The Way You Bite(68)

“Gone? What the hell does that mean?” She left?

“As in I couldn’t find her or Trace anywhere. TC noticed a car leaving about forty-five minutes ago and followed it. Thank God for his suspicious nature, because it turned out to be Trace driving.”

“Where are they headed?”

“To the border.”

“South? Shit.” Lexan stalked out of the guest room in search of Blay, finding him downstairs in the kitchen.

“What did you say to her that sent her running away?” Lexan fingered the handle of the knife on his belt.

“She left?” Blay paused with a glass of orange juice halfway to his mouth.

“She’s not here. Neither is Trace.”

“Damn it.” Blay set down his glass of orange juice so hard it sloshed over the edge. “I specifically told her to stay put and for Trace to forget trying to remove her. It’s not safe for her away from us.”

Lexan pulled out his ringing cell. “You have her?”

TC said, “I followed the car to the border. I didn’t see her but assume she’s sleeping or something in the car. I had them—”

“You still have them, right?” Lexan gripped the phone tight to his ear.

“Trace is a wily driver. I lost them just after the border crossing. Got caught in traffic. But I’ll find them.”

“Damned right you will. Inform me in fifteen minutes.” He disconnected the call.

Blay stared at him, both eyebrows almost touching his hairline. “My plane is ready to leave. I know that stupid kid is going to Charlotte. Carol sent me an email yesterday to one of my old accounts that I don’t check a lot. She wanted to negotiate with Dominic to get Vee away from them and asked me to take Vee out of the country afterward. She thought the vamps had her or at least Trace.”

“If Dominic has Carol, then she’s…it’s probably not good for her,” Lexan mused out loud.

“Trace may be Dominic’s genetic son, but he’s also Arie’s, and that means he values family. Carol practically raised him from a teenager. If he’s anything like his mother, he’ll go after her.”

“I’m going to kill him when we find him for taking Vee with him.” Lexan slapped the refrigerator.

“We should beat them to Charlotte by several hours. If they drive straight through it’s about ten hours.”

“Let’s do it.” Lexan stalked to the door and turned back. “Why aren’t you moving?”

Blay gazed at him, contemplative. “She told me you two decided it was over.”

They decided no such thing, but that wasn’t Blay’s business “Stay out of whatever’s going on between us.”

“You marked her.” There was no emotion in the statement. Lexan couldn’t discern Blay’s opinion on the matter.

“I did. It’s instinctual.”

Blay’s lips thinned. “Don’t act like you don’t know exactly what it means. You’re going to shadow her for the rest of your existence, whether she’s by your side or with another.”

Another? His hand fisted around his knife’s handle.

Blay’s lips curled upward. “Hurts to think of her tangling sheets with another?”

“Fuck you.”

“No, you’re the one that’s fucked. If she dies, then the ennui you battled before you met her will triumph, and you’ll let it. Because there is nothing without her. Nothing. Trust me, I live this every bloody day. Without her, death is a relief.”

“That’s why we’re going to get her back and lock her down.”

“Exactly what did she define as the problem with your relationship?”

She felt he wanted to imprison her, which she needed to keep her safe. He cursed.

“She’s independent.” Blay nodded, obviously having done some mental eavesdropping.

Get the hell out of my brain, Lexan thought.

Blay shook his head. “Get mated and we all turn into primitives. Your protective instinct is natural, but you’ll lose her if you don’t figure out what she needs to thrive. For me, Arie needed her children. She would’ve died if I’d taken her away from them. I wanted to take her away. I fought with her for years to take her somewhere Dominic never would never find her and could no longer hurt her. I nearly lost her in the fight until I realized if I took her away she’d become someone who wasn’t the woman I loved.”

“Don’t psychoanalyze me. You lost Arie because you let her have her way. You weren’t there to protect her and now she’s dead.”

Blay growled. “I always protected her. I was with her every damned moment, even if sometimes in the shadows, invisible. That day I’d taken Vee to Carol. It was the single moment when I hadn’t been watching.”

“Your anecdote isn’t convincing me to do anything other than force Vee out of this country and to somewhere safe.”

Blay picked up his phone and typed. “Plane will be ready in fifteen minutes. If you don’t figure out what she needs, you’ll lose her even more than you already have. Give her what she wants. The reward will be worth it.”

Lexan lunged forward, pinning Blay by the neck. He leaned close to Blay and squeezed. “We’re going to get on your goddamned plane and get to Charlotte before she arrives. If she dies because you dragged her idiotic brother here, if they kill her, I’ll rip out your throat and that of every wolf loyal to you.” He released and stepped away.