Page 58 of The Enemy to the Living
Oh,Iaminover my head. Drowning. Already gone, maybe, and it’s no one’s fault but my own.
After Quinn leaves, I eat and shower and dress and head straight out to where Mischief & Mayhem has been relocated. It’s still there; magical shadows swirl down the alley, though the fae who guards the entrance at night is gone.
I am far too old to be this tied up in knots over a young wolf.
And yet… I am, aren’t I? For a second, when he kissed me, it felt like being a teenager again, like we were getting away with something we shouldn’t. He’d been so sweet and so calm, and I didn’t want him to get out of bed and leave—
I scowl and kick a stray pebble, sending it skittering into the street. I’m not wrong. I’m older than any wolf ever manages to reach, though perhaps Deacon might make it, too, bonded to a vampire as he is.
Quinn is young. Even by human standards; he’s in his late twenties, I think, and yeah, he’s not a child, but I’m… older.
Not to mention everything that has brought us together. He can’t tell me about the deal he struck, I get that. And he did so before we even met properly. But he’s still dealing with everything that happened to him, and not healthily, and what if I’m just another outlet and I make things worse?
When I shove my hands into my pockets, my fingers brush my phone. I scoff, then take it out and look at it. Who could I even talk to about this? Paxton? He’ll be sensible, warn me to be cautious. Maurice? He’ll tease, but I have no idea what his advice might be.
Grant? He’s older than Quinn but not by much. And he and Vlad… They’re not together. I know that. But they’re connected, and their ages are different, and—
My phone rings before I can follow the thought through and I almost drop it in surprise. Vlad’s name stares up at me from the screen. I flush. No way he could know what I was just thinking about, but it still feels like a strange omen.
“Hello?”
“Asher. Where are you?”
I glance across the road. No one’s come in or out of the alley. I don’t even know if I can get back inside there after the stunt Sparrow pulled last night.
“Across the road from Mischief & Mayhem.”
“Did you see anything last night?”
I grimace. I really do not want to listen to the lecture I’m certain Vlad has ready if I admit I went inside last night.
“Nothing of interest.”
“You didn’t let us know when you left. Have you been there this entire time?”
“Yeah, ’course I have,” I say, then scoff. “No. Sorry. I left once it quieted down.”
Vlad pauses for a second longer than usual. He does not enjoy my sarcasm, but I bite back an apology. The dynamic between us all has been a little strained since the Huntsman rescinded Maurice’s blessing. I don’t know if he and Vlad will ever truly talk through what happened and I wasn’t there that night to get the truth of it. The whole thing gives me an uneasy feeling.
Of course he wanted to protect his turn. I remember him first bringing Grant here. I’ve never seen him so desperate.
It’s just a reality check to realise that he’s placed someone else above all of us. The Huntsman must know it. Yet, Maurice was punished, and Vlad was not.
Speak of the devil… “The Huntsman is coming to the base tonight,” Vlad says, “and he has requested everyone’s presence. He has spoken with the Guardians.”
“Everyone? Is Moreau coming?”
He might be helpful when it comes to talking through my problem. If I can get him away from the Huntsman, that is.
“I do not believe so,” Vlad replies. “Us, Maurice, Jeremiah, and Paxton…”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll be there at sundown.”
“See you then.”
He hangs up before I can and I lean against the wall behind me, turning my face up to the sun. Not a chance I’m calling Grant now, not if Vlad’s awake. Though Grant probably is, too.Vlad must know. Even if Grant thinks he’s keeping it to himself, he can’t have missed it… can he?
No one comes in or out of the alley, and I leave before the sun goes down.
