Page 26 of Act of Brotherhood
Wheeler chuckled. “Something like that. He’s a good guy. Worries a lot about you and Clara.”
“You know Clara?” she asked, surprised that Clara had never mentioned the man before. He seemed to be her friend’s type.
“Sort of. It’s hard to explain,” he returned. “Can you do me a favor and maybe forgo any more errands tonight?”
She stood there for a long, tense moment, wondering why it was so important to the man that she head home. She nearly opened her mouth to ask as much when something deep down told her to trust him and do as he’d asked. She nodded. “I can.”
He winked. “Thanks.”
“Can you domea favor and stop bossing Ernie around?” she asked.
Wheeler licked his lips and smiled. “I can.”
Chapter Six
Garth sauntered down the street,soaking in the sights around him. It had been decades since he’d been to Savannah, Georgia. The last time had been with Gram some forty years ago. They’d had a hell of a good time and managed to get booted out of more than one bar before finding themselves back at a rental house full of hot women.
This trip wasn’t as thrilling. So far, it seemed pointless. The prisoner in need of transportation was delayed in arriving in Georgia, so Garth was stuck there for at least another day, possibly more.
Corbin’s ultimate plan to get Garth away from Gram’s bedside was turning out to be more successful than anyone could have guessed.
The desire to stretch his legs had hit and, since Garth didn’t think there was a great place in the city to shift forms and run free, he’d had to settle for walking on two feet to get out his excess energy. He’d have preferred four. But after letting Auberi inject him with only Odin knew what, shifting seemed unwise.
He didn’t want to be stuck in wolf form again.
The sun had set an hour ago, and the city was bustling with people coming and going from various restaurants and businesses. The block he was on had a certain charm to it that he couldn’t put his finger on but that felt right. It might have had something to do with the number of beautiful women strolling about. It was hard to avoid noticing them.
As a group of four hot women walked by, each of them turned their heads and eyed him as if they were the ones doing the mental undressing. Garth couldn’t hide his grin. Modern-age women were amazing. Being ogled by them was high on his to-do list. If he was lucky, he’d get a repeat performance of his last visit to Savannah. A number of hot chicks and him, alone for a weekend. There was nothing quite like being immortal and not tied down. So many operatives seemed to be falling into the trap of mating that Garth was concerned he might be bitten by the bug.
No thank you.
He liked single life just fine.
Being a free agent meant he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. It was awesome. And he couldn’t wrap his mind around the concept of meeting a woman who made him forget about every other female out there. The idea was foreign to him, despite witnessing numerous friends falling victim to it. Poor bastards. Stuck with the same women for eternity. Seemed more like a curse to him than a blessing.
He was so caught up in looking over his shoulder at the four women, who were still checking him out, that he didn’t see there was a person in his path until it was too late.
He careened into someone who made his entire body light with need.
Instincts kicked in, and he grabbed the person by the upper arms to steady them, mindful of his grip. As a supernatural, he could break a human’s bones without trying very hard.
Before he could fully comprehend what was happening, the same ear-piercing buzzing noise he’d heard twenty years prior hit him like a ton of bricks. Somehow, he managed to stay upright. He didn’t cover his ears this time because the noise, while alarming, didn’t last as long as it had before.
It cleared slowly and left him feeling as if he were coming out of a fog.
Something smelled sugary. Too sweet. And the person he’d bumped into seemed to melt against him in a sloshy way. That wasn’t right. Was it?
Looking down, he found himself staring into huge blue eyes rimmed with black lashes. For a split second, his mind filled with the image of the little girl who had nearly died on the table in the lab twenty years ago. The same fierce need he’d felt then in regard to protecting her came flooding back, washing over him, wanting him to do the same for this woman.
His throat went dry as panic welled in him. He did not want to lose his shit and shift forms again. Not now. Not in front of all the humans, and not in front of this woman.
Pull it together.
He really couldn’t help but be reminded of the little girl from so long ago. The woman had the same eyes. But they weren’t the same person. They couldn’t be. The odds were incredibly high against it.
As he shook the insane thought that the little girl from twenty years ago was now the hottie before him from his head, he found himself captivated by her. The other women he’d been staring at when he’d ran into the newcomer faded quickly from his memory.
She was tall for a woman, easily five eleven. Her long, wavy black hair hung to her midback, and she had thick black lashes that drew even more attention to her eyes.
