“Okay.” Danny headed toward the door, but Aric stopped him.
“Look, Dan, I know this isn’t my home, but I need to ensure my safety and that of my wolves at all costs. Could you leave the gun in the car?”
“Oh, yeah. Sure, sure. I didn’t mean to insult anyone.” Danny jogged to Bren’s car, popped the trunk, and deposited the gun, then raced just as swiftly into the house.
It was just me and Aric, him in a dark red sweatshirt that complemented those sizzling baby browns and faded jeans that hugged his strong legs, and me…in all my nasty glory.
“You should’ve called me, Celia.” Aric’s voice dropped lower. “I would have handled the situation. There was no need for you to get involved.”
“I didn’t have your phone number,” I answered like a dumb ass.
Aric walked ahead of me. He picked up and handed me a simple blue gift bag tucked behind the wooden railing. “Look inside,” he urged when I just stared at it.
I pulled out the latest and greatest iPhone, complete with some Bluetooth thingamajiggy, a high-tech earpiece, and a sleek lavender case with little white birds on it.
Aric cleared his throat as I examined the case. “I had a female sales associate pick it out. If you don’t like it, you can exchange it for something else.”
“I like it. It’s sweet.” I smiled. “You went overboard, though. This stuff is nicer than what I had.”
Aric didn’t blink. “I told you my students would replace your things.” He held his hand out. “May I?”
I handed him the phone, thankful the smooth surface would help me wipe the putrid prints off easily. He punched in a few numbers and handed it back to me. “That’s my number. You ever need me, you call. If the vampires give you any shit, you call. If there’s a mansion full of infected vampires, you call. You don’t go looking for trouble.” He let out a long breath. “You can’t heal, Celia. The right strike by the wrong foe could kill you. I don’t want that to happen.”
Aric Connor cared what happened to me. Whoa. He’d given me his digits…and a whole lot of attitude. “So did you come to my house just to give me the phone or is the reprimand an added bonus?”
Like Misha, Mr. King of Wolves probably wasn’t used to getting any lip. His voice dropped another octave. “Celia.”
I held up my hand, trying to squelch my grin. Knowing he’d come to see me made me giddy. “We’ll talk as soon as I get a shower. I promise,” I insisted when he tried to argue.
“We’d better,” he answered.
I held the edges of Misha’s sweater down as I climbed the steps…and then took the fastest shower in history.
CHAPTER 19
Everyone sat at the kitchen table except for Emme and Shayna, who busied themselves heating the food. The wolves leaned back in our chairs, arms crossed, eyes fixed on me. Aric wasn’t a happy wolf. His ungodly pissed-off expression worsened as we spilled more details about our seventy-five near-death experiences.
Bren sat next to me, draping an arm around my shoulders. “And you didn’t take me along because…?”
Aric leaned forward, taking in Bren’s close proximity to me. Normally Bren’s affections didn’t bother me, but they made me uncomfortable in Aric’s presence. I kept my voice casual as I inched away from his hold. “Because you wouldn’t have stopped with just the infected vampires, and I couldn’t risk your going after Misha’s family.”
Gemini rubbed his goatee and regarded me carefully. It was the first time he’d pried his eyes off Taran, who sat in a slinky black dress on the other side of Danny. “Tell me more about the vampires you encountered. It seems odd they would remain at the compound. Their hunger should have compelled them to constantly hunt for food.”
I shuddered, thinking back to the brawl at the field. But Gem was right: Why would they hang out somewhere as isolated as Zhahara’s property? “Is it possible something prevented them from leaving the premises?”
“A binding spell might be able to,” Danny offered.
The scowls from the other wolves made him shrink back into his seat. Aric watched him carefully. “A spell like that wouldn’t be strong enough against a bloodluster’s thirst.”
Koda knitted his brows—not typically a scary expression for most. For Koda it bordered on a mug shot for America’s Most Wanted. “For a human, you seem to know too much about things that go bump in the night.”
Taran rolled her eyes. “What do you expect? He’s a research hound who lives with a werewolf.” She patted Danny’s back until she caught Gemini’s disapproving glance.