to the car, then opened the trunk and pulled out a shopping bag. Riggs hurried back toward them, and Victor scowled at the bag suspiciously, but his mate just kept going and opened the door to the bowling alley with a flourish.
Inside, the entire place was lit with neon and flashing laser lights and… a couple of disco balls? Toby wondered if people really went on bowling dates or if someone had seriously misled Brooks.
Music blared through ancient speakers, and the smell of popcorn and grease filled the air. The sound of balls hitting lanes and pins falling echoed through the huge warehouse-sized interior.
Brooks glanced at Toby and grinned.
Toby leaped backward and tried not to scream. Brooks spun and snarled at the same time, trying to protect Toby from whatever scary thing was behind him, but there wasn’t anything there.
And then Toby realized the entire place also had black lights installed, which had made Brooks’s teeth glow green and… well… it was really close to the full moon, and his imagination was a thing to behold sometimes.
“Over here!”
Sam and Vaughn stood next to the front counter with smiles on their faces. Toby grabbed Brooks’s hand, refusing to look toward his glowing green teeth again.
“You okay?” Brooks asked softly.
“What’s that smell?” Victor asked loudly.
Toby couldn’t help it. He laughed and leaned into Brooks’s arm. “This is going to be a really weird night.”
“Pretty much. This is what I get for listening to Ollie.”
Toby looked up. “Ollie?”
Brooks sighed as Riggs and Victor walked over to the others. “Yeah. He wanted you to get to know us as a pack. So you knew what you were missing. He thought—I thought this would help.”
Toby squeezed Brooks’s hand in his. God, how could this man want him so badly? How could he try so hard? His faith in his Goddess and her power must be so strong. Why else would he trust his future to a human he didn’t know, who couldn’t trust him in return?
“I think it’s going to be fun,” Toby said. “Um, but do you actually think Victor is going to wear rental shoes?”
“Oh no. Ollie sent him a brand-new pair. That’s what the bag was for.”
A moment later, Victor squawked and Riggs held up the bag victoriously. Brooks and Toby walked toward them as Victor tugged out the shoebox and opened his brand-new, probably ridiculously expensive, bowling shoes.
Toby couldn’t help but laugh again, and he didn’t even understand why. He and Brooks told the clerk their shoe sizes and got their pairs before heading over to the lanes they’d been assigned. They got settled in and their names typed into the scorekeeper before Nick and Jedrek made their appearance.
Nick had a sleepy, self-satisfied grin on his face. One that even Toby realized left no doubt as to what had caused their delay. Jedrek yawned and stretched before heading over to get shoes for himself and Nick. In the meantime, Victor stared at the selection of bowling balls like he was waiting for one to give him a sign.
Toby laughed once more as he looked around at the rest of the crowd. A flash of familiar blond hair caught his eye but disappeared before he could be sure what he’d seen.
“Yep,” Brooks said.
“Huh?”
“You saw him. He’s not subtle.”
“How’d you know?”
“I’ve known Ollie since he was six. Of course he was going to be here to watch his plan in action. I’m just wondering which of his siblings he blackmailed to come with him.”
“Jack,” Sam said. “Emily is still moping after her breakup, and Ben is studying for an exam. Henry would demand to bowl with us and would probably have us get lanes for him and his mates. And Tasha is working.”
“Wow,” Toby said, impressed with Sam’s ability to keep track of his kids. “No wonder you don’t ever worry about losing one of the kids.”
“Years of practice. Just imagine Ollie as a kid.”
“Should we invite them over?”
“No way. In fact, I’m going to order all the junk food I never let them get and torment him with it. Corndogs for everyone!”
From there, things got serious as Nick set about smack-talking everyone and swearing he was some sort of bowling champion. Jedrek simply took the first turn, threw a strike, then sauntered back to the chairs at the end of their lane.
“You know, I’m beginning to realize that there are some of you who have an unfair advantage,” Toby said.
“Yep,” Nick replied smugly. “But really, if you think about it, how cool