“Leo, if there was any other—” Jay interrupts.
Gideon just raises his hand to slow the fourth repetition of the same words Jay has been using to reassure Leo for the past hour and a half. He nods his head toward the back hallway, so Jay sighs in agreement and leaves Gideon to it with a squeeze to his shoulder.
It’s part of what works well for them in their pack—tag-teaming the hard parts. But usually, it’s not Leo they’re trying to bring on-side. That’s because he’s typically on the ground floorof the hard decisions in advance. They have always counted on his judgment in the past, and Gideon is absolutely sure that is a big reason they are standing here now.
“Don’t you start on me, Gideon. You can’t tell me that you agree with this. The two of you are going to prance around Clearwater in broad daylight. Worse yet, you’re going to announce to the world where and when you’ll be? To crowds of fans and Carnell’s henchmen? To that magic user? It’s insanity.”
Itisinsane. That’s why they’d left Leo out of the original planning. They have no other choice with this, and no amount of frustrated logic from Leo Costas could change it, because nothing they’ve been doing has worked. Lauren’s contacts can’t find hide nor hair of Carnell in Clearwater through official channels, and any unofficial ones Gideon could harness have had even less luck.
Now that they know an Arcanas is using dark soul magic to hide Carnell away, it’s made the last two weeks an exercise in futility.
“We’ll never get him to come out otherwise, Leo,” Gideon says gently, but with absolute confidence. He knows Carnell’s tactics. “Worse is that he’s got someone who is trying to hurt Grayson and Nix.”
The longer they leave Carnell to his own devices, the more opportunity Withers has to find Grayson. That’s the scariest thing of all: an enemy that can attack his mates, they won’t see it coming, and Gideon can’t do a fucking thing to stop him.
Magic is a weapon Gideon knows nothing about. It’s imperative they move the dragon’s eye off his vulnerable mates as fast as possible, even if it means giving him what he wants: Jay and Gideon.
Like he can read Gideon’s mind, Leo asks, “Then why not find a defensible location and let him come for us? At least we’d have the home-court advantage. Carnell ran from Nashville fora fucking reason. He’s afraid of Jay, and of you. Otherwise, he’d be cowering in his fancy penthouse, waiting for you to end him.”
Huh.Gideon hadn’t thought Leo would know where Carnell’s Nashville fortress lay. He hates to think he’s underestimated his mate.
But waiting isn’t an option.
Carnell isn’t hiding because he’s afraid—he’s waiting until he has the leverage he wants. And once he does? Gideon won’t have any choices at all.
“We have to do this on our terms.” His throat tightens. “I—we—need to take this fight away from all of you. Before he’s ready. I was an idiot to let you come in the first place.”
He’d been susceptible to his need for his soulmate, and the comfort of his mates, to bolster him through this hard thing. He’s ashamed to admit that his weakness has once again endangered his family.
Gideon smells burnt vanilla before he hears Nix’s disappointed voice from the doorway. “Excuse me?”
Oops.
But he’s not going to back down now.
“I meant what I said, Kitten. All of you are more vulnerable here than in Nashville, but short of sending you home…we are doing the next best thing. Jay and I will draw unfriendly fire, and you will hunker down in the next best defensible location Lauren can pull out of her bony, interfering ass.”
He’d like to say he dodged the wet rubber glove that hit him in the side of the head, but alas, he did not. “Leo,” he sighs.
“He is mad because you think you’re dispensable to this pack. Or that you are the boss of us.” Nix adds insult to wet, soapy injury.
“Fuck you,” Leo says evenly. “We are not collateral damage. We are in this 100% with you. Every single one of us has theright to stand beside you. It’s our fucking battle, too. Always has been.”
Always will be,Gideon hears in the back of his mind.
He just shakes his head in denial. “You asked me to be truthful, Leo. I’ve already said that you are in this because of me…and I won’t expose you—any of you—more than I already have. You heard Miranda for yourself—this is about Jay, and it’s about Jay because of me. You’ve been saying it, too.”
Whatever it is Carnell wants, he wants it from Gideon, and he has stopped biding his time. There isn’t anything Gideon wouldn’t do to keep his mates away from Carnell, including pissing them off.
Leo starts up again, but Gideon shakes his head. “No, I’m not the boss of you, you’re right. But Leo, I am asking you—begging you—to stay with the others. Protect them, and stay safe. Stay out of Carnell’s way, and let us do this without worrying you’ve painted targets on your backs.”
“Gideon,” Nix says, and Gideon feels his arms circle him from behind, and their babies get tucked into the curve of his butt. “I’m trying to understand, like you did for me. It’s hard not to be worried about you and Jamie. You can’t expect we’ll be happy about it, but I’ll try.”
Finn’s phone buzzes almost at the same time Gideon feels his phone ping in his back pocket. An address from Lauren.Finally.
He doesn’t pull it out, though, because Leo’s arms are still crossed across his magnificent chest, and his stare is assessing in a way that reminds Gideon that Leo is indeed Lauren’s son. “Leo? Can you please do this for me? Be a hard line of defense for the others.”
Shaking his head, Leo frowns. “Fucking fine. If you are determined that this is the best idea, I’ll make sure everyone stays put in the new place. But if anything happens to either of you, I am going to be fucking pissed.” He says it like he meansto saydevastated.“And I am still pissed at how you went about it behind our backs, and that you told us rather than asked. You aren’t actually a fucking King, you know?”
