GAME ON - GoM 2

9

Claire finished the deliveries faster than ever that noon and headed to the bookstore. She'd already warned Jill that she might skip work without notice, and managed to derail the woman's curiosity. Alex waited for her, ready to close the store and leave.

As the Hilux cruised down the road by the lake to Boulder Creek, Claire turned on the radio to Stone Temple Pilots' Interstate Love Song. The girl smiled.

"This song always reminds me of the Holsters," she said.

"We should let them know what happened to Bormstone."

Claire frowned. "You don't wanna talk to Aidan?"

Alex grunted under her breath. If only Claire saved her empathy for what really mattered. "Not to give'im such news."

"Don't worry. I'll call Mark."

Alex thought her niece meant she'd do it later, but the girl produced her phone and dialed Mark. The youngest Holster picked up on speaker, so Claire put him on speaker too, holding her phone between her and Alex. She delivered the news right away.

"Captured?" Mark repeated. "How...?"

"We don't know, kiddo," Alex said. "He vanished in the middle of the night. I was able to confirm they've got'im, but that's all we know."

"You gotta get to him before he breaks, Princess," said Aidan. "Else-"

"I know, I know. He may give'em the Cross."

"We're trying to find out where they're keeping him as we speak," said Claire.

"I'm sending you a location spell," said Mark. "In case you can't find him."

"Great. Could come in handy."

"You guys just hang on. We're coming."

"No, Aidan, it's okay. You don't have to-"

Claire swallowed a giggle at Alex's snort when the Holsters disconnected. She turned in her seat to face her aunt, puzzled at what she sensed from her.

"What's with you all of a sudden? How come you're afraid of seeing Aidan?"

Alex replied as if bitten by a scorpion. "I'm not afraid of seeing him! It's just that Tom's gonna be there, and you know Aidan."

"So what? Don't you think you should trust them a little by now?"

"Them?"

"Yeah! Tom and Aidan. Jeez, Al. You should know better."

"Whatever," Alex grumbled. "This is the worst moment in history to worry about their alpha prides. Slightly more important things to do."

She glanced at Claire and saw her little smile. But the girl said nothing and she focused on the road again, still grunting. Of course her niece would sense that she was thrilled about Aidan dropping whatever he was doing-be it hunting down a monster or a girl-to come help them. She could only hope Tom would be open-minded enough to understand he had nothing to suspect or fear from Aidan. Well, she could count on Claire to try to explain things to Tom, if he decided to turn on some silly possessive alpha mode over her. Because she would definitely not have any of it. Aidan was Aidan. Period. She wouldn't explain or excuse herself. Not even to Tom.