Charlaine Harris by Must Love Hellhounds

Author:Must Love Hellhounds [Hellhounds, Must Love]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Vampires, Anthologies (Multiple Authors), Paranormal Romance Stories, Short Stories, Occult Fiction, Contemporary, Fiction, Urban Life, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance Stories; American, Hell, General, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780425229590
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2009-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

An hour later Raphael stretched and opened his eyes. His lips stretched in an easy smile. “Hey. Now that’s a beautiful sight to wake up to.”

I leveled my SIG-Sauer at him. “Tell me why the nice puppy was chasing you.”

He wrinkled his nose and touched his mouth. “Is there something on my lips?”

Yes, there is. “Raphael, concentrate! I know it’s hard for you but do try to stay on target. Explain the dog.”

He licked his lips and my thoughts went south. Andrea, concentrate! Try to stay on target.

Raphael remembered to look cool and leaned back, presenting me with the view of a spectacular chest. “It’s complicated.”

“Try me. First, what are you even doing here? Aren’t you supposed to dragging around giant rocks right now?” About six weeks ago, the lot of us had entered the Midnight Games, an illegal, to-the-death fighting tournament. We did it to prevent a war against the Pack. Both the Order and Curran, the Beast Lord, took a rather dim view of this occurrence. As a result, Kate was on medical leave, and the Beast Lord, who had actually ended up participating in the tournament with us, had sentenced himself and the rest of the involved shapeshifters to several weeks of hard labor building an addition to the Pack’s citadel.

“Curran released me due to family hardship,” Raphael said.

Not good. “What happened?”

“My mother’s mate died.”

My heart jumped. Aunt B was . . . she was kind. She saved my life once and she kept my secret to herself. I owed her everything. And even if I hadn’t, I felt nothing but respect for her. Among boudas, as in nature among hyenas, the females ruled. They were more aggressive, more cruel, and more alpha. Aunt B was all that, but she was also fair and smart and she didn’t tolerate any nonsense. When you’re the alpha of a bouda clan, you have a lot of nonsense thrown at you.

Had I grown up under Aunt B instead of the bitches who ruled my childhood, perhaps I wouldn’t be so messed up.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you,” Raphael said and looked away.

“How is she holding up?”

“Not that well. He was a very nice man. I liked him.”

“What happened?”

“Heart attack. It was quick.”

Shapeshifters almost never died of heart complications. “He was a human?”

Raphael nodded. “They’ve been together for almost ten years. She met him shortly after my father died. The service was set for Friday. Someone stole his body from the funeral home.” A low growl laced his words. “My mother didn’t get to say good-bye. She didn’t get to bury him.”

Oh God. I gritted my teeth. “Who took the body?”

Raphael’s face turned grim. “I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.”

“I want in on it. I owe your mother.” Aunt B had a right to bury her mate. Or bury the thing that took her mate’s body. Either way worked for me.

He grimaced. “Did you smell matches?”

I nodded. “It’s the dog.”

“Yeah. I picked up this scent at the funeral home and trailed it here.

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