Page 48 of Fangs & Fur
“But,” Cassius stands and dusts invisible dirt from his leather jacket, “we will need Tyler to put some wards around the house before we go. Xander, I'm guessing you can call his… handler?”
Handler?
“Cole will be hard to persuade,” Xander grumbles. “He won’t want Tyler anywhere near a house this far from town.”
Everyone's shoulders drop. Including mine. Cole has made it very clear he watches over Tyler like a hawk. I remember the way he looked at me in the cafe, and I'm sure he won’t want Tyler coming anywhere near me now that I’m cursed.
“So now what?” I ask. “Can we pay them?”
Cassius chuckles, and Xander kisses the back of my neck.
“No, sweetheart. Money has no value for Cole. And for any of us. Witches or Vamps, we don’t require cash,” Xander explains.
“What if I were to give them 10 years of protection?” A voice from inside the house drifts through the back door as Ambrose steps into the kitchen. His voice carries like a tune, and his movements, as he meanders through the cupboards, is like a dance.
“Ten years? Why would you do that for a pair of witches?” Cassius frowns.
Ambrose emerges from the kitchen carrying a knife and an apple. As he walks, he expertly cuts the fruit into chunks, plucks a piece from the blade, and eats it with slow, deliberate bites.
“I think I might stay in Moonfell for a while. The desert was getting boring.” He simply shrugs. “I’ll give them 10 years of protection. For whenever Cole gets antsy and needs someone doing fire watch over Tyler.”
“And you think Cole will agree to Tyler putting wards up for that?” Xander asks.
Ambrose flicks his hair over his shoulder and takes another bite of apple. “Ask and find out.”
Sighing, Xander pulls his phone from his pocket and shoots Cole a text. Almost immediately it goes to ‘seen’ and then the dots of an incoming message appear before they disappear altogether.
“Well, that’s promising,” I say with a laugh, though my stomach sinks and a fresh wave of anxiety washes through me.
Before anyone can respond, there is a heavy rap at the front door.
Harlan is speeding past everyone in the blink of an eye and ripping the door open before squealing excitedly, “COLE! MY FAVOURITE WITCH!”
Cole hardly even blinks; his towering frame making Harlan look ridiculously small. Then Cassius steps in beside him, and Harlan starts bouncing on the spot like he’s had too much sugar. Between the two of them, their broad shoulders nearly blot him out entirely, the contrast almost absurd. But the little vampire doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest. If anything, he looks delighted by the witch’s arrival.
“Why do you want Tyler?” Cole grates.
Xander and I slink inside. Xander deposits me on the bar stool and gives me a reassuring glance before reaching to where the others stand.
The stairs above the kitchen creak as Milo positions himself at the top, watching down wearily.
“We need him to set wards against a Soultracker,” Harlan pipes up excitedly, and a gleeful grin spreads across his lips.
“No,” Cole growls, but his focus is tightly strained on Cassius and Xander. “He won't come a mile from this house. Now that I know what is hunting your human.”
Cole’s voice drips venom as he speaks that word. As if it tastes bad.
“How does 10 years of protection over Tyler sound?” Ambrose flits to the doorway, his silver hair flowing like a wave behind him and his leather jacket cinched to his waist.
For a moment, Cole’s dark gaze softens at the sight of Ambrose. I don't blame him. The man is stunning. But his moment of weakness is quickly covered by his usual mask of anger.
“I don’t need your help, harlot," Cole sneers.
I tense, clutching the edge of the counter, my heart pounding in my throat. Milo growls above me, his eyes trained on the witch who snarls back.
The tension in the air thickens, and heat rises. My own body grows tense as my breath catches and my ears ring. I feel as if the seconds tick slower and slower, as if the entire world's rotation slows to a crawl.
Teeth flash, fangs drop, and ungodly growls fill the house.
