When we were halfway through the palace, the screaming began. Princess Mab’s shrieks were unlike anything I’d ever heard. It was beyond terror. Even knowing the source, my wolf surged up, ready to fight off a foe.
Beside me, Nancy’s jaw tightened, but otherwise her expression didn’t change. No one looked back.
The foyer was empty as we walked down the sweeping stairways and to the entrance of the palace. I opened the door to the entry closet and let everyone go before me. We pushed several coats aside and stepped into what looked like a solid wall. Mack waited on the other side of the portal he’d created for this mission, and as soon as we stepped onto the country lane, he closed his eyes and raised his hands toward the portal.
The street was blissfully quiet. Only crickets and a few frogs interrupted the silence. The sun had set, and the dusk air felt charged, as if rain might fall tonight.
“Well,” Nancy said as she and her brother headed toward her beat up red sedan. “Looks like this is where we’ll all be parting ways.”
“Wait,” Jane called, holding up her briefcase. “I’m here for a reason.”
Nancy worked her jaw back and forth. “All right, but just for a second. How can I help you further?”
“Oh, sorry,” Jane said, sounding uncharacteristically flustered as she opened her briefcase and drew out some papers. “This is an account in your name. It has two-hundred thousand dollars in it.”
Instead of relieved, Nancy’s expression grew thunderous. “I told you I don’t take those kinds of jobs.”
I held up a hand. “For services rendered. You earned it. This is as far as it goes.”
Nancy hesitated one second more, her gaze traveling to her brother, who stood back with a hangdog look on his face. At last, Nancy took the paper from Jane. “All right. Thanks.”
“Maybe you can afford health insurance now,” I said with a smile.
Nancy quirked an eyebrow. “Do you know how much health insurance is?”
Jane surprised us all with a low chuckle.
“Maybe it can get us a good therapist, though,” Nancy said, cutting her eyes at Morte. “Isn’t Scarlet’s mother a therapist?”
“Allyson is… Not that type of therapist,” Mack said. “But she’d probably know good professionals in the area. I’ll ask Scarlet if she can set up a call.”
“That’d be good. Thanks.” Nancy began to back away but then paused. “Hey, Jane.”
“Yes?” Jane fiddled with the latch of her briefcase.
“In another place, in another time, you think you might want to get a drink sometime?” Nancy asked.
“I do, but…” Jane’s cheeks darkened, and her breath caught. “I’m leaving for San Francisco tomorrow.”
Nancy smirked. “Trust me, there are tons of demons in San Francisco.”
Seeing that this conversation had taken a personal turn, I pivoted toward Mack and nodded to the car. “I actually had a favor I wanted to ask you.”
“Really?” Mack asked, sounding intrigued.
I clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I want to buy a lake house. I want it to be something Scarlet loves, but I don’t want to stress her out. So, I’m in a bit of a predicament.”
Mack made a nose in his throat. “You want me to find a house she’ll love?”
Not quite. But I hesitated for a second before explaining what I meant. “Well, I was hoping we could do the house hunting together.”
Mack leaned away to regard me before speaking. “Sure, friend. That would be great.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Scarlet
Sitting across my desk from my sister and Zane, I slid another packet across to them.
“This is a mold notice and waiver,” I tapped the paper. “It’s never been an issue in your unit—as you know,” I said, wryly. “But you still need to sign it.”
Zeezee pulled the paper closer. She leaned so far back in her chair, it was a miracle she hadn’t toppled yet. Working her jaw back and forth, she flipped to the second page and scrawled her signature across the bottom.
“Not even going to read it?” I smirked. “I could have put anything in there. I could now own your soul.”
“He’ll do it for the both of us.” She pushed the paper to Zane, who glanced over from where he was studying the lead paint waiver. His gaze darted between Zeezee and me before falling back to the page.
