by Vella Day
Vinea didn’t deserve her friendship. “Stay away from Slater.”
*
Once EmmaLee left with the promise of leaving the SOB, Vinea changed into some warmer clothes. Billard might not be very far from Silver Lake, but the Tennessee mountains were a lot colder than north Georgia. Now that she was living in the human world, she had to deal with these temperature changes.
Before Vinea left, she called her boss at the diner and explained that she needed some time off.
“How long will you be gone?” Warren asked. Thankfully, he sounded more concerned than pissed.
“I’m not sure.” How long did it take someone to right a lot of wrongs? A week? A month? Or would it take a lifetime? “To be fair to the girls, maybe you should just replace me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Vinea, but I lost Carol because so many waitresses needed a break. Poor girl had a breakdown after working double shifts for a month. If you come back sooner than planned, stop in. I might be able to squeeze you into the rotation.”
Vinea smiled. “I appreciate it.”
What a change Warren was from Androf. One was kind and accommodating and the other pure evil. While it sickened her to leave EmmaLee and the rest of the staff at Billard Eatery, it could take weeks if not months to do what she needed to.
Because she didn’t have a car, she figured no one would be harmed if she teleported to Silver Lake. She still did possess a few of her goddess talents.
Picturing her destination, she disappeared from Billard and reappeared across the street from McKinnon and Associates in Silver Lake, Tennessee. Darn. Her aim was a little off. Even though she’d pictured the front entrance, she landed a hundred feet away. It seemed the longer she resided on earth, the more erratic her talents became. At least she hadn’t appeared in a crowd of people. That would have caused all sorts of problems.
Vinea inhaled, ready to confront her past. The outcome might not turn out to be what she hoped, but she had to try. A lot depended on whether Devon would even be here. From what he’d told her, he only came to Silver Lake when his brother needed an extra hand. Most of the time, he worked in Pittsburgh. Either she’d have to visit him there once she learned his address, or she’d have to wait in Silver Lake until he returned.
Stop procrastinating!
As she crossed the street, she surveyed the cars in the lot. Tucked behind a larger vehicle was a white truck like the kind Devon drove. Vinea crossed her fingers, hoping this truck was his.
Once at the front door, she rang the bell. A lot could happen in six months, but she hoped Lexi still manned the desk. Vinea might have lied to Devon repeatedly, but at least she hadn’t tried to steal his powers—like she had from Sam Pompley—Lexi’s mate. While she hadn’t harmed Lexi, she doubted the woman harbored any positive thoughts toward her. More than anything, she wanted to help Sam’s mate in some way to show her that she was no longer an evil goddess.
“May I help you?” came the voice through the intercom.
Vinea looked up at the camera. Didn’t Lexi recognize her? “Hey, Lexi. It’s me, Vinea. Is Devon around?” Good. That sounded a lot calmer than she felt.
“Vinea? What the hell? You have some nerve to just—”
Her voice became muffled as if she’d placed a hand over the microphone. Vinea strained to hear what a deep voice in the background was saying. The words interfere and Devon were all she could make out.
“Vinea? Give me a minute. I’ll check.” Her tone, while professional, was loaded with controlled anger. She didn’t blame Lexi one bit for being upset. Actually, Vinea deserved a lot more, along with a quick disconnect.
While she waited, she pictured her last encounter with Devon, and chills raced up her spine. Sure it was cold out, but this was more than a reaction to winter. It was sexual in nature—a feeling she had yet to fully understand.
A possible explanation was that only part of their last interaction had been bad—the part where he’d almost drowned her—but the part where he was naked had been oh so good.
The intercom crackled and Lexi’s voice came through. “Devon is in an important meeting and can’t be disturbed.” She sounded triumphant.
“Can’t or won’t?” That came out snarky but tough shit she was trying to make amends here and couldn’t even get past the door. She expected some hostility but she had hoped curiosity about her being there might have gotten her passed the door.
A disgusted huff came over the mic. “Does it really matter? Leave, you’re not wanted here.” With that the intercom went silent.
That didn’t go well. It didn’t matter. She didn’t need an open door to get inside. Once she made certain no one was watching, she disappeared. Too bad when she reappeared, she was in Connor’s office though she swore she’d pictured where Devon worked. Whoops.
Connor looked up. To his credit, he managed to school his features. “Vinea?” He shoved back his chair and stood. “What the hell are you doing here? Haven’t you done enough damage?” So much for not showing his emotions.
