“Would you mind holding my tea for me while I grab the other chair?”
“Not at all.”
I held our steaming mugs while she got herself a seat, warmth spreading through me when she settled her chair beside mine. Although she spent many hours at my bedside, sometimes it felt like we were so far apart. Which, again, was probably from all the things we very much needed to say.
The two of us sat there for a while, sipping at our drinks and staring at the beauty around us. Once more, I wondered if I was going to be a coward and let the moment slip by, but Ven spoke first.
“You ordered Ricky to take me away if things went sideways.”
Well, it looked like we were jumping straight into it. I always liked that about Ven. She was direct.
“I did.”
“That was wrong of you. It broke my trust in you.”
Sometimes Ven had such a matter-of-fact way of saying things, it was easy to assume she wasn’t affected by the topicat hand. But I knew her well enough to tell she was very much bothered, and my nose caught the stress rolling off her in bitter waves. I hated that I made her smell like that.
“Ven, I did it for?—”
“I knowwhyyou did it, and ultimately getting me out of there was the right call, because it allowed me to put together the group that freed you and everyone else. I’m not objecting to having a backup plan to make sure that Ricky and I got out safe.”
Oh, she wasn’t? I felt like I was misunderstanding something.
“Then, what...?”
“What I’m upset about is that you thought you couldn’t discuss any of this with me. That you had to baby me and go behind my back like I’m a moron who doesn’t understand logic.” The stress in her shifted into something with a bit more brimstone. She was angry. Had I ever experienced her being angry at me? I didn’t think so. It was a strange sensation, and I didn’t like it.
“Look, I get that you and Ricky are shifters, and I’m a human. There’s a whole bunch of things you guys can do that I can’t, and I’m fine with that, but when we make a plan together, every one of us needs to be included inallaspects of the plan. Going behind my back like that told me you didn’t trust me to make the right decision, which I do find pretty ironic considering that twice now I have had to clean you up after our plans went to shit.”
She had several points, and I did feel quite a bit guilty for assuming she would be difficult about retreating rather than practical. But as much as I respected where she was coming from, there was a deep truth that neither of us were acknowledging.
“I’m sorry I went behind your back, Ven. However, I do have to ask…” I reached over and put my hand on her wrist. Althoughso much of her was soft, large, and lovely, I couldn’t help but marvel at how small and delicate her hands were compared to my massive palms. “Can you honestly tell me you would have been able to leave me behind?”
I appreciated that Ven didn’t scoff and immediately rebuff my question. I hated when people did that in a discussion, because it usually showed they weren’t really hearing what I was saying. But Ven remained quiet, and I watched a litany of emotions cross her beautiful features. Although she might not have agreed with me, I could tell she was truly pondering what I’d asked. That meant a lot to me.
“I...”
My senses pricked, and I lurched to my feet, arm out as if I was going to protect Ven even in my weakened state. An eagle spiraled out of the sky and crashed in front of us. Ven was on her feet in an instant, running over to the animal as it quickly shifted into a battered-looking human.
“Oh my god! Are you okay?”
The shifter looked woozy as she tried to sit up, so Ven and I knelt on either side of her. Our conversation definitely wasn’t over, but even in its interrupted state, I felt like we were one step closer to getting it back to our normal rhythm.
“Hey, don’t move. Let me take a look at you, okay?”
“America…” the girl wheezed. I had no idea how old she was, but she looked like she was barely out of high school. “She told me not to go. She told me.”
“That’s okay, honey, we got you,” Ven said. “We’ll call America and have her come pick you up. But let me take care of you first, okay? Keep you on track until that healing of yours kicks in.”
The girl shook her head. “No. I went there, you see. I got in and out. I did it!”
Even though she was half delirious, I could hear the steady conviction in the young girl’s voice.
“Did what?” I asked, adding a rumbling subharmonic into my alpha voice. It wasn’t a command, more of a soothing mechanism. It didn’t always work, especially across species, but I figured it was worth a shot.
“One of the brothers’ compound. I found out what he’s planning.”
Ven and I exchanged concerned glances, wondering how much of what the girl said was true and how much was delirious rambling.
