A huge man took up the only other occupied chair. Massive, slabbed with muscle and covered in elaborate tattoos, he had the bold handsome features, dark skin, and dark eyes of a Pacific Islander.

“Mauro!” Of all the knights of the Order I liked him the most.

“Hello, Consort,” Mauro boomed. He got to his feet, spread his arms, and curtsied.

Ascanio clamped his hand over his mouth.

“I see you still think you’re funny.”

“Damn right.” His face split in a happy grin.

I turned to Hannah. “Could you bring us some hot tea?”

“Sure.”

Mauro nodded at my ward and Ascanio. “I brought these two miscreants to you.”

“What happened?”

“I was on an unrelated call in the Shiver Oaks, when a woman ran out from the house across the street and asked me if I could help her with some burglars her dog cornered.”

I turned to Ascanio and Julie. The look on my face must’ve been scary, because they flinched in unison. Ha! Still got it.

“Burglary?” I asked quietly. The Pack took a dim view of any criminal activity. We had enough trouble as it was.

Ascanio sighed, clearly resigned to his fate. “She wanted to see the bunnycat kittens. It was the breeder’s house. We found the ad in the newspaper. The woman wouldn’t let us in unless we showed her money, so we scaled the fence when she went out. I could’ve dealt with the Rottweiler. I just didn’t want to hurt him.”

Of course, Julie would want to see bunnycat kittens. Hell, I wanted to see the bunnycat kittens. And of course, he took her. The problem was, they got caught.

“We weren’t going to steal them,” Julie said. “We just petted them.”

“Is she pressing charges?” I asked Mauro.

“I convinced her it wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Thank you.”

“Any time,” he said.

I looked at the kids. “Scram! I’ll talk to you later.”

They scurried out, nearly knocking Hannah and her platter of tea off her feet. She bared her teeth at them.

“Thank you.” I took the platter. Hannah stepped out and closed the door. I served tea to Mauro. “How’s it going?”

Mauro took his cup and blew on it. “Thank you.” He swallowed a little. “God, that’s good. I was about frozen solid. Damn weather. Things are . . . going. Selena still thinks I work too much.”

“How is your wife?”

“She’s good, thank you.” He hesitated. “I’m thinking of transferring.”

That was news. Atlanta was considered one of the more important Order chapters in the South. Not only that, but knights didn’t like changing duty stations. Once they were assigned to a chapter, they developed street contacts and professional relationships. Most of them would do just about anything to avoid starting over. “Transferring where?”

“Somewhere. Charleston. Orlando.”