Page 97 of Bound to the Wolf
“We’ll be back,” Javi rocked forward onto the balls of his feet and jerked a thumb over his shoulder toward the parking area, “but you shouldn’t wait up for us.”
Aya made a disgusted sound behind him, and Javi shot her a playful grin. “What, I can’t show a nice girl a night on the town?”
“Say one more word, and I revoke my cooperation.”
He made a dismissive sound and waved a hand at her. They got into his car. It was an older sedan with a dent in the rear quarter panel and mud caked along the wheel wells; the interior was a mess of crumpled receipts and a half-crushed water bottle rolling around the passenger footwell.
Javi hadn’t exactly cleaned up or even noticed the gym bag he’d tossed in the back before the battle. Aya glared at the food wrapper, but she only nudged it with her foot until it was out of the way. Her seatbelt was barely fastened when Javi sped out of the parking area and down the road after the fleeing witches.
Aya reached for the bar above the door and held on for dear life. “Speed limits exist for a reason,” she braced her other hand flat against the dashboard and scowled, but Javi only smiled and sped up.
Wallace Grove had to know he was coming after them. He zoomed around a car, which only made Aya yell again.
“Do you even know what the two yellow lines mean? If you crash this car and I die, I am making sure you come with me.”
That startled a laugh out of him.
The little witch had some fire in her. Javi stayed in his lane. He could see the two Wallace Grove cars up ahead. Their taillights glowed red in the dark about a quarter mile down the two-lane road. They didn’t show signs of slowing down.
He stayed about ten over the speed limit, but Aya didn’t yell again. They kept driving for twenty minutes until they passed over the Stewart County line and kept going until they watched the two cars get onto the interstate.
“Do you think they’ll stay away?” Aya released her grip on the overhead bar and flexed her fingers.
Javi shrugged. “You’re the witch, shouldn’t you know?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m a witch. I’m not fucking psychic.”
“Language,” he said, and Aya groaned. “What?” he asked. “Come on, tell me. I can tell you’re thinking something.”
She glared at him. “Just wishing I had the powers of teleportation. Has anyone ever told you that you’re very annoying?”
He grinned and stuck his tongue out at her.
Chapter
Forty-Six
Delainey made Reece spend the next three days in bed, though after about twelve hours he’d convinced her he was physically fine and a little lonely.
It hadn’t taken her long to break and join him.
There was some sort of connection between them now. They had spent time trying to figure out what the limits of it were, if they existed, but there didn’t seem to be a physical limit.
They could walk as far apart or as close together as they wanted. She hadn’t spent enough time away from him to know if there was some sort of time limit, but she didn’t think so.
Somehow, in her desperation to heal them and bind them together, some of Delainey’s magic had come to live inside Reece. He didn’t have much of an answer for it. He’d told her he didn’t remember what happened after he passed out, but every so often she found him absently rubbing at his heart, in the same spot where she could feel a piece of him living inside of her.
They would probably need to examine that at some point. They were both alive, the tether was gone, Wallace Grove wasn’t bothering them anymore, and she would call it a win.
Her bags were packed and in the back of Reece’s car, as was all his stuff that had migrated over to Nico’s cottage over the last few weeks. They had spent most of the morningthoroughlycleaning the place, and at Reece’s suggestion, they had also hired a cleaning service to come in and give the counters a final shine.
After all, it seemed a bit rude to leave the place smelling like sex. Delainey figured as long as Nico and Elise never asked, they wouldn’t have to tell them.
They got out of Reece’s car and came around to the front. She grabbed his hand, and he leaned down to kiss her like they had been separated for days rather than about four seconds.
Delainey was grinning when he pulled back.
The park brimmed with activity. Families clustered on blankets across the green space, a pair of cyclists coasted along the paved path, and somewhere near the fountain a dog was barking at a squirrel.
