He glanced at her. “For what?”
“For the position you’re in. I saw the way you look at her. For a guy who avoids trouble like the plague, you’re deep in it now. It’s not your style.”
“Didn’t realize I had a style.”
“Don’t be flippant about something that’s bothering you. You’ve got my undivided attention between here and Vegas—take advantage of it. If you keep everything bottled up, you’l go nuts.”
Elijah knew she was right. He couldn’t talk about Vash with anyone else. No lycan or vampire would want to listen to him hash out what he was feeling for Syre’s second. Shit, he didn’t want to listen to it himself—would prefer to ignore it altogether—but the path that had seemed so clear in the beginning was now dark and murky. He could use someone else’s input to help him find his way.
“If I have a type,” he said final y, “she’s it. Physical y. I was hot for her the first time I saw her. You were tossing knives at her and I was thinking about doing something else with her entirely.”
Lindsay choked out a laugh. “Jesus, El.”
“Yeah, wel …when she came to ask for help researching this vampire disease—they’re cal ing it the Wraith Virus—I knew who she was and what she’d done to Micah. And she realized I was supposedly responsible for her friend Nikki’s death. We straightened that out right away, but her guilt over Micah was never in question. We laid out our terms—I help her with the wraiths and she keeps the Sentinels off our backs; I help her find the lycans responsible for the death of her mate and she sets up her demise in a way that keeps Syre off my back.”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Lindsay sighed. “What a f**king mess.”
“There was no way in hel I could concentrate with the sexual tension between us, so I threw that into the mix, too. But when it went down…it was rough. And a lot more personal than we were counting on.”
“Is she your mate?”
“I told you before—it’s not like that with lycans. Yes, there’s an inherent level of instinct and physical chemistry that comes into play, but it doesn’t dictate how things go. I’l choose my mate when the time comes, just like a mortal would.”
“Mortals don’t choose who they fal in love with. I would never have chosen to fal in love with Adrian, knowing how dangerous it is for him to be with me.”
“We’re not talking about love, Linds. This is physical.”
She shot him a wry look. “You didn’t see Vash in action today, El. She went after Adrian. Adrian. I don’t believe she did it because of a pact with you or the need for a booty cal . She was too desperate and worried. And if her big concern was info about her mate’s kil ers, she could’ve asked Adrian while she had me with a knife at my throat.”
His grip tightened on the steering wheel. Vash had been suicidal in her efforts to save his hide. In too deep. Both of them.
Pul ing her left knee up onto the seat, Lindsay adjusted her position so that she angled toward him. “You’re awful y quiet after what I just said.”
“Like you said, there’s something there. It’s…complicated.”
“Are you friends?”
“I wouldn’t have cal ed us that.” Yet they’d put their necks on the line for each other. Supported each other…“But maybe. I guess.”
“Can you let your anger about Micah go? If she cares about you, just knowing you’re hurting over what she did could be punishment enough.”
“I’m gonna have to let it go or stop screwing her. But we’ve stil got nowhere to take this.”
“So you’ve thought about possibly continuing a relationship with her?”
“Only just now. With you pushing me to think about it. I won’t again after I drop you off.” He didn’t have time to waste on impossibilities. “Ideal y, I’l hit up Adrian for the info she wants; he’l have it; Vash and I wil deal with it; and our association wil end. Second best scenario is us wrapping this up quick even without Adrian’s help. If we could just put some distance between us—”
“Didn’t help with me and Adrian,” she reminded. “Absence made the heart grow fonder.”
“You’re not helping. You’re supposed to knock some sense into me. You hate her guts. Make me hate her guts, too.”
“Next time. She saved your life today. I owe her for that.”
“You saved my life, too. And not for the first time.” As the light pol ution of Vegas appeared in the distance, he said, “I don’t want to lose touch with you, Linds. Promise me that won’t happen.”
“I promise you that won’t happen.”
He nodded, his mouth too dry to say anything in reply.