Page 37 of Blade

My mate had met the strangest people in his travels, but unlike the ranger, he hadn’t pissed them all off on first meeting.

“Half the coven thinks I hallucinated you, so I need to make a few phone calls.” That seemed more frustrating to him thanHenley’s stubbornness. “I think the plan will be meeting at the coven house…the main house…fuck…I don’t know what to call it anymore.”

He was strange.

“Are you okay?” Henley didn’t seem to feel the need to be polite about how odd the ranger was any longer. “You never make any sense.”

Was he back to wondering if the ranger was having mental health issues as well or just thinking he was stupid?

The man’s groan seemed to think something close. “I’m fine. This is just more confusing than you understand.”

Shrugging, Henley wasn’t ready to be nice to the man. “Not my problem. You guys let my mate get magically tortured.”

I wasn’t going to forget that my mate could hold a grudge.

“One person made a bad decision and we’ve been paying for it for years.” Grumbling, the ranger made more dramatic sounds that my mate ignored. “Trust me, the coven learned its lesson.”

My mate’s huff said what he thought about that so far.

The ranger must’ve realized it was pointless to get sympathy from my mate because he shifted to a more professional tone. “I need to get my replacement over here early and make some phone calls. I think it’ll take about half an hour and then I’ll be able to take you to the coven. Do you need to go get…your mate?”

Henley looked down at me before pushing the button on the door that worked the windows. As he lowered the one in the back seat, I lifted my head and glared at the ranger.

“For fuck’s sake.” Eyes going wide, he took a second to go back to looking bored. “That takes some getting used to.”

My mate’s eyes rolled again. “You’re very dramatic.”

He was so cute I leaned over and licked his cheek.

“How do you let those teeth so close to your face?” The ranger’s question got an even more hostile look from my mate.

“Because he won’t hurt me.” Crossing his arms over his chest, his expression grew tighter. “Is this about him being a man?”

Hands flying up, the ranger shook his head. “No. It’s about his eating habits over the past seventy years.”

And my mate’s eyes went round and round again.

“He’s never hurt people. That’s what’s important.” When the ranger couldn’t argue with that, my mate nodded like it was settled. “Half an hour then we’ll follow you to the coven.”

Wherever they were currently located.

CHAPTER 13

HENLEY

“In my head,people like the ranger were smarter than average.” They clearly weren’t. “He’s also supposed to be nicer.”

Rude and stupid were not a good combination no matter how attractive he was.

“He drives well, though.” Following him through the backroads hadn’t been hard but it had been boring. “He even took that stoplight carefully so I didn’t get cut off. That’s harder for people than you think.”

Hmm.

I reached over and petted Blade’s head where it poked through the seats. “I’m flexible on a lot of things but not bad driving, so please understand you need to be safe behind the wheel and not a dick.”

I was pretty sure the universe wouldn’t have sent me an asshole for a mate, but sometimes it seemed the universe liked to test people. Blade’s huff made me think I didn’t have anything to worry about, but I wasn’t sure if that was me hearing what I wanted to hear.

“Based on the time frame he gave us, we should be there soon. I want you to remember that we leave anytime we want to, though.” I wasn’t going to be held hostage by evil witches. I’dseen that movie and I wasn’t going to live it in real life. “If they’re evil or nuts, we’re out of there.”