At least, that was what we’d been told.
Everyone knows there are two sides to every story, particularly in something as awful as war. Maverick had claimed he ended the fighting, so I wasn’t sure if what I’d been told was the truth.
“What are you saying?” Velour frowned.
“You need to find an ancient vampire. Figure out a way to prevent her from devolving. Stopping that is the only way to save her life—and yours, when Neve finds out you’re the one who turned her.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“That’s your problem, not mine.”
He dragged a hand through his hair. “My mom has mentioned a few old family friends. I’ll have to leave the city to find them, but if you think there’s a chance they know, I’ll do it.”
My gaze caught on a human on the side of the room. She had her phone up, like she was…
Taking a picture.
Oh, shit.
There were definitely werewolves outside, who had been following me for my “safety”. Maverick’s enforcers. They would tell him about my meeting.
But a photo on the internet of our meeting was much worse.
He was going to need to leave town for another reason now, too.
Harper walked stiffly into the coffee shop, and both of us looked over. Her jaw was tight, but she forced a smile as she came up and sat down on the couch next to Velour.
He went still as she sat next to him and wrapped an arm around his waist, saying loudly, “Hey, honey.”
“What—” he began.
“The Alpha is going to kill you if he thinks you’re on a date with Bloom,” Harper muttered. “Play along if you don’t want to get your throat torn out by a possessive werewolf.”
Velour slowly lifted an arm over her shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Harper.”
“Fuck you,” she muttered.
There was no anger behind the curse. Just exhaustion. Fear, too.
“Text me updates every other day,” I told him in a low whisper, standing and raised my voice. “We need to get to work, Harper.”
Harper forced a smile and gave Velour the world’s fastest peck on the cheek before she and I both strode up to the counter to grab our lattes.
“Sorry. I didn’t factor that in,” I said on our way out.
“Learning how to be a badass takes time. Do you have any hand sanitizer? I’d like to bathe in it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. If facing that fuckwad will give me even a sliver of a chance to survive this, I’ll do it every day.”
My throat swelled with emotion. I swallowed it down with a swig of coffee. It tasted way more bitter than usual, which was irritating. Needed a lot more sweetener.
My phone was vibrating against my thigh, through my bag, but I ignored it.
Making Maverick think about me was part of the plan.
Also… I was slightly afraid of what he was going to say and/or do about my meeting with Velour.
