Chapter 584 Chapter 584
“Everything all right?”
She glanced over her shoulder to see Griffin sitting in the chair in the corner. “Everything’s good.”
“Okay, then why are you refolding the clothes for the fourth time?”
Blaise looked down at her bag. Had she? “Just trying to make some space.” It was a good reason. “We have to go meet up with someone and pick up more supplies.”
“Are you going to put them in your bag?”
Keeping her head down, she put the clothes back in, “no.” She was being ridiculous, she knew that, but she was going stir-crazy with nothing to do but think. “How’s your shoulder?”
“Much better, just a dull ache.”
“Good.”
“What supplies are we picking up?”
“Extra food, stuff that won’t go bad.” She zipped up the bag and set it on the floor, then stood there looking around the room, trying to figure out what to do next. “Equipment, so you can see the rescued people or,” she shrugged, “otherwise.”
“We’ll see what your teams are doing as they’re doing it?” He stood up and stretched slowly, and she watched his movement to see if he was lying about his shoulder.
“I guess we will.” She knew how important it was to keep him on the move and off anyone’s radar, but she would have loved to be on one of the breach teams right now. There was nothing like the simplicity of it. No chit-chat; everyone knew their part, and if she was lucky enough to come across someone that was uncooperative, all the better. She had a lot of internal baggage that she’d love to unload on someone in the form of physical aggression.
He just stood there looking at her. Did he know about her conversation with the King? If he did, then he knew she was holding out on him. If he didn’t, then she knew she was. There was no winning right now. Lifting her hands, she let them slap down on her hips. “Grab a seat.” She motioned to where he’d just got up from. He sat down and didn’t even question her. That bugged her. After everything he’d been through, she would have demanded to know why before even considering sitting down. “I, uh, spoke to the King earlier.” She shook her head quickly, “I was actually calling Devin, but he was out for a run and his father answered the phone.”
“He told you something that isn’t sitting right?” He waved his hand around, “you’ve been moving non-stop like you can outrun it if you stay in motion.”
She snorted, huffed out a breath, and sat on the end of the bed. “Something like that, I guess. I’m restless, I don’t do stop very well and with the teams going out…”
“You wished you were going with them and not babysitting me.”
“Yes. Well, no, I don’t mind keeping you safe from that maniacal monster.” She shrugged, “I like my job, with the teams.”
“You’ve very good at it, from what I saw when they found us at Raymond’s cabin.”
She smirked, “yeah, I’m good with physical stuff, not,” she looked around the room, “the sitting still stuff.”
Griffin nodded his head slowly, “I understand. I’ve always been confined to small areas, so I suppose I’m better adjusted to it.” He held her look, “which I suppose is good with my future not looking like it will be free, wide-open spaces.”
“About that.” She saw the guarded look replace his relaxed one. “I asked the King what was next for you,” his expression didn’t falter at all, “once we take down Tomas and all those in the country, so to speak.” She rolled her head from side to side, trying to release some of the tension, “he said it could take years to shut everything down worldwide.”
“It’s going to be a long game.”
“Yeah.” She sucked in a breath, “he says after those here are shut down, you can make your own decisions. You can contact your mother’s clan, or,” She shrugged, “do what you want.”
He was quiet for a moment, “really?” Rubbing his hand over his head, he blew out a breath, “I wasn’t expecting that.” His shoulders slumped in relief. “I don’t know what I want to do.” He looked out the window, “I’ve never had the choice,” he glanced at her and smiled, “sure, I’ve thought about thousands of things, but,” he leaned back in the chair and stared at the floor, “what would I do? I have no skills to speak of.”
“There are always jobs at the Alliance.”
Griffin gave her a surprised look, “I’m not a warrior.”
She was going to argue, the way he handled things when they’d been taken, that was fighter trait. “There is more than just fighting jobs, there’s a lot of people at the headquarters that do things.” She didn’t want to tell him the other part of doing what he wants. It would be like lying if she didn’t though. “Uh, to be part of the Alliance, you have to have a connection…”
“A connection?”
“Yeah, be part of a clan—or-or mates of someone that is.”
“Right. Otherwise, you’re a rogue.” He nodded his head slowly, “that’s what Sloane told that Alpha before I was shot.”
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat, “the King said you could go off and do something else, but you wouldn’t have Alliance protection.”
“On my own?” His brows creased, “what would I do?”
Blaise didn’t know what to suggest. If it weren’t for the Alliance, she had no idea what would have become of her.
“I supposed hanging out with you is off the table,” he looked around, “once we’re done playing hide and seek and Aiden is just a bad memory.”
It hit her then, what was bothering her since she spoke to Shepard Addison. It wasn’t about missing the ops or keeping Griffin safe. It was that when things finally settled down for the whole shifter community, he could leave. It explained her cat’s odd silence and why Blaise couldn’t stop moving. He sat there watching her, no emotion showing in his expression. “Right now, I can’t think past getting Tomas and all of those working with him.”
“It’s not going to be a quick thing.” He mused.
“No, it’s not.” She was happier with this conversation.
“A lot of plans and things could change twenty times before it’s done.”
Blaise got up, “yeah, everyone will have to adapt fast as they go.” It was true. Things could get crazy and hectic once they started closing in on all the people working for Aiden Tomas.
“We could be driving around for months.”
She shrugged, “it wouldn’t surprise me.” If she thought about this long enough, she knew that both of them were prolonging what was happening.
“I could take a turn driving now and then.”
Blaise quirked an eyebrow at him, “I don’t know if I’m ready to let you drive my truck.”
“I’m a good driver.”
“I’m sure you are, but she’s my baby.”
Griffin grinned, “I will win you over.”
She gave him a skeptical glance, “good luck.”
“What time are we leaving?”
“I’m just waiting on the when and where from Illias.”
“Okay.” He motioned to the door, “go run. Your constant motion is making me anxious.” He frowned, “actually it’s my bear, but today we seem to be on the same page.”
She looked out the window.
“Go. Run around the cabin if you have to, just give me a little breathing room for a few minutes.”
Going over to the chair, she grabbed her run pack. “I won’t be gone long.”
She went to the door and almost walked out without putting her boots on. She had some serious thinking to do and some decisions to make. She glanced back at the cabin, so did he. Turning to stand behind some bushes, she decided she wasn’t going far.
From this vantage point, she could see for miles and the cabin. Her cat’s vision helped to see in the window and what Griffin was up to. He was pacing. Not doing anything, just in constant motion. It must be hard when you and your animal were plagued with thoughts and couldn’t shift to run them off. She watched him go to the little kitchen table and lean down on it. Was he talking out loud? It looked like he was talking out loud. She couldn’t judge, she talked to her cat that way sometimes too. He hunched his back and dropped his head forward. Was he thinking about what she’d told him? If it were her and she’d been stuck somewhere for years, she would have her bag ready to go when everything was done. Is that what he was going to do? He stiffened and moved away from the table. He walked over to the window and looked right in her direction. She knew he saw her, it wasn’t hard to see a tiger sitting on a rock in the snow. They continued to look at each other, for a lot longer than she should have. She needed to burn off some thoughts so she could focus on driving. Standing up, she stretched and gave him one more look and then bound down off the rock and took off through the snow.