Before I could tell him to ignore whoever that was, Dastien pulled away from me a little.
“What?” His voice was more gravelly than usual, and I knew his wolf was even closer to the surface than it had been a minute ago.
“We need to talk.”
Lucas was old. I wasn’t sure how old, but “very” didn’t even come close. If he said we needed to talk, then we probably needed to talk.
“Can it wait? Tessa’s exhausted.”
I rested my forehead against his chest. Thank you. I would’ve just agreed, but not Dastien.
“That’s why it shouldn’t wait.” Claudia’s words were soft but firm. “If we can make it so that nothing else comes tonight—or any other night—we have to try.”
Damn it. My cousin had said the magic words.
It was painful to drop my feet to the ground when I’d been so comfortable and happily wrapped up in my mate, but I did it. The lure of ending this madness was too great to ignore.
“What’s going on? Why did you really come back?” I’d asked Claudia a few times, but she hadn’t said anything.
Buzz. Buzz. Buz-buz-buz. Buzzzzz. I looked at Dastien. He’s calling again?
Want me to get it? Could be important.
“I need your help with something,” Claudia said so softly, I almost didn’t hear her.
I considered it for a second—I had a choice to make. Cousin or brother.
Maybe Axel was in trouble, but he was in Austin. He was a grown-up. He could take care of himself. No. I said through our bond. I’m sure he’s just drunk. Claudia doesn’t ask for much, so I think this is more urgent. But if he calls a third time, get it.
I turned my focus to Claudia. “What’s wrong?” She didn’t ask for help. Ever. Even when Luciana was at her evilest, Claudia tried to handle it herself.
“There has been some trouble with the other covens over the land.”
Great. Just what I wanted to hear right now. I had demons out the yin-yang coming after me. Fey that were itching to start a war. Now vampires were showing up. And she was bringing witches into the mix? Seriously? Why did anyone say the fucking “l” word? Luck should be stricken from the language. It should be—
Tessa. Your cousin is waiting for you to stop your internal tirade.
Right. I cleared my throat. “You’re talking about the compound?”
“Yes. I’m sorry to bring it up, but—”
She needed to stop apologizing for things that weren’t her fault. “Another coven wants it?” As long as they weren’t evil, then I didn’t have an issue with it. At least not right off the bat.
“Yes and no.”
Okay. I was way too tired for this. “What’s the problem? And how does that relate to stopping all the middle-of-the-night fights?”
“It’s all connected. I promise. I just…I thought the land belonged to me, but I was wrong.” She was looking everywhere but at me. Which meant she had bad news.
She better not be talking about those assholes in New York. “Who?”
“You.”
I took a step back from her. “Me? Then that’s easy. I don’t want it. You can have it.” I could go my whole life not stepping on that land again and be happier for it.
Claudia held her hand up. “No. No!” The face of horror at that thought was almost funny. “That’s not what this is about. I don’t want it. I…I’ve come to realize that I don’t want to be in Texas anymore. I like being in Peru.” She looked at Lucas, and he put his arm around her, pulling her to his side. “It feels a little bit like a failure to just give up the land, but there’s too much baggage. I just don’t think I can ever get past what happened there, especially if I had to live there. I need to move on from my past. Both emotionally and physically.”
I was confused. Why was this important at three-thirty in the morning? And how was it supposed to make sure the campus wasn’t att