“We worked hard to keep her safe. To keep the secret. Don’t fuck it up for us now and, when my pup is safe, you can come back and we’ll have this conversation again.”
Huh.
That was way more than she expected from a bonded Para whose mate was weeks away from giving birth.
She’d take it.
Hopefully Boone would, too.
15
The ride back into Grayson was a comfortable one.
Tabby felt much better now that she had met Evangeline Wolfe. Even though she knew enough about Paras to understand that it was nearly impossible to break a bonded mate’s connection, she’d be lying if she said it didn’t bother her that the gorgeous brunette was Adam’s ex.
On the plus side, after the meet with the Alpha and his mate, it was obvious that the two were more than bonded. Evangeline’s bump and news about her advanced pregnancy was just the icing on the cake to soothe the green-eyed beast raging inside of Tabby.
She perked up in the car. As Adam drove, she found a radio station that played nostalgic bubblegum pop and she bounced around in her seat, trying to make him laugh as she twisted her face in silly expressions. She considered it a success when his serious look cracked and he chuckled along with her.
The way Tabby saw it, the night so far was a success. She planted a seed with the Alpha, learned even more about her Nightwalker, and had enough information to placate her uncle. The only way it would be better was if Adam didn’t have to drop her off of her own.
He brought her back to her place which was fine. She’d hoped that he’d want to come up with her, but he gently refused. He reminded her that he had his side gig—working for the Beta of the pack—and that Colt Wolfe contacted him earlier to let him know he was needed.
But, he told her, leaning over the console to steal a kiss before she even reached for her seatbelt, he was wondering if her invitation from last night was still open.
Tabby nipped his bottom lip. “Just be back by dawn.”
Because, if Adam showed up at her apartment before sunrise, he wouldn’t be able to leave before the sun went down again more than fourteen hours later. And there was a lot she could do with her Nightwalker lover in that much time.
Until then, she needed to do what she came to Grayson to do.
She was still hoping that her instincts were wrong, that Adam wasn’t the only Nightwalker leaving piles of ash throughout the city. And if they were spot-on like usual? Tabby was still a slayer. Her job was to hunt down Para threats and end them. Boone, Eddie, and the rest of the crew might be tracking the Para storm brewing toward Grayson, but there was still plenty of everyday paranormal evil she could slay since Adam was definitely off the table.
Before she went out for the night, she called Boone and filled her uncle in on everything she learned during her meet with Maddox Wolfe and his mate. From the witch who had a vendetta against the Alpha’s mate, and the pregnancy that kept the pack closing ranks.
When he thanked her for the intel without pushing to know how she’d discovered it, Tabby thought she’d gotten off easy. Of course, then her uncle had to go on and ask her how her hunt for the rogue Nightwalker was going, and Tabby had to think quick in order to get off the phone before answering.
Okay. She lied and told her uncle that her phone was dying and, what was that, Boone, I can’t hear you, before she ended the call and quickly switched it to airplane mode.
She left it that way all throughout her hunt, only resuming full service when she was heading home to wash the blood and dust from a successful kill out of her ponytail. Enough time had passed that Boone didn’t bother calling back, and if she studiously ignored the two voicemails coming from HQ, she figured she’d just deal with it tomorrow.
She had the rest of the night to look forward to.
An hour before sunrise, there was a knock at the door.
Wearing a goofy grin, she bounded toward the door, tilting her head coyly when she pulled it inward and discovered a sexy Nightwalker holding onto the doorjamb with one hand.
“Can I come in?”
“Do you even need to ask?”
His handsome, pale face creasing with his grin, Adam shook his head before kicking the door shut behind them.
His phone was ringing.
Adam recognized the ringtone. Actually, the fact that it was ringing tipped him off; Tabby’s phone was forever set to vibrate. Still, ever since his turning, it was rare that his phone went off. He’d cut ties with his old life, deleting his contacts, even going so far as to ignore any phone calls until his former friends got the hint and left him alone.
