There was a pause on Silas’s end and murmuring in the background. When he came back on, he sounded resolved to something. “Grateful has agreed to come to you.”
“Grateful Knight? The witch? Why?”
“She’ll walk through the property, looking for residual magic. If Jonah has been anywhere near you, she might be able to trace him to where he’s hiding.”
“How am I supposed to explain her being here?”
“Make something up,” Silas said, obviously annoyed. “Tomorrow morning, go outside at sunrise and face east. She’ll be there.”
“I don’t trust this witch, Silas. All I hear about Grateful Knight is how trouble follows her wherever she goes.”
“Fine. Don’t trust her. Trust me.”
She sighed heavily.
“Stay safe, Laina.”
“Wait, what about Jason?”
“I’m calling him next. He’ll be right beside you.”
ChapterTwenty-Five
“Which way is east?” Jason asked.
Laina held up the compass on her phone and turned toward the path where Kyle had taken her to see his tree house. “That way.”
“So we just wait here? In the dark?” Jason frowned.
The slightest bit of silver lined the horizon, but Laina empathized with her brother’s foul mood. They were both exhausted, having stayed up late talking about the shooting and then rising before dawn. Neither of them had personalities that thrived on less than four hours sleep. Plus, Laina’s shoulder was barely healed; she needed her rest.
“Let’s move away from the house. I don’t want to have to explain this to Kyle. As it is, we’re lucky Milo didn’t give us away.”
“Seems like you have no problem explaining things to Kyle.”
Laina looked over her shoulder toward the mansion as they walked toward the back of the property. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I have wolf hearing, and I’m staying in the room next to yours. Do you think I missed the profession of love between you two last night?”
“Jason, I—”
“You came wickedly close to breaking pack law and telling him what we are. You know you’re just making things harder on yourself. He’s your vice. It’s going to be exponentially harder to break the habit now that you’ve fed it.”
“I love him, Jason.”
He gave a short laugh, then sobered when he saw she was serious. “But… It’s not like you can marry him. You know that, right? You’ve got to frame this up in your mind as an affair, nothing more. Love can’t change the world.”
Tears spilled over her bottom lids. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.” Even if he couldn’t see her tears, it was impossible not to hear them in her voice.
Jason did a double take and pulled her into his arms, kissing the side of her head. “I’m sorry, La. Truly.”
“I know.”
Light broke the horizon and spread through the trees beyond the gate, fanning out and casting shadows in their direction. One shadow morphed into a woman’s silhouette, another into an enormous man’s.
“What the actual hell?” Laina whispered.
The silhouettes stepped forward, transforming into solid shapes. The woman, a curvy blond in black leather pants and a racer-back tank, stopped at the gate. The man waited behind her, completely naked, a tower of muscle who gave off seriously deadly vibes. Laina raised an eyebrow and forced herself to close her mouth and look away. Jason murmured, “Holy shit, that guy is big.”
