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I arched a brow at him. He was very much overestimating my skills of persuasion, but I supposed I'd try. "I'll see what I can do. In the morning. Dom didn't seem too happy with me when I left. I'm going to give him some time to cool off, before I start asking for favors."
Caleb shrugged. "No one knows how to play Dom like you do, so I'll leave it to your discretion."
I gave him a very hard look for that one. "That's going a little far. I do not play Dom."
Christian coughed slightly, muttering, "Like a fiddle," under his breath.
I didn't look away from Caleb, who had started it, but I suddenly had the strong urge to deck Christian.
Caleb met my eyes steadily. "Just calling a spade a spade. You can look at it through the filter of your emotions, if that makes you feel better, but I see it solely for what it is."
I felt my temper boiling, though I knew Caleb well enough to see that he could never understand my feelings for Dom. "And that would be?"
"Extremely useful. I don't see that as a bad thing. On the contrary. Wrapping one of the most powerful druids around your littlest finger is a very good play. But we're getting off track. If you won't ask him tonight, I have something else planned."
I stayed silent, just waiting for him to continue.
I was trying real hard not to be pissed about his assessment of my relationship with Dom. I had never been so mercenary, never set out to make him utterly obsessed with me. And I certainly hadn't chosen to stay just as obsessed with him, though no one ever seemed to notice my feelings.
I knew that the druids saw me as the cold bitch that had played with Dom's emotions. Having my own friends thinking that...stung. But that was just how Caleb's mind worked, so how upset could I get about it, really? And Christian was, well, an ass, likely giving me grief just because it tickled his fancy. I should have been used to them both, but I struggled for endless moments to stifle my rage and hell, my hurt.
Why was I being so sensitive? Was it the dragon-trance, still keeping some hold on me? Was I feeling a sudden bout of postpartum depression? I really didn't know.
Finally, when I thought I had a good handle on it, at least enough to drop the subject for the moment, I spoke. "What did you have planned?"
Caleb smiled his cold little smile. "A surprise. I'll ride with you in your car. Christian, you follow us in yours."
Christian was nearly vibrating in anticipation. "I love surprises."
"It's not for you," Caleb said coldly.
Christian shrugged. "So? I still like surprises."
I wondered, not for the first time, how these two men could be friends, spend significant time with each other, when they were very nearly polar opposites.
"I don't like surprises," I told Caleb. He knew that. Hell, everyone knew that.
He gave me his little shrug. "This surprise is unavoidable, so you might as well get it over with."
I studied him closely, though I knew that was pointless. Caleb was exactly as readable as he wanted to be. It could have been a mimic thing. I had no idea, since I'd never met another of his kind. I mused that it may not have been a bad thing. The thought of more than one Caleb in the world just boggled the mind.
Being enigmatic and hard to read was one thing, expecting me to go blind into some surprise situation was quite another. "I'm not walking into anything blind, Caleb," I told him frankly.
In a way, I trusted Caleb. He'd played reliable backup for me too many times to count, and he had obviously been actively involved in trying to find my sister, even without my having to ask. I had also played his backup many a time, so you could say we were even-steven.
Yes, I trusted Caleb to do exactly what he said he would, but only that. Him keeping secrets left too many gray areas for my peace of mind. I wasn't playing along until the rules were very clear. He knew me well enough to get that.
Finally, he caved, but he didn't look pleased about it. Like I cared. "Christian and I were in on the raid. You know, the one that attempted to rescue you. We found some of your goodies there, and we were also nice enough to scour the desert for you, at the spot where you were taken. We recovered most of your weapons. They aren't here. I'm keeping them at another location. Would you like to go get them?" He showed me his teeth in what the twisted bastard probably thought was a smile. 33
Now that was more like it. I nodded. "Let's do it."
CHAPTER TWO
Sociopath Chameleon Alien
"I have a druid tail," I told Caleb as I pulled away from the house. Christian was parked in the back of the house, where a small alleyway was attached to the garage. I'd heard his loud race car speed away before we'd even gotten into my car.
"Of course you do," Caleb responded, his tone dry. "And if I know anything at all about Dom, your gear is covered in tracking devices, and so is this car. We'll take care of it."