Well, except for Eva. She never gave up on him. She and Colt habitually checked up on him, and now that he finally agreed to work for Colt, nine times out of ten, the texts coming through on his phone were from Colt. He kept in touch with Lou because he was a good guy and a better cop. And, of course, there was Hudson—though Adam was usually the one making that call when he needed to re-up his blood bag supply.
Which wasn’t so necessary with his slayer feeding him.
Ever since starting this… whatever you want to call it… thing? This thing with Tabby, sometimes she would call him up, but since he was snuggling close to her in her bed when the phone went off, he knew it couldn't be Tab.
With his cock already hard, nestled between her ass cheeks as he spooned behind her, Adam decided he didn’t really give a shit who was calling. It was dark out, so it wasn’t like they were calling while Adam was unavailable, but since he hoped to have a nice, satisfying fuck with his slayer before they went out hunting together, he figured he was still unavailable so long as there were condoms left in his box.
Until the ring died, then immediately started up again.
Tabby swiveled in his hold, tilting her head so that he could see that she was up.
So was he.
He started to thrust gently, moaning when she pushed her ass against him. It felt amazing and he was just wondering if he could snag the box from her nightstand without losing this position when Tabby moved away from him.
“Hey. I wasn’t done with that ass.”
Looking over her shoulder, she said, “Sorry. Gotta pee. Might as well answer the phone while I’m gone.”
Or silence it, he decided as he watched her delicious behind saunter away from him.
With an apology to his aching cock for its having to wait, he reached for his jeans, grabbing the phone from its pocket. After dropping the jeans back to the floor, he was just about to decline the call with a swipe of his claw when he saw the number and recognized it immediately.
“Hey, Eva. How are you?”
“About to fucking hunt you down and rip your guts out, that’s how I am.”
“Wolfe?” No way that male growl with the fierce threat could be anyone else. Especially since the number belonged to the house in Wolf’s Creek. “Are you insane? Don’t call me on my phone and threaten to kill me.”
“Not yet, but I might be. And that’s not a threat to kill you. You’re a corpse, Wright, so a little disemboweling will only be an inconvenience. Now, if I tell you I’m gonna rip your head off so you learn to keep your mouth shut… that’s a threat to kill you.”
“Wolfe. I don’t have to listen to this shit. I’m hanging up now.”
“What? You gonna call Priscilla again instead?”
A cold chill ran down his spine. “Excuse me?”
“The witch, damn it. She found out about my Angie and our pup. She’s declared war on my pack. She wants my pup and it’s all your fucking fault!”
Adam sat up, running his claws through his sleep-tousled hair. His heart started to pound, the blood in his erection pumping to the rest of his body as the hard-on deflated. He couldn’t keep it up when all he could think about was the accident that nearly killed Eva.
The first time Priscilla Winters went after her, she caused the truck Eva was riding in to careen off the side of the mountain.
The second time, she trap
ped her in a circle of diamonds, ready to sacrifice her in a dark magic ritual. Colt interfered, and he had his naked ass tossed from a sixth-story window when Priscilla turned on him.
What would she do now?
More importantly, how did she know?
“It wasn’t me.”
“Bullshit!”
“Adam?” Tabby came rushing back into the room, kneeling on her side of the bed. “What’s wrong?”
He waved at her, gesturing for her to keep it down. Catching his hint, she grabbed the covers, pulling it up so that he wasn’t distracted by her naked tits.
With Wolfe barking in his ears, he had barely noticed. For the first time since he met Tabby, sex was the furthest thing from his mind.
“I wouldn’t do that,” he finally ground out, shocked that Wolfe would even think so. Sure, they didn’t get along, but the one thing they had in common was a fondness for Evangeline. “Eva… I would never want anything to happen to her.”
“Then if it wasn’t you, it had to be the girl.”
“What? Tabby?” Her eyes widened at the sound of her name. He shook his head. “No. Why would you even think that?”
