Page 38 of Forsaken Fate

“Don’t be that way,” Grayson almost whined.

“It’s not about you this time, Grayson,” I said. “I’ve got a client situation. Plus, I think we’ve covered all the pertinent details. I’ll be there at the Gathering. I keep my promises. If you want more than that, I’ve named my price. Call me when you decide.”

I rose and tossed my napkin on the table. I seemed to have rendered Grayson speechless. Brynna was in a similar state, but her eyes flashed that green fire that I’d come to regard as mine alone. Then I turned and left them to each other.

CHAPTER 16

Brynna

Grayson was in a special kind of rage after Theo left. A quiet one. I found those to be the most difficult to manage because at least when he talked or yelled, I knew what he was thinking. We didn’t stay for dinner and Grayson would have walked out without paying. I hailed the waiter as quickly as I could and pulled out my credit card because Grayson was already halfway to the parking garage.

“But your dinners are just coming out now!” The waiter looked crestfallen. He had recognized Grayson. He’d been in the news at least three times in the last month with Diana’s funeral and the announcement he was running for her office.

“Mr. Dorran just isn’t feeling well,” I said. “Please just box them up and accept my apologies. Run this through and give yourself a thirty percent tip, please.” Grayson could thank me for saving at least one potential vote except I didn’t plan on being around in November.

Lucky for me, I also had the car keys so Grayson could storm off in a pout. He was pacing in front of his Lexus when I got there. I was almost afraid to give him the keys, but along with forgoing his dinner, he never finished his drink. I’d been watching him very closely. Setting the Styrofoam boxes on the hood of the car I fished for the keys and tossed them to him. He got in and slammed the door. He revved the engine and actually started to pull out as I scrambled to grab the food and get around to the passenger side.

“Were you planning on leaving me here?” I asked as I slid into my seat. While my door was still open, he peeled out of the parking spot. I slammed it shut, grateful I’d at least gotten my seatbelt latched before the car started moving.

“Don’t fucking talk to me,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Why are you mad at me?” I said. For a moment, my blood ran cold. Had he been watching? Had he seen Theo’s hands on me? Could he scent him? No, he couldn’t. He hadn’t even been in the dining room. This was something else.

“That piece of crap jewelry was your idea. I should have known not to listen to you.”

What? I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from saying anything else. Grayson was irrational. I had gotten to know how his mind worked more than I wanted. He was incapable of taking responsibility for anything. Again, this was the legacy of Diana at work. She’d made excuses for him his whole life. He externalized everything.

I kept quiet for the remainder of the half-hour drive back to Lake Bliss. With any luck, he’d cool off before we got there.

He didn’t.

As soon as we got in the front door, Grayson laid into me again.

“From now on, your job is to look how I tell you when we go out and that’s it. I can’t afford anymore bullshit in public, Brynna. Do you understand?”

I nodded. I made a mask of my face so he couldn’t see my bubbling rage. I wanted to slap him. I wanted to scream back. I couldn’t risk it. Not now. I was in Diana’s house now. I couldn’t afford to have him throw me out for even a day. We’d been here almost three days and I had yet to find a block of time alone so I could look for anything. Either Grayson or Mary Barlow hovered 24/7.

“Whatever you need, baby,” I said, hating the sound of my own voice. I plastered a smile on my face and went to him, smoothing my hands over his lapels. “He’ll come around, Theo will. It’s just as much an advantage to him to have his brother leading New York State, isn’t it?” I played dumb, fixing a Marilyn Monroe-esque doe-eyed stare on my face. “He has no pack of his own. No powerful alliances outside of Michigan. Do you think he wants to spend the rest of his life as Sebastian Lanier’s lackey? Because that’s all he is. He’s beholden to the Wild Lake Wolves. He has no power in his own right. Isn’t that true?”

Grayson’s shoulders relaxed and I knew I was in the clear. “Fucking right it is,” he said.

I went on my tiptoes and planted a kiss on his lips. Grayson kissed me back but he was rough, digging his fingers into the flesh of my upper arms. Alarm bells went off in my head. I went too far. Grayson leaned forward, forcing me to bend backwards to keep from falling. He pulled me against him; his breath was hot in my face. I didn’t want this. Not after Theo. Grayson’s wolf was coming out.

Grayson had me backed up against the wall and he tore at my dress, snapping one thin spaghetti strap. He pawed at me with rough hands. Something was off about his eyes. They’d gone yellow like his wolf, but the whites had turned pink. Water dripped from his fingertips again. It was as if his wolf magic and his water magic had short-circuited.

No. It was more than that. Even I could smell it. That sickly sweet scent of borrowed magic. The drips of water stopped, and balls of light crackled in his palms. That was fire magic! So he’d taken something in the parking lot or when I wasn’t looking. I was stupid for not having picked up on it. Shit. I’d gotten into a car with him!

Grayson took a staggering step back and grabbed at his crotch. He meant to take me right there in the hallway of Diana’s house. A door opened off the kitchen and Mary came out. She stopped short, her eyes wide with shock as she saw me against the wall with my dress torn. I looked at her; she must have seen the distress in my face but she set her mouth into a smirk and turned her back, quietly closing the door behind her.

Grayson shifted fully. His gray wolf looked thin, almost emaciated. He took a lumbering side-step and crashed straight into the wall.

“What have you done?” I whispered. Whatever magic he’d stolen, it wasn’t compatible with his own. If he shifted at the Gathering, the other wolf packs would never accept him as leader of the state. He’d get himself killed.

He let out a weak howl, then toppled over. His wolf curled up, snoring at the bottom of the stairs.

I was shaken, badly. I gathered the torn ends of my dress and covered myself. I took a shaky step forward, then another. I put a hand on his side, feeling each rib poking out beneath his fur. He took slow, labored breaths, but he was alive. I walked around him and made my way up the stairs.

Let Mary figure out what to do with him.

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