“I don’t think so! He can stay on the couch, agent of Satan shirt ruiner!” Dae snapped.
“You both can stay with me. I’ve got room.” Dae looked at Koda with wide eyes. Was he propositioning both of them? Dae’s blood boiled and she wanted to tear the skin off his hide. It was not jealously that Dae felt, but outrage. Or that was what Dae kept telling herself so she didn’t scratch out his eyes. And why was Dae outraged? Besides this asinine conversation, Dae had no clue.
“To quote Dae –who is so obviously the agent of Satan here with her suicide shirts– I don’t think so!” Iya stated.
“I didn’t mean anything like that–” regarding Iya at least “You would be safe in my building, and I would be there if something happened.” It would suck but they would be safe. He could call a shifter from his Tribe and have them out here in a few hours. The extra set of eyes would definitely help.
“Oh, I know how you meant it Sasquatch, but there is no way me and Dae can stay together while this plays out.”
He didn’t know if Iya was referring to what’s going in between him and Dae or the stalking by preternatural creatures. It could have been either or both he mused. Of course, he was the only one of them that knew the ‘stalkers’ were the Cursed. Maybe Iya would change her mind if she knew, but he had a feeling now was not the time to explain to either of them.
“What are you talking about?” Dae asked nearing the end of her rope. It was a very short rope.
“I’m talking about me staying here while you go with Koda.”
“But then you’ll be unprotected.” Both Koda and Dae said in unison. They both looked at each other, Koda trying not to smirk and Dae glaring at him like he stole her buttered biscuit.
“No, I won’t. I’ll call Marcus.”
“Oh Marcus, he’s just the answer to everything isn’t he? What’s he going to do, tackle them and score a touchdown if they come after you?”
“He will scare them off and beat the living crap out of them if they’re stupid enough to try. And I doubt they’ll be coming after me. I just said that to prove a point.”
Dae growled louder as her eyes narrowed to slits. Something told Koda he didn’t have long to convince Iya to come with him before Dae had her first shift right here and now. “It was a valid point Iya. This is a bad idea. You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“And you do? Please my psychic friend, inform us.” Iya said, noting the irony of her sarcasm. If there was anyone there who should have been able to see what the heck was going to happen, it was supposed to her. But nooooo, that gift –if she could even call it that– would only work for strangers. It was worse than her stupid-sense.
Koda knew he was backed into a corner and he hated it, but Dae spoke before he could.
“Yeah, he knows everything Iya, he just won’t tell us.” Dae said so sarcastically Koda could only stare at her. Dae continued “As big as a chauvinist as he is–”
“Hey!–” Koda interrupted but Dae ignored his denial by speaking right over him.
“He’s right. These guys are bad news and I’m not leaving you with Marcus.” Dae said his name like it left a bad taste in her mouth. Truthfully, it did.
“Well, it seems we’ve come to an impasse then, because you’re not going off on your own, I’m not leaving and Koda is not staying here –unless it’s in your bed.”
Koda had the vaguest feeling that he was losing even though it seemed like he was winning, which was beyond strange. One negated the other, didn’t it?
Dae was about to scream she was so mad. Iya was taking on too many of her own character flaws and as proud as she should have been it enraged her that Iya was being as stubborn as, well, she would be.
Dae opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say –Koda was sure it was going to be bad– so he cut her off as she inhaled to scream. “I have a solution!” Koda announced.
Koda hated his solution. The mere thought of it turned his stomach but he would do this if it meant Dae and Iya would be safe. He just hoped the Alpha would see things his way for once.
Fourteen
“Really? I just bet it will solve all our problems too.” Dae’s sarcasm was biting, though she wasn’t angry at him –that much.
“I’ll take the couch ok? That way neither of you has to leave.” And he would call for reinforcements and let the Alpha know what was going on. Koda hadn’t reported back to the Alpha since he realized Dae was his mate, so it was time for him to make contact anyway. He had been putting it off. He wasn’t sure how the Alpha would react to knowing Dae was the one the Cursed were after and his mate. He was pretty sure it was not going to go over that well with the Tribe, either.
