See me, p.34
See Me, page 34
“Are you here to give me a lecture?” My shoulders slumped as I shifted to sit on the side of my bed.
“No lecture, but I’d like to know your thoughts.” He handed me the plate and placed the water on my nightstand.
“I know you heard me, earlier.”
He sat next to me and studied the label on the beer bottle. “Which part upsets you most?”
I took a bite of my peanut butter sandwich. I couldn’t believe Conal had never tasted peanut butter until I’d moved in. “I’d say that it’s a seventy/thirty split.”
“Which is which?’
“Want half?” I waved the sandwich in front of him.
“No, I want you to eat it all and to continue.” He took a drink from his bottle.
“It feels like he isn’t taking it seriously—what I saw, my vision.” The salty, rich goodness suddenly tasted like paper. “I know Onyx has told everyone I’m not talented, that you all should be disappointed because your Seer sucks.”
“You don’t suck, Theodora.”
“Lore’s taught me more in the last few days about my gift than Onyx has in all of those months. I was feeling a little…” I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment, “proud. You know, like I was finally contributing.” Grandma was right; pride was a terrible vice.
“You’ve contributed from the start.” Conal gave me a sideways look. “Some of it was your gift; the rest is your goodness.”
I made a “humph” sound. “I wasn’t being very good when I yelled at the Laird,” I muttered.
“I think you were yelling at your lover, not the Laird.”
Conal was very wise, and he was my friend, but his allegiance would always be to Black. “Is this a mistake?”
“Which part?” One side of his mouth lifted in a half smile.
“The lovers’ part.” I couldn’t look at him, so I glanced down at my plate.
“No, I don’t believe so, but as you are learning…well, the both of you are learning, there will be difficult times.”
“It’s hard to separate the two, you know? If I think about him as the Laird, then I’m powerless.”
“The reality of our lives is that he is always the ultimate boss.” Conal’s voice was gentle but firm.
“So, my vote never counts?” I voiced my fears.
“It counts, but he decides.” Conal took my plate from my now shaking hands and put it on the floor. “You are going to have to learn to trust in him.” He let out a long sigh. “We’re lucky, he’s smart and benevolent. Some Leaders are cruel and impetuous, keeping their people in constant fear. Black makes mistakes, but in all the years I’ve known him, he has never intentionally hurt someone he cared about.”
“I know that,” I bit out. I sounded angry and defensive, so I paused to adjust my tone. “He’s a really good man, er, Lycan.”
“I think that’s part of the problem. You think of him as a man, but he’s more.” Conal finished his beer and placed it on top of my plate. “Solle and I ran into the same problem at the beginning.”
“I need to be smarter,” I admitted.
“I keep forgetting how new you are to all of this. It’ll take time.” He gave me a sad smile. “Building trust takes time.”
My breath caught. “We might not have time.”
“You have now, Theodora.”
I bit my lip. I felt like crying. Instead, I leaned into his side. “Can you keep him safe?”
“Yes,” he said, instantly, firmly.
“I hope so, Conal.” For all our sakes. I didn’t want Solle to lose her mate and I didn’t want to lose Black like that. I couldn’t imagine Novus without Black and Conal. What would happen to me?
“But…”
His voice went so low I lifted my head to see his lips form the words.
“If anything happens, you go with Lorenzo.”
“What?” My body went cold as terror gripped my chest.
“Don’t worry about Solle, or anybody else, just go with him.”
My eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Conal, what are you saying?”
“That’s your Plan B. Well, technically it’s Black’s Plan B for you.”
I couldn’t speak. I nodded slowly as I tried to make sense of what he communicated without using words. The Laird had listened and made contingencies.
* * *
Black stayed away all night. A part of me was disappointed he hadn’t come back. It was the first night we’d spent apart since my birthday. I missed his warmth and waking up feeling safe in his arms.
The pool party was canceled. I stayed in my room so Conal and Solle could have time alone. Around five, Conal called me downstairs.
“I’m heading out.”
I jumped from the last step and hugged him tightly. “The Lady will watch over Novus.”
“Thank you.” His arms tightened around me.
He stepped back and gave his mate another long kiss.
As he was just about to walk through the door to the garage, I called out, “Conal?”
He paused and turned around.
I couldn’t think of the right words. “Come back.”
His smile was easy, but his eyes were dark and serious.
Solle and I stood side by side as we listened to his bike pull out of the driveway and head down the road.
Solle shifted away from me. “I’m going for a swim. Wanna come with me?”
“In a bit.” I was hoping Black would stop by.
I waited in the living room, straining my ears to hear a vehicle. After an hour and a half, Solle came in, and I knew he wasn’t coming.
She wore her bikini top and a pair of cutoffs that were super short. “What do you want for dinner?”
“I’m not really hungry.” I hadn’t been since yesterday.
“Do you want me to go all doctorly on you?” Solle put a hand on her hip. “’Cause you know I will.”
She would. Deep down, Solle loved to nag. She did it in a charming way, but she didn’t give up. “Okay, but it needs to be something light.”
