Page 114 of Betrayed in Blood
“It will wait.” I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder. “I’ll miss you.”
ChapterThirty-Four
Two weekslater
The SUV motorcadepulled up to the coastal manor, and I jumped out, excited to be home. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the two weeks at Oasis with my family and Ginger. My mother could put away more alcohol than I thought possible and added a secret ingredient to Ginger’s margaritas that made us tipsy on too many nights.
The positive side of being drunk was that April relaxed more. She openly despised me, but once we were drinking, I’d catch her smiling at something funny I said. It was a start.
Lucas, doing his best to fill Simone’s shoes, all but begged me to review the security upgrades and weekly rotation changes. I could have hugged him. A real project. It was exhausting between the project and socializing with the family, but I loved every minute of it.
The only downside was the calls to Devon. Each one was heartwarming. He made me laugh, and I missed him terribly. And I hated to admit that his suggestion to take some time away to think about the two of us and the cancellation of my debt had been a good one. I did think about it as I relished the time with my family and Ginger. We might be securing Oasis for an attack, but other than living among vamps and shifters, their world seemed planets away.
While I wanted nothing more than to see Devon, he wouldn’t be at the manor. He was inspecting the city safe house and, on a recommendation from Levi, the safe house’s security chief, had scheduled a meeting with the Lobos gang. Levi wanted to make sure the gang leader understood that their relationship with the vampires was for the security of the neighborhood and not approval of their business models. Devon wasn’t expecting trouble, it was a simple meeting to show respect and maintain the alliance. He promised to be home in time for dinner.
“Hey, Mateo.” I walked through the opened door and dropped my duffel on the floor. “Where is she?”
“In the training room. Would you like me to have your bag sent to your room?”
“I can grab it later.” I stalked down the hall, knowing full well that while Mateo asked the question, my answer didn’t matter. He’d have someone take it up.
I stopped in the kitchen to give Cook a hug and kiss on the cheek. He blushed as he always did before handing me a mug of coffee. It was like I never left. I sipped the coffee as I strolled toward the training room. I wasn’t necessarily sneaking up on it, but I slowed, thankful the door was partially open.
The first thing I heard was a grunt and a garbled curse. I couldn’t decipher the word, but the tone was clear enough. I leaned in, just enough to catch a glimpse. My feet were firmly planted so I could spring back if anyone glanced at the door.
Simone stood in her Wonder Woman stance as she stared at the climbing wall. She paced the length of it, never taking her eyes from it as she turned and stalked back to her starting point before repeating her steps.
Something was off. Her posture was the same, but she didn’t have the fluid grace of a panther I’d come to expect. She stopped in the center of the wall and took five paces backward. She shifted a step to the left, realizing she hadn’t backed up in a straight line.
That wasn’t normal.
She took off without warning and leaped for the wall. Her hands grabbed solid holds, but she ran into trouble when she tried to place her feet. Her left foot caught the rock, but her right foot slipped, and try as she might, she couldn’t get it to stick.
She attempted the climb anyway, which required an amazing amount of arm and hand strength to pull her body up without the support of her legs. Her left foot hit its mark, but her right leg missed again and threw her off balance.
Her fingers slipped, and she fell. Rather than land on her legs, which went out from under her, she landed on her back. Another grunt and a curse.
I stepped back. Devon had said her coordination wasn’t back. He wasn’t kidding. I gave some thought to the best way to play it and decided on the safer approach. Let her tell me—if she wanted to.
I backed up until I was twenty feet from the door and yelled, “Hey, Simone, are you in there?” I pushed through the door, took a swig of coffee, and grinned. “Did ya miss me?”
She rolled her eyes, something she’d never done before meeting me and Ginger. “Back so soon? We were hoping for another week.”
“Good to see your sense of humor is still as lame as ever.”
She gave me a once-over. “You’re not training?”
“I trained with Ginger this morning.”
She picked up a towel and a bottle of water, which she opened and drained half of.
“You done for the day?”
“Yes, you caught me at a good time. I’m headed for the hot tub.”
“I’ll follow.”
Once she was in the tub, I pulled over a lounge chair and laid back. I sipped from my mug, waiting to see if I would have to start the conversation. She surprised me.
