28. Can’t Catch a Break
Chapter 28
Can’t Catch a Break
“ V ?” Phillip questioned, and I almost didn’t look at him out of fear of giving away my inner thoughts. “This is between Sloan and I.”
“Is it, really?” Cassius asked the internal question floating around in my head, and we all jerked our eyes over to him. He shrugged like the cat-eyed bastard he was. “I think there’s a story here, but more than that, I think you two are making the lady uncomfortable.”
Sloan was the first to back off. “He’s right.”
“I am?” Cash said in audible surprise, and I rolled my eyes.
He was a goddamn idiot.
Sloan’s arms crossed over his weapon-heavy chest, and he offered me a sheepish smile. “My apologies, V. This wasn’t how I envisioned our reunion carrying on. Last time, I wasn’t given a chance to say how relieved I was to see you unharmed after Lux kidnapped you, but...”
It hit me out of nowhere that, last we parted, I’d been the unfortunate captive of a diabolical fucker for over a week. And then what had I done? Gone all gooey-eyed for Phillip, sought out the comfort of my long-lost Grams, and left this beautiful man as a cliff note in my happily ever after.
I’m such an ass, gah!
“Thanks, Sloan,” I muttered, doing a poor job of expressing how genuinely grateful I was. Truth of the matter was, Sloan had been there when the Austrian abandoned me, and his mere presence was a safe haven. “I’m happy you’re here, truly.” The last statement I said with a quick glance over my shoulder at Phillip, and when our eyes connected, it was evident I’d pissed him off.
Good.
Cassius sighed loudly, as was his way, and cleaned his hands with a wet wipe— where the fuck does he even keep those in that ensemble?— before pocketing his random-ass snack . “Well, that was a cute break, but I’m bored now. I hate to point this out to you born-and-raised vampire killers, but we’re losing daylight. We should probably go over there and do what you lot wrangled my beautiful self into doing.”
Was this dude for real? Hadn’t he, of his own damn accord, only just offered to help us with the vampire coven? I couldn’t figure Cash out, but something told me I never would. The dude was a mystery and a half, and I’d have an easier time stealing secrets from the Illuminati than understanding this cat-eyed asshole. To be fair, I didn’t understand dudes in general, and that was abundantly clear as the months ticked on.
Sloan’s eyes tracked back over to where the Dark Fae stood, and then down to me near him.
Something about the way he stared at the Fae suggested a past that wasn’t pleasant, and I mentally noted to ask the Brit about it later. You know, after I’d worked through this horny bullshit already taking front stage with the gorgeous Hunter nearby, like a dream— nightmare? —coming to life .
Shouldering his pack, the dark-haired gentleman motioned for me to go ahead of him. “It pains me to agree, but we’ll be at the best advantage if we hit this particular coven type before dusk.”
“Spying, were you?” Phillip asked, passing the other Hunter and taking his place by my side.
I kept my eyes straight ahead, determined to focus on the mission at hand. But it was only a second later that Sloan was on the other side of me, falling in stride with our group.
“Something like that,” Sloan replied like the smooth operator he was, plenty used to Phillip’s interrogation tactics.
I momentarily admired the way Sloan dismissed Phil one minute, then tossed me a cheeky grin the next. The guilt I’d been waiting for all damn day came a-knocking, twisting my stomach into knots and lodging the shame of a woman conflicted into my chest.
It didn’t take long to make it over to the entrance for the underground hideout. I’d spent the better part of the trek ignoring the heated stare Phillip sent my way several times. When we stopped in front of it, the other two Hunters shared a look. Luckily, it appeared both had reverted to their usual behavior, preparing for infiltration and completely in the Hunter zone.
Despite knowing the reprieve from the awkward-as-shit air was likely to be short-lived, I was unbelievably thankful for it.
I hadn’t gotten a chance to think about the looming battle ahead with the Dark Fae bastard who put literal ice in my veins every time I faced off with him. Hadn’t gotten a chance to spare a single thought for Lux and the burned facility, or the traitorous siblings who’d I once considered friends, or even Grams’s surprising return after spending months worried she’d been taken out by the Organization.
But that seemed to be the way the dice rolled with my head these days. Easier to hyper-focus on the pure, unfettered bullshit of my messy love life and how it only seemed to get worse as time went on than it was to deal with shitty realities that never stopped coming.
A girl can’t catch a break…
Thanks to the distraction of pretending to do the thing Phil and I discussed—you know, the great act of losing control and using it to “lure” Cash into stealing me away in the dead of night—I had something else to focus on. Except, with Sloan here, everything was fucked up and it wasn’t clear where things stood. By the sideways glance Cash gave me when I bent down and sensed out the ground below, he had the very same question. So not only my love life, but now our entire trap was royally screwed up.
Great.
Still, we had a job to do even if it was painfully reminiscent of our previous employment under the assholes who genetically altered humans with supernatural blood.
The coven wasn’t far from the nearby town, and I’d bet my lucky stake that the disappearances and freak accidents were starting to add up based on the number of vampires said to be living underground here.
We crept, one after the other, into the tunnel. Using my freak speed to make quick work of the ladder, I waited for the other three to join me at the bottom, emptying my head of anything that wasn’t killing every vampire in this godforsaken hole. The underground network of tunnels smelled heavily of stale water and mildew. Nowhere in this underground deathtrap could light enter, and I heard the soft grumblings of the Dark Fae before his wispy, sparkly magic illuminated his face.