Her stomach churned at the censure. Sure, she deserved it, but being the recipient of such distain still hurt. “I’ll admit I lied a few times.” And stole, and…
“You did a lot more than that. You tried to ruin Sam, not to mention Devon.”
Devon? “I might not have been honest with him, but I never tried to hurt him.”
“You hurt him just the same.” Connor stepped toward the door and held it open. “Just get out.”
“I think I’ll go the same way I came.”
With a nod, she disappeared. This time, her aim was better and she appeared in the correct office, not that she expected the reception to go any better.
Devon’s head was down, and it was as if he wasn’t aware she was there. Her body, however, was going crazy with spikes of sexual need. He looked so fucking hot. Sure, he had more lines around his eyes, and he had lost weight, but he still looked good.
“Devon.” Her throat nearly closed up at saying his name.
He didn’t look up. “I told Lexi not to let you in.” His words came out harsher than she had hoped.
A snarky remark shot to her lips, but she stopped herself. Now wasn’t the time for the old Vinea to surface. “She didn’t let me in. I just kind of appeared.” When he didn’t look up, she continued. “I came to apologize.”
“Apology accepted. Now go away.”
Damn, but this was harder than she thought. “When you dipped me in the water, the pink quartz cleansed me.”
He finally looked up, but his eyes held distrust. “Is that so? Is that why you held Missy captive in a cave while you lured Zane to his death? And that was after you were cleansed.”
The words wouldn’t form. “Zane died?”
When she left him, he was merely unconscious. Surely his bear would have healed him.
“No. He survived, but you thought about killing him. Why?”
Her quick comebacks seemed to have disappeared with the cleansing. “It took a while for that to work. Like I told you that day six months ago, the pink quartz works well on Changelings. Maybe I was so evil that it took longer, but eventually all my bad thoughts disappeared. I swear.”
Something in her voice must have resonated with him, because his features softened. “I’m happy for you then. I suppose you came here for my help?”
“No! I want to help you.”
He leaned back and laughed. “You? Help me? Unless you can infiltrate the Changeling’s headquarters and take them all out, I don’t see how you can be of service.”
She stood up straighter. “I don’t kill anymore.”
“Oh, really? Well that’s good to know. What about stealing and lying?”
“No.” It was better to keep her answers short. “Listen, can we grab a cup of coffee or something. We really need to talk.”
A knock sounded on his door and Kip Landon stuck his head in. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.” His eyes narrowed slightly before returning his focus back to Devon. �
��Rye wanted to let you know the meeting’s about to begin.”
Devon pushed back his chair. “Get the hell out, Vinea. You can leave the same way you came.”
The hatred rolled off him. Each wave cut her deeply, but it was what she deserved. She’d hurt him more than she realized. With that she disappeared.
It didn’t mean she was gone however. She had to find a way for Devon to see how much her heart and soul had changed. That meant this journey was going to take a lot longer.
PACK WARS (Paranormal)
Training Their Mate (book 1)
Claiming Their Mate (book 2)
Rescuing Their Virgin Mate (book 3)
Box Set (books 1-3)
Loving Their Vixen Mate (book 4)
Fighting For Their Mate (book 5)
Enticing Their Mate (book 6)
MONTANA PROMISES (Full length contemporary)
Promises of Mercy (book 1)
Foundations For Three (book 2)
Montana Fire (book 3)
Hart To Hart (book 4)
Burning Seduction (book 5)
Montana Promises Box Set (books 1-3)
ROCK HARD, MONTANA (contemporary novellas)
Montana Desire (book 1)
Awakening Passions (book 2)
HIDDEN HILLS SHIFTERS (Paranormal)
An Unexpected Diversion (book 1) – FREE
Bare Instincts (book 2)
Shifting Destinies (book 3)
Embracing Fate (book 4)
Promises Unbroken (book 5)
SOUTHERN SHIFTERS KINDLE WORLDS
Bear ’N Dirty
WERES & WITCHES OF SILVER LAKE
A Magical Shift (book 1)
Catching Her Bear (book 2)
A Surge of Magic (book 3)
The Bear’s Forbidden Wolf (book 4)
Her Reluctant Bear (book 5)
Freeing His Tiger (book 6)
Protecting His Wolf (book 7)
Waking Her Bear (book 8)
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