“No way.” Poppy sat forward in her seat. “I was sure Lauter was the last of his kind. Didn’t he say that to you?” She looked to Jessie.
Jessie sipped her Guinness. “He said his people are gone. Dunno what that means.”
I needed to contact Leana and tell her about this. Did she know there were more fae like her out there?
“Any sign of Jasper?” Sloane jolted me out of my thoughts.
I took a gulp of whiskey. “Not since he told me he wasn’t going to be bailing my friends out any longer. He’s pissed. I don’t blame him.”
Jessie ran her index finger around the rim of her pint glass. “I wouldn’t usually advocate a relationship with a malevolent spirit, but in this case I don’t see why you can’t go there. You obviously care about him and he obviously gives more than two shits about you.”
“She’s afraid she’ll fuck him,” Sloane said bluntly.
“Ah.” Jessie shrugged. “Can’t help with that. I have zero self-control.”
Poppy giggled, then sobered. “Does he know why you won’t be with him?”
“He knows about the seal and the no-sex rule, but I don’t think he cares. I don’t know what he is, or where he came from. I can’t take the risk of taking off this amulet, no matter how badly I might want to.”
Jessie’s mouth turned down. “You don’t trust him.”
It wasn’t that. “I trust him with my life, just not with the fate of humanity, and…I don’t trust myself around him.”
“But that amulet only stops him from banging you as long as you don’t agree to being banged,” Jessie pointed out. “You’ve managed to stay in control so far. Seems to me the amulet’s just a security blanket. You care about humanity and the seal or you wouldn’t be here. Trust yourself.” She took a gulp of her beer. “I say, fuck the angst. Make a deal with him to keep his cock to himself. If the wolves can do it, wolves that are mated to you, then why can’t he?”
When she put it that way, it made sense. Was I overthinking things? I mean, the amulet muted his ability to draw from me, but according to him I radiated power, so the only thing the amulet was really doing was keeping him from getting sexy with me. Did I need it? Could I go there with Jasper? Could I trust myself?
“No,” Sloane said. “Not till we know more about him. I’m with Tor on that one. I’m not saying Jasper’s hiding stuff—I believe he doesn’t know who or what he is—but we need to help him find out before you make any decisions that could jeopardize that seal.”
But I needed to tell Jasper this. I needed to clear the air and just…tell him I cared. Oh, God. I needed to tell him… “Excuse me.” I pushed back my chair and headed toward the door that led to the restroom. The corridor beyond was empty.
“Jasper. Jasper. I need you.”
Nothing.
“Jasper, please…” My chest was tight with the need to speak to him. To tell him what he meant to me, but there was no crackle in the air and no fizz.
No Jasper.
Fuck.
I turned to head back to the bar just as the restroom door swung open and two giggling women spilled out.
I recognized the silver-blonde hair and gray eyes that turned cold at the sight of me.
Astrid’s smile fell. “What are you doing here?”
“What people do at a bar. Drinking.”
She’d leaped into a ring of varga and used her body as a shield to protect me from them, but I guess that didn’t mean we were friends.
“Yeah? Well, you’re not invited to the pre-mating party.”
“Astrid, what the hell?” Her companion looked at her in shock.
Astrid rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” And then flounced off.
The dark-haired shifter smiled tentatively at me. “Ignore Astrid. We’d love for you to join us if you like. I’m Selena, Holm Pack.”
“Good to meet you. I’m so sorry I haven’t been to Holm yet.”
Her expression clouded. “It’s all right. The alpha explained you wouldn’t be visiting. But Halle has said wonderful things about you.”
Wait, what? “Rune said I couldn’t come?”
She blinked rapidly. “Well, yes. He said you were busy.”
Busy? Why would he do that? She was watching me with open curiosity now, and I needed to rein in the confusion, or I’d make Rune a liar.
I composed my features. “I was busy, but I’ll be down to visit next week.”
Her face lit up. “Oh, that would be awesome. We can have lunch.” She clasped her hands together. “I have to admit, we were a little jealous when you visited Vita and Mana but not us.”
“I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you guys.”
“You can meet a few of us now, if you like?” She looked at me expectantly.
“Sure.”
I followed her into the bar and caught Sloane’s eye as I passed our table. I mouthed, Be right back.
She nodded, tracking me until I turned away and dove into the crowd with Selena. The shifter led me to a small group of dark-haired women who looked up in surprise at my approach.
I chatted with them for a while, ignoring the burn between my shoulder blades from Astrid’s laser eyes. She was beginning to get on my nerves.
I was making my excuses, eager to get back to Sloane and The Elites, when the spot at my solar plexus bloomed with heat and my nape prickled.
Leif.
I turned as he entered the bar. He was dressed casually in a long-sleeved black sweater and jeans, no coat despite the chill outside. But then he was a shifter, and they all ran a little hot. His crimson hair was tousled, silken strands kissing his cheeks and sweeping across his forehead. Our gazes locked and his face broke into a huge smile.
“Leif!” Astrid threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You made
