Moon Glamour Aimee Easterling (reading women TXT) 📖

AND SOMETHING CLICKED inside me. A pack bond? Not likely. But Lupe had helped me. Tank had helped me. Even Butch and Ryder, each in their own way, had helped me.

Now I had the opportunity to return the favor. I had an in with a Sleeper. Perhaps, rather than severing this connection, I should maintain it for the greater good.

“Just think what his life would be like if his outsides were as pretty as his insides,” Marina continued.

I shook my head. I might be willing to nurture Marina’s interest so I could keep tabs on her, but I wasn’t throwing anyone I cared about under the bus. Instead, I offered up myself as sacrifice, broaching the problem I hadn’t thought Marina could fix...until I saw flower petals flutter through the air.

“What I need is for the local alpha to stop hassling me.”

“The local alpha.” Her lips curled up. “What a coincidence.”

That didn’t sound good. I wavered, pushing back my chair with a screech against the concrete...and Marina reeled me right back in.

“It would be a simple matter to increase your wolf’s dominance,” she murmured. “If you were as powerful as the alpha hounding you, he’d have no alternative other than to let you be.”

I used the table to draw myself closer. This was supposed to be a ploy...yet I was interested. “You can do that?”

“The fae can. They would offer a boon if you do us a small favor.”

Favor. The word was so minor. Innocuous really.

“My sister has no part in this,” I reminded her. “And I’m not double-crossing my team.”

“Are they a team?” The perfect eyebrow raised again. “Never mind. No, I won’t ask you to double-cross your team. And your sister will not be impacted by my actions.”

“What then?” Nervous energy had me picking up a crumb of muffin. I only realized when it touched my lips that I’d gone into robot mode and almost eaten a bite of the forbidden fruit.

Dropping my hands to my lap, I tried to tell myself it was a chill breeze that raised goosebumps up and down my forearms. That or the fact that I seemed to be playing right into Marina’s hands.

She hummed, then shrugged. “I need another item. From a rich guy you don’t like very much.”

That sounded too easy. The sticking point being.... “Who?”

“Rowan McCallister.”

I shivered. Had she known what I intended to ask before I asked it?

That said, I had no compunction against stealing from Rowan. “What do you want me to take?”

“First, we’ll see if you can infiltrate.” Marina rose, the flower petals on the table swirling around her in a way that didn’t match normal air-flow patterns. Could a Sleeper really be capable of this?

I sat, ceding the high ground as Marina continued. “Find a way into Rowan’s pack and I’ll be in touch once you’re situated. Then, if you’re successful, you’ll earn a boon from the fae.”

Chapter 23

The water felt twice as cold when I slipped back into it a second time. Meanwhile, my mind whirled with questions.

Would I be helping my team or hindering them if I followed Marina’s orders? Was Marina really just a Sleeper? Or did those flower petals point at something deeper and darker—a bona fide member of the fae?

Big-picture, those issues were important. Still, my primary concern was for Harper.

“Your sister will not be impacted by my actions,” Marina had told me. But her words were open to interpretation.

And Harper would trust her teacher implicitly. Marina could have gotten here by car much faster than my best swimming strokes carried me....

So I was annoyed rather than glad when the figure waiting for me at Lupe’s dock materialized into Tank. He held out a huge, fluffy towel as I splashed ashore. “You need a shower.”

Why did everyone think I stunk today?

“Your lips,” he continued, “are blue.”

Oh. Tank was responding to the chill that seemed to have sunk into my bones. I pulled the towel around me, basking in its warmth. “Thanks. But I’ve got to check on Harper....”

I turned away, but Tank was faster. “Is there a problem?” He was in front of me again, but not looking at me. Instead, he tapped at his cell phone for a few seconds before adding: “Kira says they’re together. Harper and Clara are both fine.”

“You’re sure?” Air finally filled my lungs. The lightness in my head receded.

Tank cocked his head. “Positive. Is there a problem?”

“Maybe. Where are they? I need to talk to her.”

“Hold on.” Tank’s hands came down on my shoulders when I started to step around him a second time. “I’ll ask Kira to keep her eyes open. But you need a hot shower. And to eat. Training starts back up in forty-five minutes.”

There was a grocery bag on the ground, I noted. One that smelled enticingly savory, like garlic and cheese and something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Tank hadn’t only brought me a towel. He’d collected a lunch for me also. That additional scent might have been joy.

Perhaps that’s why I pushed back the decision about Marina’s job to be made later. Chose to trust Kira with my sister’s safety, even though I’d never outsourced the critical task previously. Still, I had questions. “Do you think Kira could hold off a Sleeper? Salt worked for me last time....”

Tank’s eyebrows rose. “Is there something you want to tell me?” But he was already thumb typing. Glancing at the screen, I saw that he was passing on my instructions, along with a note not to scare the younger girls.

“Yeah,” I decided. My chest was tight, but I nodded. “There is something I want to tell you.”

Because, if I was taking this job, not for my own sake but for the sake of the Samhain Shifters, then someone else on the team ought to know about it. And I was ready, finally, to spill my guts.

Only, Tank apparently wasn’t ready. “Good. I’ll warm up your lunch while you shower.” He pushed me before him, away from