“We could have a salad,” she offered with an enticing smile.
“You? Eat a salad for dinner?” That was unheard of for a Lycan. Every time I ate lettuce, Conal looked horrified.
Her smile widened. “Well, it might have some chicken on it.”
I got to my feet. “You mean yours will be a lot of chicken with a tiny bit of green.”
“But it still counts.”
My friend tried to keep the conversation light. I knew she was worried about Conal and being apart. Plus, she was trying to gauge my mood.
I’d done the dishes and wiped down the counters. I didn’t want to sit around and try to make more conversation, so I told her I was going upstairs to read.
That was a mistake. Within twenty minutes, the voices in my head were talking. They told me that Black thought I was a failure. They pointed out that he hadn’t come by, because he didn’t care about me. I couldn’t concentrate on my book, so I simply stared off into space.
There was a rumbling outside. I sat up straighter and listened as Solle opened the door. I heard a muffled, “She’s upstairs.”
My heart pounded as I watched the doorway to my room.
He filled it. Sometimes, I forgot how masculine he was—tall and strong with his long hair falling below his shoulders. “I’m heading out.”
My throat felt like someone had tightened a hand around it. I nodded.
“I wanted…” He glanced at his boots and looked unsure for a single moment. “I wanted to say good-bye.”
So, there it was. I cleared my throat, but my voice still came out rough, “Okay.”
He continued standing there, looking at me.
He turned around and left.
I listened to his boots on the steps. I heard the door slam shut.
The sob that had been building finally broke free. I wasn’t going to let him end it this way. “Black,” I yelled and jumped to my feet. I ran to the stairs and rushed down them. I threw open the door so hard it slammed into the wall. “Wait, Black,” I yelled as I cut through the yard.
He’d started circling around the truck parked in front of the house, but turned and caught me as I jumped into his arms.
“Raid, Raid,” I said against his chest.
“Shhh,” he said as his cheek brushed mine.
“I…please, be safe.” I kissed him. I didn’t care who was watching.
“Babe,” he said against my mouth.
“I need you to come back.” I rested my forehead against his. I thought I’d better clarify. “I mean alive and whole.”
That made his chest rumble with a chuckle. “I will.”
We kissed again.
“I’m still mad. I ca-can’t help it,” I said, because a part of me was. We’d be talking about it, later.
“I know.”
“I’m scared,” I admitted.
“I know that, too.”
“B-but I want you to know that I…I care.” That was a huge understatement of how I felt about him.
“When I get back, we will work this out.” He turned his head to glance at Conal and Solle who were now standing close by. He kissed me; it was a promise.
He put me down, and I took his hand. I needed to touch him. “Be safe.”
“Theo, I got this.” He gave me a half-smile.
I prayed to every deity I could think of. I hoped so.
“Conal.” I looked at my friend.
“Theodora, I know.”
Our gazes met, and I remembered our conversation last night. I gave him a nod, telling him I wouldn’t forget.
“Got to hit the road, ladies,” Black told us.
I made myself let go of his hand and Solle joined me as we watched our men drive away.
“This is gonna suck,” I said.
“It sure will.” She wrapped her arm around my waist as we headed back into the house.
Thirty-Eight
Raider Black
We’d made it to the California coast without a hiccup. I called a meeting with my team in the cheap hotel we used to grab some sleep in actual beds.
“We can’t let up,” Conal reminded our group.
“That goes without saying, Second.” Asher was listening while checking his phone. I was sure he was looking for an Issa update.
I scanned the room. “So, we grab some shut-eye and hit the road at seven.”
They got to their feet and left, except for Conal, who was sharing the other bed in the room. I heard him throw the locks on the door.
“Are you going to call your mate?”
“No, hearing her voice makes it harder.” He pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it onto the floor. He stretched out on the bed.
I turned out the light after I took off my shirt. I tried to find a comfortable position.
“Do you miss her?”
Apparently, under the cloak of darkness, we were going to have “girl talk.” I rolled onto my back and shoved my left arm under the pillow to support my head. “I do.”
“You two will get through this.”
“Of course we will.” Theo would see that I’d survived this run and that her theatrics were unnecessary. Things would go back to the way they’d been before.
* * *
“I don’t see anything for miles.” Tex was on his bike about fifteen miles ahead of my rig.
“Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean there’s no threat,” Conal cautioned. He was riding a mile behind me. Lore rode shotgun beside me.
The highway stretched out in front of us for what seemed like forever. I considered calling for a break, so I could stretch. My shoulders were tense, and my ass numb.
“I see something.” Tex’s voice boomed through my earpiece. “A dark blue Ford F150 on the side of the road. One, possibly female, in primary seat.”
I glanced in Lore’s direction and noted he was sitting straighter. His attention focused on the road ahead of us as if he was casting out his senses.
“That sounds like our traitor,” Conal’s voice rumbled in my ear.
“It’s showtime,” I announced. My adrenaline was pumping and my wolf was ready. This would end today.
