Page 37 of A Clash of Moonlight
For some reason that pleased her. “So?”
“If Lehr discovers this relationship—”
“It’s not a relationship.”
“If he discovers this… these antics, he will not be… apathetic.”
She waited for his point.
Deagan sighed. “My aim is to keep my master alive. You are a problem, but you’ve caught his interest. He is… focused. Whether that proves to be beneficial, I don’t yet know.”
“Is there a question in all those words?”
His mouth thinned. “I suppose not.”
“Good.” She stood. “Don’t bother to tell him I stopped by.”
She hadn’t made other plans for the night, so she headed home when she left Swirl, a little annoyed, a lot unsatisfied. She didn’t like being alone lately. Too many thoughts converged in her mind. Too many ideas. She started wondering what Jennifer and Tasha were doing, what she would be doing if she had moved to California with them. Then her mind would inevitably drift to Jared…
She pulled into the garage and shoved open her car door a little too hard. Something in the hinge grated. Jaw clenched, she swung it shut. Whatever it was grated again, but the door looked like it closed okay. It was stupid to lose control like that. The pack’s mechanic had to repair broken doors often, but she wasn’t recently turned or on the edge of moonsickness. It would be embarrassing to have to take the car in.
She exited the garage when her cell phone rang. She slipped it out of her purse. Unknown number.
She stared at it for three more rings before she tapped it on.
“Nora,” Jared’s low, cultured voice said. “You have returned home.”
She looked to her right where the fattening moon glowed over the edge of the woods. “Is that a guess, or do you have people following me?”
“I would like to be there with you.”
She pulled the garage door shut behind her. “I’d kill any vampire who followed me. I don’t care if it’s Deagan or Laila or Arcuro himself.”
“No vampire will go near your place.”
That sounded like a promise. It also sounded like he was walking somewhere.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
Silence. It lasted long enough that she thought he might have hung up.
“A vampire is stalking the Rain girl,” he said. “I am taking care of it.”
“Kennedy?” Nora snorted. “She deserves to be bitten.”
“You know her?”
“We went to school together.”
“Oh?” There was a hint of bemusement in that oh.
“She provokes paranorms on purpose.”
“She has not provoked this one. She does not know she is being stalked.”
“So you’re going to kill him?”
“It is a her, I believe, but yes,” Jared said. “As Lehr would kill a wolf who did the same.”