“That’s funny,” Harlan says, sounding anything but amused. “Are we going to have a problem?”
“Harlan,” Kyren and Isidro groan.
“Sounds like I’m not the problem,” I snort, beginning to stride away.
“Can I go with you if you’re going to find Silva?” Isidro asks, half jogging to catch up with me.
“To find someone, you have to not know where a person is. I know where Silva is,” I correct him.
“Syrus,” Isidro says. “Don’t be a dick. Harlan is really easy going until his sense of justice is triggered. He’s been looking for Silva for a long damn time. I don’t think she was what he expected to find.”
“If it’s one thing I’ve learned, reality is better than any fantasy when it comes to Spitfire,” I tell him. “You don’t deserve her; not the way you three spoke to her.”
“What if you’re in the doghouse too?” he asks.
“For not telling her about my sister?” I ask. At his nod, I shake my head. “Silva is more apt to feel guilt than anything else regarding Maeve. We know we don’t know everything about each other yet. That’s why it’s called a new relationship.”
The unsaid “dipshit” rings loud as I get to my vehicle, and Isidro has the sense to appear sheepish.
“I’ve been with my alphas for ten years,” he says. “New isn’t in my vocabulary with them. I need to fix this. Silva is Harlan’s scent match, as well as Kyren’s. They do everything together. It would figure this would be the same.”
Even you?I think. Hmm. Well, that’s another odd thought I’ll think about later.
“If you fuck this up, I’ll shoot you and leave you for dead,” I finally say, nodding at him to get into the SUV.
Isidro wisely doesn’t reply, and climbs into the back seat. I don’t like him at my back. It makes me twitchy.
Choosing Silva over my own comfort, I begin to follow the little GPS dot tracking her.
Come on, baby.Don’t do anything stupid please.
Harlan
As the SUV disappears, I find myself annoyed.
“I’m a damn bull in a china shop,” I grumble, getting ready to walk back to the bed and breakfast.
“You are,” Kyren agrees, falling into step beside me. “I’m not much better so I can’t give you shit for it. We fucked up pretty spectacularly.”
“I get the feeling that Silva is terrified of everything, she simply does a damn good job of pretending she’s not,” I sigh.
“You went through the same psych courses that I did,” he says, smacking me upside the head. At this rate, my ears are going to permanently ring.
There’s a bruise along my jaw, and it didn’t escape my notice that Silva completely ignored it. Or, she was too busy freaking out to notice.
“I need context,” I say, scowling. “I don’t like feeling dumb.”
“Silva can push through her fear when she needs to,” Kyren says, his glare insisting that I pull it together immediately. “Think about the way we speak to people. We can stay calm and collected even when we’re mad as hell.”
“We’re trained for this. Unless you’re about to tell me Silva is a secret operative, then I’m still lost.”
“Nah,” Kyren says. “Trauma makes her able to push everything else away until she can deal with it. That’s what Syrus meant by things rarely spooking her. It’s the outward appearance of being upset more than anything else. If she’s showing her emotions, then shit is going south. See?”
“Yes,” I say, understanding what he means. “We’re also an unknown. Silva saw us as a threat, and still does. I haven’t done a great job of neutralizing that.”
“You also made it clear you think she’s hiding here,” Kyren says helpfully.
“Fuck,” I groan. “Yes, I think she might have the tools to blow this shit out of the water. Silva and her sister could save other omegas. Why won’t she?”
