“Ding ding ding. Our little cousin’s been crazy since you left him. We were close to going down to New Orleans to drag you home.”

“So you are actually his cousins?”

“Yes, well distant cousins, but it’s all the same.”

“But you’re not from Texas?” I might have been drunk when we met, but I remembered their accents, and the cowboy hats.

He shook his head. “Nope. We’re from Jersey.”

I didn’t care enough to ask why they told me the Texas story the first time. I’m sure they had their reasons.

“So you promise you’ll really take me to him?” I didn’t want to admit how terrified I was of facing his grandfather.

“Yes. I promise. Why would anyone keep you from him? If you don’t become his mate, we don’t get power.”

“Good point.”

“You can relax. You’ll be in his bed tonight.”

My stomach tightened. I had no idea how I was going to keep up the act without actually sleeping with him. Having sex with anyone but Levi was definitely not on the table.

“Can you at least tell me where you’re taking me?”

“No, but it’s not too far.” The driver hit his horn. I loved the city, but hated the noise. Part of me longed to be out at Georgina’s. There was something so peaceful about the open landscape.

I leaned back against the seat, eventually giving in and closing my eyes. I was exhausted—more exhausted than I ever remembered feeling, and my head was gearing up for another round of pain. Hopefully, I’d manage to get through the day in one piece. I let sleep take me when I couldn’t fight it anymore.

Chapter Seventeen

My door was ripped open before the SUV had come to a complete stop. “Allie.” Toby nearly fell on top of me as he unbuckled my seatbelt. I’d had enough of guys messing with my seatbelt.

I sat forward, ready to get out. “Hey, Toby.”

He took my hand. “I am so glad you came to your senses.”

“Me too.” I let him help me out.

“I’ll take it from here. Thanks for getting her.” Toby barely acknowledged his cousins.

“Sure, what else did we have to do?” the passenger said sarcastically. He was definitely the more talkative of the two. I still didn’t remember their names, but it wasn’t high on my list of priorities at the moment.

Toby barely glanced at him. “I’m sure you’re being paid, so don’t complain.”

The talkative one laughed. “Have fun, cuz.”

“I will.” He opened the passenger door of his Audi SUV.

I buckled my seatbelt before he could attempt it, or anything else along those lines. “I didn’t expect to be in this car again so soon…”

“No jumping out of the car on me this time.” He smiled, and he seemed more like the Toby I knew. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

“I’ll try not to, if you try not to drive me crazy.”

“Me? I’d never drive you crazy, unless you mean a good crazy.” He winked.

“A good crazy?”

“Yeah. Don’t pretend you don’t remember exactly what I’m talking about.” His expression heated.

I slid in my seat, moving closer to the door. “Where are we going?”

“Can’t you guess?” He started the ignition.

“No…”

“You’re the one who brought it up the other day.” He smiled.

That’s when I really looked around at where we were. I hadn’t recognized the parking lot, but I definitely recognized where we were.

“Are we going back to your house?”

“Kind of.”

It was surreal watching the familiar streets of my childhood fly by me. So much had changed since I’d last seen my town. I wanted to scream at Toby to take me to see my mom, but that would probably only put her in more danger.

Before I could talk myself into begging, we pulled into the driveway of Toby’s childhood home. I glanced up at the large brick house—I’d spent so much time there in high school.

“I’m guessing your dad’s away?” I unbuckled my seatbelt and grabbed the bag I had stowed by my feet.

“When isn’t he?” Toby got out and met me at my door.

I wasn’t surprised when we walked past the front door and around to the back of the house.

“Are we really climbing into the old tree house?” It was closer to the size of a studio apartment than a child’s playhouse, but it was old and rustic. We’d spent hours in that tree house on the rare occasions that his dad was home.

“I can always fly you up there.” He grinned. It was the big toothy grin he seemed to only use around me.

Guilt surged through me, but I pushed it down. I had a job to do. “I’ll manage the climb.”

He waved me on. I reached for the old rickety ladder, hoping I could come up with the right words to convince him to show me where Jess was.

“Whoa.” I nearly fell backwards when I saw how he had the old wooden structure set up. Before I could really take it in, he’d come up behind me.

“I thought we could use some ambiance,” he whispered in my ear.

I continued inside and he followed right behind me. For the second time in twenty-four hours, a guy who wasn’t my boyfriend lit candles for me. If I weren’t in my current Pteron magnet situation, this would have thrown up serious relationship red flags.

“Is that champagne?” I took a seat on one of the plush, white cushions he had set up on the floor.

“It’s a night to celebrate, isn’t it?”

I let out a deep breath. It was go time.

“Please tell me I’m not wrong about the celebration, Allie.” He wrung his hands.

“You’re not. Well, not entirely.”

“What does that mean?” He kneeled down in front of me.

“I need to see Jess.”

“She’s fine.” He ran a hand through my hair. It didn’t take him long to fall back into the usual intimacies.

“How do I know that?” I sat up as straight as possible. If the ceilings were higher, I would have stood up.

“What if I let you talk to her?”

“You told me that if I came to you willing, you’d let her go.”

“That was before my grandfather got involved…”

“Damn it, Toby, let her go. She has nothing to do with this.”

“Once I’m king, we’ll let her go. You have my word.”