“Yeah, we met,” I felt my face flushing, and I was suddenly very glad that it was still dark outside. “Did you say his name is Chad?”
“Yeah. He was in a band a while back. Rockknot or something,” Declan said. “They got famous for a time before Chad was bitten. That’s what he’s always telling us, anyway.”
“Chad Jameson from Rockknot was very famous. There wasn’t a dry eye in my high school when he died—or, didn’t die, I guess.”
Declan slowed to a stop and rubbed the back of his head. “Damn it. Are you a fan?”
The big guy actually seemed distressed over it.
“Of the band. I met Chad in the farmer’s market and, let’s just say that things didn’t go well. But Chad Jameson is a great musician. Why? Is that a bad thing?”
Declan made a disgusted sound. “Chad’s like a brother, but he’s a sex-crazed egomaniac who burns hearts like they’re made of paper. Can you do me a favor and pretend like you’ve never heard of him before?”
“That honestly might be best,” Lucas said with a smile.
“Sorry…” I gritted my teeth, “I’m not that good of an actor to pretend I don’t like his music, but I’m sure he already knows that I’m not a huge fan of his ego.”
“Fuck. He’s going to be strutting around for you like a fucking rooster,” Declan said under his breath. “Well, you know us three, and you’ve met Ace. So, that’s all five of us.”
“Five wolves?” It wasn’t even half the size of my old pack, and we were smaller than most. Kane just had aggressive, dominant enforcers and me. The more wolves, the more chance that someone would get it in their mind to dominate me, so as far as I was concerned, the less I had to contend with, the safer I was.
We stepped out of the woods and onto a cul-de-sac we didn’t come in from. It was a sleepy residential street with a half dozen Victorians lining the road. When I thought back, most of what I’d seen of the town looked to have been constructed around the turn of the last century, if not before that.
Declan held me to his side, and I found myself webbing my fingers with his at my shoulder. Somehow, it was completely natural for us to walk this way. Nothing I was feeling made sense. Nothing I was doing made sense either. All of my hard-learned lessons were left behind with the fae queen’s floating ball of light. Fuck. I hoped I wasn’t walking into another circle of hell.
The streets wound around, and I stuttered a step. “How could I have not noticed that there are no cars in Grayhaven?”
There were motorcycles and bikes, but I’d yet to see an actual car driving around the street.
“It’s Grayhaven,” Lucas said, and he opened his mouth to say more, but Declan spoke up.
“It’s the way Grayhaven is.” Declan squeezed my shoulders. “The magic has you convinced everything is normal about the town, and then you keep noticing things like that the post office has no door into the building and no door out, and no one has ever seen a postman—post-person, but somehow, mail goes out and junk mail arrives at our house every day—letters only, though. No packages. Well, once in a while they arrive, but I wouldn’t try to order anything expecting that it will come. It took me years to notice some things.”
“Anything to add, doc?” I directed the question at Lucas, because I couldn’t help but notice that Declan talked right over the soft-spoken veterinarian.
His gray eyes met mine. “Declan said it well. Grayhaven has a magic to it that makes you overlook its oddities.”
We turned into town and headed straight for a two-story brick fire station. I assumed we were going to keep walking when Jasper climbed onto the front stoop and grabbed for the handle.
“You live here?” I asked as I leaned back and looked into Declan’s golden-brown eyes.
He grinned down. “We do.”
“What happens if there’s a fire?” I asked.
He chuckled. “We put it out.”
He said it like it should be obvious.
Chad Jameson had told me he was a firefighter. At the time, I’d chalked it up to being just another one of his pick-up lines.
“Wait, so all of you guys are firemen along with being a hunter, vet, rock star, bartender, and…” I waved at Jasper, “Whatever he does?”
“Fire Chief,” Jasper growled over his shoulder. “We live in a city full of demons, witches, and fae. If the pack didn’t take over the fire station, there would be no Grayhaven.”
“You all wear a lot of hats… or suits,” I said.
“Yeah, we do a yearly Christmas charity calendar with all our hats and fire suits and such.” Declan sounded completely serious. “It’s for a good cause.”
“Really? I need to see proof to know you’re not joking.”
“Ah, can’t. I’d show you proof, but they sell out in about a minute.”
“Damn it. I honestly might’ve paid some of my last dwindling dollars to get one—to show my support for a good cause, of course.” I was pretty sure Declan was joking, but after I saw the American Flag briefs, I wasn’t entirely sure.
Jasper opened the firehouse door and peered inside. “Stay here. Chad is in the living room. I’ll check that the coast is clear.”
A minute later, Jasper reopened the door, holding it open as three gorgeous women strolled out. They had a tough look in their eyes, and I couldn’t help but wonder what type of supernaturals they were. My first guess was the human-like witches, but I honestly didn’t know shit about it. They were mismatched in an almost comical way.
Declan covered my
