Total pages in book: 203
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
The phone in her hand dings as I return her greeting with, “Hey, Bailey.”
She looks at the screen, and I easily see the text she’s reading.
Jase: I’m away on pack business. I’ll be home in a couple days. Talk to one of the other council members.
She’s not hiding that it hurts that this is his response to her request to talk out of urgency.
As she shoves her phone into her pocket, I pull my phone out and message him.
I’ve landed.
“Let’s go?” I dangle the keychain for the rental. “I need a favor. We’ll talk on the way.”
Bailey eyeballs my three pieces of luggage and grabs one of my bags.
As we’re making our way through the airport together, my phone chimes and when I stop to read the text, she stops beside me.
Jason Creed: Hey you. Tried to catch a few hours of sleep but the walls here are thin and it smells weird. You can meet me here or I can grab a taxi and meet you. Want to grab some food? I’m starved and we’ve got 5 hours to kill.
I answer.
I’ll come to you.
He immediately replies with a thumbs up.
Bailey just read his reply over my shoulder and now she’s staring ahead with hurt in her eyes. Too busy to return her call but telling me a breath later that he’s got five hours to kill.
I click my tongue, showing my reaction. Her eyes dart to me before she looks away, looking guilty.
“Sorry, shouldn’t have read over your shoulder,” she mumbles, looking embarrassed.
I’m rather tempted to impart a temporary ailment on Jason that leaves him feeling impossibly uncomfortable, maybe itchy, for a couple days.
I shrug. “No biggie. I just read over yours.”
Her lips quirk into the beginnings of a smile, before her eyebrows abruptly crease. “Why’d you rent a car? You’re only here for a few hours for a layover, right?”
Busted. The truth is, I’m not getting on that next flight.
“Something urgent is on my plate actually, so it’s fortuitous you’re here. I take it since you are, you’ve got time to go to Romania with Jason for me?”
She startles, goes bug-eyed, then mutters, “Um…”
I link arms with her to move us along, breezily saying, “You’d be doing me a huge favor and I’ll owe you one. Okay?”
“Uh…”
“I’ll fill you in on the way to his hotel.”
4
JASE
There’s a soft knock on my door, but my nose is confused by what hits. I know that scent and it’s not Danica Young’s.
My temper sparks as I rip the door wide. “What the fuck?”
Bailey’s mouth opens but before she speaks, I do. “Is there something wrong up here, Bailey?” I tap my noggin and add, “I mean… what in the actual fuck is wrong with you?”
She jerks back, but not as if I’ve struck her, which has become the norm the last couple interactions we’ve had. No, she scowls before her face does something I’ve never seen – it hardens.
Instead of clutching her heart like I’ve wounded her, Bailey points at me.
“Fuck you, Jason Creed. Just… fuck you. How did I never realize what an asshole you are? Wow. I had stupid stars in my eyes.”
I’m seething. Why would she follow me like this? I’ve been trying to be gentle with her, but it hasn’t worked. But in addition to ticked off, I’m also shocked at her reaction.
“How about you explain yourself,” I grind out and it’s probably too aggressive.
But she’s just as aggressive when she snaps, “Yep. The nail in the flippin’ coffin. Like I hoped for. Dani has a coven emergency. She wants me to accompany you to Romania.”
Huh?
She keeps talking. “Let’s just get a rideshare back to the airport and get this bullshit done. I’ll see you outside.”
I catch her by the wrist. “What the fuck is this, Bailey?”
Why the hell would Danica send Bailey here? This doesn’t make sense. A witch needs to deliver these artifacts in case the Starling coven tries to intercept. I may have might, but I don’t have magic at my command. And Bailey has neither.
She’s staring at my hand on her wrist with a glare.
“On what planet does having you stand in for a witch during this shit make any sense?”
She yanks her arm away, scowling at me like she wants to throttle me. I’ve known Bailey Blackwood her entire life. I was the fifth person to hold her the day she was born, directly after Grey. And I have never, not once, seen this girl scowl.
“It makes no sense other than that she had an emergency, and I showed up, so she asked me for a favor. I could hardly say no!”
“And why the fuck did you show up?” I grind out.
“Because I’m an idiot, that’s why!” she fires back.
My fingertips go to my temples. “Make this make sense, please.”
“I overheard you might come up against danger on this trip, and it didn’t sound like anyone was all fired up to do something about it, so I rushed here to give you some things that might save your arrogant ass. You didn’t answer my calls and brushed me off by text because you can’t see past your own mountain-sized ego.”