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Jeff took off his leather coat and slipped it onto my shoulders. The warmth of the material warmed my skin quickly, and I willingly slipped my arms down the sleeves. There was nothing to be done about the wind that blew around my legs. The robe would have helped that, but it wouldn’t have smelled as good as the leather.
Another problem soon arose. Snow. Snow was going to get in my shoes. There were a few inches on the ground, and even though we’d pushed the snow down with our walking, my shoes were heeled sandals.
“Up we go.” Jeff’s words were spoken as an arm whisked my legs out from beneath me. I gave a shriek until I knew I was safe and not going to fall to the ground.
“I can walk,” I grumbled at him as he and Nathaniel began walking through the forest.
“Yeah, I know, but your feet are going to be numb by the time we get to the car, and this dress doesn’t need to get wet.”
“Why do you care about my feet? I’m still going to kill you when all of this with the Mindolin is over.” My voice was soft so Nathaniel wouldn’t hear it.
“Yeah, I know, and I have no idea why I’m doing this.”
Some part of me was a glutton for punishment. My arms were the worst place for the woman to be. The Love element inside of me buzzed like a hive of angry bees, or even a hive of bloodthirsty Vampires, begging to be released, pushing at their confines. Yet, I couldn’t put her down.
We arrived at the jeep as Drew and Jazz came out the front door of their house with Victor and Torres.
“See, Jazz, Jeff is carrying Tessa like I’m carrying you. You’re not alone.” Drew gave me a wink as Jazz’s eyes lit up in his arms.
“Tessa, why’s Jeff carrying you?” Jazz asked.
“So my feet don’t get cold and wet.”
“Aw, Jeff, that’s so nice!” Jazz beamed at me. “And you’re looking much better. You scared me earlier.”
Nate opened Tessa’s door, and I slipped her in before closing her inside the vehicle. “Sorry, Jazz. I’m feeling much better now.”
We followed Drew’s truck down the drive, and it felt nice to be behind the wheel of my vehicle again. I’d rarely had the opportunity before to drive on missions. I’d wanted to high five Dalton when he’d lost his temper at Carmon a month and a half ago. Dalt had kindly informed Cal of his love of driving and how Carmon and Drew never stopped to ask if the rest of us wanted a chance to drive. His firmer stance against them was nice and had me considering a move in that direction.
“What are you thinking about?” Tessa asked when the car was quiet for over half the trip.
I shrugged, but remembered her rule that actions were not acceptable answers now. “Nothing much. I’ve been doing some self-evaluations lately.”
“And what are you finding?”
“I like my brothers.”
She gave a chuckle, and the deepness of it, like her voice, made my blood’s temperature warm in response. “Because you didn’t like them before?”
“Not always. Cal was harsh and domineering. Adam did nothing to tone down Cal’s anger but supported his every command. Yes, a Lieutenant is supposed to support, but he’s also supposed to tell the Commander when he’s being an idiot. Drew and Chris were annoying as heck, and Dalton was too hesitant to have any fun with.” I sighed and adjusted my grip on the steering wheel. “I’m not saying I was perfect. I was right there growing up with them. I went through the same crap as they did when we were trained to become assassins. Each of us had our weaknesses, and Leo, Marcus, Alex, and Zhaine found them all. They were the ones who began turning us into monsters. Later events only solidified it.”
By later events, I meant the death of her mother. I wasn’t yet sure if Tessa’s mom was Lorna or Abby, but I knew now that she had been one of Nate’s friends that Cal had killed with his Life element when we were attacked at the age of five. Part of me hoped that by sharing, she’d decide not to kill us. The truth was, Tessa would die before my brothers would. I’d make sure of it.
The guard at the gate didn’t even bother looking past me before allowing us to enter the parking garage when we arrived at Mount Pickett. His name was Ronny, and he loved my jeep. I’d decided that the next time I upgraded my car, this machine would go to him.
“Wasn’t he supposed to check our paperwork?” Nate asked from the back seat.
“Yeah, but I think he was too busy checking out the car,” Tessa laughed.
Her smile looked beautiful, and her purple eyes sparkled. It had taken some time, but she no longer frightened me when I looked at her. She was an adult, but Witches aged differently than the rest of us, so I had no idea how old she was now, or what age she’d been when her mom had been killed. Was there a father in her life? I knew Nate was her father figure, but was there a biological father?
Why did I even care? She planned to kill me, so why wonder? All I needed to do was keep my eye on her and make sure she stuck to her word to stay away from my family. The hard part was she’d be around me a lot and I needed to be near Drew. Logic said I should warn Drew, but he’d react badly, and the peace we were trying to establish would go up in smoke.
“I didn’t know Drew and Jazz were coming tonight,” Nate observed from the backseat as Drew again picked up a very pregnant Jazz.
“She should be on bed rest,” I replied. “However, Adam’s bringing the couple he spoke of during the meeting, so Drew has to bring Victor and Torres. Since it’s just dinner and Jazz hasn’t seen the outside of her house in a while, I agreed to allow her to come as long as she takes it easy.”
“Well, that was nice of you,” Tessa said with loads of sarcasm infused into each word.
