by Gray Holborn
“There is every reason for me to be involved in this. You guys are my best friends, you’re the only family I’ve got.” His face turned in my direction, the glazed distance that coated his eyes when he first sat down was now replaced by a steely resolve.
I nodded in agreement, hoping sincerely that it was a promise I could keep. He was my family now too. “How’s Sam?”
He had given me a cursory answer yesterday, but I needed to hear more about how he was handling things, needed to know that he was okay.
“Honestly, he was pretty miserable. As soon as you left, I think he changed his mind about not coming with you. He tried to give weird excuses for why you guys were gone and why I couldn’t get in touch with you, but he’s a lousy liar. And I could tell that those people staying at your place, Dex and Sage, were starting to get concerned about him. In retrospect, now that I know what I know, I think they were a little afraid Sam would come chasing after you as soon as he caught wind of where you all were. Honestly, I think he was waiting around for them to slip up and reveal a location. Sam even got Dex wasted a couple of times at The Tavern, but I don’t think he got anywhere with it.” Luis let out a soft chuckle. “I still can’t believe Sam is one of these energy users. It’s all so crazy. But also weirdly not.”
“But he’s safe?” At my question, Luis nodded his head. “Then that’s what matters. It’s all I wanted.” I paused, staring at the tension in Luis’s shoulders. His body seemed leaner and more muscular since I last saw him. “I still don’t understand how you found us.”
“Neither do I. I spent almost every minute at the house with Sam or at The Tavern. Even became sort of friends with Dex. He had Sam on this intense workout regimen. I think it helped to combat his stress and anxiety. And since I was around so much, Dex started training me too. He’s arrogant, but more likable than Soren and Jax are.”
I smiled, thinking of Luis training with a supe at the same time I was. I wondered if I looked different to him as well—harder, colder maybe.
“Then, yesterday I woke up from a really vivid nightmare,” Luis said, leaning back on his elbows while he watched the sunrise. “Worst one I’ve ever had. Left me with a bad feeling. So I got in the car to go for a drive and clear my head, thinking about how badly I needed to see you, and then suddenly I was driving for hours until I showed up on Soren’s front lawn. Or, well, it’s not really a lawn that he has, is it? More like a prairie or a forest.” He frowned. “I know it doesn’t make any sense, I’ve been thinking about it nonstop, but I honestly can’t come up with a logical answer. Even with all this magical shit I’ve learned over the last twenty-four hours, it still sounds crazy.”
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned the last few weeks, logic doesn’t seem to have much of a place when it comes to supes. And neither does coincidence. You finding us? It’s just another question we have on our plate without an answer. Of course, it’d be really nice if we could stop racking up questions and start accumulating answers instead,” I said.
It was amazing how much our lives changed over the course of a month or two. Everything seemed so different. I felt so different. I studied Luis, re-familiarizing myself with the soft waves of his brown hair and the peculiar purplish-blue of his eyes. I wanted him safe, without a doubt. But I couldn’t deny the very large part of me that craved to have him next to me, like a limb—I could function without him, but my life was better and easier with him around. Especially now that things were changing so much.
Speaking of which, I thought about the last time I’d seen Luis before leaving. “What about Kay? Does she know you’re staying with us?”
He tensed slightly and drew his brows together as if he was debating something, some mental argument or discussion he was having with himself. I wasn’t used to him filtering his words with me, and I was surprised by the jolt of sadness that hit me at the thought. But I guess it was only fair. I’d been keeping loads of things from him. After a few seconds he relaxed, letting out a deep breath. He shook his head. “I haven’t seen much of her since you guys left. After a day or two, I couldn’t focus on much of anything else. She got the hint and left me alone after a little while. Maybe I’ll call her when all of this is done,” he paused and looked over at me. “Then again, maybe not.”
We both sat in the pregnant silence for a few moments. I cleared my throat, aware of a tension around us that wasn’t there before. “We should probably rally the troops,” I said. “I know Soren wanted to get on the road early. Between sleeping almost the whole drive here and grabbing a few more hours last night, I’m more than rested enough to shoulder most of the drive.”
