Chapter Sixty-Five
Sasha and I had just finished describing the fight to Liam—who’d shown up on time, as usual—to bring Sasha to Nathaniel’s to deliver my message. Sasha was pacing back and forth, his eyes still gleaming with silver, obviously wired and looking very excited about seeing Nathaniel again. His injuries had healed with his powerful ‘meal’, but he was still dressed in bloody jeans and a ripped black tee shirt.
“You were merciful, as usual, Garrett; more so than a fae would have been.” Liam was watching Sasha carefully. He sent to me,” I’m going to have some fun with your young lieutenant.”
Liam changed his tone to sound stern. “Perhaps sending a vampire, who’s just ingested a large amount of dark witch blood, to deliver an important message to an enemy isn’t a good idea.” He turned to Sasha. “You seem ready for another battle, Sasha. Can you stay calm if Nathaniel antagonizes you?”
“I don’t answer to you. If Garrett thinks so, then it’s none of your business.”
“I’m there covering your ass, so to speak, so it definitely is my business. If you can’t control your temper, you could end up causing more harm than good. If you’re injured in a fight, as you might well be, then I’ll be responsible.” Liam’s violet eyes were popping with specks of gold but I watched his mouth twitch as he held back the smile.
“What makes you think I’ll be the one injured?” Sasha was getting angrier, still completely unaware that Liam was playing with him.
“Your inexperience handling matters of this sort worries me.” Liam directed his next comment to me. “I’ll be happy to go on my own, to deliver your message.”
“You’re not seriously listening to this fae freak are you?” After a moment, Liam and I started laughing. Sasha looked from Liam to me and then rolled his eyes, “He’s just pulling my chain, right?” He frowned at Liam, “Very funny, fae boy.”
“I just thought you seemed a little wound up and I want your mind clear and your feet on the ground when we go to Nathaniel. He’s twice your age and has a nest of seven. Also, I prefer Liam to ‘fae boy’.”
“Well, it worked. Anyone ever tell you that you’re a buzzkill?”
“Not exactly in those words. But if you think I am, you should spend a few centuries with my brother. Next to him, I’m a party animal.”
Sasha grinned. “You’ll have to come over when the Vamp Villa is finished. We’ll show you what a party is.” He hadn’t really minded the joke. He was a master at dishing it out, so he really couldn’t complain when the tables were turned.
I frowned, thinking about broken windows and ear-splitting music. “We’ll discuss future parties at the house at a later date. When you arrive at Nate’s, you should introduce yourself and Liam and then this is what you will say:
Garrett sends his greetings and regrets that he can’t be here personally to reply to your short email, as he has more important matters to attend to. He has no intention of selling the villa next door that he inherited after draining and destroying his four-hundred-year old maker, Eleanor Howard. He will allow you seventy-two hours to vacate his territory and return to your own. If you are still here after that time, he may be forced to take action to remove you. If you wish to pass through his territory on your way to somewhere else, then Garrett would consider giving you permission, as long as your request is submitted using the proper protocol. He expects you to reply in a more decorous manner than your previously curt email.
“Well, you’ve succeeded in sounding like you wouldn’t hesitate to use deadly force to kick him out, but I have to admit, the tone is slightly pompous.” Liam arched an eyebrow with a curious tilt of his head.
“It’s what Nathaniel will understand. He’s a pretentious worm who has others fight his battles for him. I’m hoping he’ll go running off with his slimy tail between his legs.”
“I want to scare the crap out of him.” Sasha was grinning again. I looked him over and shook my head. Sasha showing up at Nathaniel’s in his bloody clothes was a little bit too aggressive, so I sent him down to take a shower and dress professionally. In the meantime, I went to check on Sinc, who was resting in an upstairs bedroom.
She was freshly showered, wearing Jackie’s robe and lying partially under the covers, while Jackie sat next to her on the bed, showered and dressed in jeans and a tee. Ethan stood in the corner looking grim. “How do you feel?” I asked.
“I have a killer headache, but other than that I’m great. Thanks.”
“Your actions saved a lot of lives tonight and we all thank you for what you did. You and Bridgett were extremely brave. I’ll never underestimate your ability to hold your own in a fight again.” I squeezed her hand and winked.
She was beaming. “I really didn’t think about what I was doing, I just ran over to Ethan and you and tried to keep them away.”
“You were straddling Ethan,” Jackie laughed. “Garrett just happened to be next to him.”
Sinc blushed and looked down at her hands. “Bridgett was waking you up, so I stayed out of her way.”
I smiled. “You’ll spend the night here with us, just to make sure you’ve completely recovered. Someone should stay with you. Jackie, maybe Bridgett—”
“I’ll stay.” Ethan spoke for the first time. “I’ll stay with her in case she needs anything.”
I watched Sinc unsuccessfully try to hide her smile. I turned to Ethan. “That’s fine. Take a shower and I’ll get you some clothes. You can use my bathroom.” He nodded and left, still looking serious.
Jackie walked over to me and snaked her arms around my waist. “How did your meeting go?”
“Sasha and Liam are all set. They’ll be leaving in half an hour and then should be back ten minutes later. I’m not anticipating any problems.” I looked down at my own bloody clothes and laughed. “I could use a shower myself. You might want to back off until I’m clean again.”
She sent to me, “You were amazing, très puissant, très chaud.” I laughed again and hugged her. If my lovely mate thought I was very powerful and hot, who was I to argue with her? “Are you ready to go tonight?”
She nodded. “I need to get it over with.”
“I’ll get Ethan some clothes.”