Chapter 144
Chapter 144
Cora--
I’m not entirely positive how it happened, but Landon and Logan convinced me to bring Landon with me to my meeting with James. I hate the precedent it sets– I don’t need a babysitter– but scheduling it at the most inconvenient time for Landon soothes my wounded pride a bit. James asked us to bring Hammer with us, so Landon seriously has no leg to stand on as far as my safety. Hammer was the one Logan trusted to watch Emory, and they’re way more well-known than Landon and I. Even if that’s my fault, it doesn’t make it untrue.
Landon’s main argument was that Hammer would be staying with the Susi pack and I’d be unprotected on the way home. Hammer, that asshole, agreed with him. Still, Landon could’ve just picked me up afterward. It’s not unheard of. But no. I have to sit here in the back seat with Hammer and Landon in the front ones like I’m an only child of an awkward marriage. Some things never change, I guess. Kitten, you know why I have to have eyes on you. I’d go insane waiting for you to come back.
“And I guess it doesn’t matter if this drives me insane?” I answer him out loud because I want him to hear how ridiculous he’s being.
Hammer sighs in the driver’s seat of Landon’s SUV. That was another hour of negotiating that I could’ve lived without. “Fuck. I hate this telepathy shit.”
I raise one eyebrow at Landon, waiting for his answer. He half turns in his seat so he can look me in the eye. “Cora, baby, we went over this. It’s temporary– just until my wolf is more settled in our bond or this FBI bullshit ends. Whichever comes first. You agreed, remember?”
I put on my sweetest smile, which makes Landon wince. He can feel how fake it is from the inside. Good. “Hammer, how long was this meeting estimated to last?”
Mouth pinched in displeasure at being pulled into our argument, he answers. “An hour. Two, tops, if you can’t shut up.”
Raising my eyebrows but leaving the saccharine smile, I cut my eyes to Landon. “Do you know the definition of temporary Pookie?”
Hammer’s shoulders quiver with his silent laughter. Landon sighs. “You know I hate when you call me that.”
I drop my smile. “Temporary– lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent. Would you call two hours a limited amount of time, Pookie?”
Finally, Landon loses patience. “Fucking yes, okay? But it’d feel like six eternities running consecutively while I waited to see if you’d come back. Is that what you want? You want me to have a continuous panic attack for two hours?”
I rub my forehead. “There is an extent to which your feelings are my responsibility. I know that much from all the no successful relationships I grew up seeing, but there are some things you’re just going to have to get therapy for and call it a flaw to work on, Landon.” What I don’t mention, because it’s even less Hammer’s business than the rest of this fight is, are the multiple relationship books I’ve been reading “secretly” because if I’m going to be stuck with Landon forever, I’d rather not blow it up and make each other miserable for a century. Landon knows this, because he’s been listening and passively learning along with me. He figures watching his parents together while he was growing up is a pretty good foundation.
Landon finally hears that I’m right. “Fine. I will work on it. But there are no shifter therapists. As far as I know, anyway.”
Hammer slams the car into park. “Thank fuck, we’re here. You can make your own way to Alpha’s office.”
If I hadn’t heard the door close, I would have thought he dematerialized through it and disappeared like a ghost. “Nah, that’s vampires that do that. Probably. He’s just a spook from his military days. James loves picking up the spies.” Landon’s nostrils flare as he apparently catches Hammer’s scent lingering. “Seems like this is the way in”
He leads me to the elevator. This conversation isn’t done, but it’s as done as it’ll get while we’re here. I take a deep breath, unsure what I expect from the office of the legendary James Susi. I’m suddenly glad to have Landon here as a buffer from whatever crazy security measures I’m about to walk through. I’m not usually easy to intimidate, but it’s hard to forget that on top of being shifters that are bigger and stronger than me anyway, these ones are combat trained and use that to make a living. It’s another level of scary.
Told you you’d be grateful for my presence. I can take a little gloating, I guess. But I promise myself to get back at him later, just to make sure he doesn’t make a habit of it. Challenge accepted, kitten.