Nic peered up at a sign that broadcast they were at “The Den.” It was the sort of place normal people wouldn’t look twice at, and if they did, they would quickly walk by to avoid it. Even without the row of motorcycles parked out front, the place looked like it was filled with nothing but bikers and thugs. There were also quite a few trucks parked in the lot outside, though few of them were as nice as Shaun’s. Most of them looked only a few hundred miles away from breaking down.

“So, where are we?” he asked as he stepped out of the truck to get a better look at the place.

“What? Don’t recognize a place for hunters when you see one?” Lucas asked.

Nic jerked, glaring at Shaun. “You didn’t say we were going to a hunter bar.”

Shaun looked more smug than Nic thought he had any business being. “Woulda thought you’d be the type to be comfortable around ‘em. You’re the one who said ya dealt with us before. Figured that meant you’d been to places like this.”

Nic snorted. “I tend to deal with you types in small doses. A few at a time, not in large groups all willing to gun me down in an instant.”

Lucas rolled his eyes as he shut the door. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. As long as you don’t go flashing your eyes around or growing fur, you’ll be fine. Most hunters are relaxed when they’re here, and no, uh, seeker, is going to be able to identify you.”

“I thought you said you’d never met another one?” Nic asked as he eyed the front door with trepidation.

“I haven’t, but I can at least admit it would be a pain in the ass for them to identify you. No one’s going to be looking for you anyway, since the place is warded against all sorts of things,” Lucas told him.

“You do know there are wards that work on me, right?” Nic said.

Shaun patted Nic between the shoulders, harder than he should have. “Don’t worry. Far as I know, ain’t none of ‘em for ya.”

Nic glared up at the large hunter. “And how are you an expert on the defenses of this…fine establishment?”

“Because his parents own and run the place,” Lucas informed him as he opened the door to a cacophony of noise.

Nic would have stopped dead in his tracks if it weren’t for the fact that Shaun was pushing him adamantly from behind. He eventually had to give up and walk or he risked tripping over something on the way in. Shaun was getting way too much enjoyment out of Nic’s discomfort and worry for the kitsune’s liking.

His eyes swept over the room in a hurry as he walked in, with Shaun right behind him. It looked like your normal, rundown, side-of-the-road honky tonk bar. The people sitting at tables and at the bar all looked like the tired, rough looking sorts he would have expected. The only difference between this place and one that looked just like it was that other places weren’t filled to the gills with a pack of well-trained and dangerous hunters.

Nic had always made a point of avoiding these sort of places, and for good reason. Sure, he looked totally human, and had an excellent hold on his fox half. He was exceptionally skilled at fooling hunters into thinking he was human, and had a good nose for when he needed to disappear. Hunters by themselves or with a partner were one thing, but a whole group of them made him nervous. All it would take would be for one hunter to get the idea he was anything but human, and they would set the whole pack on him.

“Well, look who it is!” A booming, male voice called out from somewhere on the other side of the bar.

A huge man, as large as Shaun himself, pushed through the group of people near the bar to pull Shaun into a fierce hug. Even if it hadn’t been for his size, it was obvious that this man was Shaun’s father. If it wasn’t for his father’s age, he could have easily been Shaun’s brother. They both had dark hair and skin. Both were built the same, towering above everyone else in the room. Both of them had that accent, though Shaun’s father’s was thicker and his voice seemed permanently set at a yell.

The man’s dark eyes turned on Lucas who held up a frantic hand in greeting. The large man ignored it completely, sweeping down to pull Lucas into a hug as tight as he’d given Shaun. Lucas flailed gracelessly as he squawked out a strangled protest. Shaun’s father ignored him, giving him a strong body shake for good measure before dropping a partially dazed Lucas back onto his feet.

“Lord have mercy, Jacob. Don’t kill the boy,” a rich female voice said from behind Shaun’s father, punctuating her words with a swat to the back of his head.

“I ain’t seen ‘em in forever, Anne. Can’t blame a man for bein’ happy to see ‘em again,” Jacob protested, some of his volume disappearing as he stepped away from who Nic assumed was his wife.

“Happy don’t mean trying to kill ‘em either,” she replied in a voice lighter in accent than her husband and son.

“Hey Dad, hi Mama,” Shaun said happily, bending to hug his mother who barely came up to his chest.

“Heya Jacob, hi Anne,” Lucas greeted as well, also having to stoop to hug the woman. Nic didn’t miss the way she reached up to adjust his hair and clothes as she pulled back. He didn’t miss the way Lucas patiently allowed her to, his face warm as he waited for her to finish fussing.

When she turned to him, he was startled to see her eyes were the exact same shape and color as Shaun’s. Other than that, it would have been difficult to peg her for being his mother. She was a little thing, even shorter than Nic was. She looked out of place in her clean blouse and patterned skirt.

“And you forgot to greet their friend,” she continued to chide.

Jacob leaned sideways to see around Shaun, finally catching sight of Nic. “Oh! I didn’t see ya there, son. Don’t think we’ve seen ya in here before. Name’s Jacob and this is my wife, Anne. Welcome to our bar, a little home away from home.”

“If you like your home filled with jukebox music and drunk men getting into arguments,” Lucas quipped with a fond smile.

“Hush, Lucas! it gets quiet in here…during the day, and whenever everyone falls asleep,” Anne said as she reached out to take Nic’s hand in her own. Her grip was warm and gentle, and she never tried to shake it. It was such an oddly kind gesture, and Nic found himself taken with her instantly. Jacob took his other hand in an unsurprisingly firm and vigorous shake, and Nic found himself liking the man already.

“We came across him on one of our most recent hunts, and he’s tagged along a couple of times since then,” Lucas told them, lying with an ease that Nic respected.

