Page 71 of Ascension of the Pack

Before I could say anything, the orb had gathered air magic around me and propelled me upwards on a gust of wind like a werewolfy Mary Poppins. It gently deposited me on the main floor and I had a gentle feeling of pressure all around me, like a hug. And then its presence left me.

That was actually super cute and I vowed to make good on my promise to hang out with the orb. Voltaire’s words of warning were running through my head; it wasn’t enough to know my air magic, I needed to be able to use it under pressure.

I rubbed my eyes. Not now, though. The air magic could wait. Man, I was tired. Too much piping.

I stumbled out of the seat of power and saw Greg approaching. He looked solemn and there were shadows in his eyes. ‘Hey,’ I smiled warmly, hoping to see him light up.

His answering smile was reserved. ‘Hey. I was just coming to find you.’

‘You found me,’ I said with an impish smile.

‘And I always will,’ he promised. He slung an arm around my shoulders. ‘Everything okay, Peaches?’

‘I’m really tired. I need to go to Rosie’s and I need a nap.’

‘You got it. I’ll drive. Come on.’

I waited until we slid into the car to ask, ‘Mindy?’

He grimaced. ‘She’s been dealt with.’

I licked my lips. ‘Is she dead?’

‘No – I got her cleared. Poetic justice. She isn’t a threat to us anymore. She thinks she’s Common.’

I shuddered; that was a fate worse than death. ‘That must have been hard for you.’

‘Not really,’ he admitted. ‘She kidnapped Daniella.’

‘Was she Domini?’

He shook his head. ‘No, just devoted brethren.’ He looked rueful. ‘It happens. Some of us get fanatical. She admitted that she was the one who found your adoption papers on Darius’s desk and told Geneve about them. She led everyone to your door – Ben is a werewolf because of her.She admitted she was jealous and wanted to destroy you. She thought I’d fall in love with her if she removed you from the equation.’ He grimaced. ‘I don’t know why she thought that. I never loved her.’

‘For some people, sex and love are intertwined.’

He shot me a startled glance. ‘I haven’t had sex with her.’

‘What? But when Mark died and you went to pick her up…’

‘She was drunk. I picked her up and drove her home because she was threatening to drive her own car if I didn’t come. We talked for a bit then she put the moves on me. I said no and left.’ He slid me a glance. ‘All this time you thought I’d shagged her?’

‘Well, yeah.’

‘Lucy,’ he said, looking rueful, ‘I haven’t had eyes for anyone else since the moment we met. You and your pink froofy outfits have ruined me for all other women.’

‘Froofy?’ I objected.

He grinned. ‘You know what I mean.’

‘My outfits are feminine and tasteful.’

‘They are,’ he agreed with a poker-straight face that made me snicker.

Something in me eased. Mindy was out of the picture; even better, she’d never actually beeninthe picture. That’d teach me about notcommunicating properly.

Communication was the key to any good relationship and I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. If Greg and I were going to do the whole ‘for better, for worse’ thing, I needed to get better about revealing what was going on in my head, and not just with Esme.

Chapter 42

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