AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He wantsme,” I argued. “He won’t stop until he has me.”
“You know, I like your confidence in our abilities to keep you safe,” Nyx joked. “But he exploded magic at Daniel while clear across the neighborhood.”
I growled low, frustrated and unsure what to do.
“Listen. I think her idea has merit,” Callum started. He held up a hand as everyone in the room but me protested. “With a few changes. I’m not sacrificing her.”
“I’m listening,” I prompted. He met my eyes and let out a deep sigh.
“One of us go with her to town. Eat at the diner or something mundane. Grab groceries? I don’t care. But be obvious and linger outside when you can. But don’t let on that you’re dangling the bait for him.”
“And when he strikes?” Leven asked. He at least sounded like he was listening, considering it. That was a fucking start.
“Then the person with her keeps her safe long enough for us to converge on him. We just have to hang back far enough that he can’t see us. We’ve been doing daily rounds in town so he’ll assume that’s what our scent is. I’ve got Carlo on that today anyway so he’ll be there first, then you guys, and we’ll hang back.”
“Us?” Leven asked.
“You stay with Vanya,” he said. “You’re the biggest and the hardest to take down. Hopefully that will give you a chance to shield her if he’s bold enough to attack.”
“Who is staying here?” I asked. “We can’t leave them unattended.”
“We’ve got everyone on high alert. Even if they’re not security, the pack is ready for my call,” Callum said, waving his phone.
“All right, let’s do this,” Leven said, standing up. He turned and leveled me with a serious look. “This isn’t the time to sacrifice yourself or be a damn hero. You stick with me and if that fails, you protect yourself at all costs. You fucking hear me?” Swallowing hard, I nodded. Seeing Leven freak out was sending my anxiety to new heights. He may be grumpy but he always seemed so unaffected in the face of danger.
“I agree. We want you safe,” Callum added on. His tone was gentler but just as passionate.
Callum pulled out his phone and made his calls while the others stood. No one bothered with tactical gear this time, we’d be going as wolves. It was the least invasive approach and the easiest to explain away if anyone should ask.
Leven led us back to his garage. I wasn’t even surprised to see the giant pickup truck when he raised the door. We climbed in and he drove carefully through town. The others were already shifted, waiting in the trees, and Carlo had gone ahead in the security SUV for his rounds.
The whole situation felt like an out of body experience. I was surrounded by a security team, acting as bait with one of my… boyfriends? Friends with benefits? Whatever he was to me. Regardless, this was such a swift and crazy turn for my life to take.
As the sun glared through the windshield, I pulled down the visor, a picture floating out.
“Oh shit, my bad,” I said as I snatched it. When I turned it over, my breath caught. “What the fuck?”
“Who is that?” Leven asked, confused. “It was up there?”
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “Tucked into the visor. This is Meira, the photo he took. If this isn’t a declaration that he’s one step ahead of us, I don’t know what is.”
“He’s taunting us,” Leven said. “That’s all right. After today he won’t have that chance. He’ll tell us what we want to know or die, or a mix of the two.” His voice had gone cold and even, far scarier than his usual barking tone.
We drove to the grocery store in silence, both of us lost in our own worries. We opted out of going to the diner since the waitress already got targeted, and I wasn’t eager to put another in danger. In my mind, the least interaction we had with humans, the better. Though I doubted Dixon had self-checkout.
As we stepped out, Leven came to my side. “What is it we need?”
“We need to grab stuff for nachos,” I said. He smiled down at me, amused. “And I need to hit the candy aisle. It’s been far too long since I’ve had gummy worms.”
“Well, we can’t have that.” He laughed openly now. The way he kept his focus on me like he couldn’t be bothered with anything else while I was around, was intoxicating and heady, and part of me knew it wasn’t just an act for our tracker.
“What’s your vise. Don’t act like you’re too tough,” I teased him. He ran a hand over his beard as he thought.
“You know those orange sherbet tubes that you push up as you eat them?” I nodded. “Those are amazing.” I tried to imagine this giant mountain of a man eating a cute little push ice cream pop and nearly lost it.
“Then we go there last so they don’t melt,” I said firmly. “Are we feeding the whole pack or just the security crew?”
“The whole pack. We’ll do it at the pavilion and everyone can stop by,” he said quickly. “They’re all on high alert still.”