Luis smiled. “It’ll go faster if you let almost anyone else drive, grandma.”
I shoved his shoulder, relieved at the familiar playful energy between us. “Hey, I drive the speed limit. You know, those super obvious signs every few blocks that tell you exactly how fast you should be going? That’s not old-lady behavior, that’s just following directions. And the law.”
The deep timbre of Luis’s laugh warmed me in a cheesy-gooey way. I missed that sound and I had only just realized how much. “We’ll agree to disagree then. How was bunking with El? She still sleep like a lunatic?”
I smiled and rubbed back and forth along the side of my stomach. “I have a bruise right here, fifty-fifty whether I got it from the fight yesterday or one of El’s leg spasms.”
“I’m betting on El being the culprit.” With a soft chuckle and shake of his head, Luis stood up. He brushed his basketball shorts free of any invisible debris and pulled me off the ground with surprising force. As soon as I stabilized my footing, his arms crashed around me into one of his signature hugs. My body tensed until I relaxed into the familiar clean, spiced scent I unconsciously associated with Luis. My breath caught when he unexpectedly pushed his lips into my forehead—a soft kiss that lasted a hair of a second. “I’m glad I found you guys, Odie. Life wasn’t the same with you both gone. I meant what I said. You’re my family.”
Before I came to my senses, Luis was already gone behind the door of his motel room. I shook my head and went back to my own, wanting nothing more than to get ready and head back on the road. And I wouldn’t say no to some food. Hopefully we could find a diner along the way that was willing to serve grilled cheese for breakfast. There was no doubt in my mind that we were driving into battle, and I wanted my comfort food if I was going to go through with it without kicking and screaming.
✽✽✽
I was permitted to drive for the first few hours while everyone else had time to doze a bit more or wake up more fully. Once we finished breakfast though, Jax insisted on driving the rest of the way. He mumbled something about how getting me away from the front seat was the only way we were going to get to San Francisco by Rennix’s party.
Usually, I’d fight him on such a catty remark, but I was happy just existing in my food coma for the rest of the day. The diner we stopped in was in fact very willing to make grilled cheese for me, and I unashamedly ate three. It might have been the first time I ever out-ate Soren and Jax. But the chef used five different cheeses, so I really wasn’t to blame—it would take someone with far greater willpower than mine to resist that level of awesome. Diners sure knew what they were doing. Plus I was still recovering from the whole almost-dying thing from yesterday, so I totally earned that breakfast of champions.
Around mid afternoon El woke up from what she liked to call a power nap, but what was really four hours of El twisting, turning, and snoring in the back of the van. “So what do we do when we get to San Fran?” she asked, the question filtering through a yawn. “It’s Friday and the party isn’t until Saturday. Does that mean we get to have some actual fun?”
I smiled, typical El. She was still half asleep, but already looking to get the party started.
Soren glanced at her through the rearview mirror while Jax silently wove effortlessly around drivers that drove a lot like me. “We aren’t going to stay in San Francisco,” he s
aid. We’re almost to Santa Rosa. About an hour out from where Rennix is. I want to keep you out of the city as long as possible, so that’ll be our base for now. We’ll find a decent motel and set a plan.”
“And tell me dear brother, what are the odds of me convincing you to let me go to the party too?” El’s left brow arched, a challenging glint mirrored in her bright blue eyes.
“Less than zero.” Soren shot her a cold, tight smile. She wasn’t looking at him, but judging by the slump of her shoulders, she felt the reproach in his words, if not in his facial expression.
The rest of us watched, half expecting a family argument to take place in the suddenly small confines of the mom-van.
Surprisingly, after a few tense moments, El flashed him a giant smile. “Fine. But I get to go shopping for yours and Dessa’s masquerade outfits.” The evil glint in her eye told me she was going to be ruthless. I wouldn’t be surprised if she made Soren dress up in spandex. The uncharacteristically worried expression on his face told me his thoughts were along the same vein. “And, we are doing something fun tonight. We’re planning, yes. But I’ve been cooped up in that cabin for weeks. I want to get out and get some fresh air.”
