by Aileen Erin
“Where did Van go?”
“The Lunar Court. You were right. That was my sister.” Cosette dropped into the loveseat and flicked her hair over her shoulders.
That was what I’d recognized. The fey girl had the same mannerism as Cosette.
“Van didn’t want to start a war without cause, and he didn’t want anyone spooking and doing something to Tessa. So, we’ve been careful.” She shrugged. “Now we know where Tessa is and who’s involved—other than my mother. His plan is adjusting a little.”
Cosette looked up at me. “But none of that’s important right now. If Tessa’s as close to fading as you think she is, we can only focus on breaking through the magic.”
There was a part of me that still wanted to chase down the fey girl and do something. I wasn’t sure what, but I wanted the fey to pay for what they’d done to her. To me. To us.
But there was a bigger part right now that was holding the rest of me back. The part that wanted my mate safe and whole. I wasn’t sure how to make that happen, but I was reasonably certain that attacking the fey wouldn’t help. “Then we can’t risk chasing down who did this. Not unless we’re certain that we can get them to undo it.”
Cosette shook her head. “No. My mother won’t undo it. She’d rather Tessa die. It would solve a lot more problems for her.”
Anything that led to Tessa dying was no-go for me. It was frustrating. I wanted to fix this now, but I couldn’t. This was going to take time.
I’d waited this long. A little more waiting wouldn’t kill me, but losing her would, whether we were True Mates or not. “So, we stay the course.”
“We stay the course.” She let out a little breath. I didn’t know her well enough to know if she was relieved, but she seemed to relax a little into the couch.
“What are we feeding her?” Chris asked. “Because we gotta be prepared. We’ve got some time to shop, or we can pick stuff up. But if we’re doing that, we need to give them time to fill a party-sized order.”
“No. I told Tessa I would cook. I’m not starting out lying to her.”
“Then, we’ll cook. We only picked up essentials yesterday, so we’ll need to grab a few more things from the store, depending on what you want to make. Where are the keys to your rental? Let’s go.”
We planned our menu on the way to the store and then filled up two carts as we shopped. I could see Chris’s face as we checked out. Even he thought all that food was overkill, but he hadn’t really seen her yet. He didn’t know. He couldn’t understand my fear that I could lose her over something this easy to fix.
We got back to the apartment and immediately started putting everything together.
By the time we were done, even I agreed that we had way too much food. Appetizers like pigs in a blanket, cheese platter, cured meats, and jalapeño poppers. Platters of chicken and steak fajitas, and brisket—which we picked up from a barbecue place down the road. Fruit salad, macaroni and cheese, grilled veggies, avocado salad. Sourdough rolls, cornbread, and rosemary focaccia. Plus, arepas stuffed with cheese. And then we’d bought two dozen assorted cupcakes from a local bakery.
It was everything and anything that Tessa might want to eat. The whole dining room table was covered. Chris, Cosette, and I stood shoulder to shoulder and stared down at the spread.
“Goddamn, we’re good.” Chris rubbed his hands together. “This is a feast.”
“Too many meats.” Cosette scrunched her nose up as she stared down at the table. “It’s…too much.”
Chris scoffed. “That’s not even a thing.”
“Werewolves.” Cosette shook her head and went to the couch. “What time is it?”
“Five-thirty.”
“She could be here any minute.” Cosette sounded alarmed. “You need to change.”
I looked down at what I was wearing. “I should?”
“You’re wearing running shorts and a T-shirt. Who do you think you’re seducing in that?” She waved her hand up and down at me as if I were wearing something severely offensive.
I opened my mouth for a second then looked down again and back at her. “I guess no one, since I’m changing now.”
“Good talk.”
Chris had his hands full with that one, but she was right. I went into my room and stared for a minute at the clothes that I’d brought. I hadn’t packed much. Just the basics. I’d wanted to get here as quickly as possible, but now I was regretting that.
I grabbed a pair of black jeans and a black long-sleeved T-shirt with Above & Beyond printed in big white letters. I pushed the sleeves up to my elbows and looked in the mirror. My eyes were amber, and I took a slow breaths until they toned down to their human light brown.
I wasn’t going to scare her. I was going to show her that I cared. Because fuck. I cared. I cared a lot. I wasn’t sure how feeding her was going to prove it or if she’d even come over.
Nothing in life was ever certain. I learned that young, and I did my best to live in the moment. But in this particular moment, I was having a hard time staying present. I was running through all the possibilities of what could go wrong.
I never used to do that. That was something Tessa did. Realizing that made me laugh. I sat on the bed and rested my elbows on my knees.
Don’t fuck this up.
There was a knock on my bedroom door.
I cleared my throat. “Come in.”
Chris opened it and leaned against the door frame. “She just got home. She’s in her apartment.”
I stood and shoved my hands into my pockets to stop myself from running to her door. “Okay.”
“You going to text her to come over?”
“No.” I closed my eyes. “I told her to text. I don’t want to seem too desperate.”
“But you are desperate. Just text her.”
“Merde!” Chris was driving me crazy.
“I’m going to put on music.”
