She stepped back into my bedroom. “No, you won’t.”
“You going to tell me what’s going on with Mere?”
Evie raised her eyebrow at me as if I’d done something interesting. Little brat.
“I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
“Come on, I’m not an idiot. I know something happened to the outside of her bar. Something you’re covering up.”
“If you already know, why are you asking?”
“I want to know who is targeting her and why.”
“She’s got it handled.”
I opened my mouth, and she glowered at me. “Girl code, Vas. I’m not telling you shit.”
I ground my teeth. Truthfully, it wasn’t any of my business anyway. Mere had made it clear she wanted nothing more to do with me, and I couldn’t blame her. Besides, even after our kiss—the best kiss of my life—I knew I needed to stay away from Mere and focus on my task. I owed Ag that much, at least.
“Fine. Just watch over her while I’m gone.”
She studied me, and I glanced away from her blue-green gaze. “You could stay and watch over her yourself,” she said.
“Can’t. Just make sure nothing happens to her while I’m out of town.”
“She wouldn’t be pleased by the suggestion that she needs watching after.”
“She’s powerful, but her power wasn’t made for fighting. You know that.”
“Yup.” She popped the “p,” and I leaned over and flicked her nose.
She scowled at me, and I grinned. “No ward there.”
“There will be,” she said darkly, and my grin widened.
“You want to be with Mere.”
“Jesus, you’re like a dog with a bone.”
She sat on the edge of my unmade bed and watched me dump the last of my clothes into my suitcase.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “She doesn’t want to be with me, Evie. She’s made that clear. I want her safe because, yeah, I care about her and I made a vow. But things have changed now. I don’t have time to flirt and tease and sniff around her. I have an assassin to kill.”
Even though I’d flirted and teased andkissedher last night. And even though the simple memory of that kiss made me harden. I turned away so Evie wouldn’t notice. If she saw me gettingexcitedat the mention of Mere, I’d never live it down.
“Well, you’ve been very clear there, Vas. That makes perfect sense.” Evie got to her feet.
I eyed her. Evie in an agreeable mood seemed like it was Evie at her most dangerous.
“I’m glad you agree.”
“Of course. And if someone were to get past me and Kyla and kill Meredith, well… You’ll just hunt them down and kill them, and it’ll all be fine. Right?”
My chest tightened at the thought of Mere dying. “If you think she’s in that much trouble, I’ll make her stay here at the tower.”
Evie laughed and patted me on the cheek. “If you think you can make Mere do anything, then you still don’t know her. Have a safe flight, Vas.”
With that, she sauntered out of my room, leaving me grinding my teeth, my hands sweating as I imagined Mere dead.
