We were in a shitty situation here with far too many unknowns for me to be comfortable with her being in any space by herself.
With that fucked up pentagram being the only thing in the storage unit and then that unknown person having been in our hotel room I had no idea what we’d gotten ourselves into here. I had no idea if we were up against two different things here or if they were somehow connected.
I did not like not knowing things where Ariel was concerned. She had a knack for attracting a stupid amount of danger and I knew it wasn’t exactly her fault but it absolutely could be quite obnoxious at times. The job was never boring, that was for sure.
Some days, like today, I kind of wished for boring.
I felt like our relationship would never be able to progress if we were constantly in the thick of shit and I was well past ready for our relationship to move forward.
Because Simon and I both grew up hoping we’d one day find that other missing link to our souls we had individually decided to wait for that special someone. Part of it was that when we didn’t feel that bond with someone there was absolutely nothing there for either of us. Ariel had been the only person either of us had ever had any desire to have sex with. So we’d both remained virgins while we waited for her.
Ariel was the experienced one here out of the three of us. I hoped that when the time came she was worth the long wait. But I knew without a doubt she would be.
I called Quinton the moment we got in the SUV and left the hotel. I stopped once to check the vehicle over for any tracking devices, be they magical or otherwise. I found none so we drove around for awhile making sure we weren’t being followed.
Quinton had found us a place to stay that was out of the way and very private. The biggest cabin was where the manager lived. It was up the road and out of sight from the rental cabins. The cabins were all down a dirt road and spaced far enough apart from each other that they weren’t right on top of one another and it gave off a certain sense of privacy.
Our cabin was the last one and had a pretty decent view of a river off the back porch.
Solitude could be a good thing but in this case it kind of made me a little bit nervous. I had no idea what we were up against and it was starting to create an itch under my skin.
I stood outside on the back deck with my phone to my ear, listening to it ring as I stared out at the dark water.
Quinton answered on the third ring. “I fucking hate that I’m not there with her right now. I knew this shit was going to fuck with me when I sent her out there with the two of you but I did it anyway because I’m getting sick and tired of watching the three of you dance around each other. But, of fucking course, nothing can ever just go easy with her. Now I have to figure out if I want to have my ass there or call Rain and get my ass chewed out so that he can have his ass there. This fucked with my whole plan. I gotta tell you, Trenton, Iam nothappy with any of this.”
Fuck Quinton Alexander. I didn’t answer to him and I sure as fuck did not take orders from him.
I was always respectful toward him because he was the head of Ariel’s coven and it made my life a whole lot easier to include him in her safety. But enough was enough and I was not going to allow him to speak to me as if I were a child and he was my parent.
I also didn’t like that he was trying to insert himself into our relationship with Ariel. I got that he was one of her husbands and I respected that. But he knew when he got involved with her that it was never going to just be the two of them and she’d have multiple partners he’d have to deal with. He knew it and he was more than okay with it.
But somehow Quinton thought he could be the boss to every single person in his life. He needed to learn now not to overstep his place and if he waned to be respected as a person then he ought to learn a little something about giving respect in return.
“I’ve had enough of your bullshit, Quinton. This was a curtesy call and one I gave because of who you are to her and the role you play in her life. But I’m telling you right now that if you don’t back the fuck off when it comes to Simon and myself then that curtesy that I’ve been affording you is going to disappearreal quick. Stay out of our fucking relationship with her. Now, she’s here with us and she’s safe. For now. Now I’m pissed and I’m not interested in carrying on this conversation with you any longer. Text me when you figure out what you want to do and I’ll text you with any updates on my end.”
And, with that, I hung up on him before I could say anything that I might regret later.
He was too fucking used to people letting him get away with running their lives and it was getting out of control. He needed to learn that there were some people he wasn’t going to get away doing that to and I was one of them.
And that was just fucking that.
I had no idea how Rain put up with his shit all the time and didn’t constantly beat his ass.
Then again, Quinton Alexander and Rain Kimber were so damn similar it was almost like he was Rain’s biological son himself.
My phone vibrated with a text and I looked down at the screen, expecting it to be Rain chewing my ass out.
It wasn’t.
It was from Quinton.
Quinton:I apologize. You’re right and your relationship is none of my business. I’ll back off. Keep me updated on everything else and I’ll do the same.
Jesus fucking Christ. An apology from Quinton Alexander and he’d agreed to back off. Had stranger things happened?
I shoved my phone into my jeans pocket and pushed Quinton into the back recesses of my mind. I didn’t have the energy to allow him to occupy my mind at the moment when I had the situation at hand that I needed to focus on first and foremost.
I heard the door slide open and shut and knew my brother had joined me out on the deck.
