When she got nothing back, she walked over to Otto and knelt down.“Hey, Ot.”She nudged him gently.“I’m sorry to wake you, Bud.Umm, but Grouchy Pants Gage, GPG for future reference, is telling me to give you the phone.”
Otto blinked sleepily and groped for the phone.He turned the screen toward him, and his half-opened eyes scanned over it.Then they opened fully, and he quickly sat up.His clawed fingers tapped quickly across the screen.And then he dropped the phone and wiped a hand down his face as he sighed.“Bulls dodging.”
“Dodged a bullet?”Katy offered.
Ot nodded.
She picked up the phone.She couldn’t read Otto’s response.It was in the same strange language.“What is that language?”
“Damarian,” Otto offered.“Phones have setting just for us.Made by tech company us.”
“What tech company?”
“Callidus.”
“Kingdom of Venom owns Callidus?”Katy asked, her eyes wide.It was the largest tech company in the world.
Otto nodded.“We evolved.Still deal heavy metals some.But tech comes easy to us.”
She supposed it made sense.They’d been around for hundreds of years.They’d had time to learn everything.The phone vibrated again.She started to hand it to Otto, but saw her name.
Gage: Katy, are you all right?
She frowned.Why did he care?He’s not with KOV, remember?But that didn’t mean he was Team Katy either.
Otto’s phone: I’m being held prisoner by a Supernatural Narcissist.Although Otto is awesome, so I can’t really complain.
Gage: Try not to piss the Supernatural Narcissist off, please.I’d like to get you out of there without starting a war.
Katy sighed.So she was right.He was going to try to rescue her.She was flattered.Sort of.I mean, he was doing it because that’s what good guys did, not because she was anyone special to him.But she wasn’t gonna lie and say it wouldn’t have been nice for him to have fallen madly in love with her at first sight and wanted her that instant and had to have her blah, blah, book boyfriend blah.Damn Lola and her novels for putting those ideas in Katy’s head.
Otto’s phone: I don’t need or want to be rescued.So don’t concern yourself with the possibility of war.I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.Thanks.
She wished she was a fly on the wall when he read that text.She had a feeling not many people told Gage to take a hike, which was essentially what she was doing.Katy set the phone on the bedside table.She was exhausted.She’d love to sit and banter back and forth with him, because he’d no doubt have some interesting things to say about her response, but she needed sleep—a lot of sleep.
“Goodnight, Otto.”She received a grunt in return.Her footsteps were quiet as she padded over and flipped the light switch, plunging the room into darkness.The only light was the moon shining through the window, partially hidden by the heavy drapes.Katy climbed into the massive bed and didn’t feel bad for a single second that it was a hundred times more comfortable than her broken spring bed at home.Though her dad was probably worried sick.Maybe she should use the phone to contact her dad tomorrow and just give him something, like an “I went on an irresponsible road trip” story.It was a thing, right?She’d sleep on it and see how she felt about it in the morning.
As she closed her eyes, Gage’s rough, handsome face filled her mind.When she drifted off, she could have sworn she felt his strong arms wrap around her and his large body press against her back, protecting her and keeping her warm throughout the night.
Chapter 10
Savor Every Moment.
“I’m a beast.No seriously.I’m a freaking beast.It’s awesome.”~Lola
Lola blew out a hard breath, causing her cheeks to puff out as she stood staring at the closed door.Her hands had begun to sweat, so she tried to surreptitiously wipe them on her jeans.
“You do realize it’s not going to jump out and bite you, right?”Callon asked from behind her.
Yeah, but you might,she mentally countered.“I’m well aware of how a door works, Mr.Leo, but thanks for the coaching.”
“Then why are you just staring at it?”
Lola didn’t know how to answer that question because there were just too many things going on inside her mind.She’d just shifted into a huge-ass female lion several times, and a couple of those weren’t even intentional.She was still emotionally rolling from it, and the crazy thing was that when she started to think about it, her heart would race, and she’d get excited and then?—
“You really are beautiful in your beast form.”Callon stroked a hand down her back—her very lioness-form back.
Dammit, I did it again.Lola plopped down on her haunches and threw her head back, much like she would have done if she’d have been in her human form, something that Callon found immensely funny.
