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And for the first time, Remmus wondered: could he best the woman if they were to challenge one another?
Chapter Five
“Rolling out the red carpet for me, Grumpy?”
Reaching over, Remmus tugged on a tendril of her loosened hair, and Ava reacted instinctively: she snapped her teeth at him. Instead of being threatened, like any sane person would be, the psychotic Raeth laughed.
“You’re going to end up dead, Raeth, challenging my beta like that,” Riaz commented, but he purely looked amused, his arm sliding around Cortana’s waist to secure her against his side.
The vampire, however, shoved out of his grip. “Gross, Riaz. Go take your sweat elsewhere.”
When they began bickering, Ava took her cue to pick up her water bottle and press a towel against her forehead. Goosebumps rose when she felt eyes on her, and she dropped the towel to glower at the Raeth who was openly checking her out. Her only acceptable course of action was threatening him, complete with curled lip.
“You have a problem, Raeth?”
“Many.” Sincerity bled through his voice, which gave her pause until he spoiled the effect with a grin only seconds later. “But few men have died from appreciating a woman as beautiful as you.”
Ava smiled sweetly. “Perhaps that number will increase by one today.”
The cocky grin never faltered, but his attention refocused on Riaz a second later and—wait, why did she miss his attention?—began speaking to her alpha.
“I’m on loan. Unequivocally yours while we tinker with air conditioners and plot the downfall of the Citizens.”
“Lovely.” Riaz inclined his chin to study the other man while Cortana lobbed a fresh towel at his head. “What did Nina say?”
“Besides issuing a spanking for getting shot? Mostly a strong recommendation to find the Citizens Raeth and throw him into the deepest, darkest hole I can dig.”
“Won’t be very deep, then,” Ava muttered.
Remmus didn’t dignify that low-effort jab with a response. “When we return, I’ll ensure we’re not detected.”
Ava scoffed. “Really? You did such a bang-up job the first time, pun intended. I still have the bruises you gave me from when you plowed into me.”
Immediately worried, Remmus’ eyes skated down her body in a glaringly obvious search for bruises, and for a second, she felt bad for lying to him. He had taken her to the ground to save her life. While she’d reflexively started to choke the life out of him, the Raeth had been protecting all four of them. It’d shown her another side of the man who she’d judged an unredeemable jester. The fact that she looked at him differently now wasn’t something she was willing to publicly admit.
“Now that I know their own Raeth might be on the premises, I can shield against him.” A casual shrug before he literally grabbed an apple out of mid-air and took a bite.
“Good.” Her alpha huffed a sigh. “We’ll take to it tomorrow. If you’re up for it, Remmus, Aidan texted—he’s arranged everything with Sagan’s den in La Crosse.”
“That was quick.”
“You’d be surprised how fast a wolf can organize things when he desperately wants to know his people are safe in their dens. He’ll sleep much easier once you two complete your mission.”
Ava nodded, feeling the same need but loathing the sense of urgency. Now that Aidan had finished preparations for their arrival, Remmus got to invade her mind and access her memories, with her completely at his mercy. Dread coiled tightly within her.
“I’ve got it!”
While his audience jumped at his sudden interjection, Remmus snapped his fingers and leveled Ava with an intense look.
“You hate Raeths because they beat you out for the best apple pie at the Colorado County Fair. Those swindlers!”
A sound of annoyance left her chest. Ava resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes as she counted back from ten. She was fortunate that her response had progressed from fear and anger to something like exasperation.
“Fine, Raeth. You play your game and I’ll play mine.”
“And yours is?”
“I threaten you with a new way to die every time you annoy me.”
