Page 75 of Woven Souls

Then age hasn’t come up with the others yet. Wait until she learns I’m the youngest of the three of us. I chuckle as I picture Willow’s shock when she finds out.

Willow pats the bed beside her. “Join me.”

I almost do, but I’m thirsty. I consider using the glass here in the room that has a strange film covering it and drinking the suspicious tap water but think better of it.

“I’m going to get a water bottle from the vending machine. I’ll join you when I get back.” I grab my boxers and then pull pants from my bag and drag them both on. Walking over to the door I ask, “Want anything?”

When Willow doesn’t answer, I turn to find her sound asleep where I left her. Smiling, I come back over, hook my hands under her arms. and pull her further up the bed until her head is on a pillow. I leave her and Jonah in the room and stroll down the sidewalk.

The old vending machine is placed next to the front door of the small front office. The hum of it is loud compared to the silence all around the motel. As I stick a dollar into the slot, my eyes drift to the front desk woman speaking with a patron checking in for the night. Behind me there is a car running softly. The music coming from their radio reaches my ears.

I frown as the vending machine takes my dollar.

From what I can make out, it almost sounds like the musician is singing in my native tongue. I push the button for water, and a bottle drops into the slot below. Reaching down, I shove my hand inside the machine and grab the barely cool bottle of water. As I straighten and head back towards the motel room, the sound of a car door opening snags my attention.

“Viktor?”

My foot freezes mid-stride. As my stomach drops, I turn to face the owner of the voice. Standing next to the car, leaning on the open door is a man dressed casually in a plain polo. His hair is cut short, his skin a rustic brown, and he’s of medium build.

He’s also Fae.

“I knew it!” he says with excitement, slapping the roof of his car. “Iknewit was you. What are you doing here?”

Before I can answer, the patron steps out of the office. He pauses when he sees his friend out of the car.

“Tayber, look! It’s Viktor from the wanted poster!”

Wanted poster? Oh, shit. Of course they’d put wanted posters up of us. We’re fucking Fallen. If word gets out that we’ve been spotted, we’ll have a horde of Ghosts on our heels in no time. I can’t let that happen. I move before Tayber can respond. My fist, curled around the bottle of water, slams into his jaw, and he drops immediately.

The passenger gasps, and I turn to him. Horror dawns on his face as he realizes his mistake. I charge towards him. The passenger climbs into his car and slams the door shut just as I get to him. Before he can lock the door, I yank it open and grab his shirt. I pull him out of the car and slam his head down hard on the hood before letting his body crumble to the ground.

Bringing my fingers to my lips, I send out a whistle.

I turn and hurry back towards the motel room. Halfway there, someone yells, “You can’t be doing that here! I’m calling the police.”

I get to our room, wave the card key in front of the lock, and throw open the door.

“Everyone up, now!” I flick on the light. The dying bulb in the lamp hardly produces much light.

Jonah leaps to his feet. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve been spotted by our people.” I grab a shirt from my bag and tug it on.

Willow groans from the bed.

“Tell them to leave us alone.” With that she pulls the pillow out from under her head only to put it over top of it.

“Willow, up. Now.”

Despite the dire situation, I take a moment to pause next to the bed and slap her ass. The jiggle sends a wave of satisfaction through me. As does her squeal. Willow rolls and sits upright, glaring at me.

“I need my beauty sleep!”

Even though my heart is racing from adrenaline, I take the moment to lean down and plant a quick kiss on her lips.

“Get any more beautiful and I’m going to have an even harder time keeping my hands off of you. Now: GET. UP.”

Willow blinks in surprise as I move away from her. Jonah tosses her some clothes as he gets dressed. Less than two minutes later, we’re all rushing out to the car. I catch sight of Kwil and Theo hurrying across the parking lot towards us. Over by the office, I see both men getting to their knees.

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