“Mmkay, well, shoot it then, and let’s go.”
I rub my temples and hold the phone in too tight a grip. “It’s more complicated than that.”
“No, it’s not. Fuck your stupid brother. I’d like to lay that asshole out cold, and I probably only know a fraction of what he’s done. Want me to go to your parents’ house and smash their door in? It set Tarynn’s parents straight when I did it, andhers were about as far up their own assholes as yours seem to be.”
My lips twitch. “Can I politely decline and thank you anyway?”
“Sure you can.”
“Raven…”
“Yes, Fairytale Father?”
I try very hard not to sigh. “A Wizard is not like a fairy godmother.”
“Whatever you say. I’m gonna enjoy hanging with you guys at the cabin. Maybe we can go for beers sometime, if you ever stop locking yourself in your room constantly.”
“Or you could bring coffees and watch security feeds.”
“That’s boring,” Raven protests.
“What’s wrong with boring?”
“Really? Fuck, I’m gonna have to bring something to show you what a good time is. Let me think on it. I’m glad we have a little bit of extra time.”
I can only imagine what Raven would find entertaining. Probably something that involves felony charges. “Oh. No. That’s fine. Seriously. And security stuff is important. Just an FYI.”
“Oh, I agree. Probably.”
“Asshole,” I grumble affectionately. It wasn’t that I was in a bad mood, but it was a mood for sure. I’m a little surprised to find that I don’t feel nearly so weighed down.
“K, bye, love you.”
He hangs up, leaving me to shake my head. I have to go break the news to Esme. I focus on Raven’s ominous ideas of fun while I head back over to Esme’s car. She rolls down the window again and a massive rush of cold air hits me. She should be sitting in a parka in that thing, it’s so frigid.
“Tarynn and Crow are gonna be delayed a few days. Did you still want to go, if it’s just us?”
She frowns. Gives me a look that I can’t fully decode. “You don’t want to go?”
“No, I do. I just… thought that you might not.”
Fuck’s sake, how did we get here?Never mind. I already have my answer. Life. And her figuring out the whole L-business bomb. That basically nuked everything. She’s edgy. I’m edgy. I’d be edgy in Hart, though, and that was the point. I thought that if we could go somewhere else, somewhere beautiful and special that…
That what? That she’ll fall magically in love with you?
My brain has been on an awful sarcastic tear lately. I try my best to ignore it when it doesn’t have anything good to say.
“I-I think that I’d still like to go. We did all this packing.” She bites down on her lower lip, gnawing it and rolling it into her mouth before she blows out a breath. “Wizard.” Her eyes track to me, freezing me in place. My stomach bottoms out and my heart kicks up into redlining territory. “You haven’t had a day off in how long? Or a real vacation? Going to Seattle to pack up my house doesn’t count. Christmas doesn’t count. When was the last time you seriously took time for yourself?”
I don’t have to answer that. We both know that it’s pretty much beennever.
“You deserve to have a few days. Plus, the tech…”
She knows exactly what to say to get me to agree. This is a work trip. Sort of. It’s club business. Someone had to go and install the new cameras, upgrade the satellite on the cabin’s roof, and make sure all of it’s online.
“We’re already halfway there,” Esme argues, even though we’re not. Not quite. “If you really don’t want to stay, I’ll help you upgrade whatever needs upgrading and then we can leave.”
“That’s a terrible holiday for you.”