“And your friend’s name?” Anne asked patiently.

“Oh! I’m sorry, name’s Nicolai, or Nic if you prefer. Your boys have chosen to call me by both, so I figure you might as well,” he heard himself say, finally grinning and ridding his face of the stunned expression.

“Well good to meet ya, Nic,” Jacob proclaimed, throwing an arm around Nic’s shoulders and pulling him toward the back.

“Jacob, you’re going to terrify the man,” Anne sighed as she looped an arm through Lucas’ and followed after her husband.

“Don’t worry, I think he can take it, Mama,” Shaun said, sounding like he was holding back a fit of laughter.

Nic was all but dragged through a door and down a long hallway into what looked like living quarters. The room was filled with a large table lined with several chairs. Jacob deposited Nic into a chair before taking the one at the end of the table. Shaun and Lucas filed in after them, both men looking like they were having a hard time not laughing. Nic glared at them as they sat near him, with Shaun thankfully the nearest to his boisterous father.

“I’ll get you boys some lunch,” Anne told them as she walked through a set of nearby doors that Nic assumed led to a kitchen.

“You boys here for business or pleasure?” Jacob asked as he settled himself comfortably in his chair.

There was a pause, neither Shaun nor Lucas saying anything, and Jacob looking straight at Nic. Not that Nic had any idea why they were here in the first place; he was just tagging along with them on this trip. He’d thought they had a place in mind that would allow them to safely hole up and not have to worry about being rushed into a decision. Dragging him with them to Shaun’s parents hadn’t been anywhere near the top of the list of places he had expected them to go.

“It’s just been awhile, Dad. We missed ya,” Shaun finally said, sounding like he was telling a lie.

“Yeah, and I was born yesterday,” Jacob snorted, looking over his shoulder as Anne reappeared. She was carrying a huge tray, weighed down with all the ingredients necessary to make sandwiches. Everything from the lettuce to the pile of tomatoes looked fresh and delicious. A stack of plates were pulled out and put in front of each of them before she took her place on the other side of her husband.

“You boys in trouble?” she asked, reaching to nudge the food closer to them.

“Why do ya always think we’re in trouble?” Shaun asked grumpily.

Lucas wasted no time in reaching for a couple pieces of bread, building his sandwich. “Because we’re always in trouble.”

Shaun glared at him but Anne only chuckled. “That boy has always been in trouble, from the moment he was born.”

Jacob grinned, looking proud. “Got that from his daddy.”

“Not that that’s anything to be proud of,” she told him, though her words were ruined by the fond expression on her face.

Shaun waved a dismissive hand at his parents. “Ain’t nothin’ goin’ on that ain’t normal for us, okay? We just came to visit because it’s been awhile.”

Lucas nodded, dropping the top piece of bread onto the stack of sandwich filling. “It’s not as if we have a safe profession. We’ve been neglectful in visiting you, and we figured this would be a good way to start making up for it.”

Anne took a few slices of cucumber from her husband’s sandwich. “It would be nice to hear from you boys more than just when you’re fighting.”

Lucas turned an accusing glare on Shaun. “I apologize for that, Anne. You know we appreciate everything you two have done for us. We have just been busier than we would like of late.”

Jacob scratched his chin. “You boys been fightin’ again?”

Sheepish, Shaun shook his head. “No Dad, we’re fine.”

“Just fine,” Lucas added, shooting a last couple of daggers at Shaun with his eyes before digging into his food.

“And ya sure there ain’t nothin’ wrong? Ya know we’d help you boys if ya need it, we’re not useless,” Jacob continued, shifting his gaze between the pair.

“Dad, I swear, it’s okay,” Shaun insisted.

Anne turned to look at Nic. “Are you in trouble, then?”

He blinked. “Me? Never. I don’t really get into trouble.”

“If you get along with these two, then I know that’s a lie,” she said, wagging a finger at him.

Nic grinned. “Alright, you got me. I get into trouble a lot. But I think I’m better than them at getting out of it. But I’m not in any trouble right now.”

That would have been the truth except for the fact that he was always in trouble. Being right in the middle of a group of hunters probably counted as being in trouble. Alright, so he was lying just as much as the other two were, but at least he could say he had survival as a reason for keeping the truth to himself. He didn’t understand why they weren’t telling Shaun’s parents the truth. Once he’d gotten over the shock of where they were, he’d assumed they were here to ask for help of some sort.

Jacob shrugged, but Anne didn’t look very convinced. Both of them continued the conversation however, slipping right past the subject of the fact that Shaun and Lucas might be in need of help. Nic didn’t miss the sharp looks she shot the three of them as they ate, conversing with Jacob. She wasn’t buying anything they were selling, and she was looking for proof that they had been lying to her.

It was obvious Lucas was as comfortable here as Shaun was. Nic knew the man had lost his only family when he was quite young, due to the nature of his ability unconsciously drawing danger to them. It definitely looked like Lucas had found a surrogate family though, as it was clear that both Anne and Jacob obviously adored him. Lucas’ normally withdrawn habits were all but absent as he sat and talked with his partner and his parents. There was a general warmth and happiness at the table that was almost palpable, and he noticed that not one of them tried to exclude him from it.

It wasn’t until near the end of lunch, as the conversation was wrapping up that he realized why they were here. The puzzle had sat at the back of his mind from the moment Shaun and Lucas had lied to Anne and Jacob. It was when Shaun and Lucas both sat in their chairs, gazing across the room in contentment that he spotted it. The expression didn’t hit their faces at the same time, but it was close enough for Nic to see the same look of bittersweet longing, before it was buried beneath the shared look of happiness.

They hadn’t come here for help. They had come here to say goodbye.