Page 90 of Stubborn as a Shadow

Before I could tell him to fuck off, Morgan squeezed my hand to get my attention.

“He hasn’t lied,” Morgan whispered to me.

I’m not sure why he bothered to whisper. Everyone had probably heard what he said. But perhaps that just spoke to how few supes he’d been around.

“And he saved me,” Morgan pointed out when I didn’t automatically agree.

I shuddered at what could have happened if that wolf had gotten her teeth into my mate.

“Fine,” I bit out. “But I still don’t trust him.”

“I just want to ensure everyone arrives in one piece,” the vampire said as he adjusted his cuff.

“Truth,” Morgan muttered softly.

I narrowed my eyes at Keenan. “What aren’t you telling us?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the vamp said.

I exchanged a look with Carter. He didn’t look comfortable with the vamp either, but he also wasn’t arguing against him coming with us.

“Fine,” I said. “You can come.”

If Keenan was voluntarily going with us, maybe that was to our benefit. We had a lot of powerful supes in Willow Lake. If he needed to be dealt with, it’d be easier to do it there. As soon as we had cell service, I’d give Gage and Van the heads up about our unexpected passenger. I had to text them about the tracker, anyway. Hopefully the hunter I’d put it on hadn’t discovered it yet.

“Come on,” Carter said. “Let’s go.”

At least whatever had been sabotaged on the limo back in the village had been fixed. Carter slipped behind the steering wheel, and surprisingly the vampire took the seat beside him. For some reason, I’d expected Keenan to demand that he sit in the back like a pampered prince.

The divider between the front and the back was down, and Carter kept glancing in the rearview mirror to check on us. Or perhaps he was just checking on his mysterious buddy, Eric.

“I’ll have my people retrieve your personal items and your vehicle from the hotel, Morgan,” Keenan said after we’d been onthe road for a few minutes. “And they can collect your bike too, shadow. If you want.”

I didn’t want anyone to touch our things. But before I could answer, Morgan nodded. “Awesome. Thank you. I’m not sure I should go back to that hotel any time soon.”

I put my hand on his leg. Some little way to remind him he wasn’t alone in this anymore. He had not only me but my team and probably most of Willow Lake at his side now too. “My people can get it, you know. You don’t have to go back there.”

Morgan shrugged. “I guess, but as long as the SUV is returned to the rental company and our bags are collected, does it matter who does it?”

I frowned at the vampire. “Why should we trust you, vamp? That mage and wolf were your people.”

Keenan’s gaze caught on mine through the rearview mirror. We stared at one another for a long moment. I’d seen a lot of supes in my day, but I still found ancient vampires creepy as fuck. There was something about how still they could become that didn’t seem natural or normal. Then again, I supposed they wereundead.

Eventually Keenan said, “And now they are dead.”

Morgan swallowed and his face paled. His hand covered mine, where it was still resting on his leg, and he squeezed. Hard.

“Um, Keenan?” Morgan asked softly. “Can you maybe not kill anyone else?”

Keenan twisted in his seat so he could see Morgan. Then he dipped his head slightly at whatever he found on my mate’s face but didn’t make any promises. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I could make the promise not to kill anyone either. If Morgan was threatened, I would do anything to protect him.

The vampire’s smile, as he gazed at my mate, revealed the sharp points of his fangs. That was intentional. A vampire’s fangs only dropped if they wanted them to.

“Please, don’t feel too badly for them. They understood the consequences of betraying me when they joined my coven.”

Morgan shivered and leaned closer to me. Eric, who was sitting on the other side of the limo from us, shrank a little at the sight of those long pointy teeth. The guy looked like he wanted to fade into the leather seats. I understood the feeling well. I usually wanted to sink into the shadows too.

I didn’t feel that way now. I wouldn’t—couldn’t?—leave Morgan alone with these people, even if they seemed like they could be allies.