“That is not a solution Sasquatch. That’s plain ridiculous.” Iya said.
“It may or may not be, but it’s what we’re going to do. I’ll need for you guys to come with me so I can grab some clothes. I won’t leave you here alone.” Koda lightly smiled at Dae.
Dae stared at him. Shock was evident on her face and her eyes softened. The gold of her eyes was becoming visible again and it looked like the fight flew out of her with his announcement.
Dae looked into his eyes in confusion. Why was he doing this? It didn’t make sense. This was not his problem. It wasn’t even Iya’s problem. It was Dae’s problem. Could this be a part of his good guy game to get in her pants? Or was this really him? No. Couldn’t be. No one does something for nothing…
“Why?” Dae heard herself ask without intending to.
“Because I can probably fit on the sofa.” If he rolled himself in a ball and got flattened by a steamroller. “I’m the king of the forest, so I figure it will be good for me to rough it every now and then. You know, keep the royal ego in check.” And because pushing his mate to accept living with him was going to make her chew off her own leg to get away. It may have been easier for him to get close to her faster his way, but it wouldn’t be right for her. Dae would let him in on her own timeline, and he felt foolish for being so arrogant to think he knew what was better for Dae.
And selfish, don’t forget about selfish.
He wanted her so badly that it hurt to think he had to wait… but she was going to be worth it.
The arrogant thoughts of men who thought they knew better than everybody else could fill entire oceans… and here was this man, a virtual stranger, bending over backwards to help her roommate, Iya thought. And he did this without being asked to, had already protected Dae when she was just some random woman in the street.
Iya spoke and knocked Dae from the trance his eyes held her in.
“Ok, since Dae isn’t going to concede, I will. Sasquatch, you got yourself two roomies.”
Iya turned to leave the room as both Dae and Koda said “What?”
“Ya’ll heard me.”
“But he said–” Dae started.
“But it doesn’t matter what he said. Honestly Dae, would you really have him pretzel himself to fit on our sofa?”
Dae looked at the sheer size of him and then glanced at the sofa.
“Hones-s-s-stly?” Dae paused “It would have been funny to see him try.” Dae smirked.
Iya narrowed her eyes at Dae. “Sometimes I don’t know how we ever became friends.”
“You’re not the only one.” Koda accidently mused out loud. Iya laughed as she left the room and it was Dae’s turn to narrow her eyes at Koda.
Dae wasn’t putting up any arguments over the new living arrangements. It surprised Koda that she didn’t protest; Dae didn’t do much without some argument. Truthfully, Dae always seemed ready to argue at any given time about nothing at all.
Dae had acted like it was a class A felony when he tried to assist her in packing her clothes. He was just trying to be helpful. And seeing Dae’s lacy undergarments in the top drawer was an accident. After all, who puts their undergarments in the top drawer?
“Most of the continental United States Sasquatch! Get out!” Dae yelled at him, her cheeks darkened w
ith her flush. He came to sit on the sofa with a face-cracking grin as she slammed her bedroom door shut. He could imagine how she looked in them…
“Penny for your very naughty thoughts.” Iya said trying not to laugh at the goofy expression on the Sasquatches’ face. She heard every word of the exchange between Dae and him. It was amusing to say the least. She had to cover her face with a pillow so Dae didn’t hear her snickering.
“I’d have enough to buy a new car.”
Iya laughed as she heard Dae throw something at the door. Then it opened and Dae came out wearing a very annoyed expression. Uh oh.
“Iya, did you happen to come across some things in my room recently?”
Ohhhh. Iya played stupid. “Dae, whatever do you mean?”
Dae glared at her until Iya’s smirk spread across her face. Iya just couldn’t hold it back any longer.
“Oh, you mean those things. I might have come across a few things.” Iya said vaguely.
Koda looked at the two women wondering what they were hiding.
“Where would they be now Iya?”
“Do you really need them?”
“Yes I do really need them.” Dae was getting irritated with Iya’s playing.
Iya dropped the teasing tone she had. “On the floor in the back of your closet.”
“Thank you.”
