“Oh, absolutely. I plan to talk for hours.”
He arched a brow at me and then gave me a lopsided smile. “Hours, huh?”
“Unless you’re easily talked out,” I replied.
He grinned. “I have a large vocabulary, and I know how to use it.” He retrieved his still-ringing phone and frowned. “It’s Willy.” He answered. “Sorry, Willy, I was changing clothes,” he explained.
“The cleaner is on the way. I found a guy in Sedalia who can take care of it.”
“That’s only half an hour away,” I told Jo Jo.
“Exactly right,” Willy said. “He’ll leave if he sees you, so you two need to get the hell out of there before he arrives.”
“Got it.” I grabbed the edges of my bra, brought it around to the front of my chest and refastened it. “We’ll be out of here in five minutes.”
Jo Jo hung up. His expression was disappointed. “I guess our conversation has to wait until later.”
“Seriously, get in the shower. Make it fast.” I went up on my tip toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then patted his chest. “We can revisit the stimulating discourse later.”
He gave me a lopsided grin. “I look forward to it.”
* * *
Jo Jo – I could die a happy man.
The water heated up quickly,but I cranked it down to freezing cold to stop myself from throwing caution to the wind and rushing something that I didn’t want to rush. Although, I did need to rush my clean-up. We had less than a half hour to get on the road. Etta was a goddess among women, and I planned to worship every inch of her body. Until then, I scrubbed the landfills and Pete’s blood from my skin before giving my hair a quick wash. Killing a man had been easier than I imagined, but it hadn’t felt good. Even in my rage, I knew I’d had to do everything I could to keep the werewolf from going furry. I was strong, but I wasn’t a trained fighter. I didn’t grow up having to have those skills to survive. Willy was a small woman, and she told me once, that what she lacked in size, she made up for with tenacity.
“When you get them down, you throw everything at them to keep them down,” she said. “A bad guy who can’t get off the ground can’t kill you.”
I’d taken the lesson to heart. Still, seeing what I had done to Pete unsettled me. From what Etta said, his father was a dangerous man, and I mentally prepared myself for the retaliation that would eventually find me.
It had been worth it. Pete had earned his death. Holding Etta’s lifeless, broken body in my arms nearly destroyed me. My coyote had been inconsolable. A part of me had wanted to die with her. One thing had become very clear in that heartbreaking moment, I wasn’t going to let Etta go again. If that meant moving away from Peculiar to become an integrator, so be it. But first, we had to take care of William.
I’ll admit I was relieved when Sunny told me Doc and Chav were meeting us at Grand Lake Grove. Etta was physically vulnerable, thanks to the conjuror, and I wasn’t sure I could protect her from William’s soldiers without help. Not that I wouldn’t try. I’d give my last breath to keep her safe. The clock was ticking, though, and whoever this mysterious wise woman was, I hoped she held the answers we’d need to survive whatever William had planned.
Sufficiently clean, I turned the water off and hollered, “Do you have any extra toothbrushes?”
“In the drawer under the bamboo shelf.” Etta’s voice was in the room, and I tugged the curtain back to peer at her. “I just brought in your clothes.” She opened the drawer of her small shelf and took out a toothbrush. “Toothpaste is on the sink. We’ll throw them in my bag when you’re done.”
I yanked open the curtain and grabbed a towel from the rail. “I’m done now.” I noticed Etta’s gaze scraping my body, her eyes resting on my package. “But I won’t be if you keep looking at me like that.”
Her eyes widened as she pivoted her gaze to mine. “Sorry, I didn’t…” She licked her lips. “We need to hurry.”
I wrapped the towel around my waist. “Yep. Be out in a half a minute. Have your stuff ready to go.”
“I’m ready,” she said, and I got the distinct feeling she wasn’t just talking about her bags.
The woman was going to be the death of me. On the other hand, I’d die a happy man.
CHAPTERSEVEN
Etta – I got nine thousand three hundred and sixty-four problems, but howling at the full moon isn’t one of them.
On the drive to Grand Lake Grove, I calculated all the many, many ways going to Oklahoma could go horribly wrong. One, we were headed into unknown territory. Two, I had no idea where or how to find the wise woman of the lake, or old lady, or whatever she was. Three, William might have more zealots waiting for me when we got there, and the nine thousand three hundred and sixty-one more ways War would tear me apart when he found out his son was dead. Worse, I didn’t want to think about what he would do to Jo Jo. I shuddered at the thought.
I’d talked Jo Jo into napping while I drove. He’d been awake going on thirty hours, and if he didn’t get some rest, he wouldn’t be in peak condition for the coming fight.
I hit a pothole turning off the turnpike, and the jostling woke him up. He peered at me through squinted eyes. “What’s on your mind?” he asked as he sat up straight.
