The air beside us shimmered, rescuing me from the moment, and I focused on Adira as she appeared through a portal. Her sweeping gaze took in everything, from our location to the open trunk, Fenris’s barely clothed body, and my bundled one.
“Am I interrupting something?” she asked with a pleasant smile.
Chapter Six
“No,”I said over Fenris’s affirmation.
“Anything interesting?” Adira asked with a brow arched at me.
I crossed my arms.
“Why are you here?”
“I wanted your opinion on the new club your mother’s building.”
The woman was being stubbornly persistent. Did she honestly think I would admit that I thought the club was pointless and that I would never feed there?
“You could have used your phone instead of a portal. Why didn’t you?”
She glanced at Fenris, her gaze skimming what I’d just been staring at. My blood boiled.
“It seems you’re still meeting Eliana’s needs, then?” she asked him, oblivious to anything but her own agenda.
Fenris’s comment about playing their games echoed in my head as I grabbed my phone and dialed my mom. She picked up on the first ring.
“Adira’s here harassing me,” I said bluntly. Adira watched me, likely waiting to see how far I’d go and how much further still she could push me.
“Put me on speaker, baby,” Mom said.
A hairline fracture marred Adira’s confidence as I did what Mom asked.
“Adira, Eliana has been far more patient with you than I would have been at her age. You know what happens when a ravenous succubus’s meal is interrupted. That’s nothing compared to what Eliana will do to you when she finally snaps. You’ve been warned.”
I felt no joy at the sight of Adira’s withdrawal through the portal. My gaze locked onto the phone still in my slack hand. I didn’t remember letting it drift to my side.
“Mom?”
“Baby, Adira knows she’s playing with fire and will deserve every burn you give her. Think nothing of it. Go have fun and don’t worry about that woman.”
I managed a weak okay before hanging up and looking at Fenris.
“So that’s a ‘no’ to the hugs?” he asked.
Disbelief colored my expression, and he shrugged.
“Suit yourself, but you should know, with Megan’s hugging skills and all the practice Oanen’s getting, you might have some serious competition when they come back.”
This time, I easily turned my back on Fenris.
“I regret getting out of bed this morning.”
He chuckled behind me and closed the trunk.
“Ready for a hike?”
“Lead the way.”
The soft sound of snow crunching underfoot measured our progress as we walked into the woods together, and the relative quiet gave me a chance to think. Maybe I’d been too hasty to reject Tegan’s offer, given that Adira was tracking me when I still needed to find Ashlyn. Sure, she was currently more focused on my feeding than why I was in the woods, but she was smart. It wouldn’t take her long to figure out I was up to something. Especially if she decided to pop in again when I was with the druids.