Lore climbed into the space behind the seats. It held a small bunk. Our escorts typically drove alone. A Lycan could go two or three days without sleep.
A woman stood in the middle of the highway, waiving her arms over her head.
I slowed and pulled to the side of the road.
The female approached my side window with an easy smile. I recognized her as the Bohm daughter, Lydia.
When I rolled down the window and glanced down at her, she paused mid-step but quickly recovered with a welcoming smile. “Laird, I didn’t expect…”
“What are you doing out here?” I cut her off.
“Oh?” She looked around with a puzzled expression on her face. “I was visiting a friend and my truck broke down.”
“Where’s your father?” I was giving my team time to take up positions.
“He-he doesn’t really know I’m here.” She glanced away.
I didn’t need to depend on my nose to tell me that was a lie. Her body language screamed falsehood. “I see.”
“It’s a male, and well…” She glanced up to see how this information was being received. “Dad can be a little over-protective.”
“I’m sure he only wants the best for you.” I opened my door and jumped down. “Let me take a look at your truck.”
She appeared to climb in behind the wheel as I raised the hood and took my time reattaching the connections to the battery that she’d loosened. This was the difficult part, giving her time to take action. After checking every connection, I squared my shoulders and closed the hood. I noticed that she’d disappeared.
I stopped and cast out my senses. The first bullet whizzed through the air by my ear. I ducked and ran in the direction from which it came.
The next sliced through my upper arm. I barely noticed it as I tracked Lydia Bohm to her small bunker across the highway.
Conal, in wolf form, had her on the ground with his strong jaws around her throat.
Lore stood with his heavy boot crushing the hand that had pulled the rifle’s trigger.
Asher was examining the weapon. When he finished, he tossed it to me.
Theo’s vision had been correct. The rounds used could’ve removed my head.
“Second, if you will allow me to take the traitor?” Lore’s intonation was so calm it was chilling.
Conal let out a loud snarl.
“Second, stand down,” I ordered.
He did and changed. He looked me up and down, noting the slice on my arm. “Fuck, Theo’s going to be so pissed.”
That made us all chuckle. Hopefully, the wound would be healed by the time I got home to her.
Asher said, “What do you want us to do with the traitor?”
He wanted the kill order given. They would have torn her body apart here on the side of the road without hesitation.
Hell, I wanted to tear her head from her body, but as I reviewed what I knew about the woman, her actions didn’t make any sense. I needed to know more. An interrogation along the side of the highway was too public. “Take her to the Packhouse.”
Asher bowed his head. “As you wish, Laird.”
The guard, along with Lore and the prisoner, would travel in the SUV that we used as part of the escort. She’d be chained. I wouldn’t be upset if Lore began the interrogation early, as long as she was alive enough to answer my questions when she arrived.
Tex bounded to our location in his wolf form. He’d made a complete circle of the area to see if there were more hiding.
“Report,” Conal called out.
Tex changed, and after his gaze raked me and he knew I was fine, he answered, “There’s no one else.”
“Good enough. Let’s get on the road.” I didn’t like standing out in the open anymore. I trusted Tex’s report, but the idea that the female was working with another rode my senses.
“I’m with you.” Conal moved in at my side as Tex crowded my back.
Conal took over the driving duties, and after about thirty minutes of quiet, he asked. “So, how bad is it?”
“A scratch.”
“I sincerely hope so.”
I couldn’t stop the grin. Conal was worried about my human’s reaction and retribution.
“You’d better lose that shirt before she finds it,” my Second advised.
“I’m fine.”
“That first bullet was too close.” He glanced at me and I saw worry in his eyes.
“I never doubted my safety,” I told my oldest friend and champion.
“Too close.” He let out a loud breath. “I’ll say it one more time—it was too close, Black.”
Conal would worry about that for years, as was his way. If he sensed the power that I did in my Seer, he’d be terrified that I slept next to her every night. She was the true threat to my safety, for one day, she might be able to control our wolves.
Thirty-Nine
Theodora Morrissey
Four days. I didn’t even try to go into Novus or Solle’s office. I felt like I was half alive. I couldn’t sleep for longer than an hour or two, I wasn’t hungry, and my brain was mush. Brian from Solle’s practice had stopped by last night and threatened to drug me if I didn’t try to get some “real” sleep.
The first two days, Solle appeared to be doing fine. She went to work, returned phone calls, and watched over me. Yesterday, she stayed in bed all morning and spent the afternoon on a float in the pool.
Today, we both gave up pretending. We jumped at every sound and she checked her phone twenty times an hour.
“I understand why we aren’t getting calls, but I hate it,” I complained as I stirred some creamer into my fifth cup of coffee.
“I have to think that no news is good news.” Solle was flat on her back on the sofa.
Her phone played “Werewolves of London,” and I swear we both jumped five feet into the air. I spilled my coffee down my shirt and didn’t even notice. I rushed to the living room to sit beside her. Conal had made contact.
