Page 106 of Blood and Trouble

“What exactly is the dynamic here?” Maeve asked, clearly the only one with the balls to point out the elephant in the room.

“Maeve!” Sol hissed. “Don’t be rude.”

“I’ll tell you later,” Ava whispered.

“Maybe you should tell us now?” Aquila offered. “It might help.”

Orion rubbed the space between his eyebrows and offered a low, simmering growl. “Everyone, please focus. We have until tomorrow morning before Ava is supposed to walk into Fitz Global to negotiate the final deal. If Evelyn knows what we’re planning next, she knows that meeting is on the books. We need to be ready for her.”

“Send me instead,” Guin offered.

The veep sighed and shot her a disgruntled look. “That’s not helping.”

“I’m serious.” Guin pushed to her feet. “I’m the head of Vanderbilt Holdings. I’m Maeve’s sister. I’ve got the same odds stacked against me, and no mate is waiting for me at home.”

Moose laughed, and Serpent lit a cigarette, shaking his head as he took a long inhale.

“It took half the officers and two hours of arguments to convince Kodiak that letting you come with us was an adequate idea,” Moose said. “If he finds out we sent you out as bait, he’ll kill us all.”

“I don’t give a fuck what Kodiak thinks,” she snapped.

The room erupted into debate after that. Ren rolled her eyes, and Serpent pointed out that this attitude was the reason she hadn’t officially been made part of the pack. Everyone talked over everyone else, but I focused on Ava, who gave me a knowing look, one I recognized from her time in the boardroom.

She wouldn’t put any of her sisters in danger, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer. It rankled my insides and set my wolf on edge, but wasn’t her headstrong obstinacy one of the things I loved the most about her?

“I’m doing it,” Ava finally said as she stood up next to Guin.

“Avalon,” Guin chided.

“Shut up, Guin,” Ava said. “I’m not putting you in my place, and I’m not going to run away and hide. If she wants me, she can come get me. Lycan will be there, right? Poe will be there. Locust and Bow and…and all the rest of you.” She smoothed the front of her blouse and ran her hands over her thighs before brushing her hair out of her face. “We can’t cancel the meeting. Too much is riding on it. So let’s figure it out.”

I’d never been more proud of her and more terrified for her. The heavy molten lead of Poe’s agitation zipped through the tiny bond between us, lining my chest and coating my heart. He didn’t like this idea, and I couldn’t blame him. But I knew my Trouble. There wouldn’t be much we could do to stop her, and heaven help anyone who tried.

CHAPTER 24

Ava

“You little hussy!” Maeve said, shoving me in the shoulder. We were in the bedroom I’d claimed for me, my husband, and my mate because it had the biggest bed. After the strategy meeting, she’d promptly dragged Sol and me upstairs, shut the door, and narrowed her eyes in suspicion, commanding me to spill my guts.

I’d never hide anything from Maeve, and despite my connection to my twin, Sol had always been the third piece of our puzzle. Now that I’d confessed the truth, Sol sat speechless on the edge of the mattress while Maeve laughed.

I hid my face in my hands. “It’s a mess.”

“So, wait…you married Lycan,” Sol said. “Then you bit Poe. He bit you. And when Lycan found out, he bit Poe, too?”

“That’s why Lycan is worried,” I said. “Poe’s wolf could reject my mark. If it does…” I didn’t know what I’d do. My wolf had already integrated with him and his magic. I couldn’t stomach the thought of it leaving me.

“It would have already,” Sol said. “If it weren’t going to take, you’d already know.”

“How can he have two mates?” I asked. “Isn’t that against the laws of the pack or something?”

“I don’t think there are laws when it comes to mating,” Maeve said. “It seems to be a spontaneous kind of thing.”

“What are you going to do now?” Sol raised her eyebrows. “Mark Lycan? Let him mark you?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. When I’d asked him about it, he didn’t get a chance to answer, and I hadn’t brought it up again, too terrified of the answer. And there had been a moment between the three of us when Lycan’s teeth had glided over the spot on my neck, where I’d anticipated them sinking home. But he didn’t do it. I didn’t know why.

“Look at that,” Maeve said, giving me another nudge with her shoulder. “Two months in Europe and you’ve gone from prude to slut in record time.”