Werewolves Be Damned - By Stacey Kennedy Page 0,45
the sparring men for the moment, she hurried to clean up the mess in the kitchen. After which, she had a fast shower and set to getting dressed. Oddly enough, she went straight for her guardian gear instead of normal clothes, as if that was every day business. Somehow, though, it all seemed like a perfect fit now.
Just as she finished clipping her kilt, the front door jiggled.
She made it into her living room in two-point-two seconds, and watched the door swipe open. Drake and Kyden entered, big smiles planted on their faces. She gave them both a quick look over, and neither had any evidence on them of a fistfight, but that didn’t mean jack around there. Zia could have healed them.
Eying them with suspicion, she asked Kyden, “Everything okay?”
He nodded, took her hand, and pulled her out into the hall. “The Council is sending us out on an assignment.”
“Like hell they are.” She yanked her hand back, pinning him with a hard stare. “They’re sending you out, not me.” At Kyden’s frown, she reminded him, “I’m going to hunt my parent’s killer tonight.” She narrowed her eyes on Drake, who gave her a measured look. “You said that once I joined the Council’s Guard I could go after the wolf. Remember?”
Drake looked at her reassuringly. “You have a responsibility to the Council now that you’re a part of the Guard. The matter in New York is apparently not over. You need to finish the assignment you’ve taken on first.”
She bit back a curse, turned to Kyden, and tried another approach. “It was really your assignment. You deal with it.”
He shook his head in clear frustration. “Honestly, Nexi, do you think I’d allow you to hunt that werewolf alone?”
She gave a firm nod. “That’s exactly what I think.”
“So it begins–” He sighed, exasperated. “Again.”
Her lips parted to tell him where he could stuff his plans, when he wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her to him. He leaned down, bringing his eyes level with hers. “Please don’t argue with me.”
Too bad for him she planned to argue. Before she could, he added, “We have a responsibility to deal with the matter in New York City. The first assignment was given to us—we are a team, get used to that because I won’t have it any other way—and Drake is right: we cannot abandon our responsibility.”
At the part of her lips to lay down her side of the argument, Kyden placed a finger over her mouth. “If we don’t stop this, more lives will be lost. Do you want that on your conscience?”
She stared down the two determined faces and finally accepted defeat, glaring at both of them. “I hate you for using that to make me agree.”
Drake kissed Nexi’s forehead and said to Kyden, “Be sure she stays safe.”
“Always,” Kyden said, with a firm nod.
Nexi scrunched up her nose, wondering if she’d stepped into the Twilight Zone. What in the heck had made these two so tolerant of each other? Had they beaten the testosterone out of their caveman bodies?
With a smile and a wave goodbye, Drake spun on his heel, heading down the hallway toward the Guardians’ Hall. Nexi followed his every step and once he vanished from sight, she jerked her head to Kyden. “Drake left a raging lunatic and returned not one. What the heck happened?”
Kyden’s mouth curved as he urged her forward with a hand along her lower back. “We had a discussion about my intentions.”
Nexi dug in her heels. “You cannot be serious?”
“Very serious.” He inclined his head, urging her forward again, and this time she obliged him.
She nearly laughed. As if she needed Drake to ensure Kyden was an appropriate suitor, or to kick the shit out of him if he wasn’t. “He obviously approved of you, considering you’re not dead.”
Kyden gave his arrogant grin, and smacked her ass. “Of course he did.”
She studied him, not blind to the mischievous hint in his eyes. “Are you going to tell me what you said to him?” A slow smile spread across his lips and he increased his stride, moving ahead of her. “Kyden…”
His low chuckle echoed in the hallway.
…
Talk about déjà vu.
The large parking lot, located only a block away from the last scene in New York City, had a factory with a loading dock to the left. The only light in the area came from a few parking lot lights above Nexi, which