Dae went back in her room and slammed the door. Koda raised an eyebrow at Iya and Iya shook her head in return. It wasn’t important. If Dae wanted the Sasquatch to know she had weapons stashed all over her room, then she would have came out and asked for them.
Koda got up and said, “I’m going to make a phone call in the hallway. Don’t let her lock me out.”
“Don’t worry about it. If she does I’ll bring my tapes… you do have a VHS player, don’t you?”
“Don’t even think about it, shirt ruiner!” Dae yelled from inside her room.
Iya grinned and Koda shook his head. A strange pair was the understatement of the year.
Koda went into the hallway to make his call and Iya went to help Dae pack. Iya was surprised to see Dae’s clothes rolled into balls as she tried to jam her duffle bag to capacity.
“You know you’re going to have to iron those now.” Iya stated.
“You think so?” Dae said with a grin.
“Yeah.” Iya laughed at how hard Dae was struggling to fit everything she owned in the bag. “You do know that we’re not moving forever right?”
Dae froze. “Why would you say that?”
“The question is why are you packing like it.”
Dae looked out into the living room/kitchen/dining room. Iya saw the panicked look on her face and said, “He’s not there; he’s making a call in the hallway.”
The look of relief on Dae’s face was comical. “I just like to be prepared…” Dae sneaked a peak at Iya’s face to see if she was getting away with that statement. Apparently not.
“His condo is right down the street. We can come back to get more if we need it.” Iya gave her a knowing look and Dae felt strange… Dae wanted to cover her face and hide until Iya forgot all about catching her. It was unnerving. Dae turned her back on Iya. Dae identified the emotion she was feeling as embarrassment. What did she have to be embarrassed about? She was packing. People liked to be prepared and maybe she wanted to be like those people.
Blech. She couldn’t even bullshit herself into that reasoning. Truthfully, Dae was unsure why she felt embarrassed, just that she felt it. And there was no reason why she was trying to stuff everything she owned into her duffle bag, only that she felt a compulsion to do it.
“Jeeze Dae! You’re bleeding.”
Dae looked up in confusion as Koda swept in her room. He was in front of her before she knew it with his massive warm hand holding her face still as he examined her lip. Having his hand on her face and neck felt good… too good.
She pushed at him reflexively but he didn’t move. Stupid Sasquatch. “Dude, get off me.”
“What happened?” He growled in wolf, still not moving.
Dae was beyond irritated; she felt like getting a rolled up newspaper and beating him with it. “Nothing you weirdo get off me!”
She pushed again and he stepped back with a worried frown. Dae touched her lip and looked at her red finger. She licked her bottom lip and felt the gash where she must have bit herself.
Huh. She had chewed on her lip and broke through the skin. Strange.
Dae resumed packing, pressing her lips together, as Iya stared at her bloodied friend in horror. Koda looked very worried as he watched Dae attempt to close her duffle bag. His reaction made Iya worry too.
“Dae? Don’t you think we should clean that up?” Iya asked hoping Dae would allow Iya to do it so she could use her healing gift on Dae.
“Clean what up?”
“The huge bleeding hole in your lip.” Iya said.
Dae honestly didn’t know what Iya was going on about. That girl worried too much about the weirdest things. Dae had other more critical issues to grapple with at that moment. Her stupid duffle bag was not working with her. In fact, it was working against her and she didn’t appreciate it.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Dae’s duffle bag zipper broke off in her hand. Now what was she going to use for her clothes? Dae didn’t have anything else but garbage bags. Dae hated using garbage bags for anything but garbage. Dae felt a shiver rack her body at the memory of her 18th birthday… Then Koda was behind her with his damn warm hands on her upper arms.
“Hands off!” Dae looked back at him and the worried face he wore. He stepped away quickly –the smartest thing he could do.
“Dae, I think we should go to the hospital.” Iya said.
“What the hell for? I bit my lip; I didn’t have a heart attack.”
“Um, your tore a hole in your lip.” Iya said.
“I did not.” Dae turned to Iya and showed Iya her lip “See? It’s not even bleeding anymore.”
