CARLYLE

I was getting restless as fuck waiting around for someone to tell me what to do.

Sure, I got that I didn’t have the tech expertise like Jai or the magic like Dair or Killian, or the brawn like Sol. I couldn’t really do much right now to help investigate or retrieve Toro. Still, I needed to do more than train and sun myself on the beach.

Sitting still in one place had never been my thing, and it made me crazy nervous now.

As I wandered the top floor of the house, past each closed bedroom door toward my own, my mind started unwrapping an idea. It really bothered me that no one seemed to take Killian’s love for his car seriously enough to go get it. I’d gotten used to leaving possessions behind - I never even let myself get attached to things anymore.

But he’d lost so much, and I had a feeling I barely knew the half of it.

Why was it so wrong for him to keep a car he’d had that long? Something that seemed as much a part of his unyielding personality as the flame of his red hair?

Slowly, a plan began to form - I wanted a project that would challenge me and get me back to my strengths at the same time.

I wanted to go get Killian’s goddamn car.

I didn’t want to analyze why I’d picked that as a project - I just wanted to see the look on his face when I brought it back.

Of course, I couldn’t hop a bus up to New York. I had no money, and if I were gone longer than a few hours, all hell would break loose. That part bothered me a little, too. I knew it was because they cared for me, but it was starting to feel kinda claustrophobic.

I did stupid shit when I felt claustrophobic. Shit like walk around at night and help dragons jump off bridges.

Hopefully, if I planned my stupid shit better this time, it wouldn’t be quite so stupid.

I began to pace my room, running through the possibilities. It would have to be magic - I needed Dair to teach me to siphon. That was going to be necessary anyway, the way things were going. As much as I thought Dair’s new silver streak was hot, I didn’t really want him to use that much of his magic again.

Once I could get to the car, I needed to take it somewhere and hide it. Again, I wouldn’t be able to drive it back down here. Maybe a parking garage - somewhere it would be safe until Killian could get up there and retrieve it.

I needed a computer to look up nearby garages and directions. I remembered a few of the city names and streets leading to that massive cabin. Surely, I could map it out.

Oh, and I should probably review how to drive a fucking stick shift - LuAnn’s trailer had been manual transmission, but she’d rarely let me drive it. I snickered to myself, thinking how much it would grind Killian’s gears if I wrecked his transmission trying to rescue his pretty baby.

Actually, it might almost be worth it.

I needed some clothes, too - a disguise. Jai was closest to my size, and I’d perfected moving like a guy during my months on the streets. People still bothered short guys, but not nearly as much as they bothered single girls.

My pulse jumping with the anticipation of carrying out each step of the plan, I headed out of the room to see what I could find just laying around.

Reaching the lower level, I spotted Sol plugging his phone into a charger on the kitchen counter.

“Hey, shortcake. Wanna go for a run on the beach?” His voice had a slight edge to it that I wasn’t sure how to place - like he was in a mood but trying to hide it.

“Eh, not really,” I said, smiling to make my rejection sweeter. He shrugged and offered me a quick grin. I caught the barest hint of relief in his glance, and I thought maybe I’d called it right. Not that I wanted to run anyway, but Sol seemed like he needed a little time to himself.

“I’m out, then. I’ll come find you later,” he called, heading out the back door, already in a half-run.

I grinned, eying the phone on the counter. It was like the gods of chaos were smacking me on the ass to say, “get it.”

I threw a glance into the hall, then quickly swiped open his phone, tapping in the password I’d caught over his shoulder a few times.

His phone was pretty clean anyway, but I opened an incognito browser window and started to search for the New York area we’d stayed in. The whole process only took about ten minutes, and I had the name of a long-term parking garage within an hour’s drive and a rough map scribbled on a napkin.

Now for the stick shift shit.

I looked up a few diagrams to refresh my memory, then headed to the videos. I giggled through one of some chick driving her boyfriend’s car and squealing her way through the gears while he filmed her and cursed about how she was ruining it. I rolled my eyes, but it reminded me of everything I shouldn’t do. Next, I watched a short video of someone shifting smoothly through each gear.

This led to me remembering how Killian’s arm had flexed and moved so skillfully through those motions. So damn sexy.

Yeah, I definitely wanted a chance to see him drive that car again. Preferably in my own seat and not fleeing a dragon.

Clearing the browser history and closing the apps, I turned off Sol’s phone and set it on the counter at the same angle he’d left it.

I didn’t really think he’d deny me using it, but I didn’t want a single suspicion from the guys. They would stop me in a heartbeat, and I was already riding a high I didn’t want to let go of. I already felt more like my resourceful self than I had in months.

Casing the rest of the house, I snagged a pair of aviator sunglasses and an abandoned ball cap. In the laundry room, I found a pair of jeans and a hoodie from Jai’s basket. They hadn’t been washed yet, and I pressed them to my face with a low moan. He smelled so damn good - a bite of metal and cold ocean, swirled with warm red wine.

As I bundled the clothes inside a towel I’d grabbed from another basket, I wondered if other vampires smelled like Jai, or if other lion shifters had Sol’s lazy summer day scent. Human emotions tended to run in patterns - everyone’s depression was a little different, but always had the same underlying rotten, graveyard mud stench.

I bolted up to my room, somehow avoiding anyone else. I stashed the disguise and the map I’d drawn in the back of my closet, pressing an extra pillow over the pile. I grinned at all I’d accomplished in such a short time - it felt really fucking good to be sneaky and industrious again.

I took stock: I could find the car and drive the car. I could stash the car.

I just had to figure out how to get to the car.

My stomach flipped, thinking of how I would convince Dair to teach me to siphon. I knew he wouldn’t like it, so I’d have to be even more sneaky.

Ah, yeah. This was gonna be fun.