CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
With bacon hanging out of my mouth, I peered at the entrance. Godric and Poppy walked into the kitchen, hand in hand, completely relaxed, nothing indicating on their expressions that merely thirty minutes ago, I had knocked Poppy to the ground.
Mentally, I sighed in relief.
I still wanted to apologize, though.
She came to sit down next to me while Godric strolled across the kitchen to refill his coffee. She glanced at the white tiger sitting next to me, and stated, “You’ve got a strong mate.”
Finn nodded. “Thank you.”
Finally, she turned her attention toward me.
I quickly finished chewing my bacon.
“I’ll keep training you. Don’t worry.”
Instant happiness made me smile. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
She lifted a finger into the air. “And you have strength. We can work with that, build on it.”
“When do you want to try again?” I asked cautiously.
“We can start as soon as you’re done with your breakfast.”
“Really?”
Poppy nodded. “I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at myself.”
I nodded. “I understand that. If my students in class start failing one section—all of them failing—then I’m the same way. I know I’m doing something wrong.”
“Exactly. I’ll alter our training now.”
I lifted another piece of bacon to my mouth. “So what’s next for us?”
“I want to teach you how to fall. We may be immortal, but a broken bone still hurts—from what Godric has told me.”
“This will be fun,” I drawled, grinning. “Is this payback?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. “Maybe a little.”
“Just don’t hurt her,” Finn complained. “Okay?”
“I’ll do my best,” Poppy promised.
Godric sat down next to her and placed his arm over the back of her chair. He cast a glance in my direction. “I apologize if I frightened you, Mina.”
“There’s no need to apologize. I can handle a nasty look thrown my way.” I smiled to reassure him. “You were only reacting to your mate being hurt.”
He nodded. “Thank you for understanding.”
Since he had apologized, perhaps I should too…
I turned my attention to the woman I had hurt. “Poppy, I’m sorry I—”
She held up a quick hand, stopping me. “Don’t.”
I shut my mouth and nodded.
Finn had been right.
My gaze swung in his direction.
He simply lifted a white eyebrow while he sipped on his third cup of coffee—not commenting on me not listening to him.
I shrugged a shoulder. I couldn’t help it.
I was a nice person and felt bad when I hurt someone.
“I do want to speak with you about something, Finn.” Godric drew circles with his pointer finger on the table. “Now that we have a decent idea who the man was that kidnapped your mate, I might have a plan to pull him out of the shadows.”
My eyebrows shot up my forehead. “You know who he is?”
Poppy supplied, “We talked about it yesterday in our meeting. Wolfe was able to link into the train you were on when it was hijacked. He traced the signal that hacked it in the first place. It all leads to one man.”
“What’s his name?” I asked curiously.
Finn pushed my plate closer to me, wanting me to continue eating. “His name’s Alex Valentine.”
That was a beautiful name for such a nasty man. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but not something so attractive.
Finn glanced across the table. “What’s this plan of yours, God?”
“To use your mate. She’s immortal now.”
The white tiger’s muscles tensed as he rested back against his chair. “Why not use Poppy?”
“Because the golems have targeted her twice. That hasn’t happened to Mina yet. She’s the safest option.”
My tone was wary as I probed, “What are you talking about doing with me?”
Godric explained, “Wolfe has all the intel he needs on Mr. Valentine to put a bug in his system, something that will alert him to your whereabouts.”
“He’s still searching for me?”
“Yes,” Finn answered for his friend. “We can see what he searches for. He continues to search for you.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s not good.”
“No, it’s not.”
My lips pinched, and I kept my eyes on him. “You don’t think he’ll go after my parents to get to me, do you?”
“That doesn’t appear to be the case. If I had noticed anything like that, I would have put them under protection.”
I blew out a breath, my shoulders sagging. “That’s a relief.”
He placed his hand on the back of my neck and began massaging my tense muscles, but his regard reverted back across the table. “What’s the entire plan? I need to know what you’re thinking.”
Godric explained, “We feed Mr. Valentine the information where Mina will be. And she will need to be there when he first arrives, so he doesn’t become suspicious. Then we grab him when he thinks he’s comfortable, so he doesn’t even think about escaping.”
Finn rubbed at his clean-shaven chin. “We’d need contingency plans if things went wrong.”
The golden-eyed man nodded. “We could bring out some of the old artillery. No matter what, we don’t want him to escape and continue hurting innocent women.”
Finn’s eyes widened in barely masked excitement. “I get to pick the weapons if we do this.” Then his eyes met mine. “What do you think of all this? I know you’re having a hard time with the abduction.”
I exhaled heavily. “You’re right. I am. But if there’s a chance we can get that lunatic off the streets of New City, I think we should try it. I can’t die, not really. So what is there to lose?”
Poppy snorted. “If the golems come, there’s a lot to lose.”
“Bombs,” Finn whispered. “I want to rig the place with bombs.”
I blinked. “You have a few issues.”
“I never said I didn’t.” He winked. “You know you want to see an explosion. Something you’ve only ever read about before.”
I stared, excitement unfurling inside my stomach. “You won me over that damn quick.”
“Of course. You’re my mate.” He bent to kiss my lips softly. “And if they are needed, I’ll even let you hit the button to make them go boom.”
“Oh…” I sighed, my eyes alive with wonder.
Godric glanced back and forth between us. “Damn. The magic really picked well with you two.”
I grinned. “I think he’s a good match.”
Poppy slapped her hand down on my shoulder. “If you’re done eating, let’s get to training. The boys here can talk about the logistics of their plan and inform us later.”
“You really want to see me on the ground.”
“I won’t lie. That’s part of it.” She smirked.