you too.”
He took my hand. “I have a surprise for you, but now I’m not so sure it’s the right time.”
I squeezed his hand and pushed everything else back. “A surprise?”
He grinned. “Come on.”
He led me to another door in the basement and opened it. Flickering candlelight filled the small room. A blanket was spread out over the cement floor with an actual real picnic basket on top of it.
I looked up at him, smiling. “Cookie Monster.”
A blush rose up his neck as he shifted. “I thought we could have a proper date for once.”
I went to my toes and kissed him gently. “You’re the sweetest boyfriend a girl could have.”
He raised an eyebrow at that. “You have five.”
I shrugged as I walked into the room. “And right now, you’re the sweetest.”
I sank down onto the thick blanket that was somewhat familiar. It had to be one of the ones from the linen closet.
Isaac sat across from me and opened up the basket. “So, it’s a changing lineup?”
“It changes day to day,” I teased.
Isaac pulled out two Tupperware boxes and handed me one. I opened it to find fried chicken, pasta salad, and carrots. Wait a minute. “Did you cook?”
He scoffed. “No way. I was going to do sandwiches but then Asher caught me and insisted on making the food.”
Ah. That did sound like Asher. “I love it, Isaac. Thank you.”
He busied himself opening a bottle of sparkling cider. “We’ve all noticed how overwhelmed you’ve been, so I just thought some quiet time would be nice.”
I smiled. “And the candles?”
His face turned red. “Don’t pick at it, Red.”
I chuckled as he poured cider into a champagne flute then handed it to me. I took a sip and enjoyed the crisp apple on my tongue. “So, how are you doing?”
“Don’t do that.” He put the lid back on the bottle before turning to me. “You don’t need to check on me.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You sound like Ethan.”
He shrugged. “He warned me you might try something like this.”
I frowned. “I guess I have been doing that a lot lately.”
“We’ve noticed.” He handed me a fork.
“I want to make sure I’m doing my part as your girlfriend.” I took a bite of my pasta salad. Hmm. Delicious, as always.
“You do your part as my girlfriend,” he said after he swallowed a bite of chicken. “You do more. That’s why this date is about you.”
“About me?”
He nodded. “Yeah, this is your quiet, mellow time. I don’t want you to think about Jadis, or your powers training. I want you to just enjoy being with me and having a meal.”
A slow smile spread across my face at his thoughtfulness. “Thanks, Cookie Monster.”
He met my gaze. “You’re welcome. Now eat.”
We passed the next hour in comfortable conversation. We talked about everything and anything except the big stressors in our lives. He even rubbed the tension out of my shoulders while we talked. It was a great hour that I knew I’d always remember.
All of it ended when shouts erupted upstairs. We looked at each other, then got to our feet and hauled ass up the basement steps. Asher beat us to the living room by seconds.
Brody was kneeling by the couch with several other beaten and bloody werewolves.
“What happened?” Asher asked as he carried a first aid kit to the bleeding werewolf on the couch.
“We had a run-in with Jadis’ witches.” Brody cursed as he held his hand over a bleeding wound. “They were using telekinetic spells.”
“They threw us around like rag dolls,” a man spoke up in a groan.
“What the hell were they on that they got that kind of power?” Brody muttered under his breath.
Not knowing what else to do, I went into the kitchen. After pulling out several bags of frozen veggies, I passed them out among the group. Several put them on their ribs, a couple put them on their faces and shoulders. The group was beat up, that’s for sure, but one thing was obvious and unanimous among them. Jadis had won that fight. How many more would she win before this was over?
Chapter 9
“How is this Jade supposed to get here?” I asked Uma. Everyone was standing in the backyard beyond the pool, looking out over the large lawn behind the house.
“You’ll see.” Uma gave me a knowing grin as she turned back to look out into the woods.
“I’ve got ten on skydiving in,” Isaac announced.
“Through the woods,” Zeke countered.
“There aren’t any roads back there,” Isaac pointed out.
“There’s always