“Danica,” I mutter.
She looks me up and down and correctly reads my vibe.
She says, “Any involvement by my coven to put you and Bailey in the same space came from indications it needed our intervention. We had no knowledge of any nefarious plans by anyone.”
I can’t hide my annoyance, and I won’t hide the fact that Idoblame them. I say, “I don’t appreciate being blindsided when I was trying to help. In fact, I take issue with being treated like a chump.”
“I’d say that’s fair, but let’s not pretend your motives were altruistic,” she states.
This gets my hackles up and I don’t hide it, though she seems unaffected by mykillstare.
Bailey shuffles uncomfortably while Danica goes on.
“My understanding is that because of the spell we put on the artifacts, they did a locator spell to findyou. How they knew you’d planned to accompany me to deliver them safely, we don’t know for certain, but Alta is known to dabble in gray magic for fact-finding. Now, I’m here to help,” she goes on, “so let me follow up with Erica and Aphra to see what we can do to get you released. Excuse me.”
She climbs the stairs and Bailey is standing at the foot of those stairs looking uncomfortable, looking anywhere but at me.
A growl erupts, showing my frustration as I pace some more, claustrophobia hitting a new level as I push away the annoyance at Danica’s attitude. I’m beyond ready to get the hell out of this shield, this house, and back home. I want to grab my mate and pull her close, tell her how good it’ll be, see if feeling her eases my need. While I’d love to immediately put my money where my mouth is and show her how good it’ll be, I’m not claiming her here where all this shit happened, where we’ve been stuck. Maybe instead of taking her home immediately, we’ll go on a trip. Have our mating at a swanky resort, far away from the pack and any other potential drama. Yeah, I like the sound of that. My near-boiling blood simmers slightly.
Her eyes are on me briefly, before they dart away. And I know she caught the smile I just flashed.
“Know what I’m thinkin’ about, Bay?” I ask, stopping as close to her as I can physically get.
“Obviously not,” she mutters, adjusting her eyeglasses and shrinking, like she’s worried about me touching her.
“I’m thinkin’ instead of going home, you and I should check into a nice hotel. Somewhere with a hot tub. Or even better… our own private beach. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like you’re delusional,” she mutters, looking like I’m offering her another shit sandwich.
“Delusional?”
“Go wherever you want, Jason. Just know that I’m not coming.”
“Believe me, babe… youwillbe coming,” I say low, my meaning clear.
But the look on her face lets me know I’ve just dug myself into an even deeper hole.
“It’s just all sex and arrogance with you,” she accuses.
“It’s not. That might be where it starts but believe me, it’s not everything. You just gotta get over your snit to find out what else there’s gonna be.”
“Snit? Snit?” She makes an exasperated sound, stomps up the stairs, and slams the door.
***
It feels like an eternity goes by before I hear Danica coming down here. She sits on the bottom step and rifles through the bag she brought.
“So, I’m going to help you,” she says, looking up at me. “But before I do–”
“Where’s Bailey?” I cut her off, not liking that my nose is telling me she’s not close.
“Bailey’s not here.”
“What do you mean Bailey’s not here?”
“Bailey got a cab to the airport.”
“She what?”