He didn’t resent Garret for being with Holly. Holly had nearly reached her breaking point yesterday. Garret took care of it. As much as Keller wished he’d been the one to step up, he was glad Garret did what he had to do to make sure Holly was okay.
Keller wouldn’t have thought of taking Holly into town for a day. Her kidnapping shook him up in the worst way. He wanted to put blackout shades over all the windows and keep her inside forever if that meant no one would ever try to take her away again.
Obviously, he couldn’t do that without becoming as bad as the bastards who had kidnapped her.
While Holly and Garret were gone, Keller took it upon himself to research everything about the last uprising of the dark shifters. He also pulled up old maps of the silver mines. By his guess, Holly wasn’t sure which silver mine she was held in. Even if she were, he doubted she’d be able to tell him much about the layout. It wouldn’t be much of a kidnapping if she were allowed to freely roam the secret headquarters.
Based on the maps in front of him, the westernmost silver mine would have strategic advantages, but the northernmost mine was closest to Golden Oak. The last time dark shifters rose, they were from Golden Oak. However, the last uprising was fifteen years ago. The shifters who were involved in that uprising might not be the same ones.
“You’ve been glaring at the same notch in the table for twenty minutes. Should I call someone?”
Keller hadn’t heard Johnny enter the dining room. “I’m going to take a page out of your book and ask an impulsive question.”
Johnny furrowed his brow. “Clearly, you’ve never read my book. If you have to ask a question about being impulsive, then you’re already failing.”
“Would you just listen?”
“Is this about Holly and Garret staying down at the Blackberry? You’re not going down there to steal his thunder, are you?”
“No.” Keller rolled his eyes. “Though, I can’t say I’m not tempted.”
“I’m in agreement with you there.” Johnny took a seat at the dining room table. “Can’t we be normal barbarians and fight to the death for her?”
Keller couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s a lose-lose for me,” he said. “I don’t want Holly to choose me solely because I’ve shredded every other option. Besides, it would suck to kill my best friends.”
Johnny placed a melodramatic hand over his heart. “Best friends? I’m touched. I always considered us acquaintances of circumstance.”
“Oh, shut up. Can I ask my question now?”
“Be my guest.”
“On a scale of one to ten, how bad of an idea is it to check out the silver mines?”
“Ten. Terrible idea. Way too risky. Let’s do it.”
“Thanks.” Keller grinned. “That gave me some clarity.”
“So, are we going?”
“Absolutely fucking not.”
Johnny barked out a laugh.
“Fair, but how else do you expect to get information on the bastards that took Holly? They aren’t going to come to us a second time. They’re stupid, but surely they aren’t that stupid.”
“Wouldn’t it be grand if you could ask someone who was actually there?”
Johnny and Keller looked up from the table to find Loch standing in the doorway.
“Come on,” Loch scoffed. “Don’t tell me that hasn’t occurred to you.”
“I didn’t want to push,” Keller said. “What happened to you was traumatic. Why do you think I haven’t asked Holly about anything?”
“How considerate,” Loch sneered before turning to Johnny. “Are you afraid of upsetting my delicate sensibilities?”
“No.” Johnny shrugged. “I’m trying to talk to you as little as possible.”
“No surprise there. If I had anywhere else to go, I’d go.”
“Don’t you?” Keller frowned. “You have an apartment somewhere, right?”
“You think I’m dumb enough to go back there?” Loch snapped. “I’m not lucky enough to have witches making cloaking spells for me at the drop of a hat.”
“Drop of a hat?” Johnny scoffed. “We tracked those witches for a week. Want to know what else we got from the witches? The spell that helped us find your sorry ass.”
“I didn’t ask for that,” Loch snapped. “Did you help Holly and I get out of the silver mine? No, you didn’t. When it mattered, none of you did jack shit. All you did was show up in time to give Holly a lift home.”
Keller glanced at Johnny, who looked like he was ready to punch Loch right in the jaw.
“Don’t let him bait you,” Keller said. “You know he gets a rise out of this.”
“Is that what you think this is?” Loch laughed. “You think I’m that dedicated to pissing you off that I’d get myself kidnapped on the off chance that I’d end up in the Cub Kids Clubhouse for the sole purpose of getting a rise out of you. Do you hear how ridiculous you sound?”
“What’s going on in here?” Holly appeared at Loch’s side.
Keller hadn’t heard anyone enter the house.
“Didn’t you hear?” Loch turned to Holly. “I’m only here to stir the pot.”
“What?” Holly turned her gaze on Johnny, then Keller. “I don’t understand.”
“It was a misunderstanding,” Keller said quickly, trying to diffuse the situation before Holly became more distressed.
“Misunderstanding?” Loch snapped. “Johnny, did I misconstrue your accusations?”
“Nope.” Johnny shook his head. “I think you’re here to cause trouble, just like you’ve always been.”
Loch tensed. He looked ready to lunge at Johnny when Holly placed her hand on his arm. The tension drained from his body.
Keller watched their movements with a critical eye.
“How did this conversation start?” Holly asked.
“These idiots want to go poke around in the silver mines for information,” Loch said.
“We weren’t seriously