Music. “Wait. I’ll take care of it.” I’d set-up the wireless speakers we’d gotten at the store last night. Music was something that had brought us together. The love we had for it was something that got us through all kinds of crazy, terrifying, dangerous situations. It was how we relaxed.
I synced my phone and hit play.
I just hoped that whatever the fey magic had done, it hadn’t rewired her love of music because I missed it. I hadn’t been able to listen to anything in forever because it just made me miss her more.
Music filtered through the speakers, and even though she was just across the hall, it was too far. I needed her back. Now.
Before I could think too much about it, I texted her.
I was desperate to see her again, and that was okay.
Food’s ready. I have a couple of friends here—Chris and Cosette. They’re really nice. Come hang. I walked to the dining room table, snapped a quick picture, and sent that, too.
And then I waited. Staring at my phone. The three dots kept coming and going with no text.
I should say something.
No. I should let her say something.
No. God. I’m Dastien Laurent. She’s my mate. I could fucking text her if I wanted to. You gotta help us eat all this. I’m giving you exactly three minutes and then I’m coming to get you. Timer starts now. I’m not letting you chicken out.
Maybe that was too forceful, but fuck it.
I set the timer because it’d been all of two seconds and it felt like ten minutes. I needed to actually know how long three minutes was.
The three dots appeared. Disappeared. And then finally a text.
Be right there.
I looked at Chris, who raised an eyebrow. I gave him a nod.
He grinned and rubbed his hands together. “We got this. She’ll be back to herself in—”
“Don’t jinx it,” I snapped at him before he could finish saying it.
Cosette snorted a laugh from her spot on the couch.
I pushed past Chris in the bedroom doorway and went to the couch. “What?”
“Sounds like something Tessa would say.”
I felt my eyes burn with tears, but I didn’t care about seeming weak. Chris put his arm around my shoulders.
“I just really miss her. If something goes wrong—”
“It won’t.” Chris’s voice held not even a single ounce of doubt.
I wished I had that much faith that this would turn out okay. “How do you know?”
“Because all of us have been through hell together—nearly literally. This? Making her fall for you again? That’s going to be a cakewalk. I swear it.”
“You swear?” I needed to hear someone say it so that I could start to believe it.
Cosette stepped up to my other side, grabbing my hand. “I swear. That girl is your match. It doesn’t matter what my mother did to her. She’s there. You just have to dig her out.”
There was a knock on the door, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“Let her in.” Cosette squeezed my hand and then released it.
I could do this.
I would do this.
The fey weren’t keeping my mate. Not for a second longer.
And once she was back, we were going to burn the Lunar Court to the ground.
Chapter Twenty-Three
TESSA
You gotta help us eat all this. I’m giving you exactly three minutes and then I’m coming to get you. Timer starts now. I’m not letting you chicken out.
I read Dastien’s text three times to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding, but there was nothing to misunderstand. He’d been pretty clear.
How could he know I was about to chicken out?
I set a timer for two minutes—just long enough to gather some courage—and then sent a quick reply. Be right there.
I stood in front of my closet. So much of what was inside was picked by my mother. I really had to search to put together an outfit that felt more me, but it seemed like a waste to go shopping when I had all these nice things to wear. Other girls would kill for this stuff. Blouses in every color. Skirts. Dresses. Dress pants. But all I really needed were some T-shirts, yoga pants, and I’d give anything for a pair of stretchy skinny jeans, instead of jeans that were so constricting that I felt like I couldn’t fight in them.
I laughed at my own thought. Fight in them? Where did that come from? Who did I think I needed to fight?
The shoes were the worst part. Mother made me feel bad if I wore anything other than heels, but I’d already been wearing them for hours and my feet hurt. I was just going across the hall. It wasn’t like flip-flops were illegal, even if mother had a thing against them.
I kicked off my heels and grabbed the pair of flip-flops that I bought for less than a dollar at the drug store. Mother would be horrified that I owned them—let alone that I was wearing them out of the house—and for some reason, that made me smile as the foam slid under my aching arches.
I pulled off my blouse and traded it for a drapey black V-neck. The jeans would have to stay because my only alternative were dressy slacks, and that seemed way too formal for dinner at my neighbor’s apartment.
And yet—with just the change of shirt and shoes—I instantly felt more comfortable. A year ago, I never would’ve defied my mother like this, but something had changed in me recently.
This was my life. It was the only one I was going to get. It was past time I started living my life for me instead of doing things Mother or Georgine told me to do.
I closed the closet door and went to my mirror. What I saw didn’t make me feel more confident. My reflection always felt like a stranger. That was an unfortunate side effect of the accident. My doctor said it would wear off eventually, but I was still waiting for that to happen.
This was me. The blonde girl in the mirror was me. And at least I was comfortable, or more comfortable than I had been a few seconds ago.
My two-minute timer went off.
I couldn’t believe I was going over there, especially when he had friends over. Although I was leaning toward it being better that they were there. Having more people around took some pressure off of me to start a conversation. It would be less awkward. I hoped.
I shut off the timer.
