Her eyes widen, staring down at her hands in awe. “It doesn’t hurt.”
“That’s it,” I breathe.
To cure Sophia, we just need to find a way to strip away one of her abilitiespermanently.
Without, you know, somehow revealing my secret in the process.
Fuck.
Chapter 22
Arson
“You need a break, and I need to get out of this house before I stab someone. Come on, I have a brilliant idea.”
Sliding a hand between Ever’s forehead and the table she’s thumping it on in frustration, I pull her to her feet. My brother’s lost the fight, slumped over and passed out on their workbench, snoring softly. I’m even nice enough to scribble him a note so he doesn’t freak out when he wakes up to find our mate missing.
So what if it says we ran off to Vegas to get married? He’ll know she’s with me and safe.
And I missed out onyearsof getting to fuck with my little brother.
“Well that sounds like ominous last words before everything explodes in our faces,” the love of my life counters, but internally, I preen. Because despite her words, she’s getting to her feet and stretching out her stiff muscles, preparing to follow me without demanding details first.
Might not mean much to some people, but when my girl has trust issues for days? That go-with-the-flow attitude that knowsI won’t let her get hurt in whatever scheme I’ve cooked up is like a red flag to a horny bull, or whatever the phrase is.
Just as I prepare to shadow walk us out of the basement, Bellamy appears at the top of the stairs with a fierce scowl. “Oh,hellno. You and Myles have been glued to her side all week, it’s my turn to take her out on a date.”
Fucking cockblock.
“I’m not interested in babysitting tonight, it’s the wolf’s turn to watch you.”
He stiffens. “You don’t have to fuckingbabysitme, jackass. If anything, someone should come along to keepyouunder control.”
As the tension rises to suffocating levels, Ever blurts, “So we all go. See? Problem solved. Easy peasy.”
Slitting his throat would bemoreeasy peasy.
Grumbling to myself about the attention hog crashing my date, I stuff down the worst of my murderous feelings to marinate for later and send a shadow to snatch his ankle and drag Bellamy’s stupid face along behind us.
If he dies while we’re there, that’s on him. I can console our mate through her grief and buy her a puppy to replace him.
We step out in the stands surrounding an arena, Bellamy landing on his back with a curse, and I immediately scan our surroundings for threats while my mate soaks up the change in scenery. “What is this place?”
Similar to a hockey arena layout, they have a few elementals on hand to change the terrain depending on the event to spice things up depending on who booked the space.
“A witch rented it to host a mate game for the right of first bonding.”
Twelve potential suitors, one witch, and a greased up raccoon. If somethingdoesn’tgo wrong, I’ll be woefully disappointed.
“It’s amazing,” she breathes, looking around the various terrains in awe as people flit about in the stands, finding their seats. It’s like a wilderness survival obstacle course; rocky pillars, quicksand, icy ravines, and a patch of trees so dense, I’m not sure how we’ll see anything happening within them unless they have camera equipped drones.
Picking a good vantage point, I wait until they’re settled in the bleachers, noting with satisfaction the wide berth the crowd is giving us, eyeing me nervously.
Oh good, they remember me. I was worried they’d get too comfortable while I was gone.
Pulling two of my knives, I press one into each of their hands. “I’ll go get us some drinks.” Meeting Bellamy’s eye, I narrow mine in warning. “Anyone bothers you, stab first, then shout. I swear, if there’s so much as a hair out of place on her head when I return, I’ll break every one of your cameras.”
Ledger will kick my ass if anything happens to either of them on my watch. But as annoying as the interlopers are… I’m starting to appreciate the benefits of having them around.
