Page 18 of Haunted By the Shadow of Death

He walked toward the door but then stopped briefly in front of me, leaning down and grazing his lips over mine. It was just a soft touch before he straightened.

“See you in a bit,” he said, leaving me gaping as he headed toward the door.

“Wait,” I said, finally unknotting my tongue before he managed to get away.

“What?” He looked at me as if he had no idea what I could want.

“What was that?” I asked, my fingers going to my lips.

“A kiss goodbye?” he asked, his brows knitting as if he still didn’t see the problem. “It was a peck. It’s best to get in the habit of such things so we don’t look awkward in public.”

Accusing him of trying to seduce me would sound too stupid aloud, so I came at it from a different angle. “Just so the lines are clear, this is all for appearances?”

“Of course. You didn’t think a peck on the lips was my trying to seduce you?” He smirked, as if that was the silliest thing he’d ever heard, then took a couple steps back toward me. “I can give you a demonstration of what I’d do if I was trying to get you into bed.”

He was less than a foot from me, smiling as if he’d be more than happy to prove his point. I didn’t doubt he could. I’d had his kisses before and knew what they could do.

I backed up. “No. I just wanted to make sure we weren’t blurring the lines. I’m good. You should head to the mill. They probably need you.”

Evangeline walked determinedly toward me as I left the cabin.

“What are you up to?” she asked, stopping right in front of me

“Nothing really. I was just—”

“Good. I need you to come with me.” She took a few steps and then waved her hand, as if I weren’t following her quick enough.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing is wrong, but now that I’m back, I usually attend this afternoon tea thing we do. I thought you should come, you know, being the alpha’s mate and also the new guide. It’ll give you a chance to get to know some of the women here before the party.”

“Oh. So it’s a luncheon kind of thing? I mean, if everything was normal?” I immediately wanted to run. Could I use Charlie as an excuse? He was still fishing and probably would be for hours. Still, maybe he needed me?

“Yes, exactly,” Evangeline said. She was looking around as if she wanted to go anywhere but where we were headed, making my steps slow.

“Did they ask for me to come? I don’t want to crash the party. Maybe this isn’t a good idea?” I stopped walking altogether.

“You’re coming,” she said, stopping right beside me.

“This is going to be bad, isn’t it? Is this the payback for the cake?” The picture was starting to come together.

“Yes and yes. It’s horrible. They blather on about the stupidest crap you’ve ever heard. That’s why I need you to come.” She pointed in the direction she wanted me to walk.

“So that we’re both miserable,” I said, forcing myself to continue.

“Yes, but I’ll be less miserable if you’re there, and you owe me. I’m going to make the most badass cake you’ve ever tasted, and it’s only going to cost you a couple hours of misery.”

“Fine. But why do you go if it’s so bad?”

She sighed. “Because it gets awkward when I bail. Lousy, who you know I hate, is in charge of growing produce. Brittany handles the winemaking here. Fran does laundry. I blow up any of those relationships and my quality of life nosedives. It’s not like it was before Death Day, where I could find a new cleaner or liquor store. This is it. We’re all essential and I’m screwed. There’s people I talk to now that I would’ve chopped off my tongue before speaking to a year ago.”

“You didn’t always live here?” I asked, the details of her past still a little hazy. I’d known she had a restaurant, but not where.

“No. You need to understand, before Death Day things were way different. You had lifestyle options. I lived closer to Little Rock. I had a social life. I dated. Then once a month or so I’d come out here, get in touch with my roots, so to speak, maybe do a couple laps around the territory. But other than that, I was living like a normie in the city.”

“Did most of the pack do that?”

“It was all over the map. Kicks was mostly here because he’s an alpha, and that’s just their bag. If you’re an alpha, you have to live with the pack, keep the ties and bounds strong, you know? But the rest of us… I’d say maybe a third? Half of us were scattered about, a third close but not here, and then the rest in the community. That’s why all the new construction. We still have more than we can comfortably handle.”

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