This was it.
It was now or never.
I didn’t give myself time to second guess my decision. I walked out of my room, straight to my front door, and stepped into the hallway. I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants and knew I needed to put these nerves to bed, but that wouldn’t happen until the night was over.
I quickly locked the door behind me and turned to his door.
Three steps. That’s all it was. I could do this.
I didn’t know why I was putting so much pressure on going over there, but it felt like just beyond that door was a whole new world filled with new friends, new adventures, new possibilities.
I didn’t realize how much I wanted something different from the life I was living, but something about Dastien’s kind smile made me realize that I could have so much more. It was time to take some risks. It was time to try something new.
I strode to his door and knocked softly. I wasn’t sure how it would sound, and I didn’t want to knock too hard, and goddammit, I was overthinking things again.
Stop that, Cassie. This is an all-new you.
A little bit of music came from the apartment just before the door opened.
And there he was. And I couldn’t breathe.
Jesus. Just…holy shit. For a second, I thought I’d been giving him more credit than was due, but nope.
I closed my mouth and prayed I wasn’t drooling, but the guy was just way too hot to be alive—alive in real life. He belonged in a magazine or a movie or the cover of a romance novel. Not standing in front of me. Not inviting me over.
His dark hair had this curling wave in it that made me want to put my hands through it. His light brown eyes drew me in, and then he smiled and the dimples showed up and…
And now I was awkwardly standing here. I should say something.
Say something, Cassie.
Say something now.
“Hi!” My loud squeak of a hello felt like ripping off a Band-Aid, but at least it was done. The awkward ice was broken.
“Hi. Come in.” He moved out of the doorway and waved me into the apartment.
Inside were two more beautiful people. The tall blond guy was also ripped like Dastien. His heather gray T-shirt was stretched tight against his biceps. It was just loose enough to give a hint at what was under it without being showy. He grinned, but it was a lazy, lopsided grin. It made him seem more chill, less intense than Dastien.
He closed the distance between us. “I’m Chris.” He held out his hand, and the second I touched him, he jerked back, dropping my hand and looking away.
If I wasn’t mistaken, he’d gone pale. Was he sick? Was it me? “Sorry. Did I—”
The girl stepped forward, blocking my view of Chris. She was wearing an outfit my mother would approve of—skin-tight jeans, high-heeled boots, and a flowing floral blouse. Her hair was dark blonde and curled all the way down her back. She had a light tan that gave her skin a glowing golden color.
“Don’t mind him.” Her smile was bright and friendly. “I’m Cosette. It’s lovely to meet you, Cassie. I hope you brought your appetite. The guys went a little nuts cooking.” She motioned to her right.
I glanced over at the table. He’d texted me a picture of it, but that didn’t do it justice. It was so full that I wasn’t sure there was enough room for our plates on it. “No kidding, but it all smells wonderful. I—” My stomach growled, and I slapped a hand over it. Could I have been more awkward? “Sorry.”
“Looks like you came to the right apartment.” Chris stepped forward, putting his arm around Cosette. He looked a little better, and he was smiling again. Whatever was bothering him must’ve passed. “Let’s eat. I’m starved.”
“Can I get you something to drink?” Dastien asked.
I realized they were all staring at m
e with the same look on their faces as if they were expecting me to say or do something, but I wasn’t sure what that something was. “Is there something wrong?”
“No!” They all yelled at once.
I stood straight. There was definitely something up, and from the way they were staring, it had to do with me.
“No, there’s nothing wrong.” Chris elbowed Dastien in the stomach.
Dastien grunted softly and gave Chris a hard stare. “Sorry about that.” He went into the kitchen. “I have Coke, iced tea, lemonade, Diet Coke.”
Okay. So, these three were a little intense, but I was new. Of course, they were curious about me. It was only natural.
“Diet Coke, please.” I scanned the room, stopping on the couch. “Oh! Is that from Restoration Hardware?” I’d wanted that exact couch but in a U-shape.
“It is,” Cosette said. “It’s very comfortable.”
“Oh! And the pouf! I’ve always wanted one like that. All those rich colors. It’s so pretty.”
“You like it?” Dastien asked from the kitchen.
“Yeah. I mean, I know it’s so stupid—I’m still in school and everything—but about a year ago, I started making a binder for my dream house.” I spotted a bookshelf and moved closer to look at the titles. “I figure by the time I have it all figured out, I should have a job and be able to start house hunting. Maybe something in the woods would be good. I definitely want out of the city and a pond and—” Oh my God, I was rambling. There was no way they cared about this at all. “Sorry. I ramble when I’m nervous. I’ll shut up now.”
I looked over at them, and they were staring at me again.
Damn it.
Chris and Cosette shared a look, and then their looks shifted. He tilted his head a little, and she laughed, and then he gave a small shrug. It was weird, but it made me think they were talking to each other without actually saying a word. It had to be so nice—so comforting—to be that close with someone. I wished I had that.
Cosette moved to the table and sat down. “I’m starting without you, boys.” She looked at me. “Come on, Cassie. Don’t make me eat alone.”
