I hung up as we exited the alley and followed the sidewalk along the street. Everything was closed aside from a couple of dive bars, though the road was well lit with the deep golden glow of sodium streetlamps. A few late-night drinkers staggered down the sidewalk, and I brushed my hand along the bars of a pawnshop window, quite happy to have bodyguards at my side for the walk through this part of Magic Side.
This wasn’t small-town Wisconsin anymore.
As my fight-or-flight instinct began to relax, a spark of elation built in my chest. Sure, I was forcibly getting escorted out of the neighborhood, but we’d gotten my car back, and it’d been a rush. I’d been chased down by the alpha, but I’d stood my ground at the end and showed him I wouldn’t back down. And that felt good.
Sort of. He had made me nearly piss myself.
Despite that, by the time we reached the edge of the pack’s territory, I’d gotten my mojo back.
Casey sat on the hood of a car across the street, under the close supervision of Sam and another wolf. I opened my mouth to apologize to her, but she tossed her hair, turned away, and climbed into a black SUV.
Goon One gave me a final unnecessary shove. “Stay on your side of the street, LaSalle.”
“Hands off,” I snapped, and then I marched across the road, head held high.
Casey grinned, and flipped off the wolves as they drove away. “Hey, we did it!” he crowed. “And I’m glad you’re okay. How are you feeling about your first car heist?”
“Well, short of injury, I’m not sure how much worse that could have gone. We got busted. I thought you were a pro at this.”
He shrugged apologetically. “Maybe not a pro, but in all fairness, I didn’t think they’d disassemble it. That was bullshit. Anyway, we got the car and the parts, and that’s what matters.”
I pointed the radio at him accusingly. “Your asshole friend ditched us. God knows where the car is.”
He shook his head. “Rules say every man for himself, but yeah, she’s an ass. Still, she did her job. I called her, and your car is at the shop now under lock and key. The wolves won’t risk a confrontation up in the Midway Dens. Mission accomplished. Also, don’t tell Mom. Ever.”
Great. That basically confirmed how idiotic this had been.
I took a deep, chest-stretching breath and scanned the nearly empty street. “Mission-critical question: how do we get home? That’s not your car, too, is it?” I gestured to the Honda Civic that Casey was sitting on.
He glanced down. “No. Why? I already summoned a cab. It’ll be here in a couple minutes, and we’ll grab my RAV-4.”
I shrugged and leaned back against the Civic. “I thought your ass hurt so much, you wouldn’t be able to sit for a week.”
Casey kicked his legs out. “Yeah, but my legs are tired. That was a lot of running.”
He’d made it all of five hundred feet before getting tackled. Casey was oddly out of shape for his build.
I released a long, low breath that felt like it had been pent up in my chest for hours. “I can’t believe we did that. It was so stupid. And dangerous.”
“Totally stupid, but not that dangerous. These things don’t generally end up with fatalities. I can throw fireballs. They can gut us with their hands. Generally, everybody is so deadly, we make sure things don’t escalate. The most important thing is that we had a fun time.”
I closed my eyes and slowly shook my head. My cousin was clearly bonkers. One hundred percent a nutter. But I couldn’t deny that I’d had fun. Breaking magical locks, sneaking in, getting what was mine…even getting caught, though I was scared at the time. My instincts told me Jaxson wouldn’t hurt me, but damn was he intimidating.
And I’d wanted to run. To have him chase. That made no fricking sense at all.
I cracked a smile at my lunatic cousin. “I think hanging out with you is making me crazy.”
He kicked his heels softly against the side of the car. “Oh, we’re crazy for sure. But that probably wouldn’t wear off on you so quickly unless you were nuts to begin with.”
“Maybe. But strangely, I didn’t notice it before coming here.”
Casey slid off the hood as our cab pulled up. “We’re all more than what we suspect we are. In this case, I’m willing to bet you were nuts long before you met us.”
Fair enough.
We walked our tired asses back to Casey’s RAV-4, then immediately violated Jaxson’s explicit orders by going to the Magic Moon Motel.
It was a risk, but I needed fresh undies, clothes, and a toothbrush. I was a civilized person, and I was going to get my stuff back.