and turned to Elena. I resisted the urge to hug her. Elena wasn’t the hugs-and-kisses type. Even fleeting physical contact, like handshakes, made her vaguely uncomfortable, though nowhere near as uncomfortable as they made someone else…which made me realize someone was missing from this reunion.
“Where’s Clay?” I said. “Waiting in the car? Hoping he can avoid saying hello to me?”
“Hello, Paige,” came a Southern drawl from the living room.
“Hello, Clayton.”
I popped my head around the bedroom door. Elena’s partner, Clayton Danvers, was standing by the window, his back to me, likely not an unconscious gesture. Like Elena, Clay was blond-haired, blue-eyed, and well built. While Elena was attractive, Clay was traffic-stopping gorgeous…and had all the charm of a pit viper.
The first time we met, Clay had tossed me a bag containing a severed human head, and things went downhill from there. I don’t understand him, he doesn’t understand me, and the only thing we have in common is Elena, which causes more problems than it solves.
He finally deigned to face me. “You said Lucas isn’t here?”
“He had to zip back to Chicago for his court case.”
Clay nodded, clearly disappointed. One could argue that he simply hoped for someone else to talk with, to avoid having to make conversation with me, but the truth was that Clay seemed to genuinely like Lucas, which shocked the hell out of me. Not that Lucas wasn’t likable. Just that Clay, well, he didn’t much like anybody. His usual reaction to anyone outside his Pack ranged from near-tolerance to outright loathing. I’d landed on the farthest possible end of that scale, though I was slowly inching away from the brink.
“Ready to go?” Clay said, looking behind me at Elena.
“I just got here,” she said.
“We have a long drive—”
“And all the time in the world to drive it.” Elena walked from the bedroom and looked at me. “We rented a car so we can drive back to New York, take our time, see the sights, make a vacation out of it. If anyone is after Savannah, Jeremy thought it might be wise if we keep on the move for a few days, rather than rush home.”
“Good idea. Thank him for me.”
She grinned. “Having us out of his hair for a few days is all the thanks he needs.”
“Can we stop in Orlando?” Savannah asked.
“You want to go to Disney World?” Elena said.
Savannah rolled her eyes. “Not likely.”
I mouthed something to Elena. She grinned.
“Ah, Universal Studios. Sorry. I thought Disney World sounded kind of cool myself, but we could go to Universal, if that’s okay with Paige.”
“Have fun,” I said. “I transferred some money into Savannah’s account, so make sure she pays her own way.”
From Elena’s brief nod, I knew Savannah’s money wouldn’t be spent on anything but junk food and souvenirs, as it had when I’d given her money for her week with them this summer. I knew better than to argue. Their Alpha, Jeremy Danvers, was very well off, and the three of them shared everything, including bank accounts. If I insisted on paying, I’d insult Jeremy. If he had his way, Savannah wouldn’t even be using her own money for candy bars and T-shirts.
“Got your bag packed?” Clay asked Savannah.
“Never unpacked it.”
“Good. Grab it and we’ll go.”
“You two have a nice trip,” Elena said, plunking onto the sofa. “I’m visiting Paige.”
Clay made a noise in his throat.
“Stop growling,” Elena said. “I’m here, and I want to spend some time with Paige before I leave. Unless you’d prefer I stayed here. You know, that might not be such a bad idea. I could stick around, help her out—”
“No.”
“Is that an order?”
“Savannah?” I cut in. “There’s a Starbucks a few blocks over. Why don’t you show Clay where it is, grab us some coffees?” I looked at Clay. “When you get back, you should probably take off. Benicio’s stopping by soon, and he made some noises about taking Savannah into protective custody, so I’d rather she wasn’t here when he arrives.”
Clay nodded, then walked to the door and held it open for Savannah. When it closed behind them, Elena looked at me.
“Taking mediation lessons from Lucas, I see. Sorry about that. I know you have better things to do than listen to us bicker.” She shook her head. “We’ve worked out a lot of things, but he still has trouble with the idea that I need to keep a corner of my life for myself, a corner that doesn’t include him.”