I narrowed my eyes right back at him. “The mate bond works both ways, Tor.”
His brow cleared. “No. Do not dig into this.” His tone was gruff. No-nonsense. “Promise me.”
Fuck, he’d sensed my evil plan. I hated this mate-bond thing. Was this how Fee felt? There had to be a way to block it. I’d have to speak to her soon.
“Cora. Promise me.” His tone softened.
I sighed and crossed my fingers behind my back. “Fine. I promise.”
He rolled his eyes and reached around me to drag my hand into view. “Seriously?”
Urgh. “Fine. But you should tell me what’s really going on. I might be able to help.”
His gaze darkened with sorrow. “Trust me, Cora, if I thought you could help, I’d tell you. But you can’t. Please drop it.”
Damn, he’d said please. “Okay. I won’t dig, but you need to promise me you’ll come to me for help if there’s anything I can do. I’m no damsel, Tor. And I have power. A ton of it.”
He nodded. “I promise. Now let’s get back to the cabin.” He looked down at Wren. “We’ll need to prepare a room for you.”
Wren sat up in my arms. “My own room?” He looked to me. “Cora, can Wren really have his own room?”
I’d missed snuggling with him, but he looked so excited about the prospect of his own space; no way was I spoiling that.
“Sure you can.”
“It’ll be temporary,” Tor said as he unlocked the driver’s side door. “Because we move to the big house in a few days.”
Wren hopped onto Tor’s shoulder. “Can Wren have a fluffy pillow and blue sheets?”
Tor chuckled. “I think that can be arranged.”
“Wren like Tor.”
Wait, had my mate just stolen my mogwai with the promise of fluffy pillows and blue sheets?
Damn.
I hugged the phone to my ear, reveling in the sound of my best friend’s voice. “How do you do it?”
“It gets easier,” Fee said. “But then I’m not trying to fight my mate bond.”
I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I’d received a text message an hour ago from Sloane asking me to meet her in the atrium at nine p.m. Lauris would be escorting me there. Yep. Bador had agreed to let me have the half-human gargoyle and I was sure Anna’s persuasive power had been largely to thank for that.
“I don’t have a choice, Fee.”
“I know, babe. I know.”
“I wish I had a mental wall like you.”
“You could.”
“I don’t have an Azazel to train me.”
“Does it bother you that much?” she asked softly.
Oh, God, it totally did. “I don’t like having my emotions on display all the time, and honestly, I don’t want to feel what they’re feeling all the time either.”
“You mean you can’t go off and do crazy shit without them finding out. Fuck it, no mental wall for you. That way they can keep you safe.”
“I can take care of myself and I don’t want my decisions being preempted.”
She sighed. “I know. You’re used to making your decisions and flying solo. I get it, but you’re in a unit now, a team. You need to consider their feelings and they…they need to consider yours. Set some boundaries, and if they care about you, they’ll respect them. The bond could save your life, especially with this trio of vamps that’s after you.”
I’d filled her in on the Sons of Adam, but she had no clue who they were. She had contacts in the Underealm. If anyone could get me more detailed information on the vampy threat, it was Fee.
She blew out a breath. “Promise me you’ll call me if you need backup.”
“I promise.”
There was a knock on the door and then it swung open with Wren dangling from the handle.
“Lauris is here,” he said. “It’s time to go.”
“Is that the cutie?” Fee asked.
“Yep, I promise you’ll get to meet him soon, but I got to go now.”
“Be safe out there. I’ll get back to you on the original vamp issue.”
“Thanks, babe.”
I flung open my wardrobe and stared at my selection of boots. Now, what said Elite revenant ass kicker?
“Nice boots,” Lauris said.
I looked down at my knee-high combat boots with a two-and-a-half-inch, stainless-steel cone heel. Made from butter-soft black leather with a Kevlar lining, they said comfort could also be kickass. The Kevlar lining meant extra protection from bullets and blades while the rear corset-style lacing added that ultra-sexy vibe.
“You like? Yeah, I felt they said Elite, plus check out my stylish knife holster. Okay, all my boots have a blade holster, but this one’s hidden. And the stainless-steel heels make these definite ball busters.” I winked.
“Ball busters?” Lauris grinned. “I like that. I guess you could call mine ball busters too. And I have hidden blades.”
I looked down at his kick-the-shit-outta-you boots covered by jeans.
“But you have to pull up your jeans to get to your blades.”
He knocked his heel on the ground and a blade shot out the front of his boot with a snick.
“Whoa. I need a pair.”
He pressed his boot to the ground and the blade retracted. “I’ll get you some.” He grinned at me, showcasing fangs.
He was dressed all casual-like, open-neck long-sleeve shirt and jeans, as if he were off on a night out, which fit with the whole club and bar scene where we’d be hunting revenants. But there was no muting his silver locks and eerie silver eyes. He was extraordinary to look at and would stick out like a pimple on the center of your forehead.
“Are you going to glamour?”
“Already have,” he said. “Humans won’t get the benefit of all this lusciousness.” He bumped my shoulder with his arm. “You still get to ogle, though.”
I snorted. “Thanks.”
We walked in silence for a minute, but it wasn’t an easy, companiable silence, it was one of those pregnant silences where one person needed to say shit.
“What’s on your mind, Lauris.”
“Bador said you asked for me personally?”
“Yeah, is
