Better Half (The Salt Mine, #19) by Browning Joseph & Yee Suzi

Author:Browning, Joseph & Yee, Suzi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
Published: 2023-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Detroit, Michigan

25th of September, 7:45 a.m. (GMT-4)

David Wilson—codename Fulcrum—was alone. Mau was off on her own adventures and the dogs were out on a run with Martinez. It was blessedly quiet in the 500 and he made the most of his brief reprieve, tending to things that went much faster without a ton of sentient magical dogs asking questions. He’d asked her to take them for a long run, and he knew their return was imminent when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He puttered around with his cane, filling their bowls with fresh water. They were bound to be thirsty after the exercise.

He raised the newly repaired garage door when he could hear the dogs telepathically from the other side. The silhouette of the five mastiffs backlit by the morning sun looked quite menacing until he could see their lolling tongues and goofy grins. Martinez wasn’t far behind, breathing heavily with their leads in her hand.

The hounds rushed inside once the way was clear. After he undid their leashes, they made a beeline for their water bowls. He handed Martinez a bottle of water. “Have a good run?”

She twisted the lid off and downed half of it in one long gulp. “Well, I definitely don’t have to hit the gym today.”

He chuckled knowingly. “Yeah, the humans really are the limiting factor as far as they are concerned. Did they give you any trouble?”

“They got a little preoccupied with a squirrel, but it was otherwise uneventful,” she reported as she started stretching out her quads.

He shook his head at the slurping dogs. “I thought you guys were better than that.”

That squirrel was taunting us, Biter immediately spoke up.

Taunting? Wilson thought.

Yeah, Catcher backed up his larger packmate.

Total jerk, Bouncer weighed in.

But it ran away when we barked at it, Barker added proudly.

And we didn’t chase it, Thinker pointed out what he felt was the important bit: they were on their best behavior for their human’s friend.

Martinez wasn’t privy to their telepathic conversation, but she surmised they were magically communicating and came to their defense. “Don’t be too hard on them. They stayed with me the whole way and rarely pulled on the leash,” she elaborated as she lunged. “They were very good dogs. Some might say treat worthy.” Although the heads stayed down at the water, tails started wagging at the suggestion.

“You think so?” he played coy before producing something tasty from his pocket. That drew the Nimrud dogs from the water and they circled around him, poking their cold noses at his closed hand. He petted them and made sure they each got some treats. “I’m glad they weren’t too much of a handful. Thanks for coming so early on your day off. I don’t like them to be out in public during peak hours.”

“I don’t blame you. I got looks from the few people that were out, but everyone kept their distance.” She bent at the waist and stretched her tight hamstrings. “How’s the leg?”

“Healing nicely according to my doctor and physical therapists,” he replied.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.