A Wolf at the Door

He drew a breath through his teeth, making a soft hissing sound. “It’s…complicated. If I were to go myself, it could tip some things, and I have no way of knowing if it would be in my favor. Thankfully, the other side is in the same position. They can’t send one of their own, so they’ll send someone else. Something else.”

Leaning on the table like I was, the snow was melting and soaking through my jeans. I shifted position uncomfortably. “Do you think their man’s in place already?”

“I have no way of knowing. Assume someone is already there, and then you won’t be surprised if they are.”

There was a lot to mull over in Axel’s simple little request. I sat quietly for a few moments, and he just watched. “What exactly is it that you want me to do, Axel?”

“Just keep her alive.”

“For how long? I mean, how long do you expect me to play babysitter? I have a life here, Axel. I can’t just pick up and move to L.A. for the foreseeable future.”

“No! No no, it wouldn’t be like that,” he hurried to assure me. “I only need you until New Year’s Eve. Either I’ll have something else arranged, or it’ll all be decided by then.”

“What happens at New Year’s, Axel?”

“Honestly?”

“If you can.”

“I have no idea. I just know that it’ll all be done by then.” I think he could still see my reluctance. “If it helps, I’ll cover your expenses.”

That made me blink at him again. “Where do you get money?”

“Investments. Like anybody. Where do you get yours?” He grinned at me then, and I still have no idea if he was kidding or not.

I rolled my eyes at him. “I need to talk to Mira about it.”

He shook his head. “This isn’t really a ‘choice’ kind of thing, Jesse. You owe me, and this is what I am asking for.”

Fuck. I couldn’t even argue with him on it. I had agreed. “When do you need me to go?”

“Your flight leaves tomorrow morning.” Reaching inside his coat—my coat!—he produced an envelope, handing it over with a snap.

“How did…?” I changed my mind. How he yanked a large envelope out of a coat that wasn’t even his was his business. I wasn’t going to ask. Examining the contents, I found a plane ticket to L.A., hotel information, and a credit card with my name on it. A company card, I noted. I was apparently an employee of “Axel Rhodes, LLC.”

“Axel Rhodes? Really?”

“Hey, you named me. I just ran with it.” He gave me a small smirk. “You should go start packing.”

I sighed, knowing he was right. I did, however, have one last question. “So why me? Why not someone more sympathetic to your cause?”

“Honestly?”

Y’know, it probably says a lot about him that he had to keep asking if I wanted the truth or not. “If you can without choking, sure.”

He smirked at that, chuckled even. “Because you’re the only one I can trust not to steal those souls for himself. You’re the only honest man I know.”

And how do you argue with that, really? “I’ve never been to L.A.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have someone meet you at the airport. Everything’s arranged, you just have to get on that plane.”

And explain to my possibly pregnant—Holy crap, possibly pregnant!—wife why I was running out to guard the body of a really hot movie star instead of staying home with the family for Christmas break. There was no way this was going to end well for me. No way out of it, either.

“Will I be seeing you out there?”

“No. I need to be as far away from that city as possible. Establish an alibi, that sort of thing. I can’t be connected.”

I snorted. “If you didn’t want to be connected, you shouldn’t have sent me.” Somewhere, in some big demon library in Hell, my name was down, with Axel’s right next to it. He’d marked me as his soul to claim, if he could. We were definitely connected.

“Desperate times.” He shrugged. “I’ll see you when you get back.” And with a gust of sulfur-tainted air, he was gone.

The bastard took my coat.

3

I hollered “All clear!” as I came back in the door, stomping the snow off my sneakers, but they already knew. Chunk had fallen silent, and in fact the puppy came galloping out on his dinner plate paws to jump up on me, tail wagging happily. “Good boy, Chunk. Very good boy.”

The fawn mastiff rolled his eyes in ecstasy as I scratched his favorite place under his chin. I didn’t care if he raised hell every time Axel showed up. That’s why we had him, after all. He’d protect my daughter, no matter what. Y’know. Once he got bigger.

Annabelle wasn’t very far behind the pup, waddling her way into the kitchen all decked out in her snowsuit. “Ready to go play in the snow, Daddy?”

“I…uh…button, I gotta run out and do some stuff.” Her face fell and my heart broke. I crouched down to look her in the eyes. “I’ll try to get back as soon as I can, okay? We’ll have hot chocolate and go out again this afternoon.”

It obviously wasn’t enough, but she nodded a little. “Okay, Daddy.”

I stood to find Mira in the doorway, one brow raised. “What stuff?”