Page 37

Cole

“Yeah, but now Nadia’s got Cole,” Shayne says, beaming at me. “Catnip can’t live up to that .”

My wolf picks up his head, bolstered by her faith.

“That boy has Nadi wrapped around his finger , Shay,” Grace says, shaking her head at her. She turns back to me. “Sorry, Cole. But in my opinion, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

I sigh, my wolf putting his head back down with a tiny whine. Things with Nadia have already been difficult – I do not need this little twist on top of it all.

I raise my eyes to look at both of them. “Okay. Thank you. I won’t push for details but…if he’s ever around ? Will you point him out to me so that I don’t make an ass out of myself being nice to him from the jump?”

Grace hesitates but Shayne just nods, giving me a bright smile. “Will do! Code word ‘yacht’ will let you know that his dark presence is near.” Her voice gets low and ominous on the final words and I can’t help it – I laugh.

Even as I hope that this guy would just…fall off the face of the earth. Both to make things easier for me and because anyone who treats Nadia like that probably deserves to.

That evening, my mind is still turning on the problem of this damned guy as I go passively about my duties – which honestly never change, so it’s not like they need the entirety of my brain.

I adjust my gun over my shoulder as I move slowly around the camp, scanning the desert all the way to the horizon and wondering what the hell I should do.

Do I…tell Nadia that I know about him? Ask her for details?

That would be the honesty route, though I know she’ll be pissed that I asked and her friends spilled.

So, do I play it cool and wait for her to tell me?

Or just…let it ride? See what happens?

Or! Do I ask someone in dad’s secret ops to do me a solid and sneak into his room at night, have her scare the pants off him as a warning to never to speak to Nadia ever again –

I shake my head at that thought, discouraged. Mom would be ashamed of me for that…

However, my mother would only be ashamed if I got caught . So, what if –

The thought slips my mind as my eye catches on a blonde figure waiting by a black jeep, her arms crossed, staring right at me.

I go still, wondering…why the hell Rose is still here.

I changed the schedule for this evening, taking one of Greg’s shifts and ordering him to be her escort to the Children of Solace.

But they should have been gone an hour ago…

So, what the hell happened?

I sigh, turning to glance over the desert again as a precaution. When I find it utterly still, I walk over to the Jeep, wondering what the hell went wrong.

And how Rose managed to mess it up.

“Well?” Rose asks, holding up a hand and looking performatively around. “Where’s my guard? Since you so cleverly changed the schedule.”

“Not changed, corrected,” I murmur. It’s a lie but…whatever. “Greg never showed up?”

Rose slowly shakes her head, the answer obvious. “This is not going to be my fault, Cole. I’m going to let your father know precisely whose fault it was and why –“

“All right, all right,” I mutter, sighing and turning toward the nursing tent, which is fairly quiet tonight – only a few straggling patients who found their way to us as well as some continuing cases, no big fuss. “Hold on. Let me get to the bottom of this.”

Rose nods sharply, turning away so I don’t see her smile.

I walk to the tent, where Tommy and Amory stand, guns in hand. They watch me come, looking curious.

“Where’s Greg?” I ask, looking around the camp for him. “He’s supposed to be on escort duty with Rose.”

Tommy starts a little and then shakes his head. “He left, man.”

“What?” I snap my head back to him.

Tommy scowls a little and then wipes his face. “He took Shayne ‘out’ for the night. Which, obviously, just means into some desert canyon with half a bottle of tequila.”

I frown at this because – I mean, I knew Shayne was flirting with basically everyone. But after last night, I kind of thought that she…

I frown, studying Tommy, but he just shrugs, silently letting me know that it’s Shayne’s choice.

And Greg is a good guy. There’s nothing to worry about. Greg was supposed to have the night off, Shayne did too. In his excitement, he must have just failed to note the schedule change. Unless Rose…

“Damn it,” I mutter, looking back over my shoulder at Rose, knowing what has to happen next.

“Want me to do it?” Tommy asks, voice low.

“Nah,” I say with a sigh, knowing that as the floater on guard duty tonight, it should be me. The protocol should be followed, even if I find it unpleasant. “I’ll handle it. Just…can one of you take up doing sweeps?”

Being two guards down is nothing we can’t handle, even if it is non-preferred. Tommy and Amory both nod to me, Tommy still looking a bit glum.

I nod to him, holding his gaze for a second longer, sorry for him. But he doesn’t say anything, so I turn back to the Jeep.

“You’ve got the key?” I call, following the question with a sigh.