I looked back at her. “I can’t believe you aren’t fighting him on this. I’m glad you agree, don’t get me wrong. But you never let me win an argument so easily.” Which was the truth. I’d learned over the years to pick my battles with El wisely, because the girl knew how to dig in. It was one of the reasons I didn’t fight it when she decided to play dress up with me on Friday nights. Sometimes letting her win was the lesser evil.
“Usually I wouldn’t let him win either. But I’m not stupid. I know you are all in this mess because of me—risking your necks because of me. I’m not going to do anything to put you all in any more danger than you are already in.” Her eyes were watery blue, the color they became when El did everything in her power to hold her tears in against the rim. She hated crying, hated showing weakness. It was probably a body-manipulator thing because I gathered Soren was the same way.
Wanting to give her a second to compose herself, I nodded and turned back to the boys. “So is it just Soren coming to the party then?”
“No way, I’m coming too.” Luis tensed beside me. His blue eyes dark and set.
“You can’t come, you’re human and have no way to defend yourself. You shouldn't even be here in the first place.” Soren’s voice was even as it dismissed him, and he didn’t bother looking at Luis in the rearview mirror. “Besides, it’s bad enough taking Black to the party. But she’s the one Raifus wants and who he is going to guide to the neutralizer.”
“I’m not letting her go without me.” Luis was fuming and I heard El sigh in annoyance behind me.
“Honestly, Luis, she’ll be safer if you stay with me and Jax. That way, Soren will only have to worry about getting her out of there safely. I’m not happy about being left behind from the party either, but Soren will make sure nothing happens to Dessa.” El fluffed her pillow and closed her eyes. I knew she wasn’t really going back to sleep, but her pretense doused the testosterone and gave everyone an excuse to sit the remainder of the trip in silence.
After a few minutes of quiet, Luis moved his hand discreetly to mine. After giving it a tight squeeze, he leaned over and whispered in my ear. “I’m sorry. I know you hate the whole male bravado thing, and I didn’t mean to insinuate that you couldn’t take care of yourself. Soren just brings out the worst in me. I know that he’ll do everything in his power to keep El safe, I just don’t trust that he’s as concerned as he should be about your safety. He’s a bit off an asshole, isn’t he?”
His words were quiet, meant for only me to hear. If we’d been in the car with a bunch of humans, that would’ve been the case. As it was, I knew that Soren and El had supe-level hearing since they were shifters, and judging by the smirk on Jax’s face in the rearview, he heard too. No one said anything, but Soren looked back at Luis with an odd expression on his face, but I couldn’t tell whether it was amusement or annoyance.
Twenty minutes later, Soren pulled into a hotel parking lot. While I was expecting another shithole like The Sleep, this place was huge and inviting. When I looked at Soren questioningly, he shrugged as if to say, “it’s worth a shot.” We all shuffled out of the mom-van, collecting our various belongings since we would be staying here for the duration of our trip.
A petite blonde girl was working at the front desk, and she kept glancing demurely at Jax, her cheeks reddening with each stolen look. Soren dropped his bags and began to walk over to her, but I placed a hand on his chest, stopping him.
“Let Jax handle this one. I think he’ll have a better chance getting us a decent set of rooms without a credit card.” I nodded my head towards the girl and he turned back in agreement. The huge grin on Jax’s face told me he was more than pleased with the girl’s tentative perusal--and way more willing to have her as a midnight caller than anyone working on The Sleep’s staff. Knowing him, he’d have her in his room with a sock on the door by dinner time. Actually, knowing him he’d probably nix the sock and leave the door open, more than willing to have an audience.