Zane would never be my favorite person, but each time I looked at my sister and her mate, both healthy and whole, I felt a glow in my belly. It hadn’t taken me long to decide not to evict the pair. As neither of their names were on the lease, I simply moved out officially, traded in my “free unit” for twenty-one vacation days a year, and rented the unit to Zeezee and Zane. This way, their rent would be due at the first of the month, and if they didn’t pay, they’d have to deal with Marie.
“So.” Zeezee folded her hands on the table. “Zane wanted me to ask if you got the receipts he sent Mom?”
“Yeah, well...” Zane lifted his head again. “We had to replace over a thousand dollars in furniture, and both of us missed a couple days of work through no fault of our own. We really feel that there should be some compensation.”
The glow was officially extinguished. They might have been through hell, but Zeezee and Zane were still their obnoxious selves.
“You do know who cleaned up your whole apartment, right?” I pointed to myself. “Yours truly and a few other volunteers who weren’t you.”
Zeezee rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t replace our waterlogged chair legs or our couch. Look, Zane’s right. We got pulled into some political bullshit, and we’re just trying to get our lives back.”
I slipped an envelope out of my bag. “Actually, the pack council did decide on compensating you twelve hundred dollars for damages.” I held out the envelope.
“Pack council?” Zane smirked. “Isn’t that just you and your parents?”
“And me.” Zeezee glared. “What the fuck, Scar? Why was I left out of this decision?”
Zeezee took the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper inside. She gave me a look before turning it around.
Printed on the paper were only three little words: Paid in Full.
“Not funny, Scar,” Zeezee said.
“Oh, that’s not a joke. You’re welcome to pay back the twelve hundred you stole from the pack, and then I’ll give you the settlement money. If you have it, that is.” I leaned back in my own chair, folding my arms. “Anyway, can we find the halfway point between your paces in signing these forms? Because I have an actual date, and if this runs over, I’m going to cut you off and make you spend the night in the pack-house.”
Zeezee leaned back even farther and grinned. “A date? With which one?” She smirked. “Or someone new?”
I pointed to the forms. “I’m not joking about making you sleep at Mom and Dad’s.”
Both of them stared at me for a few seconds more before looking down to the forms.
“I’ve highlighted everywhere you need to initial in the rental agreement. Also, as you know, this is an official Haven House.” I gave them the full lecture on Haven Houses and the rules of the complex which all boiled down to “don’t kill anyone no matter how much they provoke you.” Zane already knew, but going over it with Zeezee couldn’t hurt. It took an amazingly fast thirty minutes to get them out the door and lock my office.
As I sprinted up the stairs, three tenants tried to tell me about issues, but I held up a hand with each of them.
When one of the dragon sisters came charging down the hall, I simply called, “Is the building on fire?”
Tara halted and blinked her heavily painted eyelids at me. She was, of course, naked. “No.”
“Then it’s my date night—and my weekend. Call me on Monday.” I sprinted the rest of the way up the stairs only to find one of my tenants blocking my door. I was just about to scream at them when Gretel turned, and a wide grin spread across her wrinkled face. If Gretel had never told me she w
as a goblin, I would have just assumed that she was an elderly human woman. But like all mountain goblins, Gretel could adjust her age at will, waking up a child going to bed a ninety-year-old or aging anywhere in between. Beside my door, she had leaned her two-handed axe, which from what I understood was a signal that she came to my house as a friend. Reaching out, she offered both of her hands.
The moment I wrapped my fingers in hers, the smell of pine, campfires, and fresh mountain air filled my senses.
“Thank you,” she said.
I shook my head. “All I did was tell the Witch and Wizard Union that if they were looking for an expert plumber, I knew someone who needed work. You did all the rest.”
“They need a lot of work.” She nodded. “Thank you for caring, sweetie. If you’re going to go around doing kind things for people, they’ll want to say thank you.”
She would be surprised.
Gretel smiled. “I hear you’re going on vacation?”
“Vacation?” I teased. “What is that?”
