Chapter 44: 44: Decisions in the Dark

BELLE

Once we were in the car—Liam in the driver’s seat and Grayson and I in the back—Liam paused, his hands on the wheel but not actually moving.

Grayson’s chest was vibrating with nonstop growls. He was on edge—close to shifting. His eyes were dark, and he was bigger than he had been only moments ago.

I went to sit in my own seat when we got in the car, but, of course, he immediately grabbed me and pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms securely around my waist.

He rubbed his nose against my mark, inhaling deeply.

I was slightly embarrassed by how touchy Grayson was being—especially when I caught Liam glancing at us through the rearview mirror. I shifted.

“Wouldn’t it be safer for me to sit in my own seat, with a seat belt on?” I whispered to Grayson.

When I tried to move, Grayson let out a growl so loud the walls of the car shook. Both Liam and I winced.

“Stop trying to move away from me,” Grayson said deeply through gritted teeth, his arms squeezing me.

All I could do was nod my head in agreement.

He adjusted me on his lap so that my back was firmly pressed up against his chest again. His eyes snapped up to look at Liam. “What the fuck are you waiting for?”

Liam looked back at us, his expression stiff. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to take you to the airport.”

“Fuck,” Grayson groaned. He opened the car door next to him. “We’re getting a cab.”

“Wait,” Liam said. When Grayson started to slide out of the car, taking me with him, Liam quickly grabbed my wrist. “Just hold on a minute, would ya?”

Grayson’s eyes narrowed on Liam’s grip on my wrist, then snapped back up to meet his gaze. His whole body began to shake.

Before he did something stupid, I quickly put my other hand on his chest, trying to calm him.

I looked at Liam. “Liam, let go.”

He shook his head. “Hear me out first. I’m just thinking of your safety, Belle.”

“Okay, but the werewolf behind me is literally about to murder you if you don’t let go of my arm in the next five seconds.”

Right on cue, Grayson’s breathing picked up, and dark hairs started to sprout from his arms. Seeing this, Liam quickly released my arm. I sighed in relief.

“Come to my father’s house,” Liam continued before Grayson could make another move. “It’s safe there.

“I know you think it would be better to take her to the airport because it’s public or whatever, but so was the diner.

“We have the memories of over twenty humans we need to wipe because they saw what Azazel did to Belle’s coworkers. A public place isn’t going to stop him from hurting her if that’s what he wants.”

“No, but ~I~ would,” Grayson growled.

Once again, he forcefully started to tug me out of the car, but I grabbed the headrest of the seat next to us to stop him.

“Do I get a say in any of this?” I asked the two of them. “Or are you two going to make all the decisions for me like if I’m not even here? I mean, seriously, is it not ~my~ life on the line?”

Grayson’s forehead dropped down onto my shoulder as he tried to keep himself calm, his shoulders rising and falling quickly with each of his ragged breaths.

His grip on my waist was so tight, his fingers splayed out over my rib cage, that it was almost on the verge of pain. “I do not want to hear those words come out of your mouth ever again. No one is going to hurt you.”

“I agree with Liam,” I declared. “I think we should go with him.” I looked at Liam. “We could just go to your apartment, right?”

Liam hesitated. “Actually, we can’t. Apparently, you had my address written down in your personal information at the diner. Azazel was seen breaking into my apartment earlier today.”

Even more guilt filled my stomach. “He was at your ~apartment?”~

He nodded. “I haven’t been back there yet, so I don’t know exactly what happened, but my doorman called me earlier.”

“Liam, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I pulled you into all of this—”

“It’s okay, Belle,” he interrupted. “I don’t care about my fucking apartment. I care about keeping you safe.

“And the longer we stay in this damn parking lot, just waiting for someone to see us, the longer we’re putting you at risk.”

“Then I think we should go to your dad’s house.”

Grayson snarled behind me.

My attention swung to him. “It’s the best thing to do right now, okay? How long does a flight from Croatia to Maine even take? Twelve, thirteen hours?

“We can’t just sit in an airport, waiting for Azazel to find us. We would put all of those people in danger just by being there.”

“My father’s house is safe—really safe. Azazel wouldn’t be able to get in. No one would touch her,” Liam said to Grayson.

“We’ll only stay there until the plane gets here. Then we’ll leave,” I added.

Grayson’s dark eyes studied me for several long seconds. “You trust him?”

My gaze slid to Liam and then back to my mate. I nodded once. “Yes. I trust him.”

In fact, Liam was probably the person I trusted most in the world after everything that had happened between Grayson and me.

Grayson wetted his bottom lip, still incredibly tense. “Fine.” He settled back into the chair, adjusting me in his lap.

He looked up at Liam, who just continued to stare at us in anticipation. “Well, vampire, are you going to drive or not?”