Chapter 16: Gavin

Chapter 16: Gavin

I was so drunk off the smell and touch of the Jesper runt, I stood disoriented in the kitchen while Aislin scoured me for an explanation. “What’s the matter with you?” She reached up to smack my cheek before I pulled away, snarling. Aislin folded her arms. “Are you and the girls ready?”

“It’s early,” I said.

“But there’s been no activity on Dawson road for ten minutes. We just have to hop into the car and go,” said Aislin.

Muriel emerged into the kitchen with a tote bag full of harvested flora and other items she had gathered. “I’m ready.”

Billie would have been ready if I’d finished telling her to get ready instead of turning stupid and chasing my curiosity about her. I was still a little hard, and anyone with a sense of smell would pick up the girl’s dulcet notes on my hands. Praying they wouldn’t notice, I scrambled for an answer, uttering nothing before the bedroom door opened and Billie appeared with her backpack. “I’m ready too,” she said, and somehow her hair was brushed and tied back, and her clothes were jeans and a rain jacket, having obviously overheard Aislin and rose to the occasion. After I’d basically assaulted her, too. I sickened a little as my sexual haze thinned, but catching Billie’s eye, her blush intoxicated me all over again.

“Let’s go then,” Aislin urged, gesturing for the door.

I followed Muriel and Billie out to my car parked in the driveway. They both got in the back seats, Aislin in the front passenger seat, and me at the wheel. If there was anyone patrolling the stretch of Dawson road that approached Dalesbloom borders, then I could get into Grandbay without Dalesbloom knowing I had left with the girls. We had to go fast. I should have had Billie ready! But I expected to have closer to an hour to wait for an opportunity, not just a few minutes; I let myself get sloppy with lust. Forcing the thoughts out of my head, I focused on the drive, checking scents through my open window and trying not to think too hard about Billie in the seat behind me.

Clearing Dawson road, the remainder of the drive was Aislin interrogating Billie while I grappled with guilt. “So are you leaving the Hexens for good?” she asked.

Billie hesitated to answer. “Yes.”

“How come?”

“I don’t like the way they treat me.”

Muriel clasped her hand over Billie’s. “It’s brave of you to stand up for yourself.”

“Yeah, you know, I always forgot David had a third kid since I never saw or smelled you around,” said Aislin. “Now I know why.”

Billie said nothing.

“Where are you going after this?” continued Aislin.

“I don’t know yet.”

“You don’t have a plan or anything?”

Billie again said nothing, but I sensed embarrassment in her lack of planning.

“Maybe she can come with me,” suggested Muriel.

The flicker of hope transmitted to me from Billie was challenged by a possessive flame in my chest, but I resisted interjecting, even if the thought of losing my fated mate disgruntled me.

“I bet we could arrange that,” Aislin said, trying to catch my eye.

“I would like that,” Billie added.

She was never planning on staying; why would she when it would force her into close quarters with Dalesbloom after she ran away from them? I ignored Aislin, not wanting to support or deny the idea.

The next safehouse they’d stay at was my apartment. It wasn’t ideal to share my space with two women I barely knew, but my Betas and I had agreed they’d be safer here than anywhere else. Nobody from Dalesbloom in their right mind would walk into my town, into a busy apartment building, and try to kidnap two women. They clustered behind me as I unlocked my door and I waited, watching one-by-one as Muriel, Billie, then Aislin filtered into my suite.

“It smells like Cat in here,” Aislin said, wrinkling her nose.

“It’ll fade,” I said, but the lingering smell of my ex-girlfriend punched me harder than I expected it to. I guided Muriel and Billie through the apartment, pointing out each room. “Living room. Bathroom at the end of the hall. You two can share my spare bedroom,” I said, gesturing to the hastily made twin bed in the room full of my old childhood items I’d salvaged from my parent’s house after they died. The room was mostly used for storage of things I couldn’t stomach looking at for long.

“How long will we be here? I don’t want to intrude on you,” said Muriel, placing her tote bag on the bed.

“It’s fine,” I said. “We have to confirm there are no dragons at the location in Montana we’re sending you, but  finding a reliable source could take some time. I’m hesitant to send you too soon—you’ll need at least two people to protect you during transportation, but with tensions high between Grandbay and Dalesbloom, I need as many bodies here as possible. Ideally, I’d like to see the dragons gone before we relocate you.”

I wasn’t stalling to keep Billie here. I wasn’t holding onto a powerful, rare shifter just for her healing magic. This was the most rational approach, as advised by Oslo. Still, it comforted me to keep Billie and Muriel under my care indefinitely.

“The Mythguard could help us get them home sooner,” Aislin contributed.

“We can’t trust the Mythguard,” I said. “They already failed Muriel once.”

Aislin sighed inwardly, sounding uncertain. “Okay.”

She had a right to be uneasy about all this. I was too. I questioned whether it was a good idea to keep Eastpeak and the Mythguard out of our business, but letting Everett in just wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. While Muriel and Billie got settled in the spare bedroom, I retreated into the living room with Aislin. “I’m going to run another patrol. Can you stay here until I get back?”

“We need to arrange another hunt,” she said.

“You arrange a hunt with the others for tonight. I’ll be back by early evening.”

“Alright.”

It was critical that I checked on our borders for any activity from Dalesbloom or the dragons. Eastpeak, too. I had to make sure nobody was skulking around trying to gain more intel on us. Glad for Aislin’s help, I patted her shoulder and handed her my car keys, planning to walk from here and transform in the forest.

