Page 65

Sutton’s phone chimed, and she pulled it from her pocket—and paled.

“What is it?”I asked, barely stopping myself from snatching the phone out of her hand.

She looked up, fear in her eyes.“It’s Poe.Tarrant wants to meet with me.”

Sutton

“When?”Jagger’s voice was like he was gargling gravel.

This wasn’t going to work.Lucifer had made a seriously bad call assigning Jagger to shadow me.After the way he’d reacted to Poe touching me last night, and seeing Rune near me today, it was obvious there was no controlling him.

I looked up at his handsome, stubborn face.“I’ll tell you, because I have to.But if you get Luke killed because you can’t control yourself, I’ll never forgive you.”

His gaze locked on mine, and heat swirled through me so fast, it was hard not to squirm.“I can control myself, Sutton.”

My belly went all weird.“I hope you’re right.”

“I am.Luke’s the guy from your coven, the one Tarrant has?”

“Yes, though he’s more like family.”He was standing way too close, so close, I could feel the heat radiating from his body, and yeah, I was getting a serious lungful of his scent.Comfort.He smelled like comfort.His scent soothed me instantly, like it always did.

Well, your nose is a freaking liar.Stop smelling him!

He nodded.“Look, I’ll admit my control around you can be…shaky, but it’s only because I want you so much,” he said, again shocking the hell out of me.“But now I know that keeping a handle on it is what will keep you safe, you have nothing to worry about because your safety is all I care about.”

Of coursenowhe knew all the right things to say.Had he been practicing in the mirror?I bit my lip as the picture he’d send me last night flashed through my mind.He’d been shirtless and covered in Poe’s blood.I’d stared at it for way too long.He could have sent it without any kind of written message, and I would have understood what he was trying to say.I’ll make anyone who fucks with you bleed.

But then I’d seen his actual message.

A picture for your wank bank.

I had to assume he was trying to be funny, but Jagger didn’t do funny, so I could only assume he was just being an asshole again.But that didn’t feel right, either, not now anyway.Which took me back to him trying to make me laugh.

Add that to the box of herbs, and there was only one assumption I could come up with.It was his weird way of trying to say he was sorry.

Then again, assumptions were dangerous.Sometimes they ended in utter humiliation—and a viral video of you being rejected, falling on your face and flashing your undies.

I looked back down at my phone and fear washed through me as I read the text again.“They want me to report to Tarrant in an hour.”

His jaw tightened, but he nodded.“Wait here.”

I watched as he strode over to Lucifer and War, said something, then strode back to me.

“Let’s go.”

I headed for the door and felt his hand touch my lower back, guiding me through it.Tingles immediately danced down my arms and zipped through my lower belly.I rushed ahead to break contact because it was too much.

I couldn’t believe this was happening.I’d been trying so hard to avoid him, and now I was forced to take him with me every-freaking-where I went.

The fates really were evil bitches.

ChapterSeventeen

Sutton

Gripping the steering wheel,I glanced in my rearview mirror.

We’d dropped Boo off at home, where he’d be safe, and Jagger was now in his hound form, running along the tree line as I took the creepy driveway up to Tarrant’s enormous house.