“What? No, I saw it. It was huge; it looked like you ate a portion of your bottom lip!”
“You been huffing paint Iya? I told you to just say no.” Dae teased. “I bit my lip a little, lips bleed. You probably saw the blood and now you’re all Worrylin McWorry–”
“I know what I saw!” Iya snapped angrily. Her best friend chewed through her lip right in front of her! She was not hallucinating! And all the blood? Dae’s shirt and chin was covered in it.
Dae looked at Iya, surprised at her outburst. “O-o-o-k whatever you say.” Dae did not want to argue with Iya over something that ridiculous. She could argue with Iya about tons of other ridiculous things after she got the damn duffle bag zipper fixed. If Dae chewed her lip off then it would take a day or two to heal. Not 10 seconds. True, it would be hard to explain that to Iya, but Dae would know if she chewed through her own lip.
“Her lip was fine when I saw it.” Koda said and Dae’s head jerked to glare at him with narrowed eyes.
Koda had to lie. He didn’t have a choice. His mate had indeed chewed a portion through her own lip and it had already begun healing before his eyes. Thankfully, he had his back to Iya, blocking Dae, as the major healing of her lip happened, or he would have been in big trouble. He could see that Iya wouldn’t have let that go. The skin grew and reformed his mates lip in seconds… for many reasons that was strange.
Even if he spilled the beans to Dae right now, he had no idea if Dae would want Iya to know anything. And Iya… Fast healing shouldn’t be an issue, she was Nephilim. They healed life-threatening injuries faster than shifters did. Iya had to know that, didn’t she? Unless she never was injured before or… shit. Judging by Iya’s reaction to Dae’s injury and healing, he guessed he stumbled upon the only odd Supernatural pair that didn’t know they were both Supernaturals.
His future looked lousy.
Dae looked down at her shirt and saw the bloodstains. Her lip bled all over her. Dae sighed as she grabbed a towel with her clean hand and another outfit from her now broken duffle. �
�I got to shower this off, do you guys mind?”
Dae was acting like her usual self as she walked around them and didn’t wait for an answer. Iya was frozen in her spot as she heard the shower turn on. She turned to look at Koda who had started trying to close Dae’s duffle.
“You saw it, didn’t you?”
“Saw what?” He asked. This wasn’t his secret to expose; he had to lie. The first person to know would be his mate and he was running out of time. He couldn’t wait much longer or she would be mid-shift when she found out.
“Her lip. You saw what it looked like.” Iya accused. It looked terrible; Iya didn’t understand how Dae was able to eat through her flesh that way.
“I saw the cut, the blood, but it looked worse than it was or it wouldn’t have stopped bleeding so quickly.” He wouldn’t say anything else. The suspicion in Iya’s voice made him feel uneasy. Dae’s body was going through the first stages of shifting. The super enhanced healing was surprising to him –and a plus– but the mood swings were going to suck. He would just have to make sure she didn’t try to kill him before her first shift. That shouldn’t be so hard…
Ok maybe it was going to be a problem.
Why was he lying to her? It didn’t make any sense. Was he afraid of something? His back was to her as he tried to re-thread the zipper back on its track. This whole thing didn’t make any sense. A person can’t just chew through a piece of their face, shrug it off and then have it magically come back. It’s just not normal and… so damned hypocritical Iya was disgusted with herself.
Who was Iya to talk about normal? Sure, she blended in with people well but they wouldn’t be putting her face on that poster, ever. Maybe Iya saw what she wanted to see or maybe she did see what she thought. Did it matter? A super healing gift is exactly what Dae needed. Actually, it was like an answer to Iya’s prayers in more ways than one.
Thank you God.
Dae had a gift! It meant that Iya wasn’t really alone anymore. Since her parents died, she always felt like she had no one to talk to about her gifts. She didn’t dare confide in anybody, her parents made sure she understood that she wasn’t to tell anyone. They were gifted too, but they said the other gifted people may get jealous of Iya’s gifts, so she wasn’t even allowed to tell the others who she sensed where similar to her.
Lost & Found (A Lost Ones Novel Book 1) Page 19