The wolves looked up at her, innocent-faced, and Dougal growled at them.
One of the wolves shifted. He had hazel eyes—Matt. He hunkered down, hiding his body, but Misty had the feeling it was out of shamefacedness, not modesty.
“We hid in the car,” Matt said, his voice small. “Kyle said you and Graham would be mad, so we had to hide. The car was unlocked.”
“Was it?” Misty asked, giving them a skeptical look. The guy who’d been driving it had sworn up and down he’d locked it. He worked for a top security firm and was careful about things like that.
Matt glanced at Kyle, who was still a wolf. “Maybe Dougal taught us how to break into cars,” Matt said.
“Hey, you little monsters . . .” Dougal began.
“Not important.” Misty raised her voice. “I need you two to show me exactly where you came out.”
“Okay,” Matt said, and shifted back into a wolf.
He and Kyle scrambled from the desk, their bodies wriggling as they tried to land softly. Matt yipped when he hit the floor, but was up again, racing to the door to scratch on it.
“I didn’t teach them to break into cars,” Dougal said as Misty opened the door so the cubs could scamper out. He didn’t look Misty in the eye, so he might be lying, he might not. “How to pick locks, yeah, but different kinds.” He hesitated. “Don’t tell Graham.”
“I don’t have to.” Misty gave him an exasperated look. “Just . . . don’t teach them anything else, all right?”
Dougal sent her a grin that showed he might in time become as hard and fearless as Graham. “I’m their honorary uncle. I’m supposed to be a little wild.”
Misty patted his arm. “You’re awesome, Dougal.”
“Aw. You’re just saying that.”
The cubs, let into the main part of the store, immediately ran to the unlocked front door, pushed it open with body weight and determination, and started racing across the parking lot.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
"Hey, no dogs allowed in here.” Pedro pointed a broad finger at Misty and Xav standing slightly behind her. “Sorry, those are the rules. Health department.”
Matt and Kyle started around the counter of the convenience store, growling and snapping at Pedro, unhappy about being called dogs. Dougal lunged for them and grabbed one cub under each arm.
“They sure are cute little guys,” Pedro said, looking them over. “What kind are they?”
The store was empty except for Pedro at the moment. No one was at the gas pumps this early, and traffic was sparse on the roads.
“Wolf,” Dougal said.
“Wolf hybrids?” Pedro reached out to pet Kyle.
“No.” Dougal said. “All wolf.”
Pedro jerked his hand back at the same time Dougal’s T-shirt moved to show his Collar above the neckband. Pedro lowered his hand and swallowed. “No Shifters either. Sorry. Owner’s policy.”
“We’ll be out in no time,” Misty said brightly. “Promise. You two.” She pointed a finger at first Matt then Kyle. “Where? And no goofing around.”
Kyle and Matt wriggled to get down. Dougal set them on their feet then followed close behind the cubs, Misty after him. Pedro stayed put, watching, but not moving to stop them.
Matt and Kyle led them to a door marked “Private,” then behind that to the stockroom, and to where the refrigerated goods were stored.
Both cubs sat down and started whimpering.
“They’re saying the ley line comes out here,” Dougal said to Misty. “In the back of a convenience store?”
“Probably the convenience store was built over it.” Misty looked around. A stockroom was a stockroom—shelves of things to replace what was bought, door to a small office, door to a bathroom, large back door for deliveries. “Does the ley line automatically work, or do you have to do something to activate it? I can’t believe it’s automatic. I think people would have started noticing employees disappearing from the convenience store stockroom over the years.”
“You have to do something,” a new voice said. Ben was standing in the shadows, the man’s short, broad appearance making him look like a creature from fairy stories. Which, in the circumstances, wasn’t comforting. “This is why you need me.”
Xavier had his Taser at the ready, and Dougal growled and stepped protectively in front of Misty. Ben came out of the shadows, regarding Dougal and Xav fearlessly. The cubs echoed Dougal’s snarls and rushed at Ben, not holding back.
Ben took a step away and raised his hands. “It’s all right, little guys. I’m not going to hurt her.”
Kyle and Matt eased off, though they kept up little growls as they sniffed Ben’s running shoes.
Xav didn’t back down. “The cubs might believe you, but I don’t,” he said. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Ben. Misty called me. She needs my help.”
“You smell wrong,” Dougal’s nose wrinkled. “In fact, you stink.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot, but only from Shifters.” Ben grinned. “Humans like the way I smell.”
“Not exactly,” Xavier said.
“You’re not human,” Dougal said, looking at Ben’s tight, flat face, scarred from whatever fights he’d had.
“No kidding,” Ben said, but let that interesting answer hang. “Misty, do you want to save Graham or not?”
“Of course I want to save him.” Misty tried to push past Dougal and Xav, but couldn’t. Dougal stood fast, his body almost as solidly strong as Graham’s. “You said on the phone he was in Faerie. How do you know that?”
“I know when a gate opens. And one did, early this morning. Then you called and said your boyfriend was missing—I put two and two together. The Fae must have compelled him to come. Only you can get him away.”
“Me? How? I have no idea what do to.”
Ben gestured to the book she’d brought with her. “It’s in there. Everything you need to know.”
Misty glanced at it then back at Ben, her eyes narrowing. “How do you know what’s in the book? I didn’t have it with me when I talked to you.”
“Because I wrote it.”
Misty looked Ben over again, the feeling of wrongness about him increasing. Xav made a noise of disbelief.
“You wrote it,” Misty said, “back in 1907?”
Ben nodded. “Yep. I’ve been around. The Fae have tried to return to the human world before . . . the last time was early in the twentieth century. They used interest in the standing stones, the growing popularity of the occult, Ouija boards, mediums, whatever they could, to try to find a way back in. I wrote these spells for humans, so they could counteract coercive Fae magic if necessary. The book was very popular at the time, though most humans didn’t realize how magical it was.”