As Carrow repeated herself, Mari obediently mumbled in unison, "Darwin says people like you need to die."
"Yep, that's what I said. And after everything that's happened to you, I'm surprised you're still ticking."
Not only was she ticking, she was showered, dressed in beachy new clothes and sandals from the resort gift shop, and enjoying an unlimited bar tab as she awaited her flight home. "Well, let this serve as my call-in to the House to avert disaster. Only a day late. I hope you told everyone I've never been on time for anything in my life."
"Disaster averted. Already got a call from some dude named Hild. And then a demon named Rydstrom showed up here a couple of hours ago."
Chapter 20
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yeah, uh-huh. I wasn't here, but I heard that wherever he turned his green-eyed gaze, witches dropped trou and proffered panties."
"Carrow, that's how rumors get started," Mari said in a chiding tone. "Did he say anything about the rest of his group?"
"Said everybody on his end came out okay." As Mari sighed with relief, Carrow added, "He left a number for you. You know I could tell him you're okay - over dinner and drinks."
She couldn't help but grin. Rydstrom would either love Mari or curse her for this, but she said, "Yeah, you call him. Tell him both MacRieve and I were standing as of this morning."
"So are you gonna fly out before the big, bad - with names - wolf finds you?"
"Damn straight." Bastard had called her... Mariah. Was that all Mari was to him? A substitute? A second choice? B team! The idea of that outraged her even more because last night...
Bowen MacRieve utterly ruined me for other men.
She almost wished she didn't now know that sex like that existed - or that what she'd thought in the past was great pleasure had been a mere toe touch in a vast ocean. She irritably rapped on the bar with her knuckles and signaled the bartender for another round.
"I don't suppose you found a big plane?" Carrow asked. "Or that you managed to score some Xanax?"
"No, and no," Mari was so sick of B team, she was actually about to fly out on a baby plane. "But I'm lucky to get a flight out at all. Besides, I'm self-medicating with whiskey. I'll land around seven, so come get me - if you still have your driver's license - and peel my drunk ass from the plane."
"Will do. But, Mari, I have to say that you might not be seeing clearly on the issue of the werewolf, because, well, you have issues."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just that you get really chapped over stuff like this. Think about it, the very last time the Lykae was in the same situation - running around with a mate and cavorting or whatever you people do - it was with a female named Mariah. Last night, when he was wolfy and moonstruck and getting laid for the first time in - what'd you say? - a hundred and eighty years, he basically forgot the ket in your name. You might want to cut him some slack. Or, I could cast a spell to make him fall in love with dryer lint. You decide. But if the sex was truly - "
"Cataclysmic?"
"Yeah, you already conveyed that like thirty times, you little bourbon lush. So you're telling me you don't want to get caught? Not at all?"
Mari sighed. "I might... if he wanted me."
"I do want you, lass."
She jerked around. MacRieve! He was dressed in new clothes, and looked showered and coolly collected. "How in the hell could you have gotten here so quickly?"
"Missed you, witch. Ran headlong. Now hang up the bloody phone."
"Oh, great Hekate, is that his voice?" Carrow cried. "I just had an orgasm! Fudge your name tag if you have to, but get you some of that some-some. Remember, friends let friends live vicariously - "
Click. "How long have you been here?"
"Got here an hour after you did."
"I'm that slow?"
"I'm that fast. Would've come to you sooner, but I had many arrangements to make." His gaze focused on her drink. "What in the hell are you doing?"
"I'm getting tee-rashed on some sizzurp."
"Why?"
She shrugged. "Small plane, big scared."
He sniffed. "That's bourbon? Who drinks whiskey on the beach?"
"Sounds like a great drink name to me! How did you find me?"
"You cloaked your trail well. But I'm a great hunter."
"And so modest, too."
"You should no' have left me like that. What the bloody hell were you thinking to put yourself in danger again? I believed we had an... understanding."
"We did. And then you called me by another woman's name." He looked like he'd barely stifled a wince. "And then I realized that I'd misunderstood our understanding."
MacRieve grasped her elbow and steered her to a private hibiscus-lined courtyard. "Damn it, witch, it will no' be possible for me to instantly forget someone who has played such a large role in my life. If you think of someone for so long, a couple of weeks will no' erase it."
She snapped her fingers and said, "Exactly. A couple of weeks won't. A year won't. An eternity won't. You won't ever be happy without her."
"I doona believe that any longer. And I can promise you this will no' happen again."
"I don't know what's more disturbing... the fact that you called me by another woman's name or the fact that now you'll have to make a conscious effort not to. You're still thinking about her either way."
"If you want to leave because you have misgivings or lingering fears about last night, then go. But you canna leave because you think I prefer another over you. It simply is no' so."