Page 29 of Fighting Fate (Monsters of London #4)

Dax

Jamie and Vince are already at the warehouse when I arrive on Thursday. The mats are in place, in case we need them, and Cecile is here too, stalking around the room.

I drop my bag not far from the door and shove my phone into one of the pockets on it. From what I can tell—and I try not to breathe in too deeply—Jamie doesn’t want to be here. Vince has basically confirmed that while we’ve been texting this week.

My wolf growls quietly. I want to find whoever’s causing trouble and make it stop. I’m surprised that’s not an ultimatum Kieran already gave Vince.

But it is up to Jamie, I suppose.

Jamie glances in my direction and murmurs something to Vince just as Ophelia and Dante come in through the door.

“Hey, Dax,” Dante says.

“Hey.” I dart my gaze back to Vince. He meets my eyes and his cheeks turn pink before he looks at Jamie again and says something with a slightly sterner expression.

Jamie rolls his eyes.

What are they talking about? Me, I think, though I don’t know why. Vince and I have been texting, but we haven’t seen each other since Sunday’s class. My stomach flips when Vince gives me another fleeting look.

Is he… reconsidering? Or just considering?

I shake my head and manage to snap out of it as the rest of the mages arrive. Saoirse brings Enza and Odette along with her, and Silas arrives a few minutes before the class starts, expression almost frantic as he bursts through the door.

“You’re not late,” I say to him in an undertone, and he gives me a grateful look.

“Thanks,” he mutters, shrugging out of his hoodie. He drops it next to my bag. “The tube was late, and then the bus…”

“Really. It’s fine.”

He nods again, turning to take in the rest of the room. Enza grins at him—she’s taken him under her wing, even though she’s probably ten years younger than he is—and Silas wanders over to join her and Odette.

Kieran doesn’t come, but Drew slips into the room just as Vince is ready to begin. He nudges his shoulder against mine before he approaches the group, and I wonder where to go for a brief second. Usually, I’d be close by Vince, ready to help him with any demonstrations or anything like that, but Jamie is still standing up front, chewing his lower lip like he’s torn about what to do.

“You can sit it out if you want,” Vince says. It’s quiet enough that the mages won’t hear. Probably the other wolves won’t have, if they’re not hanging on Vince’s every action like I am.

Jamie shakes his head. He crosses his arms over his narrow chest, then uncrosses them again. “I’ll do it.”

“All right,” Vince says, then raises his voice as he crosses into the centre of the room. “All right. Everyone ready?”

“Yes!” Enza all but shouts. Vince’s grin is a little more real when he looks at her.

I stick at the back of the class, close to Saoirse and her mages as Vince pairs Jamie up with Cecile. Drew’s got Ophelia and Dante, and under Vince’s watchful eye, they pick up the new moves quickly.

It’s not beyond me that the mage classes are moving from self-defence into something else. Something a lot more like combat training. I’ve not asked Vince about it. I know he knows what he’s doing.

He pauses to watch me and Odette and smiles when she gets herself out of my grip. “Good work. Just got to practise it about a hundred more times.”

Odette sighs. She’s ever so serious but not unkind. “Between that and the magic drills, I’ll never get anything else done.”

Vince grins. “Don’t complain too loudly. You’ll summon him.”

Odette shakes her head, but her lips twitch. From the sounds of it, Sam is a strict teacher. Vince gives me another, softer smile before he moves over to Saoirse, Silas, and Enza. My eyes linger on him for a little too long, but if Odette notices, she doesn’t say anything.

I make it through the rest of the class without embarrassing myself, and Jamie stays chatting to Cecile as I help Vince and Saoirse tidy up. Drew is helping too, and when he speaks to Cecile, catching her attention, I pick up a mat and edge closer to Vince.

“Everything okay?” I ask quietly.

Vince smiles up at me. “Yeah, Dax. Everything’s fine.” Even as he says it, his gaze moves past me, seeking out Jamie.

I already know what he’ll say, but I find myself asking anyway. “Do you… Do you want to grab a drink tonight?”

Vince is already shaking his head before I’ve finished the question, and my stomach sinks. “Sorry,” he says, and his expression tells me he really means it. “Nick hasn’t turned up yet, and I can’t leave Jamie on his own. Not when I kicked up such a fuss about him coming here, too.”

“Right. No, it makes sense.” I move past him with the mat, but Vince puts his hand on my forearm.

Even that touch is enough to send a spark shuddering up to my shoulder. Fuck. I need to talk to him about the bond, but I can’t do it here.

“I am sorry, Dax,” he says. “It’s been nice this week, talking to you. But I can’t leave him.”

I push past my own hurt feelings and my worry that we’re already in too deep. “I know. It’s really okay. Another time?”

“Of course.”

I put the mat away, making sure they’re all lined up the way they should be. When I turn back to the room, Odette, Enza, and Saoirse have already left, and Drew catches my eye.

“Are you coming to dinner tonight?” His expression is hopeful. I don’t know why he wants me there so much, but I do like spending time with his pack. Ophelia and Dante watch me too, waiting for the answer.

“I… Sure?”

Drew grins in response and turns his attention to Vince and Jamie. Vince frowns down at his phone.

“How about you two?”

Jamie looks between Drew and Vince. “Uh, I—”

“We’re gonna head back,” Vince says. “Nick’s stuck at work, and I don’t want him going back to the house alone.”

Jamie scowls, crossing his arms over his chest. He doesn’t look as though he wants to argue. He just looks angry.

“We’ll head out with you,” Cecile says, nudging Silas in the side. He startles at the touch but shakes his head at her faint laugh. “Come on.”

They wave their goodbyes, and I keep my eyes on Vince until the door closes behind him. When I look up again, Drew is standing closer than he was before, following my gaze.

“It’ll work out,” he says quietly. I’m not sure why. If he and Kieran and Sam… and so many of their pack know, then I’m sure Ophelia and Dante have worked it out, too.

“I hope so,” I reply.

I can feel a clock ticking. I want Jamie to be safe, of course, and I want Vince to be, too. But I need to tell him about the bond sooner rather than later.