“Don’t tease her, Wes,” his mate, Leona, gently admonished. She gave me a brief hug. “How are you feeling? Nervous?”
Nervous? Definitely. But admit that to others? Not likely. “I’m fine.”
“I would be nervous in your shoes,” said Ricardo.
I smiled brightly at him. “Hello, Rick.”
His expression hardened in annoyance. “It is Ricardo.”
“Right, that’s what I said.”
Rowan shook his head, amused. “You cannot resist needling him, can you?”
Of course I couldn’t resist.
Marcia, Rowan’s mate, suddenly came to his side. She shot me a genuine smile. “It’s not often that I see you alone. Where’s your mate?”
“I have no idea, that’s why I’m here.” Turning back to Wes, I asked, “I don’t suppose you’ve seen Jared anywhere, have you?”
Wes gestured behind him. “He was talking with your personal assistant a moment ago.”
“Great, thanks.” Giving each of them a brief wave, I walked to where Fletcher stood, laughing, with Norm, Ava, and Cristiano…but there was no Jared. I went to speak, but Fletcher pulled me into a hug that was tight enough to squeeze the breath from my lungs. “Can’t. Breathe.”
He loosened his hold. “Oh don’t be so dramatic.”
I could only gape at that. “This is coming from the drama queen of the century?”
Norm laughed. “Of every century,” he corrected. When Fletcher scowled at him, he patted his back. “But you’re my drama queen, aren’t you?” That made Fletcher smile.
I stifled a chuckle. “Ooh, good save.”
Norm winked at me. “Thanks.”
Ava snatched me from Fletcher’s arms and hugged me just as tightly. The tiny female was weirdly strong. “I’m so excited about the Coronation.” Pulling back, she gasped. “I love this dress.”
“As usual, Fletcher can take the credit.” The white halter-neck was, like everything else he’d ever given me, a snug but perfect fit.
“I’m going to miss you.” Ava pouted cutely.
“You don’t have to leave. In fact, I’m hoping you don’t. I have plans for you.” She looked at me questioningly, but I simply gave her a mysterious smile. “All will be revealed shortly.”
Cristiano arched a brow. “I’m guessing that invitation doesn’t extend to me.” Most likely in response to my ‘oh shit’ expression, he shook his head. “Joke. I’m eager to get back to my nest. I’ve been away from them for long enough. Actually, I’ll be leaving straight after the Coronation.”
That was good, because although Jared had grown to…tolerate Cristiano, I knew he wouldn’t cope with him on a permanent basis. “Be a better leader than Victor was.”
“That goes without saying.” He tilted his head. “Joy left last night, you know.”
“Really?” Jared had predicted that she wouldn’t want to serve us directly, but…“We’d sort of reached a truce after she killed Eloise.” I shrugged. “Clearly the truce is over.”
“Just because someone can accept that they can’t have the person they want doesn’t mean that they can stand to watch that person with someone else.”
The odd look on his face made me frown. “You all right?”
He nodded, swallowing hard. “You, er…take care.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but instead he just smiled. It wasn’t one of his usual smirks. It was an actual smile.
“I will. You, too.” I nudged Fletcher. “Where did Jared go after you spoke to him?”
Fletcher frowned thoughtfully. “He said something about going to find you, but then Antonio called him over.”
Knowing Antonio was near the patio doors with Lucy, Sebastian, and Luther, I said, “Okay, thanks.” It wasn’t until Fletcher grabbed my hands that I realised I’d been fidgeting nervously.
Fletcher kissed both of my cheeks. “You’ll be fine, luv. You might want to put on a little blusher – you’re white as a sheet with nerves.”
“I’m not nervous.” I gave him a gentle shove and then went to seek out Jared. Instead, I came face-to-face with Max, who stood with Chico, Jude, Damien, Denny, and David.
“Coach,” Max greeted with a wide smile and a manly pat on the back. “Damn, you’re pale – even for a vampire.”
Denny cocked his head at me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you nervous before. It’s weird.”
Jude gave him a ‘Seriously?’ look. “Wouldn’t you be nervous if you were about to be crowned Queen of the Undead?”
“Queen of the Undead,” drawled Chico, curling an arm around her. “I like that.”
I resisted shifting from foot to foot. “I’m not nervous. I’m just not feeling too good.”
“Because you’re nervous,” said Damien. At my scowl, he held up his hands in a gesture of innocence.
It didn’t placate me. “I’ll speak to you all later. I’ve got to find Jared.”
David frowned. “I’m surprised he’s left your side.”
“I was late getting ready, so I told him to go on ahead of me.”
“Late because you’re nervous,” Damien again insisted. So I slapped him over the head. “Ow, Coach, that was just mean.”
Snorting, I advanced toward the patio doors…only to find that Antonio, Lucy, Sebastian, and Luther were no longer there. More importantly, neither was Jared. I knew through our link that he was close, but I didn’t know his exact location. If I’d have had his gift to teleport, I could have used the link to take me immediately to him.
Inwardly growling, I still headed for the patio doors, wondering if they had wandered outside. As I neared the doors, I saw that Butch, Salem, Stuart, Reuben, Harvey, Paige, and Imani were huddled in the corner. It wasn’t a surprise to find that Butch was standing a little too close to Imani, or that Stuart was teasing Paige, or that Salem had his eyes on Ava despite that she was at the other side of the room. “Any of you seen Jared?”
Harvey turned to face me. “Well hello to you too, Coach. I’m doing great, thanks.”
I rolled my eyes. “Have you seen him or not?”
Paige pointed to the patio doors. “He was there a minute ago.” Imani nodded.