Chapter 7

Seven

" R eport, January."

Brax was sitting with Cody, who was strong enough now to sit up and play checkers, so he and Phillip were in the office he'd commandeered at the ranch. Phillip wanted to know the status of the security, the rodeo crew, and the sightings of anyone who wasn't supposed to be there, if there were any.

One could take the demon out of his business world, but they couldn't take the business out of the demon, he supposed. The work of running Darque and Knight never stopped, not even for catastrophic emergencies and life-changing epiphanies.

January sat in the chair opposite his desk, the dapper little brownie scrolling through a tablet.

"The rodeo is settled in, and everyone has agreed to half pay and room and board while we sort this out. The mages have been busy shoring up Cody's wards, but the land itself proves to be a natural impediment, and the pack has relations who have lived here for generations, so they're on guard as well."

"And what do you hear of my uncle?" He steepled his fingers, staring over them at January. If anyone could ferret out information, it was Thack's assistant.

January's nose wrinkled. "No offense meant, of course." His lips pursed. "But your uncle is in some very unsavory business dealings. Apparently, he has taken quite a large, shall we say, loan from someone who wishes to be repaid immediately, if not sooner. I believe ripping limbs off was part of the e-mail discussion." January closed his eyes, drew his shoulders in, and stuck his pert little nose up in the air. "Not that I would ever snoop in someone's personal correspondence."

Of course he wouldn't. Ha. He did it all damned day every day. "You aren't the kind."

"So basically, we gotta wait him out." Cody's voice was so raspy, so low, and those eyes just burned still, Phillip could tell from the way Cody blinked more often than a vamp should. "You're not liable for his debt, are you?"

"Technically, no. Practically, who knows depending on how the family entailments are structured. I'm just going to have to see. These things can be tricky."

"You're a demon lawyer. It's your job to be tricky," Cody pointed out, beginning to frown.

Brax leaned over and blew a soft line of air into Cody's face. "Peace, Boss. Peace. It'll all be okay."

He was going to have to invest in a line of marijuana plants, he could tell. The way Cody relaxed was amazing. Or perhaps he'd just invest in Brax. "It will be fine. I'll figure it out."

" We'll figure it out," Cody noted, moving a piece across the board. "Check."

"We're not playing chess, Cody. Silly vampire."

"Chess, checkers. I still won." Cody blinked, appearing kind of dazed all of a sudden. "You smell good, Kitty."

Phillip rolled his eyes. "No biting, Cody."

"He's so mean." Cody ended up laying on the sofa with Brax petting his head.

Selena watched them from her little perch, assuring herself, he had no doubt, that no one touched her Cody without her permission. She adored him, and she had already made Phillip aware that she approved of him and Cody being back in the same place.

It was so much easier to watch over them both this way. Her little wings fluttered, and it was somehow a happy noise.

"Keep an eye on the situation, January," he murmured. "It will get worse before it gets better." These things tended to work that way in the human world. In the magical world, it came threefold.

"Naturally. I have many sources in that arena." He glanced sideways at Thack. "Family ones."

Phillip snorted. "Okay, now give me the quarterly report."

"Booooring," Cody sang.

"Necesssaaaaaary," he chanted back.

"You number-cruncher." Cody's chuckles had Brax's eyes going wide.

"I am. What can I say?" It all made sense to him. Tally sheets and quarterly statements were as much in his blood as brimstone. And he'd had to find a way to apply it here in this dimension. His Cody would never want for anything.

And it was how everything kept moving, wasn't it?

Possibly. Although that could be the wheels on the trailers … Cody's mental voice broke in.

"Did you get him high again?" Phillp asked Brax.

"Perhaps." Brax was incorrigible.

"Hmmm." He stared at Cody. Are you stoned?

Maybe I'm just giddy that you're staying. The tone was joking, but there was an underlying seriousness to the words.

Say that again the first time you get pissed at me.

I will. You have my word. Cody stared into him.

Damn. His scalp tightened, his cock hardening. Cody wasn't ready for that, though, so he ruthlessly ignored it and worked with January for half an hour.

January was his single favorite employee. He had no sense of humor that anyone was aware of; he was efficient, practical, and inhumanly direct.

"Well, I have a great deal to do." January stood the moment their allotted time was up. "If there's anything else, feel free to e-mail or text." The little guy grabbed his leather folio and departed with a poof.

"Goddess, I still love when he does that." Brax grinned at him over Cody. "So, you and I both know they'll come for us. I won't allow that to happen."

"I'm glad to hear that, Brax." He'd been informed about Brax's escalation in protective skills. Brax taking a mate had been a very good thing for the rodeo. "Suffice to say, we have something they want. Badly. So yes, they're coming. They just have to figure out how." Phillip found he was flexing his fingers.

"They'll find that we're not the rodeo trash they believe we are. Together, we're used to protecting our family." Brax began to glow, and the power there stole his breath.

Phillip blinked hard, his body trying to go into fight-or-flight mode. He controlled that, too. Obviously, he'd been in his ivory, or stainless steel, tower for too long. He needed to get out more.

He supposed he was achieving that now, hmm?

"I appreciate it. You're important to Darque and Knight. I know that, and so does Cody."

Brax stroked Cody's forehead. "He does. Have you met my mate? He's as fierce as Dmitri."

"I haven't." He'd heard tales from Thack, of course. "I'm looking forward to the big cookout you have planned. I'll meet everyone newish then."

"It'll happen next weekend. That will ensure that the boss is happy."

"Perfect." He glanced at Cody, who was dozing. He was less worried about his lover every day. His body was filling back out, his hair glossy again. But he still lacked stamina.

Maybe it was time to start working on that by giving Cody some physical activity. Maybe he was being too cautious.

Brax smiled at him. "You've made him so happy. He burned for you."

"I missed him. But it just never seemed to come together. I have terrible guilt, Brax." That wasn't at all why he was staying, but it was there. He'd been so prideful, so hurt by what he'd thought of as Cody's rejection.

"We all do, for something. It's not enough to build a life on, though. Not at all." Brax's eyes glowed with truth. "You have to build with love."

"Yes. And not competition." Which was what he and Cody had done before. He'd been willing to make Cody live in his demon dimension just so he could get ahead, not ever thinking what that would mean for his stubborn cowboy. That he would be treated like no more than a body slave.

He just hadn't been firing on all cylinders.

Maybe he was getting soft, but he understood it now, and he wanted to meet Cody on equal ground.

"No. I'm glad you understand. You and Cody are meant for one another, and we need you here."

"We are. There might be times when I have to go back to the coast to do a little business, but from now on, I go where he goes." Phillip had loved to travel once upon a time, so he was happy at the idea of being back on the road. And close to his mate.

Brax nodded. "He's sound asleep." He moved the checkerboard. "And you're done with business. Shall I go so you can curl up with him?"

"Yes. I'll take him back to bed. I can finish my book." When had he last just taken time to read?

"Finish your book. Hold your mate. We're all safe as houses and talking about having a cookout."

Phillip winked over. "Save me something good."

"Of course. Always." Brax slinked away, closing the door behind him.

Cody curled into him as soon as he carried Cody back to the bed and laid down. "Phil."

"Shh. Sleeping."

His vampire needed to rest, and so he did.

This thing with his uncle wasn't over. Not by a long shot.