Page 76 of Don't Bite the Botanist
Ethan slapped Saiden on the back and handed over the keys. “I get it man. No worries. Selene is all yours.”
Saiden just grunted and dropped into the driver’s seat.
Derrick tossed the rental keys to Tressa, then climbed in next to him. “We’ll follow you guys,” he called, shutting the door.
Tressa led Ethan down the road to where a black town car was parked. She paused at the driver’s side door and looked up at him. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
Ethan lifted their joined hands, pressed a kiss to her knuckles, then headed for the passenger side. “Are you kidding me?” He shook his head as he climbed into the car. “Sunflower, we’re going to pay a visit to a witch before we try to murder an ancient vampire who will likely kill us first. I don’t think anybody would be ready for that.”
Tressa slid into the driver’s seat and leaned across the console to kiss him. “I like when you call me Sunflower.”
He ran a hand down her cheek. “Baby, I’ll call you whatever you want for the next thousand years. We just have to kill Renata first. Nobody touches my mate and gets to continue breathing.”
Tressa laughed, kissed him again, then put the car in drive.
“Oh, that bitch is toast.”
Chapter thirty-nine
Tressa
“What in Lilith’s name is she doing?”
When Derrick said Baylin had pinpointed Renata’s location, Tressa assumed they would be going to a house or abandoned building. Something befitting the vicious killer they all believed the rogue to be.
But that wasn’t the case at all. After a brief stop at an adorable cottage that Ethan had disappeared into for a few minutes, they sped over to the spot where Baylin had caught her on camera. The last thing they expected to see was a parking lot leading down to a beach.
And more shocking than that was what they found when they stepped onto the soft sand.
Renata was just sitting by the water’s edge, the waves rolling in and out to gently lap at her toes with each pass. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, and she didn’t so much as flinch when they arrived.
Given her age, there was no way she hadn’t heard them approach. In fact, she might have heard them from miles away for all Tressa knew. So why was she just sitting there acting like another tourist enjoying the sunrise?
“It’s got to be a trap,” Saiden said, his hands ghosting over thedaggers in his belt.
“I agree,” Derrick said. “And I don’t like it. There’s the bait, but where’s the hook?”
They all scanned the surrounding area, but as far as they could see, there was nothing but empty sand for miles.
Tressa turned to Ethan. “Is this normal? For the beach to be deserted?”
Ethan scratched the back of his neck and glanced toward the vacant parking lot. “I’m not sure. It is pretty early, so it wouldn’t be packed, but we’re also still in tourist season. For there to not be a single morning jogger or person walking their dog? It’s definitely suspect.”
“Told you,” Saiden said. “Trap.”
“Nobody is arguing with you, Sadie Bear,” Tressa said, patting him on the shoulder.
He let out an annoyed chuff. “Remind me again why you’re here?”
She blinked at him. “Where the fuck else would I be? It’smymate she’s trying to murder. You think I’m going to go get a damn pedicure and wait for you three to take care of the men’s work?” She snorted. “You know me better than that.”
Saiden chuckled. “I know. But it’s not often I get to be the one teasing you.” His eyes darted up and down the beach. “So how do we play this? I didn’t bring my rifle, so long range is out. And I don’t really want to start tossing grenades on a public beach. Explaining that to the cops would be hell even with Tressa’s ability.”
Derrick cracked his neck and rolled his head side to side. “If you bust out the semi-automatic, we’ll have police swarming us in minutes, and I have more important things to do than sit in a jail cell. I say we go old school. It’s four against one. A handful of blades and my fists should get the job done.”
Tressa opened her mouth to say she was pretty sure Derrick’s handshad far more experience with activities of a less violent nature, but her cousin turned to Ethan before she could get the snarky comment out.
“You any good with a weapon, Ethan?” he asked her mate. “I know we didn’t get past hand-to-hand in your training.”
