“My friends love me.”
That’s it. I’m going to need some fae wine to deal with him. He obviously won’t leave my house unless I go with him. I can’t kill him. And as much as I want to, he’s family and we don’t do that. Although I think both he and Ford have tried to kill each other on multiple occasions.
“Don’t you walk away from me!” he yells.
“Well, I’m sure not walking toward you. I’ve gone with you plenty of other times. I’ve indulged this need of yours to get me out of the house. I’m done now. I’m sick of traipsing all over the place with you. You have a mate and a child. Leave me be.”
I open the cabinet door in my kitchen and find my stash of fae wine, six bottles deep. I open one up and don’t bother with a glass. I just drink it straight from the bottle. That’s what Sol does to me. That’s how insane he makes me.
He comes into the kitchen and leans against the grey island with a white quartz top. “Are you done throwing your fit? Usually it’s me doing it, but I must be spending enough time with you that I’m rubbing off.”
Bringing the bottle down from my lips, I meet his eyes. “It’s not you rubbing off on me. It’s you driving me to drink, Solomon.”
He holds out his hand, so I give him the bottle, thinking he wants a sip. Nope. He walks over to the sink and dumps it out.
“What are you doing?” I yell and lunge for the bottle, but half of it is down the drain before I can get to it.
“You’re coming with me, and I don’t need you drunk when you do.”
I can’t win. Sol isn’t going to leave. And if I know Lilah, she doesn’t want him home either. How bored is he?
“I’ll have you know my kitten would welcome me home with open arms,” he states, reading my mind.
“She’s the only one then! Leave!”
He holds his hand out again. “Come with me and I won’t bother you to leave again for a month.”
I narrow my eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
“I vow it. You know I won’t break that.”
“You’re not going to tell me where we’re going outside of it’s the States?”
“Nope. That’s part of the fun.”
“I don’t understand how any of this is supposed to be a good time.”
“Please,” he scoffs. “Every single activity I’m involved in is the absolute best. I bring the entertainment.”
I shake my head and relent, giving him my hand. Sol looks me up and down then scrunches up his nose. “You need to change. That’s not a very sexy outfit.”
“This is how I look, cousin. Take it or leave it.” I’m not dressed horribly today. My clothes are clean, even if they are a little wrinkled. I have on a pair of leggings and a T-shirt that’s more fitting with the words, It’s your funeral, across the front. Trent had it made for me many years ago. He told me I should wear it to bed so whoever dares to try and wake me gets a warning first.
He wasn’t wrong. When I was younger and Trent and I lived under the same roof, there were a few times he tried to wake me up. My instinct was to shoot my arm out and choke whoever came near me. One time, he had to teleport me to the ocean to get me to fully wake up, snap out of it, and release him. That earned him a punch in the stomach.
No one lives with me now, which I’m fine with. But I do miss my brother every day.
Sol stares at me like I could look better. To appease him and hope to fate he holds up his side of the bargain, I pull the tie out of my hair where it’s in a bun on the back of my head and let my long hair down. I comb my fingers through it a few times and deem it good enough.
When I glance up, Sol is smiling. He squeezes my hand he’s still holding. I try to read his mind but it’s useless. He has a block as good as Eloise’s and there’s no point in me trying to break it down. All our other powers are evenly matched. My mother was Eloise’s sister after all. Too bad I didn’t get that great mind block.
Sol doesn’t say a word before snapping his fingers and taking us away from Italy. We land in a dense forest in I don’t know where. The leaves are changing colors. Gorgeous hues of orange, yellow, gold, and fuchsia. Some of them have already fallen to the ground around us.
“Did you take me somewhere to murder me?” I ask. There is nothing around us for as far as I can see, which admittedly isn’t that far since there are so many trees.
“Not today, cousin. But I do need your help with something. We’re near Quivakond Pack property. And inside their house is an alpha male who doesn’t like me very much. The feeling isn’t mutual. I actually like him a great deal. More so because he gets very angry when I’m near. Anyway, his beta is making something for Jupiter. He’s very talented with his woodworking skills. I wanted to surprise Lilah.”
“I’m confused. Why do you need me along for this?”
“Because the second Merrick sees me, he’s going to kick me out of the house. I need to use you as a buffer. Distract him so I can find Austin and get my gift for my daughter.”
“Ford would have been better at this.”
“Maybe but Merrick won’t be expecting you and he’s very respectful of females.”
“Even ones related to you?”
He shrugs. “He tolerates Mother.”
“I hate when you drag me into stuff I don’t want to be a part of. But I’ll hold up my end of the bargain, so you hold up yours. Lead on.”
Sol releases my hand and begins trekking through the woods. We pass through a ward that has my skin going cold but quickly warming again when we’re on the other side. A warning would have been nice. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised he didn’t say anything to me.
When we’re within the ward, I take a moment and look at my surroundings. The leaves on the trees are green and the vegetation is thriving. Nothing like the fall colors on the other side. There’s a narrow path in front of us where the brush has been pushed back to allow easy passage.
As we emerge from the tree line, there’s a gorgeous home in front of us. It’s natural in appearance, blending in with its surroundings. It’s way bigger than ones I normally see.
The outside has natural wood shingles. The home is two stories and way wider than it is tall. There are a few wolves in the yard with kids running about both in human and wolf form. Other adults are around. We’re three feet inside the ward when they stop and stare at us.
Sol smiles and waves but doesn’t pay them any more mind. They do the same to us and go back to what they were doing. I guess he comes here enough that they all know him. I’m curious to see how this Merrick reacts to him since, by the sound of it, he doesn’t like Sol very much.
A woman opens the front door to water the two large potted plants on either side of it. She lifts her head and sees us. Her warm smile is instant. Maybe not everyone here hates my cousin.
The woman with long blonde hair comes toward us. Her blue eyes sparkle in the sunlight. I still can’t believe how different it is in here than on the other side of the ward. “Solomon,” she says with a smile. “I didn’t know you were stopping by.”
“I like to surprise your mate.” Ah, so this must be the alpha’s female.