“Fine!” Sami threw up her hands in the air. “You’re going to be sorry you don’t have me with you. Mark my words.”
ONCE IT APPEARED THE MOST RECENT TUMULT had passed, we left the Winters family to discuss things outside and headed toward the bedroom. Gunner was revved up, on multiple levels.
“First off, you’re not leaving me here,” he hissed after he slammed the bedroom door shut to cut us off from the rest of the cabin in case someone should decide they needed to come inside. “I won’t be separated from you when a fight is coming.”
I sucked in a breath to calm myself. “We were separated last night,” I said. “You didn’t have a problem when you were the one going out.”
He was clearly taken aback. “I ... you ... that’s neither here nor there.” He recovered quickly. “We didn’t realize the scope of things last night. We’re a team, right? That means we fight together.”
“We’re a team,” I agreed. “But tonight, you need to stay with Aric.”
“Why?” Frustration positively radiated off of him. “You give me one good reason why I need to stay here rather than fight with you? And it had better be something believable because I’m so close to the edge right now I’m unlikely to believe anything you have to say.”
Under other circumstances his response might have been funny. He was deadly serious now, though, so I knew better than to crack a smile. “Because this coalition, and that’s the best word I can come up with to describe them, apparently wants Sami. What if they took the vampire to lure part of our team out in an effort to get her a second time?”
Gunner worked his jaw and I waited for a response. When it became obvious one wasn’t coming, I cracked my first smile.
“It’s not funny,” he said. “I’m being serious. It’s not funny at all.”
“I’m being serious too. We can’t not go after the vampire.”
“You could not go. Let Zoe save him herself. He’s just a vampire.”
I fervently shook my head. “He’s a member of their family, and don’t pretend he’s a normal vampire. You saw the way he risked himself for the girl. He loves her as much as she loves him, although probably not in a romantic way.”
Gunner sighed and dragged a hand through his shoulder-length hair. “I don’t like the idea of being separated from you.”
“I believe we had the same discussion last night.”
“And look how that ended.”
“You’re warded here,” I reminded him. “You’ll be safe. Besides, Sami can fight them off if she knows they’re coming. It’s best to have two people on her, just in case.”
“What about you and Zoe? Do you think you’re going to be able to take down all these shifters and vampires, just the two of you?”
“I think Zoe could do it herself. I’m just going because it seems like a bad idea for anybody to be out on their own right now. We can get in and out without anybody seeing. You know this makes the most sense.”
He held my gaze for a long beat and then nodded, resigned. “Fine. I don’t like it, though.” He pulled me to him for a hug and rested his cheek against my forehead. “How did your meeting with Pemberton go?”
“Pemberley,” I corrected automatically. “Apparently he picked his name from Pride and Prejudice. He told me that himself. I actually like that book.”
“Oh, geez, an Austen fan.” He wrinkled his nose. “I didn’t see that coming.”
Despite myself, I was impressed. “You’ve read Austen?”
“I’m a man of varied interests.” He stroked his hand over my hair. “Tell me. Don’t keep dragging it out. It will just drive both of us crazy.”
“He knew what I was on sight. Basically, he says he’s aware of various Children of the Stars groupings, but he has no idea if I came from one of them or a different group. He’s going to ask around.”
Gunner’s eyebrows hiked. “That’s it?”
I nodded. “That’s it.”
“Well that totally bites.” He weaved back and forth, holding me close as he pondered the new development. “What do you think?”
“Just like everything else in my life, the answers aren’t going to be easy. Zoe says to give him time. She seems to think he might actually know more than he’s saying but it’s one of those things where he can’t betray people so he has to talk to them first.”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know. He was friendly enough. There was an unfortunate moment where he flashed us because his robe came undone. Other than that, I liked him. I’m pre-dispositioned not to trust people, so maybe I’m being a nut. I just don’t know.”
“My little nut.” He gave me a long kiss. He was somber when he pulled back. “You’re doing the best you can, Scout. If you don’t trust him, go with your gut. If you want to trust him, remain wary but also ... go with your gut. You have the best instincts of anyone I know.”
“Yeah. I guess.” I placed my ear to the spot above his heart and listened for a moment, allowing the steady beat to lull me. “He said I would trust him because I trust Zoe and she trusts him.”
“While that sounds like some convoluted thinking, I’m not sure I disagree with him.”
“I just don’t want to make the wrong choice.”
“Baby, you can’t always make the right choice. Nobody is infallible, including you. You can only do your very best, and I trust you to do that because that’s simply who you are.”
“You have a rather high opinion of me.”
He laughed and held me tighter. “Yeah. You’ve grown on me. I can’t explain it.”
“I just need to give it some time to settle. Tonight we’ll get the vampire back. Tomorrow we’ll worry about the fairy stuff. That’s weird, right? Am I supposed to identify as a fairy?”
“You’re also half witch. You should be whatever you want to be.”
“What if I want to