The secret looming reason for this patrol was that I needed to clear my head. Reviewing everything that happened in the past few days, I barely had time to process. I felt volatile and was still grieving the end of my relationship—maybe that was why I had projected my desires onto Billie instead of coming to terms with it. I was just… needy. And I hated admitting that, but it would explain why I wanted her so badly.

Hours in the summer sun made the day drag. My patrol was uneventful; there were Dalesbloom scents on the wind at the perimeter of my territory, but they hadn’t approached. There was no sign of the dragons and no sign of Everett. I spent most of the day stuck in my own head, sorting out my thoughts, only to consistently come back to the appeal of seeing Billie when I got home. By the time I was on my way to the apartment, I still hadn’t decided whether I wanted to keep my distance from her or give in to the magnetism of our bond. Clearing my head wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped. When I walked in the door, I was seized by anger about Catrina and longing for my fated mate all over again. I sent Aislin away to lead the hunt and went to take a shower without seeing the girls.

Surprisingly, I didn’t see Billie until night had fallen. While washing dishes, the sound of clinking dishware and splashing water drew Billie out of the spare bedroom, where she’d been sitting with Muriel, and into the kitchen. Her light brown hair was tied up in a loose bun, her lithe body hidden within Colt’s sweater and dark leggings. I glanced up at her, annoyed by the flutter in my stomach. “What?”

“Shouldn’t someone else be cleaning for you?” she ventured. “I usually do it…”

“You don’t know where anything goes,” I said, setting a bowl in the dish rack.

Her hesitation made me think she’d retreat, but instead she stepped closer. “Show me.”

I tossed her a towel. “Start drying then.”

Billie drew up beside me and wiped down the dishes in the rack. For each one she dried, I opened the white wooden cupboard where it belonged. We washed dishes in silence before she spoke up with her mousy little voice, “Sorry for this morning.”

“Huh?”

“This morning. I slept in and you had to come wake me.”

I scrubbed burnt food off the bottom of a frying pan. “Would’ve let you sleep longer if we weren’t so rushed.”

When she didn’t say anything, I wondered if she’d brought up this morning to confront me about my sexual advances. She was too shy to say anything outright. I didn’t want to talk about it either, but the longer the silence stretched on, the more nervous I became about it. I rinsed my hands under the tap and coped by flicking water on the back of her neck.

Billie gasped and flinched away from me. “What did I do?”

I laughed. “What?” Then I felt bad that her reaction was to assume she’d done something wrong. “Nothing. I’m just fucking around.”

She looked at me with big, hurt eyes, like a kicked puppy.

“Sorry. Look, we’re almost done,” I said, feeling like a moron.

Billie went back to drying and I wanted to smash my head through a wall. Agitated, I handed her the last dish, unplugged the sink, and let the water gurgle down the drain before wiping off the counter. Behind me, the tap ran again. I didn’t think anything of it until water sprinkled the back of my head. As a shiver shot up my spine, I launched my eyes at Billie, who guiltily hid her dripping hands behind her back and blinked up at me.

I sneered. My agitation vanished in place of delight and I ran the tap a third time, pressing my thumb against the spout and shooting water at her. She recoiled with a smile, blocking her face and soaking her sleeves in the process. “Hey!”

“What’s wrong? You don’t like getting wet?”

I kept firing jets of water from the tap while Billie squirmed. “You’re making a mess!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you mop it up after.”

“Seriously?” she asked, hiding behind her arm.

“This isn’t some vacation house, Billie,” I tutted. “I expect every inch of my apartment to be spotless by the time you leave.”

The look she gave me burned with green fire. Maybe I struck a nerve.

Sensing that, I grinned and lunged at her, wrapping her up in one arm while I dripped a handful of water on her head.

She pulled away from me. “Wh—What are you doing? Gavin!”

“I’m just being a jackass. What are you gonna do about it?”

Billie scowled, trying to wiggle out of my arm while water dribbled down her temple and off her nose, puddles gathering on the grey linoleum. She looked awfully cute, getting frustrated at me. Her wet hand came up and pushed my face away.

“Gonna take more than that,” I teased, pressing her back against the counter.

She rebuked with a look of determination, reaching for the tap. I anticipated another flick of water; not the cold shock of an entire handful splashing against my face.

“You little twerp.” I grabbed her wrists. I didn’t grab her hard enough, because she slipped free and darted across the kitchen. Alight with mischief, I turned to chase after her, only for my bare feet to slip through the water. “Fuck!” I grunted before crashing to my ass on the floor, pain radiating up my tailbone.

Billie stared with her hand over her mouth in surprise. A few seconds later, her feet tentatively padded around me until she crouched above my head. “Are you okay?”

I growled up at her. “Fine. I’ll mop it.”

Instead of shying away, Billie’s expression softened. “Really, are you okay? It seems like it hurt…”

People didn’t usually ask me twice. The sincerity in her voice flushed me with shame for having terrorized her. “I’m good, Billie,” I grumbled, still lying on the floor.

She stood up and extended her hand to me.

People didn’t usually… care like she did.

The gesture probably didn’t mean much to her, but I found myself marveling at her kindness in spite of what I’d done. I took her hand—gently, as gently as I could—and appreciated her help getting to my feet, even if I didn’t really need it. My clothes were soaked now. So were hers. I looked her over and chuckled to mask my embarrassment.

Billie slowly smiled at me, laughing too.