His breath caught, and when he spoke, it was practically a growl. “I would never put you at risk. I’m doing everything I can to stop these people.”
Was he picking his words carefully? God, I wished I could see him now. I’d be able to smell the lies on him.
“Screw you, Laurent.” I jammed my finger on the end call button, as if he could feel it. He immediately called back, so I pressed the power icon until the phone turned completely off.
“Fuck,” I said to the rising moon and dark summer night air. It was a filthy word that I reserved for rare circumstances. For when I was good and truly fucked, like now.
One thing I knew—I wasn’t going to be staying on pack land tonight. The LaSalles were perfect strangers, but they weren’t actively trying to get me killed. Plus, Laurel had offered to put me up twice.
I slammed the door out of habit on my way back inside, then blushed and remembered I was a guest.
Casey poked his head around the corner. “Everything okay?”
I glared. I was pissed at Jaxson but okay with settling for Casey as a target of my ire.
He threw his hands up. “Whoa, hey there, Medusa, point those viper eyes somewhere else. Remember, I’m the guy who’s going to help you get your ride back.”
I shook my head vehemently. “No, you’re not. But it’d be great if you’d be willing to give me a lift to get my things. I think I’ll stay here, if that’s still okay.”
“Of course! Mom will be thrilled. We’ll get your things and your car.”
“Stealing my car back from a werewolf is a terrible plan,” I replied, though it would give me a hell of a lot of satisfaction to see the look on Jaxson’s face. And I’d be out from under his thumb, free to make my own decisions.
Casey waved a hand dismissively. “It’s a great plan, and it’s already in motion. We’re going to meet Zara up near the Midway in three hours.”
“In motion? Who’s Zara?”
“She’s the gal that drives the truck that’s going to tow your car out of Jaxson’s auto body shop and into glorious freedom.”
I crossed my arms, raised an eyebrow, and gave him a deeply skeptical look. “So what, we just break in, steal the car, and escape without consequences?” I didn’t see Aunt Laurel or Uncle Pete, but I whispered anyway.
“Don’t worry, I’m a pro at shenanigans like this.”
I rubbed my temple. “Casey, I appreciate it, I do. But this sounds unnecessarily risky. Let’s say we pull this off and don’t die. Won’t Jaxson just come take the car back?”
“No way. You’ll have made your point and demonstrated that you’ve got a backbone. Plus, we’ll stash it in the Midway Dens, which are run by devils and demons. Wolves respect that line in the sand, if not much else.”
The world spun a bit, and I had to brace myself against the wall. “Devils and demons?”
“Ah, shit, right. You just learned about magic and werewolves. Devils and demons are more like day-two material. On the other hand, Zara is half
demon, so there’s that little thing.”
“You want me to work with a demon?” Who were these insane people?
“Not a demon, a half-demon. The other half is mage or something like that. She’s cool.” He grinned. “And hot. Get it?”
There wasn’t much more I could really take. I was way past the point of keeping up, so I just slumped against the wall and sank down on my butt.
Casey crouched beside me. “You don’t want to be beholden to this asshole, right?”
My stomach soured. I was up to my eyeballs in trouble. Jaxson had taken my only option for escape and might actually be using me as werewolf bait. I rested my arms on my knees. “Jaxson can shove it, for all I care.”
“I fully agree. He’s an alpha and accustomed to just taking what he wants. To having everyone around him defer. He’s going to expect that of you. Do you want him bossing you around for the rest of the time you’re here?”
“I want my goddamned freedom back, that’s what.”
Casey stood and slapped his hands on his pants. “Well, let’s go get it back, then.”