CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

 

 

~

 

Jai left his car on the drive and eyed Bree’s cottage as he walked to her front door. He lifted his hand and stopped short of knocking the moment that he heard laughter coming from the back of the house.

Even better – he knew he could cross the threshold, but he didn’t want to have to press that point with her.

After all – she had brought him his mate.

Jai rounded the corner and found Bree and Maxi sitting out on the back patio in the sunshine. Bree shot a look at him and already looked as guilty as sin. “You stole one of my Lamborghinis, and I want it back…”

Bree angled her chin down and stared at him over the frame of her sunglasses. “Stole?”

“Feel better if I said borrowed?”

“Had to get home somehow, and I didn’t think you’d want to be disturbed.” Bree grinned, and Maxi pressed her lips together as she grinned behind her hand.

It was the talk of the pack and had been for the last couple of days. Of course, so was the fact that Thorn had found his mate, and as of yet, the two elders were still walking around each other like they were gearing up to wrestle. But, on the bright side – the sarcastic barbs were like watching a verbal tennis match.

“Keys…” Jai held out his hand.

“Now, where did I leave them?” Bree looked innocently around her. “Nope, can’t seem to place them.”

“How’s the new mate thing going?” Maxi asked, and Jai tossed her a suspicious look.

“Oh, I’m not going to be deflected from taking back my property,” he assured her.

“And tell me,” Bree said. “How are you going to drive two cars home with one physical presence?”

Jai opened his mouth, frowned, and closed it again.

Maxi giggled. “How like a man to not think things through,” she offered with an innocent shrug.

“Indeed,” Bree agreed, as she lifted her glass and clinked it against Maxi’s.

“I’ll…” Jai thought long and hard. “Be back.”

“Okay, Terminator, you do that,” Bree said as she giggled, pushed her glasses back up her nose, and settled into her chair once more as he stalked away cursing under his breath.

“Don’t you drive my car,” he called back over his shoulder.

“I have my own car, thank you very much,” Bree called after him.

Then she waited for him to climb in his Aston Martin and drive away before she let out the breath that she’d been holding.

“Bree,” Maxi turned to look at her friend with curious eyes.

“Hmm?” Bree tried for innocent again, but she still winced.

“Where is his car?” Maxi asked. She hadn’t noticed it when she’d pulled up, and thankfully, neither had the vampire noticed its absence.

“Umm.” Bree pursed her lips and screwed up her face. “I think I took the corner a little too fast, and funny thing.” She shot Maxi a look, and the witch had a big old grimace on her face. “The back end did this thing where it tried to kiss the front bumper and …” She left it there on a helpless shrug.

“Splat?”

“Big time,” Bree offered back.

“And where is it – exactly?”

“Dead man’s bend, in a ditch, but someone’s coming out to recover it,” Bree said.

“Oh, you are so in trouble,” Maxi chuckled.

“I know.” Bree winced again. “I’m trying to figure out a way to make it up to him, even though I technically did bring him his mate. Which you’d think would buy me some brownie points – right?”

“Umm, not so much. It’s a Lamborghini, not a junker,” Maxi reminded her as she shook her head in disbelief.

“Yeah, me either. But who knew those cars were so fast?” Bree sighed again.

Maxi shot her a look of total disbelief. “You’re kidding – right?”

Bree shrugged. The only thing she knew about fancy cars were they looked pretty. “I certainly wouldn’t buy one of those if they can’t even take a corner…”

“Bree!”

“What?” Bree shook her head. “That was not my fault.”

“That was so your fault. Stop driving like you have a death wish,” Maxi bit out.

“Let’s think up a spell that…”

“Nooooo!” Maxi shook her head faster.

“Just a little…”

“Noooooo!”

“But…”

“Nooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Bree sighed. She guessed that she was going to have to face up to another stupid mistake without her magic. She wasn’t sure she liked this being good thing, but she was trying hard to stick to it.

All she needed was for her friends to keep reminding her, and for stupid witch, mates to stop showing up!

Oh, and she really needed to find that sniffy wolf and break the rainbow spell that she’d put on his beast’s fur. But, most importantly – no more witch mates!

 

~

 

Bree was out of luck. Somewhere, not too far away, another witch was feeling the urge to visit the mountains for a long weekend break away from the hum-drum life of the city and her mishaps that were rather annoyingly catching up to her.

 

The End – ish.