Free Ruffskin by Megan Derr Page B

Rolex was always a nice thing to have. He turned it over, examining every minute detail, and somehow was not surprised to see an inscription.
    To Peyt, Love Ruff
    Who was Ruff?
    Johnnie continued to examine the watch, but nothing else caught his eye. Setting it on the bar, he moved around the bar and poured himself a vodka rocks. He'd just taken his second sip when the door opened and Grim and Peyton returned.
    "Gone," Peyton said bitterly.
    Johnnie looked to Grim, who just shook his head. "He can hide."
    Which meant he was hiding even the energies that Grim could see. That was expensive, like in the millions expensive. "Impressive." Such a charm would have to contain demon blood, the only other race that could see energies. He set down his drink and picked up the watch again. "Anyone who can afford to give a Rolex, however, can clearly afford fancy charms to hide himself."
    Grim snorted. "Meaning we're looking for one of your ilk."
    Johnnie ignored him. "Who gave you a Rolex, Peyton?"
    "No one—I mean, he never got the chance," Peyton said, and he sat on a barstool with a sigh. "I admired his, once, and this was years ago mind. After that, he kept teasing and promising about getting me one. I told him not to because we were on opposite ends of the pack. Being friends was one thing; him giving me a gift, never mind an expensive one—that was something else entirely."
    "Who was he?"
    "The alpha's only child," Peyton replied. "His son, name is Hudson Blue. Younger than me by seven years. He was born premature. All their previous attempts to have children had ended in miscarriages or stillborns, so they were fiercely protective of Hudson. 'Ruff' was my nickname for him. We shouldn't have been friends, but we were." His expression said that they had clearly been more than friends, but the Rolex had already hinted at that.
    Johnnie poured a beer and slid it across the bar to Peyton. "You said once that you left the pack because of things that went down and were going to keep going down."
    "Yeah," Peyton said bitterly, looking three times his age suddenly. "Murder. The Alpha and his Candidates were abusive, malicious, and downright cruel. After they wound up killing a couple of pups, me and another wolf simply couldn't take it anymore. Kipling was his name. We killed the Alpha and the Candidates. All of them. Then we ran. Kipling went one way; I went another."
    "Blue never really got another Alpha, not in all these years," Johnnie commented. "The pack is a mess."
    "Yeah," Peyton said. "Like I said, crap is just going to keep happening."
    "Whatever happened to Hudson?"
    "I don't know," Peyton said quietly. "I've wanted to contact him for years, but didn't dare. If the pack finds me, I'm a dead man, and I don't know what they'd do to him if they thought we were staying in touch. But I've always wished I'd gotten to tell him goodbye—" He broke off and shook his head. "I always hoped he would do okay. His mother was crazy protective of him; I thought that would be enough to protect him from the rest of the pack."
    Johnnie said, "He was just here and gave you that watch."
    "He must be in danger," Peyton said. "I have to think something is wrong, because otherwise wouldn't he just come see me instead of acting this way? But maybe not. I don't know anymore." He raked a hand through his hair, miserable and confused.
    Refilling Peyton's beer, Johnnie left him alone for a bit and headed upstairs, Grim on his heels.  Once upstairs he closed the doors and turned to Grim. "How does anyone hide from you? "
    Grim snorted. "Even death can only do so much. Hiding from us can be done, and you probably know with what. Hell, it doesn't even always require charms. Why do you think we have to cross so many planes to find the lost souls we seek?"
    Johnnie nodded. "So far as charms go, that's high sorcery, and it would require demon blood as a major component. Father had one once. He sold it centuries ago, and then bought the land where we later built