Or at least that had been my intent, but he would sense I was out of Boulder. Besides, I didn’t want to lie to him. “I’m going with Liam.”
His Adam’s apple seemed suddenly spikier. “If I hadn’t asked, would you have told me?”
“No.”He dropped his gaze to his illuminated dashboard, features tightening.
“I was afraid you’d torture yourself with what I could be doing with him in a place where the bond doesn’t affect my body.”
His wolf must’ve been close to the surface because his eyes shone like emeralds. Jaw barely budging, he muttered something that sounded like, If Cassandra doesn’t kill him, I might. “I know the Rivers. I’ll come too, then.”
My heart twitched back to life. “August-”
“Unless you don’t want me there.”
I pressed my lips together. I wanted him there, but I also wanted him to trust me. Besides, I needed to know what distance did to us. If not now, then later, but later might hurt more.
His pupils gushed darkness into his irises. “You don’t want me there.”
“What I want is for you to trust me.”
“You, I trust.”
I gripped the edge of the car door. “Then trust that I can handle Liam.”
“Sweetheart”-his nostrils flared-“you’re asking a very human man to be superhuman. I’m not sure I’m capable of that.”
My lips bent with a smile. “Says a werewolf.”
My humor defused some of his anger. Not all of it, though. The tether was so stiff it seemed made of metal instead of magic.
“Let’s hope the Rivers know something we don’t,” he said.
It took my hazy mind a second to understand he was talking about Morgan’s tricks. “Yeah. Let’s hope they do.”
We stared at each other for another endless beat. I sensed him tugging on the tether, trying to reel me to him. I had to clutch the door harder to avoid stumbling.
“August,” I chided gently.
“What?”
“You’re going to make me fall.”
The pressure on my abdomen decreased so suddenly I almost tumbled backward.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
It was late, and Liam would be here early, and the longer I remained next to August, the more chances we had of being caught. “I should really go. . .”
As I rounded the bumper, August powered his window down. “Come back to me, okay?”
Pleasure and trepidation dripped in equal parts inside my veins. Because his affection for me was so absolute that I was suddenly afraid of what tomorrow would bring.
Turning away, I said, “I’ll come back.” I climbed up my stairs fast, then went inside my home even faster.
The tether vibrated with his hurt.
Hurt I’d put there by not telling him I would come back to him.
Because what if the absence of magic affected the strength of my attraction?
I was already sitting on the bottom step when Liam arrived the next morning. I slung the backpack I’d borrowed from Jeb, and which I’d filled with the bare necessities, over my shoulder, then walked to the passenger side.
After I settled in, Liam asked, “Had a fun night?” He wore dark sunglasses that made it impossible to read his expression.
“I did.”
He started driving. “I have a half a mind to cancel the trip and phone up Morgan. You reek of him.”
Trying to keep as calm as lycanthropically possible, I said, “He gave me a ride back from his parents. Nothing happened.”
He didn’t pick up his phone or do a U-turn to drop me back off. I wasn’t sure if it was because he realized the only one who would get hurt would be him or because my tone had been so flat. I wore my emotions on my vocal cords. Guilt would’ve heightened my pitch. I didn’t feel guilty about last night. At least not in the way Liam was insinuating.
But I did feel guilt. I’d been so torn up I’d barely slept. I rested my elbow on the armrest, cradled my throbbing forehead, and shut my eyes.
A brassy whooshing sound jerked me awake. I’d meant to rest, not sleep. How long had I been out?
I rubbed my lids and stared at the gated airstrip. “We’re flying private?”
Nodding, Liam lowered his window to press on an intercom. The gate clanged open, and we glided right through toward a gleaming silver jet.
I gaped at it.
“It was Dad’s, but it’s at the disposal of the entire pack. If you ever need to use it, all you have to do is ask.”
My enchantment withered. I’d despised Liam’s father so much that my hatred extended to anything he’d touched or owned.
A man in a navy suit drew open my car door. “Morning, Miss.”
“Good morning,” I said, grabbing my backpack and scooting out of the SUV.
“Morning, Captain,” Liam said, rounding the bumper of his car.
He sported jeans-like me-and a black V-neck, which reassured me that my white tank and zip-up hoodie weren’t too dire.
The man in the suit nodded at Liam. “Morning, Mr. Kolane. We’re ready to go when you are.”
Liam gestured to the staircase that led into the belly of the sleek, winged beast. I moved toward it, my wolf bristling under my skin, as though trying to stick her claws into the tarmac to avoid taking to the skies.
We were land animals after all.