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “We’re just sort-of friends, Sabrina. He’s never wanted even a quick fuck with me. I think he views me as an annoying younger sister. Which is kind of funny given that I’m five thousand years old and he’s probably in his late thirties.”
I knew Karl had that dry sense of humor, but I’d never thought him the type of guy who would put a squeaky toy in between a hamburger bun and give it to someone. Zeph, yes. Karl, no. Then I thought about all those books stacked up in his den. “He said he’s self-educated, that his parents taught him basic math, but he never went to school and had to learn to read on his own.”
Ahia grimaced. “Yeah. From what I’ve been able to glean, he didn’t have the best childhood. I think it was probably one of those where his parents were neglectful, or crackheads, or serial killers or something.”
I hoped Ahia was kidding. It was kind of hard to tell sometimes. “What was his father?”
The angel shrugged. “A douchebag?”
“No, I mean he said his mom was a grizzly shifter, but he didn’t want to talk about his dad.”
Ahia slowly shook her head. “Female grizzly shifters sometimes have kids with humans. Maybe his dad was human and never accepted that his kid, or the woman he’d had sex with, transformed into a bear?”
Maybe. But none of that explained Karl’s odd abilities. “You said Karl was a grizzly in his animal form. Have you ever seen him shift into…something else?”
Ahia shot me a puzzled glance. “Like what? I’ve seen him dozens of times and he’s always a human or a grizzly. Why?”
“The first time I saw his bear form, I thought he looked more like a K
odiak than a grizzly, then the second time he was a monster prehistoric looking bear. He said he could shift into any kind of bear form, but that he’s not a Nephilim.”
She grinned. “That’s freaking cool. Any bear? Like, even a Koala bear? A polar bear? Maybe his dad was a Nephilim. Or maybe he’s just some weird genetic throwback.”
I couldn’t imagine Karl as a Koala bear, not that Koala’s were actually bears. “I like him. At least, I think I like him when I’m not terrified out of my skull because he’s some extinct cave bear who looks like he’s ready to devour every living thing in the state.”
Ahia put an arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “Just let it all play out, Sabrina. Enjoy the ride—and I do mean enjoy the ride. If things work out, then all the little stuff won’t be a problem. And if not, well have some awesome sex and stop fussing over the future.”
She was right. I hugged her back, then turned to get into my car.
“Is he coming to the barbeque?” she asked.
“Yeah. He said he’s bringing smoked trout.”
Ahia gave me a thumbs-up. “Well, if you see him beforehand, give that fine ass of his a squeeze for me.”
I laughed, then headed home. I was exhausted, and I needed to be at my best tomorrow, so I was planning on sleeping the rest of the day away. Half dragging my purse, I made my way to the porch of my house and stopped. There was a note on my door. And from the faint scent lingering in the air, I knew exactly who it was from.
Karl.
Sorry I wasn’t more awake when you left this morning. Had a great time and hope to see you again before the barbeque. I’m at my Juneau den for the next few weeks. And I now have a cell phone, although I don’t know how I’m going to keep it charged.
I looked down at the number he’d scrawled just above his name and grinned. The wild man got a cell phone. It was truly a miracle. I went inside, dropped my bag, and immediately called him.
“Hey,” I said in response to his signature grunt. “I’m dead on my feet and am probably going to sleep for the next twelve hours, but if you want to lay next to a comatose woman and snuggle, then come on over.”
There was a hesitation on the other end and I realized that the bear might have a cell phone, but he didn’t have a vehicle. “Where is your den? I can come pick you up.” Or just sleep there. I was so darned tired that the thought of driving to whatever remote wilderness Karl had stuck his den wasn’t pleasant. I really wanted him to see my house, though. I wanted to see how he managed with a modern home that included indoor plumbing, plus I needed to be somewhere with a cellphone signal and internet in case Brent needed to call or there was an e-mail response from Hit-the-Mark.
“No, I can teleport.” There was another hesitation, as if he wasn’t sure if he was welcome or not.
“Well then get over here, wild man. Come to my den and experience the joys of a microwave, a pulsating shower head, and a Sleep Number bed.”
There was a knock on my door and I opened it to find Karl standing on my porch, a flip phone in his hand.
A flip phone.
“The twentieth century called and they want their phone back,” I told him.
He grinned. “The guy at the quick-mart picked it out for me. I told him I only needed to call, and maybe text, and didn’t need a lot of minutes. Plus, I only had twenty dollars.”
Oh good, Lord. “Wait, where did you get twenty dollars?” Did Karl have a mason jar at home with loose change for emergencies? From what he’d said, it sounded like the majority of his jobs were cash under the table.
“Helped a guy pull his truck out of a ditch. He gave me twenty bucks.”
I had a vision of Karl literally grabbing the frame of a truck and hauling it up to the pavement, shoulder and arm muscles bunching as he dragged the vehicle out of the ditch. Shirtless, Karl. Pulling a truck with one hand. It was a pretty hot vision.
“Come in.” I stood aside and ushered him into my home.
“Nice place.”