When he walked back over to us, I bit my tongue and made myself a promise not to insult his abilities again, even if it was only in my head. He managed to get a suite that had three connecting bedrooms and a lounge area, no card needed. While the price was obviously much steeper than the motel, I had the feeling Soren and Jax were just as ambivalent about money as El was. I made a mental note to force El to tell me more about her life in the Veil once all of this was over. Seeing as we were already in deep, I didn’t think her usual refusal to talk about her old life would still hold.
We dropped off our bags and Jax charged in the bathroom to get ready for a date with the concierge downstairs. Apparently she had an hour long break and Jax was more than willing to fill that time.
I thought we’d spend the the rest of the afternoon and evening making plans for Saturday night, but El had other plans.
“Alright, let’s go shopping. I have two full outfits to get together and hardly any time to scope out the options.” El collected her purse from the pile of bags and stared Luis and Soren down as if asking them to challenge her.
They were both smart enough not to. Like me, they knew to pick their battles when it came to El and in this case, shopping was a relatively easy—and safe—way to placate her.
Chapter Twenty-one
All things considered, the shopping trip was fairly quick compared to El’s average. She managed to find me a dress and mask, as well as a suit for Soren. Not that she’d let us see what she bought. Which was fine with me. It meant I could fill up on soft pretzels and coffee in the cafeteria while she did her thing. I had a feeling that since she couldn’t go to the masquerade cocktail party, keeping our outfits a secret was her way of joining in on the mystery of the evening. When we returned back to the hotel, Jax was alone and glowing. I tried to hide my blush when my traitorous mind started running through different scenarios that could add that refreshed glow to a seduction-feeder. If he noticed my embarrassment, he thankfully ignored it.
“Glad you guys are back. I’m starving.” Jax grabbed the bags from Luis and tossed them halfheartedly into the room El and I would be staying in.
“Really? Because it kind of seems like you’ve had your fill.” El’s singsong voice danced through the room as she went to put her things away and get ready for dinner. Knowing her, that would involve a full ensemble change that would inevitably lead into an attempt to get Soren to agree to a night on the town.
Soren and Luis glanced at each other and then at Jax, all of them sharing a knowing chuckle. If they wanted to pretend like I didn’t get the joke, that was fine by me. Mostly, I was just happy that Soren and Luis seemed to have come to a truce. They weren’t at each other’s throats the past few hours anyway, bonding over their shared misery of shopping. I was hoping that their tentative tolerance would last at least until Renni
x’s party, if not after.
While I fancied myself off the hook of changing from my dark jeans and baggy sweater, I realized that life on the run had not tarnished El’s audacity when it came to taking charge of our outings. After showering and changing into a red dress that hugged her curves and somehow didn’t clash with her pink-tipped hair, she charged into her shopping bags from the day. I watched her move gracefully around the room in a pair of black stilettos that gave me vertigo just from looking at them. While none of us were naive enough to think that she had only purchased evening wear for tomorrow night, we weren’t expecting her to pull out three outfits for the guys and shove a boutique bag into my hands.
Soren opened his mouth to protest, but El clamped a hand over it, muting the words.
“Hey. No complaining. I’ve played nice, allowed you to run around all alpha-y while I played the damsel in distress locked away in a forest cottage. I don’t get to go to the party tomorrow night and you’re putting my best friend in danger. I get tonight. We are having a pre-masquerade ball. And you can just buck up and deal, buttercup.” The four of us stared at her with open mouths. “Just because I like to play dress up, doesn’t mean I can’t still kick ass.” When no one moved a muscle, she clapped her hands together once and yelled, “change.”
My lips twitched as I waited for the boys to roll their eyes and camp out in front of the TV, until I noticed Jax and Luis scrambling over one another to follow her orders—a strange mixture of fear and amusement in their expressions. Soren looked stricken by the idea that he’d have to dress up two nights in a row, but he followed without a word, glaring half-heartedly at his sister.
“You too, missy.” El grabbed my arm, guiding us to our shared room in the suite. “I’ll do your hair.” When I didn’t respond, she chuckled. “Don’t worry, your outfit is sublime. Outdone only by my dress tonight and tomorrow’s gown.”
