Sarah rolled her eyes so hard I didn’t expect them to level back. “I work there, woman. Plus, you’ve got a killer bod and a tolerably attractive face.”
I scowled, but I was smiling so my scowl lost a lot of its effect. “Tolerably attractive? Wow… thanks.”
She smirked. “Oh, come on. You know you’re way too hot for your own good.”
I dismissed her compliment with a flick of my hand. “Shut up.”
“Can we get out of here already? My shift starts in an hour.” She swept her mass of blonde curls off her shoulder.
When we walked out of my bedroom, we found Jeb sitting in the living room, watching a fishing show with Derek.
“Ciao, Mr. C.,” Sarah called out.
“Bye, Sar-” His eyes all but bounded out of their sockets. “Um. You girls are going out dressed like that?”
I looked down at my dress, partly amused by his reaction and partly worried he might make me change.
“That’s what kids wear these days,” Derek said before pointing to the screen. “Jeb, check out that monster bass.”
Jeb glanced at the TV, but then his gaze returned to us. “What time will you be home?”
“I’ll have her back here by one,” Sarah said.
“One?” he all but sputtered.
“I’m seventeen, Jeb,” I said quietly. Since when was he worried what time I got home? It wasn’t as though he’d cared much back when I was living at the inn.
He rubbed his bearded chin. “Okay.” He hadn’t shaved since Everest’s funeral, as though marking the terrible day by the length of his facial hair. “And, Sarah, if you’re driving, don’t drink. But if you do drink, call me, and I’ll pick you girls up.”
“We’re wolves, Mr. C. Can’t die in car crashes.”
We could, though.
A flash of pain illuminated Jeb’s face.
Sarah winced. “Shit. I’m so sorry.”
He wrung his fingers together in his lap and studied them. “Just be careful, all right?” he croaked. Before we could leave, he added, “Are any of the boys going to be at The Den tonight?”
“They’re always there.”
Not that we need boys, I wanted to add, but put a lid on that thought. If the presence of males appeased my uncle, then who was I to rattle his peace of mind?
Once we were tucked inside Sarah’s Mini, she said, “I really put my foot in my mouth back there.”
“It’s fine.”
She shook her head and sighed. After a beat, she said, “It’s sort of sweet how protective he’s become of you.”
I stabbed my seatbelt into the buckle. “It’s sort of weird. He wasn’t like this before.” I stared at the squares of light in our downstairs neighbor’s place, an ancient woman who only ever came out of her house to water the patch of grass and flowers she called a back yard. “It’s as though I’m his replacement kid.”
“You are. Just like he’s your replacement dad. It’s not a bad thing to have someone care for you like that.”
“I have Evelyn.”
“But she’s not living with you anymore, is she?”
“That wasn’t by choice.”
“Hey.” She tapped my knuckles. “You have two people who would lay down their lives for yours. That’s a shitload more than most people.”
I sighed deeply before side-eyeing her. “What you’re saying is that you wouldn’t lay down your life for me?”
“To salvage my dress, possibly.”
I grinned and smacked her upper arm, which was firm with lean muscle. I knew she never hit the gym and ate more than the average human guy, so I imagined she shifted into her wolf form often.
At the thought of shifting, my body thrummed. “Want to run together sometime?”
“I don’t own sneakers.” She cast a disgruntled look at my feet as though my shoes had somehow wronged her.
I shifted them out of sight. “I meant in wolf form.”
“Sure. I’ll even slow my pace so you can keep up.”
I snorted, even though I didn’t doubt she could beat me. After all, she had years of training on me. She slowed at a red light, and a bunch of pedestrians crossed the street. Excitement that it was almost the weekend wafted off most. One girl didn’t seem as thrilled as the rest. She kept darting looks around her as though worried someone was following her. I checked the sidewalks but didn’t notice any stalker.
As she passed in front of the Mini our eyes locked, and recognition hit me dead-center.
Megan.
Everest’s Megan.
I powered my window down and called out her name.
“You know this girl?” Sarah asked me.
Megan quickened her pace.
I unstrapped myself and leaped out just as a motorcycle swerved into the lane next to ours, almost bowling me over.
The biker yelled at me, but I didn’t respond. I just took off running after Megan.
“Megan! Wait up!”
She didn’t wait up. Instead she sped up.
So I did too. She turned a corner. Why wasn’t she stopping? When I rounded the corner, I found myself face-to-face with a giant wooden cross.