Page 50 of Love the Way You Lion
“From what she did, I see little that you haven’t told her. You gave her all the weapons, love. Honestly, until my sweeper team confirms her story about the writer, I’m not buying all this mumbo jumbo about a quest and bringing him back. I’m not convinced, and neither is Talia.”
“I’m trying to be a good friend and avoid causing a problem with us because she’s off the rails. I can’t even think about the possibilities of her ‘quest’ because I think he’s dead and I think she’s trying to bring him back. Everything about what I hear about these journeys is troubling to a real practitioner like me. She’s doing the work, but not the soul stuff.” I sigh and rub my temples.
I should have never, ever let inexperienced people work Beltane with me. It opened up far too many dangerous doors.
“From where I’m sitting, you’ve given her plenty of firepower through idle chatter. You left out how it’d affect you if she used it. Meaning, she knows almost as much about our relationship as we do except how different and important it is from anything else in your life. I can’t rightly figure why it matters if she thinks you’re holding back on her, but that’s your gig, not mine. It explains why today was such a bloody good time, though.” He leans back, stacking his hands under his head and pausing as if to think.
“I’ve been trying to get her to be—I don’t know. It felt hypocritical not to share if I’m asking her not to conspire in the background like a secret agent. If I ask her not to do things like the bar again without at least talking to me, but don’t reciprocate, then I’m no better than her. She’s so very unstable right now; I’m worried about the quests and those bints whispering in her ear. I’m worried about the community.”
Sari is a seductive, manipulative bitch. Without my physical relationships holding some of these looney tunes close, I don’t know that I will keep them from joining her side on anything important. That goes double for Belle, who I believe whores her family out to help keep people on their side.
“The irony in all this is that I made sure it was only me at the house today so Talia wouldn’t get a ‘woe is me’ about Wilde and get forced to admit her connection with Rafe.” He shakes his head, stillsitting a few feet away from me. “Here’s the deal. From now on, remember that while she may be your friend, she’s not mine, and she’s not Talia’s. We’re enemies. Please don’t give her anything else she can use against me. Not that it matters because next time I see her, I’m setting a few truths on her doorstep.”
“I will be much more careful about what I share with her,” I murmur.
I don’t tell him I believe that this moment has put the shreds of what was left of my friendship with Sari on a slab. We no longer have Wilde to bond over. She never cared for me as a mate, and now I can’t even have a casual, girly conversation with her. She’s done nothing but seek to destroy everything I am or have for months. I have to figure out how to do this without her leading a fucking mutiny.
“I love you, baby. Come hunt with me. I’d like to make some things bleed now.” He stands, holding his hand out and giving me a grin.
Nodding, I stand and take his hand, still feeling the need to earn forgiveness. It’s not him asking, but I’m not ready to let my transgression go yet. However, I can get behind taking my frustrations out on others. I clear my throat and force a small smile. “Let’s go make some people scream. Then maybe I’ll make you scream, too.”
“I like the sound of that.”
With that, I head off to take my vengeance on everyone but the person who deserves it—and I forget to mention my thoughts on the drugs that almost killed us.
The Artist and The Blade Make A Promise
RAFE
Blade and I are watching the stars in the backyard. She’s been quiet, but I understand that. We’ve been suffering through the vast waves of emotion being siphoned off to us by our mates as they battle over the coyote’s experiment in emotional manipulation.
It’s put a big ass crimp in my day and I’m pissed as hell about it.
Sari visited me earlier, and while in rare form, she wasn’t behaving as badly as she did with Taurus. I mistakenly thought everything was on an even keel. Whatever quests she was doing kept her busy, and she left me alone. I thought maybe things would settle down. It’s the only bloody reason I even let her in.
I should have known better.
“She told Taurus she had something that Wilde had meant to give you before the accident. She called it a John Thomas something or other,” she says.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. For Christ’s sake, this is the same shit she pulled with Taurus. Sari tried to use Wilde as a weapon to divide them. Taurus didn’t know the terminology well enough to catch what the coyote was saying. She was also trying to drive a wedge between Blade and me.
“I’ll bet she did. She didn’t mention it to me on her brief visit. My guess is that she didn’t realize that neither of you knows what she means,” I growl, looking out into the sky. Frustration is zinging over my skin because I know this is a lie. Sari made this whole thing up to discredit us with our mates. “She means a ring for?—”
“Oh!” She drops her head, looking defeated again.
I lift her chin, looking into her eyes. “It’s a flat-out lie, pet. He wasn’t ever going to do that and had mentioned nothing like it. She’s trying to cause a rift between us.”
She shrugs, looking down, and fumbles in her pocket, muttering, “I guess that makes this whole thing foolish.” She’s flipping something around in her fingers, still looking forlorn. “It’s not a cock ring.”
I blink. “I’d say not because regardless of my opinion of myself, it’d be a wee bit undersized, I’m sure.”
She blushes and hides behind her hair, muttering again. “I’ll say.”
I grin a little, feeling lighter. She keeps playing with the thing and I get curious. “Are you going to put whatever it is on me?” I raise a brow, trying to figure out what is making her so shy.
“It’s not for you.” She whispers, so much so I wouldn’t be able to hear her if I didn’t have enhanced senses. “See, Damien’s been working with metals and he made this.” She shoves her free hand in her pocket and holds up something that resembles a flattened metal circle.
“Oh.” I tilt my head, surprised by the turn of this conversation, given the anger and resentment caused by the coyote today. It’s driving our mates to have a hell of a row that was splitting our heads open a few moments ago. This is a serious commitment and one I’ve only gotten asked once before. I don’t think it’s meant the same way Alistair meant it; I think it’s more. I did not expect this after the blow-up earlier.
