Page 33 of Just Dare Me
But not once did any of them sayI told you so. They were only happy for me. They had simply done their job. They had loved me unconditionally, a kindness which I didn’t deserve.
I had finally drifted off to sleep with this feeling of being unworthy. But when I woke up, I only felt determined to repay their generosity. That tiny little circle of responsibility I was so desperate to constrain had expanded while I slept, growing beyond my reach. No pulling it back now. It’s a relief, actually. Just let it go.
In fact, let go of everything, starting with my car. For the first time ever, I’m sitting in thepassengerseat as we race down Vernor Highway.
Nora Jacobs is only the fifth person in the world to ever sit behind the wheel of my 2006 Pontiac Crap-pile, but she’s really the only person I’veallowed. Nolan had a right to drive it, with or without my approval, because he was the one who built the damn thing. It was driven once by a West Side speed demon, and another time by Nash, the silverback werewolf of East Side. I got even with the speed demon by not having sex with him, and Nash I’ve shot at least a dozen times in the face, so I totally agree when Elle’s voice in our earpieces says, “Wow, Nora, you should feel honored.”
“I would feel honored if I weren’t so self-conscious. Shayne makes this look easy. There’s a hitch between third and fourth gear I just can’t smooth out.”
“Nolan could have fixed that by now,” Elle explains correctly, “but Shayne likes it.”
“Of course she does. Makes it so nobody else can drive it as good as she can.”
Elle laughs. “Ding-ding. Congratulations. You officially understand Shayne Davies.”
Smiling, I pull the magazine from my handgun and load it with bullets made of pure silver. Months ago, after Nash tried to blow Jay up with a car bomb, I vowed to end that silverbacked son-of-a-bitch. His wolf may be strong enough to eat lead in the face all day, but one silver bullet will put him down for good.
Charlotte pipes up. “Hey, what’s going on? Where’s Shayne?”
“I’m here.” There’s no response. “I’m here, Charlotte, what’s up?”
“Nothing,” she says. “You just…it was quiet, that’s all.”
The line fills with laughter from Elle and Nora. “What she means,” Elle says, “is did you fall asleep?”
“Or are you daydreaming?” Nora adds.
Charlotte deadpans this zinger: “Or maybe you saw a squirrel?”
More laughter. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I say, “what if I told you I’mfocusing?” The line goes quiet for a moment and then explodes with more laughter, Nora’s being the loudest. I give her a shove. “I have a gun in my hand.”
Elle sighs. “Oh, calm down. You know what we’re saying.”
“What are you saying?”
“Duh. We’re saying that marriage looks good on you, dummy.”
My smile widens. “You think so?”
“Um. You’re about to drop onto a moving train full of East Side demons that want to murder you, and yet you can’t stop smiling.”
“You don’t know that!”
“Are you serious? Nora?”
“Oh yeah,” Nora confirms. “Full smile, all teeth showing. And she keeps checking her hair in the mirror.”
I slap the visor up, hiding the tiny mirror. “Yes, I do. And I’d put eyeliner on if the car didn’t jolt like crazy every time Nora changes gears.” Nora gives a hard tap on the brakes, jerking me against my seat belt.
Russo’s voice joins in. “Date night for Shayne. Vital to a relationship. Gotta make time for it.”
“Thank you, Danny. I can’t help it if the only time I get to see Jay happens to coincide with our operations to take down a psychopathic demon cult, okay? If that’s what it takes.”
Russo chuckles. “No excuses. Loving that.”
“Right,” Charlotte says. “We’ll try to remember to be happy for you while a dozen thugs are shooting at us.”
“And that’s all I’m asking, is that you try,” I say. “Also, don’t get shot or stabbed or blasted by fireballs.”
