He reached out with a warm hand and stroked my cheek with his knuckles. “We’ll get through it together.” He then plastered on a mischievous grin. “Now can we get to the surprise? I’m dying to show you.”
The car wasn’t the surprise? Nerves churned in my gut. Was he finally going to propose? Properly?
“Come on.” He yanked me forward, grinning like a fool. Whatever it was had him excited, and so I was going to be excited too. Jogging after him, I pulled at my t-shirt that readSorry I’m late, I didn’t want to come.Maybe this was a bad choice for a possible proposal outfit? Why did I suck so bad at this? Meredith would have worn a minidress every day of the week until Sawyer proposed. I just didn’t have the energy, or desire.
We got into the car and Sawyer sped off down the road. I stared at the black leather, the fancy silver knobs, and inhaled the brand-new smell. He bought me a car. Abrand-newcar that could survive a zombie apocalypse. My gaze flicked to the rearview mirror to see Walsh and Sage right behind us.
“Any hints on my surprise?” I asked.
Sawyer grinned but said nothing. We left campus and turned away from downtown, heading for the suburbs.
I watched contentedly as the trees and buildings passed by, while Sawyer’s thumb stroked small circles on my thigh. It was weird to have been through everything and now jump right back into life like nothing happened. I looked at Sawyer and I could see the cool, calm, collectedness he always carried. It’s like we hadn’t both just nearly died and people weren’t chasing after me to “consume my essence.” As long as we were together, he seemed okay, and I was too. Just glad to be back in his arms.
“Is there something you want to talk about?” He looked over at me and I realized I was staring at him.
I swallowed. “It was just a rough few days. Feels surreal to be back and… I dunno, doing normal stuff.”
His lips pulled into a frown and he nodded. “Do you need to talk to someone about it? I mean, see someone? No shame—”
“No.” I waved him off. “Just… venting.”
His hand squeezed my thigh. “You can talk to me if you want. I mean, I know you told me the basics of what happened, but…” He trailed off.
I nodded, glad that he wasn’t a guy who was afraid of emotional depth. “The troll girl who helped me?” I said.
He nodded, pulling off the highway and onto a large street lined with trees.
“Her name was Marmal and she was a badass. She was… attacked by the vampires at a young age and her neighbor taught her to shoot a shotgun. So now she runs a farm by herself and the vampires don’t fuck with her.”
Sawyer grinned. “I like her already.”
I smiled. “And I want a shotgun now! And did you know the dark fey have high priestesses that can shoot black magic nets out of their mouths?”
He growled; it was more of a painful whine, and I quieted.
“I did,” he said. “And it kills me to not have been there with you, helping get you out of it.” His eyes flicked jealously to the rearview mirror for a millisecond.
I pointed to the ankle bracelet on his leg. “You couldn’t. I understand.”
His hand tightened on the steering wheel. “I’m going to make sure you’re never taken from me again.”
I reached out and stroked his hair as he turned into a nice community of what looked like brand-new houses. “That’s sweet, but I’m not sure it’s possible.”
He chuckled, dark and dry. “Fucking let them try again.” His voice could cut glass, and I knew better than to keep pushing it. His wolf was too close to the surface, and he wouldn’t see reason.
“We need to find out more about what I am and what I can do, why exactly people are after me,” I told him.
Every single muscle in his body clenched. “Power, Demi. They are after you for power. Fully trained, you are the strongest of all of them. They want that, they want to be drunk on that, so much so that they threw away a centuries-old peace accord in an effort to get a taste.”
Chills ran up my spine. “So the witches turned on us too?”
He nodded. “Most of them. They are breaking in two as we speak, just like the fey did so long ago. Some may side with us, but it doesn’t look good.”
I gulped. “If everyone is against us, how will we fight off an attack on our own?”
He sighed. “You let me worry about that, love. I want you to focus on today and this surprise I have for you.”
I took the hint. No one wanted a downer at a party or wherever we were going. I would table this talk. For now.
