There was a knock on the door. “Come in.”
Todd entered, carrying a pillow and blanket. “Can I share your bed? Maximus and Caleb are making out in the living room and ignored me when I told them to get a room.”
Shaney nodded. Todd jumped over him and propped a pillow on the footboard, stretching out. Hundreds of nights since they were kids, they’d shared a bed like this. With their good nights said, they settled in to try and sleep—that was until the screaming started.
“Fuck me! Harder!” Maximus bellowed. “Come on, Sweetie. God, I love your cock!”
Todd bolted upright. “Holy shit!”
“You’re so fucking tight,” Caleb said in a strained voice. “Love your ass.”
And damned if they couldn’t hear skin slapping together. Todd doubled over, clutching his side, and buried his face into his pillow.
“Come on, baby, fill me!” Maximus begged.
The endearment almost stopped Shaney’s heart mid-beat. He grabbed Hudson’s pillow and stuffed it over his head. No matter what happened, he was going to hear Hudson call him baby again.
Lifting the pillow, Shaney said, “Todd?”
“Yeah?” he asked, with a chuckle still in his voice.
“We’ve got the upper hand. We’re going to win, right?”
A moment of silence and Todd said, “Damned, right we’re going to win. We’ve got a secret weapon. We’re going to kick some ass, take some names, and beat the bad guys. Silas won’t know what hit him. We are the champions.”
Shaney could practically hear Queen singing the anthem in his head. “Champions. Right. We can’t lose.” Shaney fell asleep, believing every word of that song.
* * * *
By ten-thirty a.m., Caleb had passed freaked out, and was heading toward nuclear meltdown. Maximus hadn’t returned from recon and wasn’t answering his phone. He’d left over eight hours ago, plenty of time to drive to the cabin and back a few hundred times over. Caleb was distracted, unfocused, and on edge. Shaney needed Caleb’s attention. He couldn’t do this without him. Caleb was his teacher, his guide, his Yoda—they were about the same size, after all. On the table was the amulet, their supposed salvation, and the optimism Shaney had been riding all night, crashed and burned.
What if Maximus had been unable to place the wards? What if he’d tried to rescue Hudson and failed? What if the attempt had gone bad and...? No, Shaney had to remain positive. He didn’t know how exactly, but he was sure Hudson’s life force was still detectable if he searched for his energy. It could be wishful thinking or the residual energy from the pillow he’d cradled all night. For his own sanity, he had to believe Hudson remained unharmed.
A car door slammed outside, catching everyone’s attention. Visible relief covered Caleb’s face. He threw the door open and then skidded to a stop on the porch. Shaney followed behind him.
In the driveway sat two black SUVs. In front of them stood a man and woman at parade rest, dressed in black suits and wearing sunglasses.
Shaney threw up his arms. “What are the Men in Black doing here? Am I a friggin’ alien too?” Maybe that alien in his head hadn’t needed to hatch and just took up residence inside. Wouldn’t that just top off his sundae nicely.
The man snorted, and then quickly schooled his features. The woman remained motionless, face hard, like stone. Todd came out onto the porch. Nice of him to join the party.
Caleb jumped off the porch and faced off with the woman. “Where is he, Cassie?”
“If you would come with us, gentlemen, we’re here to escort you to Silas,” the woman said, her tone commanding and a bit on the gruff side.
“Not until you tell me where Max is!” Caleb was really going to lose his shit. Shaney bet Cassie could flatten Caleb like a pancake.
Cassie clenched her jaw. “Max is tucked in, all nice and cozy, in my bed. Keeping it warm for me.”
That brought a hearty cackle from Caleb. “In your dreams.”
Cassie stepped forward and before Shaney could blink, Caleb’s arm swung out, and with an upper cut, his palm connected with Cassie’s chin. She stumbled back, shook her head, and took up a fighting stance. Caleb sniffed. “You forget, honey, I have a black belt.”
Cassie grinned. “I have one, too.” She reached under her jacket, pulled out a silver handgun, and pointed the weapon at Caleb’s chest. “But I prefer this.”
Shit, Shaney hated guns. Then he noticed the other man had a gun as well. Hooray for the fucking NRA!
“In the car,” she said, Caleb toward the SUV with the gun. “You can ride with me. Your friends are in the other car.” She pulled out a phone. “Try anything stupid and your boyfriend dies,” she told Shaney as the man pushed him toward the other car, along with Todd. “Yours, too, Caleb. I have some very special revenge planned for him. Maybe if you’re a good boy, you can watch.”