Rose holds up her hand, the keyring looped around her pinkie finger, ready to go.

Her smile is nothing short of victorious as I stride up to the driver’s side and take the key from her hand. “Hop in,” I murmur. “Let’s get this done.”

Rose laughs, delighted, and dashes around to the other side of the car.

The Children of Solace ghost town is quiet under the night sky, as it was the last time we were here. I frown, wondering if it would honestly be better if we came in the daylight. Surely Rose would get better pictures, and it would be less…intimate.

I sigh briefly through my nose as I climb out of the car, not looking at Rose as I head around to the back.

We didn’t talk to each other the whole way here, but Rose made sure my attention was on her.

Two minutes into the trip, she had her phone hooked up to the car’s stereo and played all of the songs I once gave to her on a very private playlist.

Songs that…bring back memories. That meant something to us.

At first, I thought it was just chance, but…eventually it became clear what she was doing. And then I just tried to ignore it, not wanting to give her any power by acknowledging that she was bothering me just by putting music on.

But clearly, she got to me.

I grit my teeth as I pull open the trunk and flick open the case that holds emergency supplies, grabbing two flashlights. I shove one at Rose when she comes around the car.

“Cole…” she says quietly, shaking her head at me, folding her hands around the light. “Don’t be like this –“

“Can we just get this done , Rose?”

She sighs, stepping closer to me. “I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her head. “All those songs bring back really happy memories for me – I wanted to remind you of when we used to be close –“

“Rose, our relationship is done –“

“Oh, come on –“ she rolls her eyes.

“I have a mate!”

“I told you that I met my mate, like, twice when we dated, Cole!” she snaps, turning back to me, her hands going to her hips. “You’re just repaying the favor, torturing me!” She shakes her hair back. “This is just like – our thing!”

My mouth drops open as I stare at her, remembering that those kinds of insane mind games were always her thing, not mine.

I know exactly what she’s talking about, too.

I remember precisely how devastated I had been when Rose told me she’d met her mate as well as the intense relief when she told me it was a stupid trick.

The makeup sex had been insane when we got back together –

But god, now? Looking back?

She was just so…manipulative. And I was just too gone on her to see it.

“I need you to pay attention, Rose,” I say, stepping closer and glowering over her. She doesn’t back up, letting me loom, tilting her head back and looking up at me with her clear blue eyes. “I have met my mate. I am very serious when I say that I am pursuing her and that you and I are done .”

“Okay, Cole,” Rose says, the words pleased and playful.

I sputter, realizing she still doesn’t believe me.

Rose laughs as I turn away, a snarl sounding in my chest. “You seriously expect me to believe this, Cole?”

“Yes!” I shout as I spin back to her.

“Cole Kincaid, if you had a mate, you would drop everything in your life to be at her side,” Rose says, grinning knowingly at me.

“ Especially before she accepted the bond and you marked her. Your entire life would be ensuring that she’s both safe and falling in love with you. You wouldn’t have it any other way!”

I stare at Rose, kind of…surprised at her level of intuition. And at the irony of the fact that what she says is precisely correct – and that she still doesn’t see it.

I swallow, realizing that I may be walking a thinner line than I thought here. Clearly, the only thing keeping Rose from putting all the pieces together at this point is the fact that Nadia is human, and Rose doesn’t think a human mate is possible.

I have to be very careful about how I proceed. Nadia, I know, does not want this information to be public.

“I wish you would just give it up , Cole,” Rose says with a sigh, walking over to me. “I don’t want to play games with you this time. Let’s just…give it another shot.”

“ Drop it , Rose,” I growl, turning and striding off to the big house, wanting this over . “This is the last time I’m going to tell you. I am not interested in anything with you. So, let’s just get this done.”

“Okay, whatever.” Her words are disappointed, but nowhere near defeated.

I hear the crunch of my ex’s feet behind me and force myself back to the moment, sharpening my senses, looking around for any movement. It helps to remember that the last time we were here, we left because of an odd movement in that bush.

I mean, Rose was very likely right that night. It probably was a rabbit. But I’m not taking any chances.

But again, the whole place is just…perfectly still. A ghost town.

When we step into the house, though, it’s immediately clear that something’s changed.

“Oh, hell,” Rose says, covering her nose. “God, what burned…”

I glare towards the basement, the clear source of the scent, thinking I have some idea.

Rose steps forward, and I shoot a hand out, stopping her. “Wait,” I murmur, raising my nose again, truly focusing on the scents. But it’s just too subtle…

I turn to her. “Do you know how to handle one of these?” I lift my gun.