“Because she’s a slayer, Wright,” Wolfe snarled. “And you can never fucking trust a slayer.”
“She’s a slayer, but I know her. Tabby hunts the bad guys. She’d never put Eva at risk. And letting the pregnancy get out would be a huge one.”
“You don’t think I fucking know that? I spent months protecting my mate. No one outside of the pack knows she’s about to have a pup except you. So, I’ll tell you again, Wright, find out where the leak came from and fucking plug it.”
“I will.” Adam didn’t know what else to say. Between the growls, the snaps, and the snarls, he could tell that Wolfe was seconds away from letting his beast take control, wolfing out right there on the phone. “Just… look out for Eva, okay?”
“Her name’s fucking Angie, alright? And if you care about her as much as you act like you do, fix this mess. I’ll take care of my mate. You take care of yours.”
The phone call ended before Adam could even spit out the truth that Tabby wasn’t his mate. She wasn’t even his betrothed. She was a woman he had only just started to see and, as the repercussions of bringing her to Wolf’s Creek rolled around his head, it hit him.
Did he really know Tabby Winslow at all?
“Adam?” Her voice was low. Careful. “Did you know you’re bleeding?”
He glanced down at his lap. The Nightwalker claws on his free hand had dug into the flesh on his bare thigh, leaving gouges, blood trickling from the deep wounds. Since it was his own blood, the thirst didn’t affect him, but his fangs lengthened all the same.
Not because of the blood.
No, because he was furious.
Furious that Maddox Wolfe accused him of putting Eva in danger.
Furious that he accused Tabby of letting it slip that Eva was pregnant.
Furious that Priscilla Winters could have disappeared a year ago, only to reappear suddenly to make poor Eva’s life hell.
Furious that, if Wolfe was right, it was Adam’s fault.
He shuddered, trying to control his fangs, force back the anger that was riding him as hard as it captured Wolfe. Take a breath in. Exhale. Another one. Alright.
He swallowed. “Forget about that,” he said, wiping the blood away with the back of his hand. Now that he was Para, he’d heal sooner or later, even without Shea Moonshadow’s magic touch. “That was Wolfe.”
No smart answers out of Tabby. She’d heard his half of the conversation. She knew it was serious.
“Okay.”
“Remember how Eva… Evangeline… mentioned that they were keeping the pregnancy on the down low because Wolfe had a dangerous admirer?”
“Uh, sure. Something about the obsessive stalker witch who wanted the Alpha for herself. Why? Did something happen?”
“You could say that. That was Wolfe. Priscilla knows about the baby, Tabby. I kept my mouth shut. I knew better. I told Wolfe you did, too.”
One look at the oh, shit expression on Tabby’s face and he didn’t have to ask her outright. The answer was right there.
Fucking hell.
His fingers flexed, claws flashing as he had this sudden urge to slash something. Not Tabby—never Tabby—but he had all of this rage rushing through him, added to the terrible sense of betrayal slamming into him like a shovel to the back of his head.
He thought he could trust her.
Before he sliced her bedding into ribbons, Adam pushed off of the bed, folding his hands into fists. His jaw ached as he clenched it, gums burning as his fangs begged to lengthen.
He couldn’t keep them back. As the points dug into the bottom of his lip, he widened his mouth, baring his fangs as he hissed out some of the worst of his aggression.
With one hand, Tabby tightened her grip on the covers. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t look afraid. The oh, shit look faded into one of total awareness. He’d bet, if he threw the covers away from her naked body, he’d discover her other hand gripping the hilt of her dagger.
That got through most of the angry red haze descending over Adam. He swallowed roughly, rolling his head on his shoulder, before backing away from the bed.
“This was a mistake.”
Her brow furrowed. “What was?”
“This. Me. You. Bringing you to Wolf’s Creek. All of it.” His voice went unusually calm. Stilted. It was that or start hissing again. “We told you to keep quiet about the baby. Who did you tell?”
