“We’ll see to them when we get to a hotel,” Draven says, ignoring her.
A strangled noise escapes Kira and a chuckle escapes me.
“Sorry, it’s really not funny. I just know how you feel with the overbearing alpha male energy.” I shrug.
“There’s a lot of it in this vehicle right now,” Raven says with a groan.
Her eyes are red-rimmed and the usual bright blue is dull. I have never seen her so wrecked in my life and I hate it. Greyson pulls her into his lap with a growl.
“We’re going to have a conversation about self-preservation even if I’m gone. I can’t believe you gave up when you thought I was dead.” He leans his head against her shoulder.
“All right, everyone is having conversations so apparently no one is sleeping anyway so we should just get food and keep going,” I say hopefully.
“Agreed,” Raven and Kira say together.
“Nice try, love. You’re dead on your feet and so are the rest of us.” Jayden swats my thigh.
“It was worth a shot.” I flop back in my seat.
“I’m not even sure how you thought that would work with drooping eyes and your stomach rumbling like a chainsaw,” Kira says with a giggle. “We’re dealing with alphaholes here.”
I turn around in my seat and stick my tongue out at her, but Kira just blows me a kiss. Maybe we’re rubbing off on her. She is definitely fitting in with mine and Raven’s crazy.
“We’re going now.” Jayden starts the engine. “Greyson, you have any idea where we are?”
“Not really. We should stop at a gas station so I can buy a map,” Greyson says, then grimaces.
Jayden tenses and his hands tighten to a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel. None of the guys particularly care for gas stations on these missions. That’s where crazy Aggie comes to play with them. Us girls think it’s hilarious but the guys not so much.
“Do they even sell maps at gas stations anymore?” I ask, tapping my chin.
“That’s where we got a map on the first mission when we lost the old one to the demon pigeons," Greyson says.
"Okay then, let's find a gas station.” I grin and turn to Kira. “You’re in for a treat. A gas station always means Aggie and I think she dislikes Draven even more than Jayden and Greyson.”
“Rude,” Draven says.
“Warranted,” I sing. “You may have proven yourself recently, but for a long time you were a complete jackass.”
“That’s fair,” Kira says, poking him in the chest.
“Yes, darling. That is more than fair.” He kisses her temple.
“Aggie beat the crap out of him with the cane the last time he was with us. She didn’t like the way he was acting. The fates give you a destiny, but they can’t control how someone reacts to what they have to endure,” Adrian says cryptically.
“Thanks for that. I’m hoping to make up for the bullshit way I acted from now on,” Draven grumbles.
“You already have a good start,” I say as we round the bend in the road.
A gas station comes into view and several male groans fill the SUV. Thad and Dax sit back and watch like they don’t have a care in the world which makes sense. Neither of them have been the focus of Aggie’s wrath.
“You okay, Adrian?” I ask. “Why are you concerned? Aggie never messes with you.”
“They gave me that crazy vision that delayed us a whole day. While I get that it was for our own good and I’m grateful to be able to guide our journey and your destiny, I can’t help but think had they gone easier on me, we wouldn’t have been sent to the fae realm.”
“We also wouldn’t already be hours from our destination only days after we left instead of over a week. Yes, we need to stop for food and rest, but if we had met Argus after nearly a week of travel, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now. That giant was strong,” I say. “Greyson nearly died.”
I’m probably never going to forget that battle and Greyson flying into action. It will haunt me until the day I die. No matter how long I live, that will be a nightmare I can’t escape. If I hadn’t become friends with Raven, she and Greyson wouldn’t be in this mess of a war.