“Oh no. You work so hard.” Her smile dropped. “I hope you do go on vacations.”
“Yeah. I was just joking. Don’t worry about me. We’re going in April. My boyfriend just bought a lake house.”
Her lips puckered into a half-smirk. “Boyfriend or boyfriends?”
I hesitated, but it wasn’t like everyone I truly cared about didn’t already know. Why hide it? “Boyfriends.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun,” she said as she bunched up her shoulders and shook my hands in excitement. From her teasing grin, I could tell she thought we would be having quite a lot of fun.
“All right. I need to get ready for a date.”
She jumped out of my path with a sprightliness that no elderly human possessed. “Don’t let me keep you.”
I rarely took more than twenty minutes to get ready. My life just didn’t give me time for that. But today, I took a long, luxurious bath, blow dried and styled my hair, and tried on several make-up combinations before settling on one. Then I headed for the bedroom I shared with Aaron.
He lay on the bed, his hands behind his head.
I pointed straight at him. “Don’t you dare even consider messing up my make up.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “I am here to help you pick out your outfit on this most momentous occasion only.”
“Better be.”
He nestled back into the bed. “Were you going to try on lingerie first?”
We settled on a black set with sexy garters that held up my sheer pantyhose. Over my lingerie, I slipped into a strapless red dress.
Only when I was fully dressed did Aaron approach me with heat in his eyes and a wicked smile on his lips.
“You are not smearing my make-up, Aaron Knight.”
He leaned down and kissed my neck just below my ear. “I would never,” he whispered. “He’s not going to be able to take his eyes off of you.”
A flutter of anticipation started in my belly.
Aaron leaned back, his eyes simmering with heat. “On the date I’m planning, we’re going to have to wear jumpsuits.”
“Jumpsuits?” I asked with a laugh. “Do I want to know?”
“Oh, you want to know.” He winked. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you.”
“Butthead.”
He stepped away. “All right, you go on before you’re late for your very first date.”
I gave him a quick peck on the lips and turned for the door. Heading across the apartment, I detoured toward Lance’s room, where he and Darrel sat talking. Leaning into the doorframe, I looked between my mates. “You guys sure you’re okay with this?”
They glanced at each other and then at me.
Darrel ran a hand over his short beard. “You’re really only asking me, huh?” He closed the distance until he towered over me. “Scarlet, if I tell you that I’m sure about something this important, you know I’ll never go back on it.”
Studying his intent expression, I nodded.
“Now, go have a good time on your date.” Leaning in, he whispered, “I love you.”
My heart skipped at his words, even though it wasn’t the first time I heard them, and I wrapped my arms around him and whispered back, “I love you, too.”
A knock came at the door, and I broke away from Darrel.
Mingled nervousness and excitement churned in my belly, and I dashed to lean over Lance’s desk and give him a quick kiss.
He rubbed his fingers down the side of my neck. “You have a good night.”
I opened the front door to Mack’s grinning face. His aquamarine eyes brimmed with happiness as they met mine. “Hey, beautiful. Ready?”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Mack
“What do you talk about on a date with someone who already knows everything about you?” Scarlet asked as she climbed into my Ecomarion.
Naveen hadn’t been happy about letting the car go. He’d even played the “our mother almost killed me so she could have sex with a demon impersonating your other half-brother” card. On any other night, I might have given in.
Not tonight.
As we drove through the darkening streets, I had a hard time concentrating on the road. My heart felt like it was literally swelling with love. Needing to touch Scarlet, I offered her my hand, and she threaded her fingers through mine.
“I guess we talk about anything,” I said.
“What?” She blinked at me, looking lost.
“You asked what we could talk about on our date.”
“Oh.” She laughed, and maybe it was just me, but I thought she sounded nervous.
“Hey, Scar.”
She looked over, the low light casting a warm glow over her beautiful face.
I squeezed her hand. “It’s just me, like always.”
