Page 49 of The Wayward Sons & The Vampires of Fortune
“To be fair, you could’ve turned it off sooner,” I said, like I hadn’t just playedShake It Offon repeat for hours on end just to see what I could get away with. Was I being petty? Yeah, but I was pissed off and stuck in a car with him when I wanted to be with Ryder.
He said something under his breath—something that sounded an awful lot like a death threat—but I didn’t back down. I just shrugged.I wasn’t sorry.
His phone lit up with an incoming call, and Cole answered it, putting it on speaker phone.
“You still got Gray?” Sam demanded as a way of a greeting. I sat upright instantly at the sound of his voice.
“Unfortunately,” Cole muttered, making me grin. At least I was succeeding at being a royal pain in his goddamn ass.
“Good,” he said. “Put him on. Privately.”
I frowned. What the hell did he want with me? Saying nothing, Cole grabbed it out of the windshield holder, disconnected it from the car, and handed it to me. I put it to my ear.
“I swear to fuck—”
“Gray.” The sound of Ryder’s voice knocked the wind out of me, and I sagged in the seat. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. The relief I felt was infinite.
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” I whispered. “You’re alive.”
“Not for a lack of vampires trying,” he replied. That thought made my stomach drop. What had he been through? What had it been like trying to get out of there? Were they out of there? They had to be out of there. That was the only thing that made sense.
“But you’re alive.”
“I am.”
“You okay? Not hurt or nothin’?”
“No, no, we’re good mostly,” he told me.
“Mostly? What the hell doesmostlymean?”
“It means I’m fucking over vampires,” Ryder snapped at me, not that I blamed him for his frustration. He sighed. Lord and Uriel help me, I would’ve done anything to be there with him. “I’m sorry. It’s just been… it’s been hard.”
Fuck, I wanted to hold him so bad. Reuniting with him couldn’t happen soon enough.
“I know, baby,” I said softly. “I’m hopin’ I see you real damn soon.”
I glared at Cole as I said it. He just rolled his eyes and nodded. I didn’t have a damn clue where we were going or when we’d get there.
“Are you okay?” Ryder asked.
“Other than them hittin’ me with some kind of horse tranquilizer—”
“It wasn’t a fuckin’ horse tranquilizer!” Cole exclaimed.
“—and then tyin’ me up to kidnap me—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he growled.
“I think I’m okay,” I finished, pointedly staring him down—challenging him to argue some more. He didn’t.
“There’s… a lot to unpack in all that, honey,” Ryder replied. “I think you and I have a lot to discuss.”
“Probably,” I agreed. I’d be happy to discuss whatever the hell he wanted once I had my hands on him. “I’ll be seein’ you soon.”
“Yeah. You be safe, okay?”
“You too.”
