Page 17 of Cimmerian

I groaned, running my hand down my face. One day. One day without chaos and craziness, that’s all I wanted. I wanted to lie in bed with Jasper and laugh at mindless TV shows. For Lucy and Duke to come over for dinner in our new apartment -- a dinner I would most likely burn. I wanted to see Mollie get married, and to not worry about what creature was going to come crawling out from the underworld next.

But I had made a decision when I chose Jasper. I chose to be aware of the things that went bump in the night, and to learn about monsters from children’s bedtime stories. I wanted to be a light in the darkness, and to have strength in moments where others faltered. So right now, I needed to take a deep breath, suck up my own personal feelings, and figure out my next step without feeling sorry for myself.

A tap on the window startled me from my pep talk, and I pulled my hands away from my face. At the window was Mollie, and several feet behind her stood Merrick. I glared at him, and he shrugged his shoulders as if to say there was nothing he could do. Which, in situations involving Mollie, was probably true.

I rolled my window down but didn’t make a move to get out of the car. My emotions were mixed, and I didn’t want to be doing this right now.

Mollie bit her lip. “Ava.”

Tears pricked my eyes. Betrayed. I was betrayed. “How could you not tell me?”

“I’m sorry, okay? I’m the worst friend alive. I understand if you never want to see me again.” Mollie took a deep breath in, steadying herself. “But I can help.”

I nearly choked. “Excuse me?”

She nodded, pressing her lips together. “I can help. With Orcus.”

I ignored Merrick grimacing behind her.Paranoid wolves. “How do you know about Orcus?”

“It’s a long story.” Mollie looked like she was about to cry, fidgeting with her hands and tapping her feet. “Uh, I did some bad shit, Ava. Some real bad shit. But you have to believe me, I didn’t want to do any of it.”

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheeling, squeezing it so the leather squealed beneath my hands. Mollie was a good actress, but she wasn’tthatgood. Or at least the Mollie I had thought I had known. The woman in front of me was a stranger dressed in my best friend’s clothes. But I had limited time to figure out a solution, and I wasn’t sure what else I could do. I weighed my options. I could use her without trusting her. I met her gaze, letting no emotion seep through the cracks in my emotional defense. “I should warn you I’m armed.”

She nodded once, an acknowledgement. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from a Venator.”

“And I can’t guarantee Jasper won’t try to rip you to shreds.”

Mollie stiffened her shoulders and steeled her gaze. “I can handle myself.”

* * *

“I really hope I’m not going to regret this,” I muttered. I unlocked the car doors. “Get in. We don’t have much time.”

Molly slid into the passenger seat next to me, and Merrick folded his large body into my small backseat. Subdued. That was the word that came to mind to describe Mollie as we pulled out onto the road once more. She was small, pulled into herself. I sighed, the only sound in the quiet car.

“Look, if this is going to work, which for all our sakes it better, we’re going to have to talk about things.” I kept my eyes focused on the road, telling myself it was for safety and not because I didn’t want to meet Mollie’s gaze.

Merrick was the first to speak up. “You’re my mate.”

My mouth dropped open. “Jesus, Merrick! Can we not start on the small scale of things?” I glared at him in my rearview mirror, but he just shrugged.

“I know,” Mollie responded. “I knew as soon as you got out of Ava’s car.”

This time I turned to stare at her, Merrick yelping as the car swerved too far to the right. “You knew?”

“It’s kind of hard not to know.” She twirled a blonde curl around her finger.

“But… What about Ben?”

“Who’s Ben?” Merrick growled from the backseat.

I ignored him. “What are you going to do about Ben?”

Mollie sighed sadly, looking down at her hand. I followed her gaze to see a perfect engagement ring circling her finger. She twisted it off, sliding it into her pocket. “I always knew this day might come. I just hoped it wouldn’t.” I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she stared out the window. “When you grow up a witch, you understand the potentials for supernatural mates. You can’t fight fate, Ava.”

I was beginning to realize how true that statement really was.

“Can we circle back around to who Ben is?” I glanced into my rearview mirror, stunned to see the normally placid Merrick glaring back at me with his teeth bared.

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