I usually wouldn’t let him be the boss, but I was too afraid of agreeing to something I shouldn’t. I was desperate, and they’d know that. It was really easy to take advantage of the hopeless. “Deal.”
He rested his forehead against mine. “For the record, I think this is a bad idea. Luciana could’ve done the right thing and fixed this yesterday morning, but she didn’t.”
“I know. Believe me, I’m aware. I’m not letting my guard down.” I leaned away from him.
“Let’s go, before I change my mind,” Dastien said.
Max stepped toward me. “Thank you.”
“No more thank yous from you. Let’s see if I can actually do this first.”
“No, he’s right,” Shannon said. “Thank you for finally doing the right thing.”
That was a backhanded comment if I ever heard one, but now that I knew both reasons why Shannon hated me, she’d be easier to handle. Dastien had crushed a lot of girl’s hearts when he bit me, but we were mates. It was fate. Now she wanted to hold me responsible for Meredith’s curse, too?
It was easier to hate me instead of dealing with what was going on, but that wasn’t exactly fair. I didn’t curse Meredith—Luciana did. Once Meredith was better, maybe she’d know how to smooth things over between me and Shannon, but not right now.
I gave her a small nod, and then started back the way we came.
“Should we call someone? Tell them that we’re coming?” I asked Dastien.
He shook his head. “Usually, I’d arrange a neutral ground to meet them on, but that would give them a chance to prepare. So, we’re just going to show up.”
“And hope for the best.”
He smiled but his dimples didn’t show. “Oui. And hope for the best.”
***
The second time passing through the gate was easier. I was prepared for that slimy feeling as Dastien drove his car over the cattle guard.
“Did you feel it?” I asked.
Dastien glanced at me briefly before turning back to the road. “Not like you did, but I could feel your disgust.”
Right. “I’m not sure which house is Luciana’s. Just park wherever.”
He found an empty spot between a beat-up looking truck and a Prius. I stepped out of the car, not sure what my plan was. Hell, who was I kidding? There was no real plan.
Three people came out of a house down the road. Two guys and one girl. One of the guys was Daniel.
I blocked the sun with my hand as they walked toward us. I wasn’t sure if I should walk up to him or what, but he took the choice away from me.
He said something so softly to the others that I couldn’t hear, and then started toward me. The other two headed for the house across the road.
Here we go.
Daniel wore a pair of khaki shorts and a blue T-shirt with something printed on it. A band name? Not my kind of music, so I wasn’t sure. His hair was wet, like he’d just showered, and smelled of tea tree oil shampoo.
“Hi, Daniel,” I said when he got close.
“Teresa.”
I ground my teeth at the use of my name.
“What are you doing back here?” His eyebrows were drawn down. He wasn’t scowling, per se, but he didn’t look sure about me either. Daniel glanced over my shoulder at Dastien for a second before meeting my gaze again.
“I wanted to talk to Luciana about Meredith. I was hoping to come to an arrangement.”
“And you brought him with you?”
I didn’t like how he said that. Dastien stood a few feet behind me and a little to the left. His arms were loose at his sides, knees slightly bent. It was a protective posture. He was watching Daniel’s movements, ready to pounce if he needed to, and he was far enough to the side not to have to bump into me to do it.
“Yes,” I said. “We’re a package deal these days.”
Daniel crossed his arms. He was scowling now. “You weren’t supposed to be.”
Dastien growled and I shot him a look. “Cool it.”
He huffed, cutting off the growl, but his eyes stayed glowing gold and I had a feeling he wouldn’t be covering them with sunglasses.
This wasn’t going well and we’d only been here a couple minutes.
Daniel glanced at me. “You know, I always felt bad about what happened to Meredith. She didn’t deserve that. My mom threw the potion and said the incantation so fast I didn’t even know what she’d done. One second we were making out, the next Meredith was on the ground screaming like someone had died. I’ll never forget that sound. It was horrible.” He shuddered. “I hear your visions are much stronger than what my mom sees, but you get past and present stuff, while she gets impressions of the future. Only it’s never specific enough to do any real good. Basically all she got was that someone in the coven was going to be getting hot and heavy with a wolf, and would get turned. That’s why she freaked.”