“Adam—”
“I didn’t want to believe it, but your face gave you away. Don’t lie to me. Who did you tell about the baby?”
“Boone, but—”
“Boone.” God, he never met the bastard, but he fucking hated Boone. “Of course. I should’ve known.”
“He’s my—”
“Your handler, I remember.”
“Adam, don’t be like this. I’m a slayer—”
“Oh, trust me, baby. I haven’t forgotten that.”
Tabby let out a frustrated huff. “You don’t understand. He needed to know why the Alpha didn’t want to get involved with the Para threat in town. After Woodbridge, there was a shifter involved. He should’ve wanted to find out what happened to Bowers, but he refused. When I found out about his mate and the pup, I told him because he’d understand. Family comes first. No wonder Wolfe has closed ranks.”
“Yeah. He closed ranks because he’s terrified a lone witch is going to try to kill his mate and steal his child,” Adam growled back. “So long as it was a secret, the chance that Priscilla would find out while Eva was vulnerable was nothing. But guess what? She knows.”
“What?”
His phone was still clenched tightly in his fist. “That’s what the call was about.
“Adam. I didn’t mean to… I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know that I couldn’t trust you.” Swooping down, he grabbed his boxers.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’ve gotta get out of here.”
While Adam gathered up the rest of his clothes, Tabby stayed silent. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as she watched him back, nibbling on her bottom lip, tucking a strand of her blond hair behind her ear so that it wasn’t blocking her vision.
Finally, she asked, “Is it because of her?”
“Who, Tab?”
“Evangeline. Do you still have feelings for her or something?”
Was she serious?
His laugh was hollow. Unfeeling. Up until a few minutes ago, the only one he had feelings for was the woman lying next to him.
But Adam had a deal-breaker. No matter how much he was drawn to her, how his body reacted to her, how he knew he could live on her blood and her smiles alone… that meant jackshit if he couldn’t trust her.
He wasn’t a fucking moron. He knew she had her secrets. How many times had he listened to her, accepting that she
was lying straight to his face? He figured it had something to do with being a slayer. Hell, he’d been a cop. He knew what it was like to be in a brotherhood like that.
He just thought… maybe he could earn a little of that trust and loyalty, too.
Tabby might have let him into her bed. Too bad she didn’t let him into the rest of her life.
“No,” he finally said. “It had nothing to do with her. Call me a fucking fool, but I thought we had something. You and me…. I thought I could trust you. I need a partner who’s gonna watch my back, not stab a knife in it.”
“Adam—”
He couldn’t listen to her. Couldn’t look at her. He was only fucking human—or something close to, at least. Being turned didn’t change who he was. And if her expression matched the contrition in the way she murmured his name, he’d give in. He’d tell her it was alright, even when it wasn’t.
You can never fucking trust a slayer.
Maybe Wolfe had a point.
Maybe he’d been thinking with the wrong head all along.
“I’ve gotta go.”
His jeans were still on the floor. Snatching them up, he pulled them on before tugging his t-shirt over his head.
Tabby didn’t move from her spot on the bed, watching him as he hurriedly redressed. Only when he finally stabbed his feet into his boots did she say, “Will you come back?”
“I don’t know.”
“Will I see you again?”
He thought about it.
Really thought about it.
He liked Tabby. From the moment he first saw her and his body reacted to her nearness, he knew there was something between them. When she coyly invited him up to her apartment before boldly initiating sex with him, he wanted to believe she felt the same.
But he couldn’t trust her.
“No, Tabitha. I don’t think so.”
16
She let him go.
It hurt to watch him leave. And his last parting shot? That was like a stake to the chest, it stabbed at her so deeply. She didn’t even know what part was worse: the cold way he called her Tabitha or the determination in his voice when he told her he wouldn’t see her again.
Sunglasses at Night (Claws Clause Book 3) Page 16
