Chapter Thirty-Two
“He's there!” Lex's shout was followed by the sound of footsteps pounding down the stairs. He appeared in the living room doorway seconds later. “Come on! Silas just showed up at Ace's house. We gotta go now!”
I got up to go with them, but Jake pushed me back down onto the couch with a “stay there” stare.
“What the fuck?” I smacked his hand away and stood up. “I'm going.”
“Please,” was all Jake said.
It was enough.
“Fuck!” I flounced back onto the couch and crossed my arms over my chest.
Jake's expression softened. “Thank you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
“You'll be safe here behind the ward,” Cyrus said. “Don't leave for any reason, Salina.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“Salina!” Jake growled.
“I know!”
The hounds ran out of the room. Moments later, I heard them drive away. I let out a frustrated breath. I knew they were right. It was better for me to stay there. I'd be a distraction at best. I didn't have any magic that could help them. Maybe I'd already done my part to unmask Silas. Maybe this was it.
But something shook in my chest, telling me it was far from over. I got up and went to the kitchen. Looked in the fridge. Couldn't even eat. The shaky feeling traveled down to my belly and wasn't conducive to keeping food down. I went back to the living room and stared out the window. Was I really going to be that woman—standing at the window, waiting for her man to return? Or, in my case, men.
Then I saw him. Ace. Well, I saw his car pull up to the gate. It was a long way off, but I could recognize a Rolls from a greater distance than that. And although I couldn't see his face, when the driver got out, his height, build, and hair color gave him away. It was definitely Ace. He was shouting and waving his arms about.
“Why the fuck are you here?” I muttered as I went to the front door.
I felt safe enough to go to the gate. The entire property was warded, so it wasn't as if Ace could climb over the gate and grab me. I snatched a set of keys from the holder near the door and went out to the garage. I wasn't about to walk all the way to the gate in heels. Screw that.
Hitting an unlock button on the key fob helped me find the car it went to—Lex's Lexus. Yes, I think he bought a Lexus just because of the name. Still, it was a nice car. I got in, startedher up, and drove down to the gate. Ace stopped shouting when he saw me coming.
I parked and got out. “What are you doing here, Ace?”
“Where are your friends? I need their help.”
“They're . . . not here. What happened?”
“Fuck!” Ace tried to grab the gate but was repelled, his hand bouncing back. “What the hell?”
“It's a ward.”
“A what?”
“Like an invisible barrier. It's magic.”
“Right. Magic.” He grimaced. “I'm so fucking sick of this.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“Silas just took my house.”
“What?”
