Page 47 of Soulmates
“We’ll go get Sheena, then find a vamp-safe hotel. And you”—he points at Connor—“are with us until we figure out what’s going on.”
Chapter Sixteen
SHEENA LIVES IN the Jefferson Park neighborhood, south of the10. I know the lingo because Connor and Trajan bitched at each other about how to get here pretty much from the time we hit Connor’s Prius until we pulled into her driveway. I’m dying to get out of the backseat, because being trapped in a sardine can with arguing alphas is no fun.
Once inside Sheena’s old Craftsman house, all I can smell is pain. The place is all dark wood and clay tile. Her face is bruised, and she’s moving like someone took a hammer to her ribs. She manages to close the door behind us, then settles on the couch in the front room. If she’s surprised by Connor’s presence, she’s grimacing too hard to show it.
“Do you have any steak?” Trajan asks.
I jerk a glance at him, and yeah, he’s staring back at me. I guess it’s flattering to know I’m the first order of business.
“I need you to shift,” he says, and my whole body shudders. This is going to be rough.
Connor more or less collapses in an old leather wingback chair. It’s in the corner where he’ll have a view of the whole room and the front door. Trajan’s still standing near the door, his body rigid. The front room is small, overcrowded with emotion.
“Does he have clothes?” Sheena asks the room.
“No,” Trajan answers for me.
Connor lifts his head. “I might have—”
“Borrow something of mine.” Sheena cuts him off.
I trot over to a small hallway. Three doors open off it. One’s a bathroom, and the other two are bedrooms. I pick one, and, judging by the clothes tossed everywhere, I get it right. For aminute, I have to fight my wolf. He doesn’t want to give up control, or maybe he’s just afraid it’s going to hurt like hell.
Can’t be helped.
I do my best to center myself, and shift.
The next thing I know, Trajan’s kneeling next to me, shaking me gently. “David? puppy? Are you okay?”
My mouth’s so dry, I have to unpeel my tongue to talk. “Don’t know.”
“You howled like a banshee, and then nothing. I’ve been trying to wake you for like half an hour.”
A shadow crosses the doorway. Connor again. “Is he okay?”
Trajan tenses but doesn’t speak. “Yeah,” I say, though likely I’m fooling nobody. “Just give me a minute, and I’ll get dressed.”
Trajan helps me sit, his hands steady and sure. Connor watches, and though I don’t like it, I can feel his compassion. Whatever this guy is up to, I don’t think he means to hurt us. I mean, beyond letting Trajan think he was dead.
I manage to get to my feet, stark naked, in front of two attractive men. One who is not my type, but that I’m kind of attached to, and the other who would be my type under different circumstances.Well, howdy.At least one part of my anatomy recovers quickly. I lean against Trajan, both for support and to hide my semi. “I need a shower.”
“Sure.” He helps me toward the bathroom, moving Connor out of the doorway with the force of his glare. Soon I’m under a cascade of warm water and covered in lavender bubbles.This is good.
I don’t have the gear to shave and Sheena’s selection of product is pretty limited, but I do my best. She’s much taller than I am, so I make do with a pair of baggy peach shorts and a white mesh tee. On her, it’s probably a crop top, but I only have an inch or so of skin between where the shirt ends and the shorts begin. Even so, it’s been so long since I had anything even remotely cute on that I’m happy.
I go back out to the living room. Trajan’s just come back from the grocery store with steak and some vitamin-fortified something for Connor. Sheena is resting on the couch, and Connor’s in a wing chair, head tilted back, his eyes closed.
Trajan brings me a bowl of raw beef and chucks a bottle of juice at Connor. That draws an oomph when it hits Connor’s gut, loud enough to rouse Sheena.
“So.” She rises on one elbow and swings her feet to the floor so there’s space for Trajan to sit. “Where are we?”
I’m sitting cross-legged on a braid rug, my bowl set on the heavy mahogany coffee table. Trajan even remembered to bring me a napkin. I feel a little like a kid among grown-ups, but until I get some protein in me, I don’t care. If Trajan and Connor are going to work things out, we’ll have to start right now. I want us all on the same page before one of us gets killed.
Everyone goes quiet except for my slurping, like there’s too many words to say and no one wants to throw the first ones out there. I already know part of Connor’s story—he’s from the Elite, and something-something mysterious something Jacques and Uncle Brendan—but I can’t see any of that going down well with Trajan. Sheena’s got a protective arm draped along the back of the couch around Trajan’s shoulders, and her expression could freeze testicles. I concentrate on chewing and swallowing, trying to conserve strength.
Connor swigs another mouthful of juice, his attention somewhere above all of us. “So do you guys want to ask me questions, or should I just start talking?”