“Put that out, asshole,” I hissed angrily, already concocting a way to leave the Dark Fae here while the rest of us did the vampire killing.
Cassius pouted, and the light disappeared. “Well, how am I supposed to see then, Hunter? With sheer willpower? Or is this some cleverly crafted revenge where you force me to stumble around like a bloody idiot so I can eventually rouse our hosts?”
This dude is so melodramatic.
It didn’t fail to shock me how much of a teenager this grown-ass man was—not to mention how often I was left to mitigate his tantrums. Worse, the very same dude blackmailed me into a favor.
I’m losing my touch these days.
But for some odd reason, Cassius intrigued me. He was a cowardly bastard and deserved a smack or two, but he’d come to my rescue all day. Okay, sure, he was likely doing it because he was a snake-bastard and good at playing someone’s emotions, but I couldn’t hate the dude for some reason. I tried, and every time I did, the gorgeous boy band imitator did something stupid and made me laugh.
It helped me forget the bullshit presently bothering me.
No, V. Bad girl. Cash is a big hell-to-the-no. Get your head back on straight and remember your Hunter training, you fucking amateur.
I caught sight of the blind Dark Fae blinking rapidly, as if it’d make him see better, and a devilish grin spread across my face. If I wasn’t so ready to duct tape the asshole to the wall and finish the mission without him, I might’ve dragged it out for a moment longer.
But we had vampires to kill .
Sighing in defeat, I removed a pair of night-vision goggles from my pack. I’d thankfully brought them along since I wasn’t sure what the Fae could or couldn’t do, and Hunters prepared for everything.
As I forced the goggles into Cassius’s hand, Sloan’s straying gaze and smile distracted me briefly. Then I looked back at the helpless coward in front of me, who was first grumbling about something under his breath, then fumbling with the goggles next. Cash cursed a couple times, making it a real struggle not to laugh, until he finally put them on. The Dark Fae looked fucking ridiculous, and it was absolutely glorious.
Cassius looked over at me, eyes covered by large black circles that clung unattractively to his face, and I threw an arm across my own to smother the giggle leaving my mouth. Unfortunately, the Dark Fae saw it all and immediately reacted with disgust. But his snarling lip only made it worse, and I barely kept it together.
If the bastard did one more fucking thing, it’d be the end of our covert infiltration, and I took a few minutes to breathe through the rising laughter in my throat.
Still wearing the goggles like a total asshole, the Dark Fae planted hands on his hips like a scolding mother. “Having a laugh, are you?”
Licking my lips and struggling, my eyes skipped over Phillip to find Sloan again. The Brit’s laughing expression made it worth the minutes I’d spent trying not to lose my shit. “Those look very good on you,” I lied and bit my lower lip.
It was clear Cassius didn’t find one bit of it funny, and my eyes naturally tracked back over to Sloan to see what the cool Hunter’s expression might give away—and it was worth the stolen glance. The man had a hand over his mouth, concealing a grin by the way the topography of his face had changed. When our eyes met, he winked in a way that was far too sexy for my heart to handle.
Oh, fuck. I’m doomed.
I rushed to hide my expression from Phillip, knowing he’d see it all. Shame crept into my throat like the punishment I surely deserved, but my thoughts swirled with what it could all mean. If it was this bad even on a mission, then I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I’d need to say something to Phil, and soon. It might mean our relationship was forever altered—or totally over—but carrying on the way I was wouldn’t be fair to anyone.
Not to Phil. Not to Sloan. Not to me.
And it’d probably be one of the hardest things I’d done since ending my relationship with Nigel.
I couldn’t be sure the bracelet Cash gave me was working, but so far, no one’s treatment differed from previous interactions. Cassius didn’t mention how long it took for the thing to work, but what I did know was that my feelings were conflicted without the aid of the bracelet.
I liked Sloan. A lot . Enough to make it difficult to ignore, even with Phillip right there watching. Maybe it was better to be unattached for a bit while I figured shit out, as convenient as that was for me to suggest. It’d likely lead to some kind of fight with Phil, who’d probably blame Cash or something else and believe I was only confused because the Dark Fae had messed with my head.
To be fair, I wasn’t certain the Dark Fae hadn’t, but I’d been drawn to Sloan from the beginning. Truth be told, our relationship changed before Phillip came back into the picture. It wouldn’t be crazy to think I’d developed feelings for the gentle-mannered and considerate Hunter while Phillip was gone. Feelings strong enough to contend with the ones I had for the dude who abandoned me.
If I continued to fight what I was feeling for Sloan, someone might get hurt, and I wasn’t going to hurt someone like Phillip did when he left. After Nigel, I promised to be honest with myself. More so, I’d be honest with everyone else. Well, as honest as I could be when I hadn’t figured out anything in my head. But not until after we defeated Eros. It could wait until we put a stop to the powerful Dark Fae.
“Let’s get moving,” Phil cut in sharply, his voice tainted with something I couldn’t identify.
Still, I was glad to be jolted back to the present and most important matter at hand—the unfolding plan to trap an evil bastard.
Time to kill some old-ass undead assholes.