“Soaskme then."
Lachlan looks confused.
“Ask you what?” he finally relents.
“Ask me to come with you. Don’t dictate or command like you would a pet. Ask me, like you would a person you actually gave a shit about.”
My voice betrays me and breaks a little as I finish. I look away and tighten my stranglehold on my emotions. When I feel under control, I look back into two green, fathomless pools of emotion I couldn’t even begin to decipher.
“Vinna, will you come with us?" Lachlan caves, his tone even and emotionless.
I guess that’s the best I can hope for from the prick.I release a big sigh, but don’t bother to answer him. I just turn around and start pulling two rows of books from their shelves and set them on the floor.
“These are the only things in here that are mine. I have a couple of duffle bags, but I’ll need some boxes for some of my other things.”
Silva stands up and walks out the door. I’m about to follow him and tell him that he won’t find anywhere around here that sells boxes this late at night, but he walks back in with a stack of boxes. I shake my head. Maybe box making is one of his magical abilities. Who am I to judge? I mean, I use magic to style my hair.
“We can spread out, each of us packing a different room," Keegan directs and reaches for a box.
“That’s not necessary. I don’t own a lot. These books and some stuff in the bathroom and bedroom," I explain. I grab a box that Silva taped together and walk to the bedroom.
“Silva, I’ll probably only need three," I yell over my shoulder.
I assign Keegan my closet and Evrin my dresser. Mostly I just wanted to see how uncomfortable the tattooed hard ass would be when he has to pack my underwear. Lachlan’s texting on his phone, so I turn to Aydin with a shrug.
“I don’t have anything for you to do. Nothing else in here is mine other than the clothes.”
“And there’s not many of those either," Keegan grumbles from the closet.
He’s right. I don’t own a lot of clothes. I hate shopping, and most of what I do have is workout clothes because that’s how I spend the majority of my time. I leave them to it and head to the bathroom to pack it up. Twenty minutes later, all my possessions sit in three boxes stacked by the door.
“You weren’t joking when you said you didn’t have a lot to pack," Silva comments looking at the small stack.
I shrug. I can tell that my meager collection of belongings bothers them. I keep catching looks of sympathy and dismay being exchanged back and forth, but it is what it is.
“So, where the fuck are you dragging me off to?” I walk over to the black duffle bag that’s sitting by the bookshelf and open it.
“We live in a town called Solace. It’s in northern Maine, a couple of hours west of Presque Isle," Keegan starts, as I pull out the bottom shelf of the bookcase.
“It was founded in 1635 after the first witch trials began in North America. It’s predominately a caster community, although a few shifter packs live there too. It’s spelled so nons can’t find it, which allows us to stay safe and secluded.”
“Don’t the locals think that’s weird?” I ask as I start to transfer stacks of money from the bottom of the bookshelf into the duffle bag. “I mean they would know there’s a town there but can’t find it on a map or GPS?”
“It’s spelled to keep nons away entirely, so they don’t even know it exists," Keegan explains, sounding distracted. “Anyway, inside Solace our coven has about 25 acres with all sorts of fun things to do: lakes, ATVs, camping, swimming, and there’s a stable on the property next to ours, so there are horses.”
I place the full black duffle bag by the boxes and grab the empty one I set aside earlier.
“I’m still listening, just talk louder, I need to get my stash in the back," I tell Keegan.
I walk back to the bedroom, and everyone follows me.
“Uhhh…we…um…recently tore down the old house and rebuilt one that works better for us. We all live there, including Silva’s two nephews.”
I pull out the two bottom drawers of my dresser and nod at Keegan, encouraging him to continue talking. I pull more stacks of cash from the dresser and begin filling the second duffle bag.
“You rob a bank, kid?” Aydin finally asks me.
I chuckle, shaking my head. They’ve all been watching me empty my hidey-holes with wide eyes, and I wondered how long it would take before someone asked me what the hell I was doing.
