It also amused me because if he'd had any clue that he'd been chasing a woman, he would have been doubly irritated and even more intrigued.
Despite the tight band of pain that still surrounded my skull, I found myself smiling.
Maybe I could introduce them someday.
My smile faded at the thought. I doubted that would happen. Ever.
The woman in my dreams was coming to Austin and I would likely never meet her. Even if I did, I imagined she would fear me as deeply as she feared Rhiannon and Caleb. If not more.
She was close enough to touch, but still far from my reach.
I jumped at the fist that slammed into my door and bit back a curse.
Consumed with my thoughts, I hadn't heard Callum approach. I hated when he surprised me, which meant he tried to do it as often as possible.
"Ava called. There's a new vamp coming to town today and he's presenting himself to them at nine. She wants us both there."
I sighed and stood. Callum smirked at me when I opened the door. He'd insisted we share a house when we came to Austin. Something about living alone making me intolerable. Or maybe it was insufferable.
"Why does she wantusthere? We have no authority. There are no vampire covens or groups here because of the witches and the wolf pack. They tolerate us because we don't stir up trouble, hunt and kill humans, and we got rid of Rhiannon for them."
Callum crossed his arms over his chest and leaned a shoulder against the jamb. "I brought up all those pertinent details, but Ava said that we were part of her family and this vampire wanted an alliance, which means we all have to be there when they meet so we can make a decision 'together'," he stated, lifting his hands long enough to make the air quotes sign. "I told her that it was six in the bloody morning and I trusted Macgrath to make the best decision, but she wasn't having any of it."
"Well, have fun," I replied, reaching out to shut the door.
Callum straightened and used an arm to keep me from closing him out. "Nu-uh. If I have to go, you have to go. I'm not suffering alone. All for one and one for all."
"For the last time, we're not the Three Musketeers."
"Don't care. If I'm going, you're going."
"No."
Callum lifted a brow and smiled. "So, you want me to tell Ava, the most powerful witch we've ever met, the creator of vampires, that you want your solitude and you're not coming? I'm pretty sure we both know what she'd do then."
I sighed again. "Good point."
In reality, neither of us knew what she would do, and it was better if it stayed that way. If my rotten luck held, she could teleport us both to her shop with a snap of her fingers. The sorceress was beyond powerful and she was the mother of vampires, even if she was a witch rather than a vampire herself.
While she never lorded it over either of us, it wasn't a good idea to underestimate her.
Callum didn't wait for me to say anything else. He tapped the door with a finger. "Be ready to leave at eight. I want to drink some coffee and eat a pastry before we meet the visitor."
"Fine. Workout before or after the meeting?"
He yawned. "After the meeting. I stayed up 'til three in the morning playing Skyrim. I'm gonna take another hour to nap before I get ready."
He'd already turned and walked back down the hall to his room, so he didn't see me roll my eyes.
I glanced back at my bed and considered trying to do the same, but dismissed it. There was no way I could go back to sleep now that I knew she was coming.
I decided to spend an hour on physical conditioning before eating and getting ready to go to Ava's meeting. An extra workout wouldn't hurt me. It would clear the last dregs of my headache away and maybe help me focus on something other than the words that hummed in the corners of my mind.
She's coming.
* * *
Callum smirked then yawnedas we entered The Magic Bean, the coffee shop-slash-New-Age store that Ava owned. Technically, she carried items for witches, but the word witchcraft was still given a wide berth in the Southern parts of the U.S.
