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Jeremy's eyebrows went up the barest fraction. "I can't?"
"You shouldn't. It's stup-- It doesn't make sense."
"It makes perfect sense. And you're not the only one being left behind."
I grumbled, but calmly and quietly and to myself, although Jeremy's eyes did flicker my way as I did it.
Jeremy continued, "I won't have you and Elena coming along when you're at each other like this."
"But I didn't do anything!" Clay said. "You haven't even accused me of killing that guy. You know I didn't do it. So why should I be punished--"
"It's not a punishment. Whether you did it or not doesn't matter. So long as you two are fighting, I want you here, where the only damage you can cause is to each other ... and assorted pieces of furniture."
"Why leave us both?" I asked.
"Because I don't need either of you. I'm not intending to track or fight anyone. It's simple information gathering. Even if you two weren't arguing, I wouldn't take you. It's an unnecessary risk. I want to learn more about these mutts. I don't want to rely on secondhand information, so I'm going myself and I'm taking Tonio and Peter as backup. Nick isn't coming either and I don't hear him complaining."
"It doesn't sound like much fun," Nick said.
Jeremy smiled. "Exactly."
"But--" I said.
"It's past lunchtime," Jeremy said, getting to his feet. "We should eat before we leave."
He left before we could argue, which was probably the point. When he was gone, I got to my feet.
"I guess I'll make myself useful and fix something for lunch."
Nick offered to help. For once, Clay didn't. He didn't even follow us into the kitchen to supervise.
After lunch Jeremy, Antonio, and Peter left for reconnaissance duty. This was Jeremy's way of handling the curveball the mutts had thrown. The Pack was accustomed to dealing with only one mutt at a time. As I've said, mutts didn't team up. Not ever. This meant the Pack was ill-equipped to deal with the threat. Since Jeremy didn't have any experience handling a multiple-mutt onslaught, he was taking his time, gathering information before plotting a course of action. Logically, this made sense. Emotionally, it was infuriating. If I were in charge, I'd have been planning direct and immediate action against the mutts, risks be damned. That was why Jeremy was the Alpha and I was the lowly foot soldier.
Once they were gone, I retreated again, this time to my room, where I called Philip. I told him that I'd be a few days longer.
He inhaled. "Okay." A moment of silence. "I miss you."
"I--"
"I don't mean it as a guilt trip, hon. It's just-- I miss you. I know you're doing the right thing and I wouldn't ask you to abandon your cousins. I just--didn't expect it to be this long." He paused, then clicked his tongue. "Got it. Brainstorm. I'll pop out there. How about tomorrow?"
My hands tightened around the receiver, brain shouting, Oh shit! I clamped my mouth shut until I'd forced the panic down. "And lose a vacation day?" I said as lightly as I could. "You promised me a week in the Caribbean. All-inclusive resort. Remember? As much as I'd love to see you, if it means giving up a week of all-you-can-drink booze and sun ... "
He chuckled. "A day helping you baby-sit three kids is a poor substitute, eh? I can see that. Maybe I can swing something with James, work next Saturday instead ... though it already looked like I'd be working Saturday, and probably Sunday."
"Uh-uh. Don't go making any deals or I may not see you for weeks even after I get home."
"Point taken. I'll survive a few more lonely days. But if it gets longer than that ..."
"It won't."
We talked for a few more minutes, then signed off. A few more days. No longer. This time, I didn't have a choice. If I didn't get my butt back to Toronto in a few days, Philip might find a way to get that day off and show up in New York. That would be ... well, it was more than I cared to contemplate.
After talking to Philip, I stretched back in bed and rested, dozing to catch up on two nights of minimal sleep. It didn't work. I worried about the possibility of Philip showing up at Stonehaven and my stress level jumped a half-dozen notches. Then I remembered why I was still at Stonehaven and thought about Logan, feeling the grief ooze back, filling my brain until I could think of nothing else, especially sleep. Finally, Nick came to my rescue, walking into my room unannounced.
"Do you ever knock?" I said, sitting up in bed.
"Never. I'd miss everything if I did that." Pulling back the canopy, he grinned wickedly. "Did I miss anything?"
