As much as I hatedmyselfat times, I never felt like my very existence was wrong.
I’ve had weeks to wonder what Villeneuve meant when he said he was protecting me from himself, but I think I’m finally beginning to understand. There was never any part of him that thought I would accept him as my mate if he just came to me and told me the truth.
Not when he can’t even accept himself.
Chapter
Nineteen
ELIAS
The SUV rolls to a stop in front of the Starbridge mansion, and for a moment, no one moves.
I’ve seen this building before. Photographs mostly, a few surveillance images from Council files.
In person, it’s exactly as pretentious as I expected. Georgian revival, three stories of brick and white columns. It screams old money and no taste in equal measure. The windows are dark. Yellow crime tape stretches across the entrance, bright neon against the gray and gloom.
Sean is the first one out of the vehicle.
He exits like he’s been launched from a catapult, tucking into a surprisingly agile roll that ends with him crouched behind the front wheel, one hand pressed to his ear as if he’s receiving transmissions from a covert operations team.
“Big Bear to base,” he says in a low, urgent voice. “We have arrived at the target location. Awaiting further instructions.”
I close my eyes.
Count to three.
Regina climbs out after him, her expression both amused and exasperated. “Sean, what are you doing?”
“Maintaining operational security, Sexy Witch.” He peeks around the SUV, scanning the empty front lawn like there might be snipers in the bushes. “We can’t be too careful.”
“Are you just recycling our group chat nicknames for codenames?”
“Mostly.” Sean stands, brushing grass off his jeans. “Killian is Top Dog. Rowan is Nerd. Micah is Nerd Prime now. And Villeneuve is Stick, because we call him—well, you know.”
I step out of the driver’s side and fix him with a look that has made doctoral candidates weep.
“If you call me that again,” I say calmly, “I am going to roast you like a marshmallow.”
Sean’s eye goes wide. For a blessed moment, I think I’ve actually rendered him speechless.
Then his face splits into a grin so wide I’m surprised it doesn’t hurt.
“Iknewyou could breathe fire in this form!” He points at me with both hands. “You’ve been holding out on us!”
“That is not?—”
“Can you do it on command? Like, if you wanted to light a cigarette, could you just—” He makes a whooshing sound and mimes flames shooting from his mouth. “Boom, instant fire?”
I turn and stalk toward the mansion. Behind me, I hear Regina snicker and the others getting out of the SUV.
“Right, right. Sorry. Discretion.” I hear heavy footsteps as Sean jogs to catch up with us. “We’ll work on a new code name. How about Scaleface? No, too aggressive. Flamebro? Nah, that’s giving frat. What about?—”
“Sean.”
“Wingy McWingface?”
“Sean.”
