“Cyn.” The automatic correction came out on a raspy breath, but my hands
cupped his face as I rose on tiptoe and kissed one of the deep lines bracketing his
mouth. “I’m okay.”
He blew out a hard breath and rested his forehead against mine. “I’ll wait for
you out front.”
His fingers at my hips tightened, then released. He stepped back and left me
to get dressed.
HALF AN HOUR LATER, Kayden parked my Jeep in the parking lot of a small, two-
story strip mall that was a few miles away from the alley I woke up in. Most of
the storefronts were dark, but there was a Chinese restaurant at the end still open
for business. No surprise as it was close to eight on a Sunday night. Since I expected Kayden to take me to the burned-out shell where my weekend needed
in a black hole, an uneasy apprehension crept over me. I wanted to ignore it and trust the man next to me, but I had questions that needed answers. I waited until
we were both standing on the cracked sidewalk before asking, “Why are we here?”
“Wolf found something he thinks we need to see.”
Puzzled by his non-answer, I followed him as he strode through an archway
and into a small inner courtyard. When he turned to take the stairs, I said, “Slow
down, speedy.”
He pulled up short, with one foot on the stairs, and turned to watch me limp
toward him. “Sorry, forgot. Can you do this?”
I eyed the stairs and grimaced. “As long as I don’t have to run them, yeah.”
“You go first, I’ll follow.”
I grabbed the railing and began my trek up. By the time I hit the top, sweat
that had nothing to do with the outside temperature, slid down my spine. I stopped and took a few seconds to level my breathing and rest my muscles.
Kayden watched patiently. “You good?”
I nodded. He moved past me and kept his pace slow as he led the way. He
stopped in front of the door near the end and knocked. Not much light filtered back here, but we were standing close enough for me to make out the lettering
on the dark window. “ALTERED STATES?”
Before Kayden could answer, the door swung open, and a body filled the
space. “Shaw.”
“Wolf.”
The body shifted aside.
Heeding the little push against the base of my spine, I stepped inside with Kayden on my heels. Behind us, Wolf shut the door and a bittersweet smell surrounded us. Light from a back room spilled over the glass display counter stretched along the far side, illuminating the jars and trays lining the cases. I peered closer and realized the shelves held a varied selection of baked goods and
candies. If not for the lingering smell, one could be forgiven for thinking it was a bakery. “A very special bakery,” I muttered under my breath. I turned back to the
two men and folded my arms over my chest. “Why are we at a marijuana
dispensary?”
“What’s more interesting, is what’s in the back.” Rough and raspy, Wolf’s voice matched his tough exterior. He was tall and built like a linebacker. His height topped Kayden’s by a couple of inches, and he was bald. Surprisingly, he
did the look well, enough to catch quite a few feminine eyes.
“What’s in the back?”
“Better if I show you.” He turned and walked into the back room.
Kayden followed. I brought up the rear, my field of vision dominated by two
