“Yup.” I stepped in close to him so he’d drape his arm around me.
He steered us toward the hall leading to the front door but paused at the edge of the kitchen. He turned back to face the mages.
“Don’t burn my house down.”
“Hah!” Nessa pointed a knife at him. “You and I are going to have a cookoff, bub, and I am going to rock your world.”
“What amazing delusions of grandeur you have.” He started forward again.
“You look great, by the way, Jessie,” Nessa called. “Knock ’em dead!”
“Not literally,” Sebastian added.
“She’s fun.” Austin opened the front door for me, waiting for me to go first. “If you didn’t notice it, the garage is just on the side of the house.”
We’d sent back all the rented luxury vans, and Kingsley had said he’d get the team some
transportation in the meantime.
He paused after opening the detached garage, staring at a white Ford Taurus that had to be ten years old or more. It had a dirty windshield, iodized paint in some places, and a small dent in the driver’s door.
His look my way was bewildered before he led me to the passenger side and pulled open the door. Before stepping away, though, he bent in to inspect the seats.
“Doesn’t look like you’ll stick to anything,” he murmured, before heading to the other side and peering in there as well. He grabbed a set of keys off the hook near the back before climbing in.
“You guys just keep your keys in the garage where anyone could steal your car?” I asked as he gingerly threaded the key into the ignition and turned it.
With a cough, the car roared to life, much louder than it had any right to be. The radio blasted Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” from a cassette tape deck.
Austin tilted his head to the side as a smile crossed his face. He rested his hands on the steering wheel for a moment, looking through the windshield at nothing.
“Not when I had my Bugatti,” Austin finally said, putting the car into gear. “I abandoned it years ago on the road when I decided to cut across the mountain. I asked him to get me something to drive around while I was here. He clearly thinks this is funny. And given his scent is all over that garage, no shifter in their right mind would touch it.”
He drove in silence for a moment as the tape played.
“I should’ve backed down earlier,” he finally said. “The last thing I want is to cause trouble in this territory. I’ve done enough of that for a lifetime. I want to reconcile with my family. I want to be on good terms with them again.”
“I know,” I said, patting his thigh. He grabbed my hand and held it. “But you also have to remember that if we don’t hold up our end of the bargain and do all we can to help secure this territory, then you won’t have a family. None of us are going to survive. Mimi made a good point. I mean, if something as logical as clearing out Momar’s spies affronts him, we’re butting up against some real problems.”
Austin sighed and shook his head. “I’m not sure what I thought this homecoming was going to be like, but it hasn’t started out great.”
“It’s going to be fine. Let’s stay happy and fun and easy at this dinner and not talk about work. It’ll be good.”
He squeezed my hand. “I should warn you, Mimi and Earnessa don’t really get along.”
“I’d already gotten that impression.”
“And my mom likes to tell my brother how to do his job. It creates tension, especially when too much wine has been poured.”
“I’m happy to stay out of it.”
“And Kingsley likes to enjoy a cigar and a brandy in his study.” Austin paused for a brief moment.
“Men only. You’ll be left on your own for a bit.”
“I told you before, Austin, I’m well versed in handling all sorts of family drama, including the kind that’s directed at me. I’m a pro at being neutral. It’ll be great.”
He squeezed my hand again before pulling it away to turn onto a long driveway leading up an incline and to a large house. The entranceway had a wood trellis over it, flanked by windows with white shutters. A few cars were parked around the side, all of them fancy and newish, including a sporty BMW, a Lexus SUV, and a Mercedes sedan. It was like arriving at my ex-mother-in-law’s house.
Another wave of butterflies invaded my stomach. At least Mimi was here. I had to keep reminding myself that I had her. And Kingsley, if he didn’t run away to the men-only part of the house. The two of us had always gotten along.