Corb snorted. “She’s old enough to be your mom. You’re right about that.”

I threw a well-aimed glare over my shoulder. “Keep it up, chuckles. I’ll teach you what a bad idea it is to fight with your elders.” I turned back to the boy. “Gawd in heaven, what are you, a teenager?”

Big blue eyes looked straight up at me. “Turned twenty today.”

“Well, happy birthday. Why are you here?” The thing was, I knew why I was here. The money that Eammon had talked about was way too good, and it would solve problems I needed solved. Gran’s house among them.

“My mom is sick,” he said. “We can’t pay for the medical bills and . . .”

My throat tightened. Stupid hormones. To be fair, sometimes I got weepy with a well-placed kitten in a tissue commercial. I cleared my throat. “Then get up. Because they are about to oust your butt for being a pansy ass.”

I helped him to his feet, and he swayed where he stood. Before he could lift the gun again, I took it from him, cleared the chamber, and popped the clip out. Corb let out a strangled noise.

I looked at him. “Didn’t know I knew guns, did you?”

His look said it all. He didn’t know much about me at all.

I shrugged. “I don’t keep them around, and Himself is lucky I didn’t.” Because I would have shot the bastard the moment I found out he’d taken Gran’s house from me. For good measure, I patted the birthday boy down and took the remainder of his weapons and ammo. “You don’t need this, not with Sarge. He’s a good boy. Well trained.”

“Sarge.” The kid couldn’t take his eyes off the wolf who sat next to Tom. “That can’t be Sarge. I talked to him. He’s a person. Not a wolf.”

“Sarge. That’s the wolf. Didn’t you talk to him at the top of the hill?” I was confused. Corb had said that everyone had to have at least four votes to get them through. Unless he was lying about that too.

I swung around to look at Corb. “Doesn’t take four votes normally, does it?”

“Just in cases where one of us doesn’t think the interviewee is capable.” He stood his ground and I stood mine.

“Enough,” Louis said with a wave of his hand. “You have all been invited here, one by each of us. The master who invited you will be your main trainer. You will, of course, train with all of us over the next twelve weeks as we decide where your skills lie.”