Page 39 of Mage Massacres

The guys interrupted my thoughts with their bickering.

“Stone can go with York tonight to keep an eye on them. I’d rather be overly safe,” Briggs was saying. “Palmer and Murphy can’t go. I’ve visited enough to have been seen with them, and so have Vaughn and Novak.”

“We should call Hyde,” York suggested with a shrug.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Stone agreed. “Then we could watch from a distance, and Hyde could sit with them.”

“So call her,” I advised in a hurry. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Vaughn laughed silently, his almost English accent loud in my mind as he sent a single word to me. “Nosy.”

I was being nosy, wanting to listen to what she was saying to Jack. But I didn’t need to follow her to hear their conversation.

This wasn’t me following her, though.

This was me chasing after her, the first time I’d chased any woman.

I wholeheartedly agreed with York. I’d rather her yell at me than ignore me or act indifferent. I couldn’t handle her being angry with me any longer.

I needed to apologize to her, but I didn’t know how.

I thought I’d been pretty clear about not dating or having any serious relationships before this. My entire existence as an adult had been a series of one-night stands, hopping from someone’s bed to someone else’s bed. I couldn’t even remember their names most of the time.

But how could I fix us if I didn’t really do anything?

I knew the problem was that I didn’t do anything.

I did nothing when I should have said something.

I turned the corner on feather-light steps, anchoring myself outside her bedroom door and straining my ears as I listened to her talk to her best friend.

“I’m just glad no one found either of the portals before I closed them. I hate that I felt the need to do it, but with the ward destroyed—”

“You did what you had to do, Lo.”

“I know. It’s going to be so fucking expensive to replace the ward, though,” she complained.

Jack chuckled. “Negotiate. Or better yet, how about you try putting one up yourself? That would save money, and Frank wouldn’t have to find someone to remove the memories of whatever sucker of a mage took the job. It’s not like you don’t have three mages in that creepy-ass house with you right now.”

“How do you know—”

“I gotta go, Lo. I’ll call you tomorrow to check in.”

Trouble growled in frustration before muttering, “I know you’re standing there, Novak. Just come in.”

I wanted to smile, but I schooled my face as I opened her door the rest of the way. It clicked softly behind me as her fingertips flew across the screen of her phone. She dropped the device as if it had burned her and began running her fingers through her hair.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, her eyes closed as she fisted her hands. Then she straightened, flipping a switch before my eyes. With her shoulders squared and tense, her expression morphed into cold indifference as she glanced up at me.

“Everything and nothing, all at once,” she answered evasively. “Were you standing in the hall to listen, or did you have something to say?”

I frowned, turning my head slightly in an attempt to deflect her passive-aggressive question.

“I don’t like that you’re upset with me.”

Trouble blinked several times, her gaze softening with each swipe of her eyelids. “I don’t like it either.”