KDBookOnline
Share Us
Considering she was already clocking eighty according to the speedometer, her blinding smile made my stomach flip. She didn’t speed up. “Unbuckle.”
“That seems like a terrible idea.” But she was already reaching over to do it for me.
“Trust me,” she said, clicking the release on my seatbelt. I tried to stop the sash as it slithered off my shoulder, but her hand lifted, fingers poised to snap. “By the way…girlfriend.”
“What?” I blurted out, preparing for whatever fresh hell nipping from a speeding car would bring.
“When he said my, he was about to follow it with girlfriend.”
Before I could shake my head, before I could quash the surge of hope I felt at her words, Ciara snapped her fingers. The world warped, and I found myself in front of a familiar desk with four enraged fae staring back at me in the dim, smoke-filled room.
Chapter Thirty
“Cate, thank God!”
I spun to face him as Channing threw his arms around me. Despite our audience, I returned the hug, relieved that he was in one piece. The last time I’d seen him, he was in a hospital bed, and if his behavior was any indication, he was angling for a return trip. He winced, and I drew back, searching him for signs that he had been injured. His T-shirt was slightly wrinkled but clean. There were no visible bruises. It even looked like he’d finally gotten a haircut. The job Lach had gotten him was clearly good for him. I released a sigh I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
“You’re okay,” I breathed.
“Yeah, but I’m still a little sore.” He nodded to his shoulder.
My relief vanished, his healing wound a reminder of how we’d gotten into this mess in the first place. Despite everything I’d done to keep him away, he’d already come back looking for trouble. “Channing, what the hell are you doing here?”
He glanced at the others. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“You haven’t returned my calls.” Although I probably would have avoided telling him where I was if he had.
“Maybe if you had bailed me out—”
“We should give them some privacy,” Aurora interjected loudly. She offered a sympathetic smile as she ushered Bain and Oberon out of the room. I wondered if Channing reminded her of Sirius, if the show of empathy was one sister supporting another. I nodded my gratitude to her as she stepped out.
Lach stood and circled the desk, not following them. I glared at him, but he simply raised a finger and sent the door slamming shut. He crossed his arms and leaned against the desk, inclining his head. Apparently, he was staying, but he was going to let me handle this.
“Please tell me that you didn’t make a bargain with him.” Channing threw a finger in Lach’s direction.
I already knew this conversation was not going to end well.
“Channing…” I didn’t know what to say. I shot a beseeching look at Lach, my eyes flicking toward the door, but his face remained stoic. He knew what I was asking him to do. He just wasn’t going to do it.
Channing cursed, and my head whipped back to find him studying us. His shoulders crumpled at whatever he saw, and he staggered to the nearest chair, sinking into it as he hung his head. “Please tell me it isn’t true.”
I took a deep breath, reminding myself that he was the entire reason I’d made this bargain in the first place. Somehow, remembering that made it both easier and harder to refuse his request. “I can’t.”
His spine curved, the truth bowing him as he began to shake. I reached to rub his back, but he threw me off with a choked curse. Before I could come up with the right thing to say, Channing popped to his feet, more curses falling from his lips as he began to pace.
Lach straightened, ready to intervene, but I held up a finger of my own. He settled against the desk, tracking Channing’s agitated steps.
My brother finally paused, dropping his head to stare vacantly at the floor. “What happened to staying away from the Gages?”
“One of us didn’t do it,” I bit out. Staying composed was the best way to calm him, but I refused to act like I’d done something wrong.
“Why the fuck would you get involved with them?” His eyes were clear as he whirled on me, but something wild moved through them before he resumed his desperate vigil. “I told you I had it handled.” He threw a scowl in Lach’s direction. “What did you do?”
“We have a bargain.” There was no reason to lie to him. There was no reason to believe I would break the bargain with Lach. I didn’t have an answer to his riddle. I hadn’t even been looking.
He stopped and stared, horrified. “You know what they are.” He moaned. “I tried to warn you.”
But he hadn’t—had he? I thought back to his reaction in the hospital, how he kept trying to say something and couldn’t.