Twisted

off.

Her brother blew him a kiss.

Ryder drilled his knuckles into Seth’s arm and chortled. “Now who’s the one enjoying guy-on-guy foreplay?”

“Stephanie,” Aden called without turning away. “I need you.”

Wait. What?

Her sister came rushing from the center of the crowd, chewing gum and twirling the end of her ponytail around her finger. “Present.”

“Do me a favor and take the boys back to the ranch.”

Frowning, she pointed to her chest. “Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Sweet! Really?” Jumping up and down, clapping her hands, she said, “I can drink them, right? Please, please, please tell me I get to drink them.”

Aden’s horror was instant. “No. Do not drink from them. I want them to arrive home in the same condition they’re in now.”

The bouncing stopped. She popped a bubble. “That’s all you want me to do, then? Escort them? That kind of sucks—without actually sucking.”

He glanced at Victoria for guidance. She shrugged.

“Yes, escort them only,” he said, massaging the back of his neck.

Next came the patented Princess Stephanie pout. A glower, a stomp of her foot, a puff of breath. “Fine. Next time, though, I want an important assignment. You should see my skills with nunchucks.”

“True story. I trained her,” Sorin said. “She’s very good.”

“Comforting,” was Aden’s only reply.

Stephanie flattened her hands on Aden’s shoulders, rose on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “By the way, thanks for not killing my big bro.”

Aden cast Sorin a sideways glance, the same what’s happening around me glance he’d thrown Victoria a moment before. She liked that. Liked seeing them work as a unit. “I can’t say it was the wisest decision I’ve ever made, but he is growing on me. Like a fungus.”

Stephanie laughed, a tinkling sound. “Whatever. You like him. I can tell.” With that, she turned to the boys and waved them over. “Come on, pesky humans. Let’s get you home.”

“Alive,” Aden reminded her.

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied, not turning back but throwing her hands in the air.

Shannon patted Aden on the shoulder before walking off, and Aden nodded at him. A silent communication. They would be talking soon.

“Pizza first,” Victoria heard Seth say as the foursome pushed through the enthralled throng, “then home.”

“And you’ll have to convince Dan we were there all along,” Ryder said. “Seth mentioned you guys have some kind of freaky voice.”

“We do, so it’s not a prob,” Stephanie replied. “But I could also nunchuck his head and he’ll—”

“Use your voice,” Aden called.

A growl of frustration pierced the air. “You take the fun out of everything!”

Chuckling, Aden focused on Victoria. “Now that that’s taken care of…” He reached out his hand, twined her fingers with his, and they left the party. Together.

SEVENTEEN

RILEY HAD BEEN ON plenty of stakeouts in his life, but this was by far his fave. Even though it was a last minute change of plans and rushed.

First, he and Mary Ann had caught a glimpse of Aden’s parents as they drove a truck away from their house a few hours before. Or who they thought were Aden’s parents. Driver had been male, early to mid-forties, with brown hair, and from what Riley could tell with his superior wolf-vision, gunmetal gray eyes.

The passenger had been female, possibly in her late thirties, with blond hair, and from what he could tell, brown eyes. Both possessed muddy green auras. From guilt, maybe. Or fear. Hard to tell when the color was so murky, even with his superior wolf-vision.

Perhaps Joe and Paula Stone were living with regret for what they’d done to their son. Perhaps they’d simply been panicked ’cause they couldn’t pay their electric bill. Either was possible.

Riley and Mary Ann were waiting in another house, across the street from the small, slightly rundown one the Stones had left, hoping to catch another glimpse of the couple when they returned. Perhaps even listen in on a conversation or two when they did.

Riley would have searched the house while the couple was gone, but he’d spied cameras. The expensive kind with face-recognition software. Too expensive for a home as cheap as that one. And with that kind of cheese being spent on cameras, he’d bet good money there were motion detectors on every door and window. Not to mention special hinges and even silent alarms. So, if he didn’t have to do a smash and grab, he wasn’t going to do a smash and grab.

That would come later, if the couple failed to return.

Part of him hoped they didn’t return for a while. Currently he had Mary Ann all to himself. Tucker the Flaming Engorged Rectum was missing and had been since the café. Where the demon spawn had gone, Riley didn’t know and didn’t care.

Right now, Riley was sitting at the living room window, peering through the crinkled blinds. Yes, he’d broken into the place. The locks had been crap, and so had the doors they’d been nailed to, so it had just been a matter of busting the already chipped glass pane, reaching inside and turning the knob.

When would people learn? Glass next to a door was like begging every thief in the neighborhood to come inside.

Mary Ann was sitting beside him. They weren’t touching. Yet. But they would be. Soon. By warding her back at the motel, he’d taken care of the witch and fairy problem. The two races couldn’t watch her with their magic and intrinsic abilities anymore, couldn’t track her except through human means. A skill they most likely lacked, considering they’d never had reason to use it. Meaning, the danger level was now close to nil.

That meant one soul-rocking thing. There’d be no interruptions. And that meant one more soul-rocking thing. Riley was through being Mr. Nice Wolf. He had experience. He knew how to charm a girl. And had. Often. He knew how to tease and taunt to heighten curiosity and awareness. Now, he would charm Mary Ann.

Since nearly feeding on him, she’d been distant, quiet. He had to do something to convince her she wouldn’t hurt him. She wouldn’t. He wouldn’t let her.

Because Riley and Victoria shared such a deep mind connection, allowing him to do more than simply read her aura, and because he was so in tune to everything concerning Mary Ann, he’d inadvertently culled Vic’s thoughts about the girl possibly being related to the fae. Something he was ashamed to admit he hadn’t considered. Fairies were drainers, too, and yet they could control their feedings. So, if there was a connection, there was hope for Mary Ann.

Not that she would search. Not yet. She was determined to save Aden. Riley was, too, but he wouldn’t put Mary Ann’s life on the back burner, even for his king. Therefore, tomorrow his digging into her history would begin.

Right now he had to ease her worries about hurting him. Otherwise, she’d continue to resist everything he suggested. For the mission and for their relationship.

He scanned their surroundings. The way the neighborhood was laid out, they had a clear view of both the street and Aden’s (possible) parents’ place. There were no cars, no one out and about.

“Victoria texted me,” he said, starting casually. Cold wind blew through the crack in the bottom of the window, causing strands of her dark hair to dance in every direction, even in his face. “Her brother came home,