Page 22 of Soulmates
The trace of David’s scent leads me past the CRV, still parked in the spot closest to the stairs. I look through the windows, half hoping he’s just come out to pick up his…I don’t even know what. Nothing. I keep chasing the elusive scent before it fades away.
The edge of the lot is marked by a knee-high row of shrubs that grab at my trousers as I plow through them. Next door is another lot, another row of shops, but no David.
And I’ve lost the last trace of his scent.
Now what the hell do I do?I head back for our room and find David standing by the car, arms crossed, hands fisted. “Where have you been?” he all but snarls, his tone as pugnacious as his posture.
“Looking for you.”
“You thought I’d walk out on two full suitcases and a makeup case?” He cocks his head, gaze drilling me. “And where the hell did you think I’d be going? On foot. Out here in the middle of”—he gives the area a quick once-over—“strip mall heaven.”
I turn on my heel and head back to the hotel room. None of the words I want to say will help things in the slightest.
“Come on, Tony. You can’t be that dumb.”
I stop.Don’t tease a vampire, asshole.Somehow, my voice comes out calm and clear. “Next time you want to go on walkabout, leave a note.”
Footsteps behind me. I don’t move. “I needed to think,” he says, and when I don’t respond, he keeps going. “Uncle Brendan agreed to a nine p.m. meeting.”
“Good.”
“He said you would be allowed in, since Dad hired you, but not Sheena.”
Pick your battles, Gall. “Good.”
“And…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left without telling you where I was going.” His voice holds true remorse, and my anger fades.
“I’m not your babysitter.”
He reaches for me, his hand warm on my shoulder. “No, but I hope you’re my friend.”
I lay my hand on top of his. “Over dinner, you can tell me why you went for a walk here in strip mall heaven.”
“It’s a deal.”
OXO
Over dinner, we clear the air. David says he left because he thinks best on his feet. I resist the urge to say he didn’t appear to be thinking at all.
David blames all the shooting and exploding onfamily stuff, but I want to know what that means, exactly. That said, I opt for an indirect approach. “So, your father wants you to take charge of the family wolf pack. What does your mother think of that?”
His smile is brighter than the fluorescent tube lights overhead. “Not sure.”
I use a smile and silence to coax more information out of him.
“Mom is great,” he says. “She’s…well, let’s just say when Dad went national, she…didn’t.”
“What does that mean?”
He snorts a laugh. “She’s not anybody’s Mrs. Alpha. They’re the happiest couple in the universe, but he’s in DC doing his bit to keep the US government out of our hair, and she’s in a cabin on Bellingham Bay, up in the northwest corner of Washington State. She writes poems and talks to the voices in the air and I don’t know what all else. I haven’t seen her in years, but she’s quick with the email. If the weres have a religion, she’s our high priestess.”
“And your dad is okay with all that?”
“Didn’t have much choice. Her wolf might not be able to take his, but she’d hurt him pretty bad.”
“Huh. So, it’s possible to refuse your father’s request.”
He makes a face at the obvious connection I’m drawing.If Mom can say no, why can’t David?