Scarlet returned the pressure on my fingers and bit her lip. “You know what? I’m too nervous to eat yet. Mack, would you mind pulling off somewhere for a minute? It’s kind of on the way to the restaurant.”
Scarlet led me down a side street and into a cul-de-sac at the end of a road. We parked before a three-story old Victorian with an elevated first story. It looked recently restored with a fresh coat of blue paint and white shutters. The front of the house boasted two bay windows, a porch, and a wide wooden swing.
Scarlet hopped out and beckoned with a wave. “I was going to wait until after dinner, but if we do it that way, I’ll ruin our date obsessing about this.”
“Okay,” I said. “We have some time. Honestly, I could care less if we make it to dinner or not, Scar. I just want to be on a date with you—at a fancy restaurant or in a random neighborhood, it really doesn’t matter to me.”
She rushed up beside me and took my hand. “We’ll make our reservation. I just want to do this first.” Taking a key from her pocket, Scarlet unlocked the front door and opened to an empty parlor. The smell of lemon cleaner stung my nose, and the barren floors shone with new wax. Beyond the parlor was a sprawling great room, also empty, and an industrial kitchen. It was all redwood—the walls, floors, and ceilings—giving the place a rustic lodge ambiance.
“Is this yours?” I asked.
“Mine and the pack’s. They used to host events here.” Scarlet swept out her hand, spun away from me and then back into my arms. Wrapped up in my embrace, she continued, “My parents’ home is still the official pack house. They haven’t said anything, but the Six Rivers pack is long overdue for a change of location. What do you think?”
I gazed around the empty rooms. There was room for a hundred people to fit comfortably. “Having no idea what happens in a packhouse, I’d say that it looks like a great space.”
“Yeah, so, that’s sort of the thing.” Unwinding from my embrace, she pulled me behind her. We walked up two stories, the first of which she said the pack would use for their hospital, library, and war room. Then we headed out the side, onto a stairway leading up.
“The third story has a separate entrance, which, trust me,
is very needed.” Scarlet used her key to open a wide blue door. The third floor looked very much like its own house, complete with a living room and a kitchen. Several skylights set in the vaulted ceilings glowed with the sun’s last rays.
Scarlet turned toward me. “There are six bedrooms here.”
My stomach clenched as it occurred to me for the first time that maybe Scarlet wasn’t just excited and nervous about showing me her new packhouse.
“That’s a lot of bedrooms,” I said carefully.
“I wonder if it’ll be enough,” she said as she leaned in closer.
“Hmm.” I wrapped an arm around her waist. “Who plans to live here?”
She ticked off on her fingers. “Aaron, Lance, and Darrel will all live here part time, and I’ll live here full time.”
“Seems like enough bedrooms to me,” I said as my heart sank. Of course she wasn’t going to ask me to live in her werewolf packhouse. What was I even thinking?
She stepped back and took a deep breath. “Okay. I want to do this right.” Fishing in her purse for a second, Scarlet pulled out a small box. She popped it open, showing a thick gold band nestled in black velvet. “Macklin Banrigh, will you marry me? Well, it’s more like, will you marry us. Or handfast, if you prefer.” She let out a shaky laugh. “What I mean is, will you join me and my mates and my pack? I know it’s a lot to ask. You don’t need to answer right away. It’s not like we’re going anywhere, and...”
She trailed off as I pulled a small box from my pocket.
“Scar, I bought this when we were eighteen.”
Two tears dropped onto her cheeks. “What?”
I cracked the box, showing her the white gold band with three emeralds. “It reminded me of you, so I bought it. I’ve been holding onto it, pretty sure I was a fool for keeping a ring for a woman who was planning to marry someone else.” I felt wetness on my own cheeks now.
“Damn it, Mack.” She was both laughing and crying through her words. “I’m the fool. I have a lot of baggage.”
I gave her a look. “If there was a scale with my baggage on one side and yours on the other, mine would fling yours to the Winter Kingdom.”
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