Grace of a Wolf (by Lenaleia) novel Chapter 84

Chapter 84: Lyre: Irritating Company

LYRE

I drum my fingers against the steering wheel, counting each breath the oversized wolf takes from the passenger seat.

Inhale. Exhale. Each one sounds like someone slowly deflating a balloon made of sandpaper. If I weren’t tracking the faint magical signature pulsing at the edge of my awareness, I might conjure a plastic bag just to get some peace.

“So where exactly are we headed?” Jack-Eye asks, his voice carrying the forced politeness people use when they think you’re being unreasonable.

The pulsing grows stronger, moving toward the eastern edge of the city. They’re still on the move.

“I told you,” I snap, taking a hard left as my tires squeal, “I don’t know yet.”

“Not to be difficult, but that’s hard to believe.” He braces one hand against the dashboard. “You’re obviously driving somewhere.”

I narrow my eyes at the road ahead, the thread of magic pulling me forward. Tracking magic is a constant annoyance, like a fish hook caught under my ribs. “If you don’t shut your face in the next five seconds, I’m pulling over and kicking you to the curb.”

The threat buys me approximately twenty seconds of blessed silence before he opens his mouth again.

“You’re a strange woman, you know that?”

My lips curl into something too sharp to be called a smile. “Is the big, handsome wolf upset because he found a woman who doesn’t fall for his charms at first sight?” I take another turn without signaling, just to watch him grab for the handle above the window.

His mouth quirks into an insufferable grin; I can see it out of the corner of my eye. “At least I know you think I’m handsome.”

Blech.

Not only is he way too young for me, his conceit is nauseating. Playboys have never been my thing.

“Your ego is showing. Might want to tuck it back in before someone steps on it.”

Jack-Eye chuckles. “That’s the best comeback you’ve got?”

“I save my good material for people who matter,” I mutter, ignoring how his eyebrows shoot up. “Right now I’m busy trying to find your king’s missing girlfriend before someone drains her for parts. Or something.”

Though, if my suspicions are right…

The pulsing changes direction slightly, and I make a sharp right turn.

“Do you always drive like you’re stealing the car?” he asks, his knuckles white where he grips the seat. Good to know even a wolf fears car accidents.

I don’t. But he should.

“Only when I’m stuck with backseat drivers.” I tap the brakes just to make him lurch forward. “If my driving bothers you so much, you’re welcome to get out and follow Caine’s car.”

“And miss this stimulating conversation? Never.”

The fishhook tug feels like it’s trying to yank an entire rib out. We’re close.

I slow down, eyes scanning the street ahead. The strip mall on our left houses a pizza joint with gaudy neon signs, a laundromat, and what appears to be a vape shop with blacked-out windows.

Tempting. It isn’t like I’ll ever have to worry about cancer, and the flavored ones are quite delicious. Birthday cake in a puff? Yes, please.

“Hold on,” I murmur, pulling into a parking spot.

Jack-Eye leans forward. “Are we here?”

I squint through my windshield, rolling the window down just a little, enough to let the air in. The taste of mixed energies washes over me—human mostly, stale and ordinary. But there, moving among them, a bright silver thread of something else. Something other.

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