Free the Darkest Edge Of Dawn (2010) by Kelly Gay Page B

footsteps echoed on the porch steps of my Candler Park bungalow, my stomach taking note of the warm spices leaking from the open window. The tap, tap, tap of claws on wood sounded beyond the door as I reached for the knob, preparing myself for yet another odd night at the Madigan home.
    Brimstone greeted me from a distance, in the center of the hallway. His hairless gray body was still as his red eyes assessed me. His ears were up this time, instead of pinned back against his thick skull like usual, but his throat rumbled with uncertainty as he held his ground.
    He shouldn't be in the house. But then again, if Rex hadn't routinely gone against my rules and let him inside to begin with, his scent wouldn't have been on me earlier when the pregnant hellhound attacked, and I'd be just another body in the debris pile.
    I sighed, ignoring the beast and removing my jacket, which desperately needed a trip to the cleaners after today, placing it, along with my weapons harness, on the rack inside the closet door. Brim sniffed the air behind me, no doubt scenting the female despite my dragon bath at the Grove and changing my shirt at Bryn's. The smell was in my hair, on my jeans, probably on my boots.
    "Brim! Come!" Will's voice called from the kitchen, followed by a quick whistle.
    The beast's massive head turned for a quick second, and I could see his indecision. I pointed down the hall and took a step forward. "Go. Go on."
    He didn't move. Another slow growl issued from his throat and he leaned back, bracing himself, his giant front paws spreading as they slid forward on the hardwood floor. The dark gray skin blended into the dimness of the hall, making his red eyes stand out.
    "Move it," I ordered, deeper, snapping my fingers and continuing forward. He turned tail and loped his tiger-sized body toward the light of the kitchen. "I'm going to turn him into a doggie popsicle if he doesn't cut it out," I said loudly, approaching the kitchen.
    Rex stood at the sink, wiping his hand on a dish towel. He wore my ex-husband's old State T-shirt. Loose jeans hung low on his hips, and his feet were bare. A defeated sense of loneliness and sorrow spread across my chest and squeezed.
    It was hell sometimes--those first glances after a long day or after getting up in the morning. Seeing the body of my ex-husband walking around, his expressions, his smiles, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners, the deep southern drawl in his voice when he spoke ...
    There were moments, brief flashes, where I'd forget that a Revenant, a spirit entity, was in control, and I'd just see Will Garrity there--tall, athletic, and always with the smile that could melt snow.
    Those moments hurt the most, and I tried not to let it show--how much I missed the real Will, and how much his decision to barter his body and soul to Rex, whatever the reason, had hurt. No matter what, no matter if we found a way to bring Will back, I knew now that it would never work, me and him. This final betrayal had broken the thin link between us.
    "Hey, Charlie." Rex turned around, bracing both hands on the sink ledge behind him.
    "Brim is supposed to be in the kennel." I snagged a water from the fridge and cracked it open, giving myself a moment to regroup before I turned back around. "That was the deal. I pay six hundred dollars for a reinforced mini version of Alcatraz, and you keep him in the kennel. Do you remember that at all?"
    Brim had parked himself at Rex's side, his jaw resting easily on the granite countertop as Rex patted his bald head. Was I the only one who got grossed out by the slobber trail on the countertops?
    "Well, that was just in the beginning, Charlie. It's cruel and unusual punishment to keep him back there all by himself when we're in here. He wants to be with us. We're his pack."
    I leaned against the edge of the kitchen table, the rim of the water bottle paused at my lips. "His pack? That damn thing growls at me again, and he's on the next transport back to