I was proud of my home. It was a little Cape Cod style with white paint and dusky blue trim. There were rockers on the front porch, a big two-car garage out back, and neighbors shouting-distance over a little wooden fence. Neighbors. I loved having people nearby. I loved sitting on my porch with a mug of coffee and my laptop, listening to the Brecking kids playing with their new puppy, or Mr. Staley mowing his lawn. I’d wave when the couple that lived across the street headed off to work. I’d greet the mail lady when she brought a stack of flyers, bills, and the occasional package in the afternoon. I lived in a bustling neighborhood, and Karl lived in the middle of the woods down a barely accessible dirt road.
I remembered what Ahia said and pushed the it’s never going to work out thoughts away.
“Kitchen is in through here. Help yourself to anything you want. TV remote is over there if my snoring keeps you awake, or you want to catch up on the news. Come on upstairs. Let’s get naked and figure out what your sleep number is before I pass out.”
As tired as I was I realized something was wrong. Karl stood awkwardly at the foot of the stairs, staring at me as if I were a creature from another planet. Surely he’d encountered a modern house and appliances before? Was there something about me that was different? Was he regretting this? Were the it’s never going to work out thoughts running through his head, too?
I suddenly wanted to retreat to my usual casual attitude, my it-doesn’t-matter-because-this-is-just-a-booty-call attitude. Act like it doesn’t matter and you won’t get hurt. Well, I’d get hurt, but at least he wouldn’t know that and my pride would remain intact.
“Brina, when I teleported to Juneau, I didn’t go to my den.” There was something in his voice that made me think this announcement had earth-shattering significance.
“Where did you go?” I almost didn’t want to know. Had he killed the guy whose truck he’d pulled out of the ditch? Had he gone to rob a bank first? Had he gone to see a wife and kids? Because somehow in my mind, that was even worse than killing someone or robbing a bank.
“I came here.”
Thank God it wasn’t the wife-and-kids scenario. Although I should probably double check that.
“Okay?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Brina, I don’t know where you live. I can only teleport between my dens. I had no idea where I was at first. I had to wander around the outside of your house before I caught your scent and realized what happened. I’m surprised your neighbors didn’t call the police on me.”
“Okay?” I still didn’t understand where he was going with this.
“Your house is now one of my dens. I’ve never been here. I didn’t even know this was where you lived, but somehow your house is now…mine. But not mine in that way. Mine as far as a location I can teleport to.”
And now I understood. His hesitation made sense. If my house was now considered one of his “dens” then something inside Karl had labeled what we had together as important. This was far more significant than having a toothbrush in my bathroom, or a designated clothing drawer in my bedroom dresser. Or a programmed setting on my Sleep Number bed.
The idea made me happy, but did it make him happy? I eyed the bear, realizing that he was eyeing me back, the same expression on his face that was, no doubt, on mine.
“That’s cool. It means I won’t need to drive out to pick you up. Now if only you could teleport me to your house. Think of what I’d save in gas costs and wear and tear on my car.”
Relief slid like a wave over his face and body, and I heard him suck in a deep breath.
“You’re okay with this? I promise I won’t come here unless I’m invited. I mean, I might accidently come here if I’m distracted and not concentrating enough on which den, or if I’m thinking about you, but if that happens I’ll leave right away. I don’t want you to think I’m some weird stalker guy who’s going to be lurking outside your house at night.”
I smiled and extended my hand. He took it, twisting his fingers around mine. Then I tugge
d him up the stairs behind me. “I don’t want you to be that stalker guy lurking outside my house at night. I want you to be the hot bear shifter in my bed at night.” I stopped at the landing so I could face him. “I like that you think of my house as your den.”
His dark eyes searched mine. “I’d like it if you thought of my dens as yours as well.”
I remembered the cozy cabin with the woodstove, the loft, the books stacked everywhere. It would be roughing-it for me to spend half my time in a rustic one-room house with no indoor plumbing, but he was committing to make similar adjustments for me. He’d bought a cell phone, for crying out loud. And he was about to be subjected to the electronic wonder that was my mattress.
“I’d be happy to call your dens home. Just warning you, though. I’ve got a lot of makeup. And I’ll need more than one dresser drawer.”
He grunted. “Brina, for you, I’d build an extra dresser and a whole damned closet for your makeup.”
I led him the rest of the way to my bedroom. We got naked. We figured out his ideal setting on the mattress. Then I felt asleep with his arms around me, my head resting on his shoulder. And although our sleep numbers were miles apart, it was the most restful night I’d ever had.
Chapter Eleven
I got an o’dark thirty text from Brent that Kennedy had been delayed in Anchorage. Since it had woken me up, and since I’m obsessive about my e-mail, I checked my messages. Karl grumbled next to me, putting a pillow over his head to block out the light of my phone.
There were three from new clients, another six discussing changes to some ads I was running, one from a graphic designer I was subbing work to, and one more from Hit-The-Mark.
It was a vague response from some guy named Dutch, stating that they did sell a variety of fishing supplies as well as ammo. They didn’t yet have a catalogue or an online list of products, but if I knew exactly what I wanted, he could check availability.
My Paranormal Valentine: A Paranormal Romance Box Set Page 52
