Page 50 of A Clash of Moonlight

“Thank you.” She forced out the words. Her father hung up. She very, very gently set her phone down so she didn’t chuck it out the window. She should be celebrating her little victory. She’d moved the meeting. She was confident Blake wouldn’t say anything to her father yet. She just had to be more careful about staying away from her pack mates after she was with Jared.

Either that or she had to stay away from Jared.

Her stomach knotted itself at the thought. There really wasn’t a way around it, though. She couldn’t see him again and not just because the pack would kill him if they found out. Every moment they were together, she grew more attached. Pretty soon she wouldn’t want to let him go.

She loaded up another box. She should be able to finish gathering most of her things in a few hours. She wasn’t completely cleaning out the house. The furniture, the appliances, and dishes belonged to the pack more than to her. She’d grown up here. It had been the hub of activity until her father decided to move to the Keystone estate a few years ago.

She finished boxing up the office and was almost finished with her bedroom when her phone dinged. She read the text: Answer your door.

The doorbell rang. She stared in its direction, then looked back at Jared’s message.

She didn’t bother trying to convince herself not to answer it. Curiosity would have led her downstairs despite every argument she drudged up. She left her bedroom, trotted down the steps, then opened the front door. A human stood there dressed in black slacks, a black button-up shirt, and black-lensed sunglasses. He took the sunglasses off.

“Ms. Lehr, Jared would like for you to join him at his sanctuary.”

His sanctuary. Not his home or den. The place where he sought shelter and seclusion. The place he allowed only his most trusted people.

She glanced toward the sunlit sky, then looked at her watch. It was just past two. “Now?”

“Yes,” the human said. In the driveway behind him, a car waited with the engine running like there was no doubt at all she would climb inside it.

“I am also to say that you are free to refuse the invitation.”

She shifted her gaze from the car to the human.

“And,” he added, “when your expression turns icy, I am to add that, of course, you do not need anyone’s permission to do as you will.”

She snorted out a laugh. That sounded exactly like Jared. He knew she would be looking for an excuse to be offended.

“How far is it?” she asked.

“Not too far,” the human obfuscated.

This was another instance where she should argue with herself, list all the reasons she should not get in that car and see Jared again. There were so many of them, and only a few reasons to do it. Really, only one reason: she wanted to.

“Let me grab my purse.”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Lehr, but we can’t allow cell phones.”

She turned back toward the door. “Ah, I was wondering how far his trust would go.”

“He didn’t specifically say it, but only he and his most trusted have them.”

She slipped her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans, held it up a moment for the human to see, then slid it back in. “I’m bringing it.”

She walked past him. She had to give the human credit. He didn’t splutter or protest. He moved when she did and managed to reach the Lincoln in time to open the door for her. She climbed in, and before he shut it, he said, “Just so it’s clear, you understand he will kill you if you aren’t included in that trusted group?”

She gave him a cool smile. “And what will he do to you?”

His smile was just as caustic as hers. “I hope your ego is not overinflated, Ms. Lehr.”

18

With short, precise movements, Deagan buttoned the cuff of his right sleeve. He stood, and Jared lounged back, stretching one arm along the back of the couch as he offered his other to his scion.

“Fuck you, my lord,” Deagan said.

Not an unexpected response. Deagan tended to refuse Jared’s blood when he was extremely pissed. At least for a little while and even then, only if he had been recently sated by other Aged vampires. By the taste of him, he had spent time with Jolene this night.