I stood up and pulled a can of soda from the fridge mounted in the wood paneling. “It’s cold. I don’t know how the power works out here.”
She cracked open the can and gulped down several swallows. “Mmm. I love orange soda. Reno said the guy who runs the property got it all hooked up with power. I think he wants to do this every year because he’s making good money. Tickets went on sale weeks ago for a limited time, and he tacked on a parking charge per night. I can only fathom what he’s making off these things,” she said, tapping her fingernail on the wall of the RV.
I settled in the seat across from her. “So… you’re human? And you live with the Weston pack. How’s that working out?” I didn’t want to be rude about it because I’d heard of interbreeding between couples of different Breeds, but not humans.
“Love takes you strange places. I know it’s not conventional, but his family accepted me like one of their own. That’s not to say we didn’t hit a few bumps in the beginning, but I think once they saw how much I love Reno, none of the other stuff mattered as much. The boys can be a pain in the rear, but I really like our life and wouldn’t trade it for anything. He takes good care of me. The only thing I’ll miss is working with Lexi every day. She’s going to open up a new store pretty soon.”
“I heard. Jericho asked if I might want to work there,” I admitted with hesitation.
“You should!” she exclaimed. “I’ll make the suggestion. It’s not going to tip like the bar, but maybe you could just part-time it for a while.”
“Maybe.”
“I’m sorry about what happened,” she said quietly. “With Hawk, I mean.”
“Me too.”
“It’s a good thing you got out of there. I’ve heard horror stories about what they do to Shifters on the black market. No one would care about a human, but Reno still keeps a close eye on me. There are a few packs around here that give me the creeps.”
April was right about that. You could always spot the ones running something illegal. A glint of sin reflected in their irises.
“Jericho didn’t tell you where he was going?” she asked suspiciously, slurping on the rim of her can.
I touched the wolf ring I’d taken off his hand and placed on my finger. The festival had everything we needed from food to clothes because of the vendor stands. Why would he just take off?
An errand.
God, please don’t let it be drugs. I knew addicts were compulsive liars and I wanted more than anything to believe Jericho was on the straight and narrow. But what if I had been duped once again? How could I not question my judgment after Hawk? I had no doubt Jericho cared for me deeply, but maybe he was ashamed to tell me he hadn’t completely stopped. No, that couldn’t be right. If that were true, he would have caved in Hawk’s basement. No user could resist that kind of temptation, could they?
“Izzy?”
“I’m sorry, just thinking. He didn’t tell me where he was going. Maybe he forgot a guitar he wanted to use in the show later on.”
“I didn’t think about that. You’re probably right.”
A hard knock sounded at the door.
“Reno,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“Wait,” I whispered, stretching out my arm. I quietly moved toward the door and peered out the window. Hell’s bells. It was Handlebars.
I looked at April with my index finger pressed to my lips for silence. He was only a human, but so was April, and she could easily get hurt.
“Go hide in the bathroom,” I whispered. “Now!”
“I can’t leave you,” she whispered back.
“April, I’m a wolf. If I shift, I could accidentally hurt you, and Reno wouldn’t be able to deal with that. I wouldn’t be able to deal with that. Go!”
She made fists with her hands and her brows knitted. The moment of uncertainty passed and April hurried into the bathroom, locking herself inside.
Handlebars beat on the door again. “Open the goddamn door. I know you’re in there.”
“What do you want? Hawk is dead.”
“Yeah, so I heard,” he said in a gruff voice. “But there’s one small problem.”
I paused. “What?”
“Delgado still wants his money and his drugs.”
“Did you check his house?”
He hammered his fist on the door. “Yes, bitch. We checked his house. Now open up.”
“There’s no money or drugs in here.”
“No, but your ass is in there, and your ass is going to show me where they are.”
“I don’t know where they are!” I screamed. “We split up and he tried to kidnap me. I had no clue he was selling drugs!”