The trailer was beginning to get stuffy, and I had no idea how to turn on the air—if it even had air. What I really wanted to do was grab a lawn chair and sit by the door with a cold beer in my hand. Jericho had locked me in with the best of intentions, but this was a festival. I had never once been to a festival and spent it locked inside a vehicle! Then again, I’d never been to an all-Breed festival, so he was probably right.
Someone rapped their knuckles on the front door, and I froze mid-bite. The second series of knocks sounded more urgent.
“Izzy? It’s April. Can I use your toilet?”
I laughed softly and put my sandwich down. “One second.”
When I opened the door, April rushed by me. “Oh my God, I hope you’re not naked,” she said, running in short steps down the hall. As she used the toilet, she left the door open so she could talk to me. “I’m so sorry. I went to those portable outhouses and I can’t. I just can’t! There’s no telling what kind of cooties are in there.”
“That’s okay, I understand completely.”
After another minute, April emerged, her expression more relaxed. “I feel so much better,” she confessed, taking a lazy stroll toward me.
“How did you know we weren’t in here knocking boots?”
April raked her blond hair away from her face. It fell to her shoulders in an angular cut that was shorter in the back and longer on the sides. She took a seat at the tiny table. “I ran into Wheeler earlier and he told me you were by yourself.”
“How did Wheeler know Jericho left?”
April pulled off her shoe and shook out a pebble. “Wheeler saw him get in the truck and drive off.”
My stomach did a flip-flop. “Drive off? He left the festival?”
“You didn’t know?”
I glanced at a clock and noticed over an hour had elapsed. “Was there an emergency with the pack?”
“Not that I’m aware of. Denver’s still at the bar, and we think Ben took off an hour ago. I can’t find Reno,” she said irritably. “He’s always forgetting his phone. The last time I saw him was by the fireworks. I went to get water, and when I got back, he was gone. He probably went looking for me when I told him to stay put. God knows where he is! I should have stayed where I was, but I had to go, and I knew Jericho’s trailer was parked over here. Holy smokes, he’s going to kill me.”
“Doubtful. How did you know which trailer?”
“Trevor pointed it out when we were walking around. Joker told him the band always rents a trailer during these outdoor events in case one of them wants to take a nap or get away from the crowd.”
“Well, maybe you should go back to where you were standing by the fireworks,” I suggested. “I’m sure Reno will find you. If not, maybe you can talk one of the singers into paging him.”
She laughed. “He’d really kill me if I embarrassed him like that.” She pulled a tube of lip gloss out of her purse and ran it over her lips. “Wandering around is only going to keep us separated, so it’s better if I stay in the spot he last saw me. Maybe I’ll call Lexi and see if she and Austin can keep me company.”
I stood up and pulled a can of soda from the fridge mounted in the wood paneling. “It’s cold. I don’t know how the power works out here.”
She cracked open the can and gulped down several swallows. “Mmm. I love orange soda. Reno said the guy who runs the property got it all hooked up with power. I think he wants to do this every year because he’s making good money. Tickets went on sale weeks ago for a limited time, and he tacked on a parking charge per night. I can only fathom what he’s making off these things,” she said, tapping her fingernail on the wall of the RV.
I settled in the seat across from her. “So… you’re human? And you live with the Weston pack. How’s that working out?” I didn’t want to be rude about it because I’d heard of interbreeding between couples of different Breeds, but not humans.
“Love takes you strange places. I know it’s not conventional, but his family accepted me like one of their own. That’s not to say we didn’t hit a few bumps in the beginning, but I think once they saw how much I love Reno, none of the other stuff mattered as much. The boys can be a pain in the rear, but I really like our life and wouldn’t trade it for anything. He takes good care of me. The only thing I’ll miss is working with Lexi every day. She’s going to open up a new store pretty soon.”
“I heard. Jericho asked if I might want to work there,” I admitted with hesitation.
“You should!” she exclaimed. “I’ll make the suggestion. It’s not going to tip like the bar, but maybe you could just part-time it for a while.”
“Maybe.”
“I’m sorry about what happened,” she said quietly. “With Hawk, I mean.”
“Me too.”
“It’s a good thing you got out of there. I’ve heard horror stories about what they do to Shifters on the black market. No one would care about a human, but Reno still keeps a close eye on me. There are a few packs around here that give me the creeps.”
April was right about that. You could always spot the ones running something illegal. A glint of sin reflected in their irises.