He gave me a crooked grin. “I’m not the one who overslept.”
Switch and Kira looked exhausted, but I saw a wistful look in Switch’s eyes. He was used to teaching a pack, and I knew he’d miss them. Gem opened the front door and peered out before swinging the door wide. The van was already waiting.
“I’ll get the Jeep,” Christian said.
I tucked my hands in my pockets. “Let’s give Shepherd a break and take my truck instead. Besides, I think the Jeep has engine trouble, and I don’t want it breaking down.”
Christian turned on his heel and headed out the door. We kept spare keys in the garage, making it easy if someone needed to borrow a vehicle.
“Don’t you dare change the radio station!” I shouted through the open door.
When the kids finally dawdled back into the room, they were clutching stuffed animals, dolls, and the rolled-up clothes they’d arrived in.
Viktor called Kira with the crook of his finger. She handed him a basket filled with wrapped caramels—the fancy kind. He gave each child one piece and a gentle pat on the head before Claude and Gem took turns escorting them outside.
When it came to the last girl, Hunter bounded toward Viktor and snatched the only candy left, clutching it to his chest with his gloved hands.
“Hunter, you need to give that back,” Shepherd said sternly.
Hunter walked over to the front door and sulked. The little red-haired girl met up with him.
“I like your shoes,” she said, pointing to the butterflies on the side.
Poor kid, I thought. Just when he’d finally made some friends his own age.
He held out his hand to give her the candy, and when she took it, she gave him a quick hug, a kiss on the cheek, and flew out the door.
Shepherd looked flummoxed. “He’s only six,” he growled at Switch, who simply chuckled.
Hunter darted back to the dining room, and Switch followed, calling out, “Time for your lessons, kiddo.”
I walked up to Shepherd and clapped him on the shoulder. “Looks like you’re going to have a heartbreaker when he gets older.”
“Older?” Shepherd put a cigarette in his mouth, hands shaking as he struck a match. “One minute his teeth are falling out, the next he’s kissing a girl.”
“Jesus. They’re only six. It’s just a crush. You know, he doesn’t have to be friendless. I think it might be nice if he goes to visit them.”
Shepherd blew out a breath, calmer now. “If it’s all the same to you, I think he needs to make new friends.”
“Oh, you mean boys? Then you’ll have to worry about him lighting firecrackers in the house and setting trash on fire. Take your pick.”
Shepherd shook his head and walked off. “Nobody’s got time for that.”
I looked at Viktor. “Thanks for giving me this case. I know it was a mess.”
“You were very fortunate,” he said, and I couldn’t tell if it was a flippant remark or he was chastising me. Probably the latter, because Viktor held us to high standards. “Now you realize why you cannot choose which cases we accept. I carefully review each request, and I turn away many.”
“You don’t feel guilty about that?”
“Keystone is not their last resort. It is their first. That is the reputation we have built. What we turn away, someone else will take. Not every inquiry is worth pursuing. I am not Colombo.”
My eyes brightened. “Aha! So you do watch television. Do you hide one in your private chamber, or maybe you sneak in Wyatt’s room in the wee hours of the morning to watch Baywatch?”
He fidgeted with the empty basket he was holding. “I heard this name used before. I know nothing of this show.”
I patted his arm before strolling out the door. “Sure. I believe you.”
Viktor was probably telling the truth. He was an astute listener when it came to pop culture references used in conversation, but it still made me laugh to see how flustered he got.
When I looked up, I saw Christian scowling at me from the driver’s seat of my truck. Four girls were bouncing around in the bed, and one sat next to him with her bare feet up on the dash. I don’t know why, but I found that visual endearing.
It was a slow drive, and twice I had to stick my head out the window and tell the girls to sit down. They were older and knew better. Blue took the younger ones, and she was driving way below the speed limit since she had a baby and two toddlers on board. The mattress was still in the back, so that was likely where the little ones were since we didn’t have car seats lying around. Christian shouted profanities at two cars that zoomed around us, and it was clear he was nervous. Like me, he kept checking on the kids in the back even though the little girl in pigtails between us wanted to tell him all about why Elmo is better than the Cookie Monster.
When we finally arrived, members of the Freeman pride were out front, planting pink flowers by the house. One spotted us and went inside.
“Keep the kids quiet,” I said, opening the door. “Don’t let them run off.”
Christian opened his door, and when he started to get out, the little girl held his hand. He looked at her for a second before lifting her up and setting her in the back of the truck with the others.
I strode up to meet Blue, who was waiting at the door. “Wow. This place is gorgeous in the daytime. Look at all those windows. And you don’t see many white mansions in the woods. Usually they’re log cabins or—”
The door opened abruptly, and Sambah greeted us with a frown.
Not a good sign.
He studied Blue carefully. “You don’t look dead to me.”
“I’m… I’m not.”
Sambah swung a heated gaze my way. “What is this? Were you lying to me?”
Blue hijacked the conversation. “No, she wasn’t. The Relic poisoned me, and I won’t bore you with the details on how I was cured.”
“Please, bore me. Because I would like to know what could have saved my son.”
Blue gave me a sideways glance before giving him a sheepish look. “I drank Vampire blood.”
Sambah grimaced as if someone had offered him a glass of urine and he’d caught the smell. “Are you not a woman of integrity?”
“Apparently not.”
“To what do I owe this honor? I hope you did not change your mind about the Relic, because he is no longer with us.”
Blue clasped her hands together. “King had a message for you.”
Sambah shut the door behind him and gave us privacy.
“He said you were a kind and fair man,” she went on. “Children in your pride are raised with values and love. That you protect them with your life.”
“No one harms our children. What is your point?”
Christian was keeping the kids in the truck preoccupied, so Sambah clearly couldn’t see any of them. Knowing him, he was probably passing out candy from his pocket.
Blue pinched her bottom lip. “We have children we need to place. I can’t tell you the reason or else it implicates us in something criminal. You understand what I’m saying?”
“Go on.”
She turned and motioned for him to walk with her. “These kids are special, and they need to stay together. We think some of them are siblings, but we’re not sure, and there’s no way for us to find out now.”