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“I can’t.”Shit. I cut her off way too quickly.“I have plans.”
Etta’s eyes almost popped out of her head. She glanced over at Maisie, who appeared just as surprised.
“With whom?” Etta demanded.
I smiled tautly. “I do know other people than you and Orson,” I reminded her dryly, and she flushed lightly.
“Of course you do!” she cried, like a parent praising a toddler for eating all his vegetables. I stifled the urge to roll my eyes. “Well, you go enjoy your date.”
“It’s not a date!” I wished I’d thought of a better lie.
“Enjoy your booty call,” Maisie mocked me, her expression telling me that she did not believe my excuse in the least.
I nodded and pivoted, eager to be on my way and out of their view. But even as I managed to escape their watchful gazes, I knew that their eyes were now on me.
* * *
With that in mind,I completed the day in my human body, forcing myself to endure small talk with petty criminals and drug addicts as I delivered packages of stow and churl to Orson’s customers.
The last thing I needed was more complaints that I was scaring the weaklings I delivered to with my fangs, and I did my best to be personable.
Still, I couldn’t finish fast enough, and the day dragged on, reminding me that I had no way of contacting Elijah.
I should have left him with a burner phone. I have a couple in the house. At least that way I could warn him of any potential trouble.
The knot in my gut grew to a full tree trunk by the time I was fully unloaded, and it was all I could do to walk and not run the three miles back home from my last drop.
But those last few feet, the houses that separated me from my A-frame house halfway down the block became a blur as I broke into a run, privacy be damned.
I wanted to feel the tug of my golden arch against my chest again and feel alive, like I hadn’t felt in two centuries. I wanted to see my mate, even if he had put me in the most impossible situation.
Forsaking the front door of my house, I rushed toward the narrow pathway leading to the back, eyes darting at the neighbors. I saw no drawn curtains, no peeking eyes. Relief touched me for the first time since leaving the house that morning, my heart thumping in anticipation.
But when I opened the door to the shed, I sensed it, my golden arch dead, the pull gone.
Elijah wasn’t there. He had broken our deal already.
Chapter15
Elijah
Over and over, I replayed that battle, Ash at my side, warding off the shifters who sought to claim our immortality. The war had been for nothing, another stupid conflict without any reason, and yet that didn’t stop the fools from trying us.
“To your left, Elijah! Be vigilant!” I heard him yell.
A flash of light shot out from the sky, a bolt of lightning crashing near us. Avalon appeared, his shimmering, flowing robes dazzling and distracting. The sight of the wizard so vividly in my mind’s eye took me aback.
Avalon.
Ash.
Me.
Who else had been there?
I dropped the pen and jumped up, suddenly eager to communicate with my lost comrades. Ash had to be around still, didn’t he? Maybe Avalon, too. The wizard had not been immortal, but he was certainly an ancient.
The question was, how did I contact them?
