Page 5 of Truthfinder’s Promise

He’d probably had a pretty little wife waiting for him at home, and she’d just been the available distraction while he was traveling. She’d never asked. She hadn’t wanted to know. He was a Null, and she’d wanted to pretend she was too, so she’d shoved her Aspect so far down inside her when they were together that even she couldn’t feel it.

But she’d been on the verge of asking about the potential wife because she’d gotten to that point in a fling she was supposed to know better than to get to—the part where she wanted more. So the cosmic hammer of fate had decided to descend upon her for her own benefit, and Jensen had just been gone one day.

They’d both agreed at the outset that the affair was temporary, but she’d thought he would at least say goodbye when it was done. Or text it. Or answer at least one of her texts. She’d allowed herself one phone call and one voicemail. When a week had gone by and he hadn’t called back, she’d deleted his number and tried to forget about him. Obviously, she hadn’t succeeded.

“Are you even listening to us?” Siren asked. She was possibly the only person in the world who could ask that and not sound passive aggressive.

What were they talking about? Oh, yes, her non-existent love life. “I would have been listening,” Meredith answered, “but I was too busy figuring out how to avoid the many horrible blind dates the two of you would set me up on if I let you.”

“Hey, I would make sure they’re your type, if you would ever tell me what that type is.”

Relax, my type isn’t your husband. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she bit them back. Clearly, Julian had really gotten under her skin last night. Of course, there was also that look in Siren’s eyes. And in Valkyrie’s. What was going on with the two of them?

Meredith had dated Jace—Valkyrie’s brother, Siren’s husband—in her Academy days. They’d been over long before Siren ever entered the picture. Meredith had broken up with him for his own good—literally, as in, she was worried her mother might do him irreparable harm—and she’d lost her friendship with Valkyrie when she’d dumped him.

It was actually because of Siren that Meredith and Val were friends again—that Val had finally let Meredith explain why she’d broken Jace’s heart at the lowest point in his life. Once Valkyrie had listened, she’d understood, because she and Meredith were the same in many ways. They’d been through a lot of the same shit and they’d both hurt people they cared about in the name of protecting them. But Valkyrie was the one who’d gotten the fairytale ending. She’d crushed Random Tremayne’s heart and he’d still come back to her. That was what stupid in love did to a person.

Which was how Meredith knew she’d never been stupid in love with Jace. Loved him, yes, but not in that all-consuming way she read about in books. Because though she’d gone through a rough time when they’d broken up, it had had more to do with losing the one person who was kind to her than it had had to do with losing her boyfriend. The abrupt loss of contact from one-month-fling Jensen hurt more than her breakup with Jace had.

For the love of the goddess, get your mind off Jensen. Thoughts of him kept creeping in at the most inconvenient of moments. Figure out why your best friends are so convinced you’re still in love with Jace, and convince them otherwise. Maybe then she could have some peace.

Meredith’s history with Jace was something Siren had known practically since the day the two of them met. And Siren had been confident and fine with that knowledge up until recently. Oh, she never said anything about it directly, but the little redhead had suddenly become obsessed with the belief that Meredith needed a man to be happy. If Meredith could just figure out what had triggered this behavioral shift, maybe she could put Siren’s fears to rest. But she had just enough pride to not want to discuss the matter directly.

Siren wanted to know Meredith’s taste in men? “My type is six-foot three, dark brown hair, bluest eyes you’ve ever seen, and dresses like a lumberjack. He enjoys long afternoons spent in hotel rooms, watching bad action movies, and doesn’t bitch about my driving. Think you can find me that, little matchmaker?”

“Umm,” Siren said. “That’s oddly specific.”

“You’re saying a woman shouldn’t know what she wants?”

“I’m saying you described a person, not a type.” Siren brightened. “Do you have a secret boyfriend?”

Meredith sighed. She didn’t feel like baring her sad abandonment story to the world, but maybe it would be worth it if it got Siren off her back. Really, their friendship had sailed smoothly up until now. Zero concerns about the former Jace/Meredith relationship. And since Meredith had no interest in sniffing around those waters again, she couldn’t for the life of her figure out what had made Siren get all weird in the last couple months.

“Look, it’s a tragic tale, okay? I had a man, and I lost him. Now I’ve come to the conclusion that I am very, very happy being alone.”

“Really? You look fucking miserable,” Valkyrie said, with all of her usual tact.

“Maybe if you’d given me more than five seconds to throw on clothes before leaving the house, I wouldn’t look ‘fucking miserable.’ ”

“Nah, you still would. It’s in your eyes.”

“You know, I think I liked you better when you didn’t pay attention to anyone’s emotions but your own.”

Valkyrie shrugged. “You were the one who wanted to be friends again.”

“You were the one who agreed to be friends again.”

“Because you wouldn’t stop pestering me about it.”

Siren’s phone jingled. “Oh, thank God, the backup’s early. You two bicker worse than an old married couple.”

Two black SUVs pulled up behind the Jeep.

Meredith frowned. “I know martial endeavors aren’t my forte, but shouldn’t we be trying to be a little more discreet or something?”

“We’re on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Discreet went out the window the second we drove by. If anyone is on watch, they’ve already seen us. Stealth isn’t our goal.”

“Then what is our goal?”