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“Who’s up for a game?” he called to the few guys who were getting in their workouts.
Ryon grinned. “Bring it, old man!”
“You’re on.”
If he couldn’t gain some insight, at least he’d be too tired to dream tonight.
He hoped.
* * *
Calla paced her bedroom and brooded until she couldn’t stand it anymore. Until she was sick of her own company.
Hiding out and waiting for Nick to come to her obviously wasn’t going to work. The commander’s issues ran too deep to simply disappear because they’d enjoyed fabulous sex at the waterfall.
No, she needed a plan. But what, she didn’t know.
What she needed was a distraction. After dressing in a pair of black pants and a nice casual blouse, she headed for the stronghold’s school. Vampire children were not great in number, given that most vampire pregnancies didn’t survive to term, but the ones they were fortunate enough to call their own required schooling. Public school being out of the question, that meant they had to handle education internally.
Calla didn’t hold a teaching certificate, but their actual teachers did. Their staff studied at major universities, remaining under the humans’ radar until graduating and returning to the fold to teach the coven’s children.
For Calla’s part, she loved children. She liked to be productive, and substituting two or three days per week to give the other teachers time off suited her just fine. The kids would definitely help take her mind off her troubles.
She stopped in at Lora Hart’s room. Lora taught the first through third graders in one area, and was always thankful for a break. Calla popped in and smiled at the chorus of happy greetings from the sweet faces that looked up from their work.
“Hey, guys,” she called.
“Miss Shaw,” Lora said with a smile, greeting her that way for the kids’ benefit. Calla insisted the teachers not use “Princess Calla” when she came to take over. It might be too distracting for the young ones to process the difference between “princess” and “teacher.”
“Mrs. Hart, would you like a break? I saw Mr. Hart earlier and I thought you might like to have a late lunch with your mate.”
Pure gratitude flooded Lora’s face. “Are you sure? I mean, if you don’t mind, that sounds lovely!”
“I’m positive, or I wouldn’t have offered. Just show me what you guys are working on today and I’ll take it from here.”
Quickly, the teacher showed her the plans and where she’d put the materials for the art project the students were going to make. Calla assured Lora she and the kids had things under control and not to worry about hurrying back. The grateful woman fled, as though Calla might suddenly change her mind.
With a chuckle, she got to work. The children proved to be the very best medicine that afternoon. The day wasn’t without its challenges—a boy peed his pants, one threw up, and one spilled paint all over the floor. But there wasn’t a dull moment, and she didn’t think of Nick once. Until Lora came back two hours later.
Calla said good-bye to the kids, with the promise to come back later in the week and stay all day. Her heart tugged as she left. Wistfully, she thought of having her own children someday. Pregnancy wasn’t in the cards for too many vampire females, but maybe the Fates would bless her.
But that wasn’t going to happen if her mate wouldn’t come near her.
Marching to her brother’s office, she pushed inside and shut the door with enough force to make him jump.
“We need to talk.”
Six
“If you want me to stop bellowing for you in the hallways, then you might stop barging into my office without knocking,” Tarron pointed out in annoyance.
“This is important.” Calla threw herself into one of the stuffed chairs and ignored his scowl. “I need for you to help me come up with a way to put me and Nick together for an extended period of time.”
“Are you serious?”
“No,” she said, deadpan. “Because I’m totally fine with me and my mate living hundreds of miles apart in separate states. It’s all good.”
“Your mate?” Sitting back in his chair, Tarron exhaled a breath. “Well, that solves that little mystery.”
