Have you ever felt that you had to be sleeping or in the middle of a nightmare, only to realize that, no, you were wide awake? That was my life right now.
I am in no way saying that having two gorgeous men declaring their unwavering dedication to me was in any way a nightmare; it was just not where I thought my day was going. I had a crappy sleep, got shot twice in the head, accepted two humans and a Skinwalker into my House, and was confessed to by two men so beautiful that they didn't look human.
Well, I guess that they aren't human… but you know what I mean. When you go from a shitty day to something good happening, you always wonder when the other shoe will drop.
Dementyev had left me alone a little while ago after a bit of reassurance that, yes, this happened really fast, but when half of your soul is an animal, time takes on a completely different meaning. However, I think he also realized that I didn't have that animal soul to know if this was real or not.
I closed my book. I knew that I was not going to be able to finish it with my head spinning like it was. Which was a pity since I was in a good part before all the interruptions.
I needed to center and regroup. Mother had left a bit of a mess, even in death, and I needed to clean up. There were demons on Earth thanks to wannabe Gypsies. And I can't forget vampires running away with the circus.
Some days, I really missed it when the most stressful thing in my life was Mother's cult finding me and killing me a few times.
Give me a nice serial killer any day of the week. I could handle that shit with an arm tied behind my back. Emotions? Yeah, that wasn't exactly my strong suit.
But there is no point in crying over spilled milk—time to put on my big girl panties and make some decisions.
I looked out the window at the backyard. The lawns were covered in snow. The only way to differentiate it from the actual path was that the paths were shoveled.
We were still in the first few months of winter, which meant that there was still a lot more snow to come.
Maybe I should take advantage of this lull (and the fact that I didn't want to plan a ball) and do some traveling. California was supposed to be warm this time of year. And if I happen to run into a few vamps? Well, that would be a complete coincidence. If I ended up killing some? Oopsy daisy. I understood that Viktor and Lucas didn't believe that Vlad had something to do with the wolf's deaths. But I didn't have that same conviction.
Maybe I never should have left the police force. I was too used to wanting to solve crimes and catch murderers. I didn't really know what else to do with my time.
After determining the first step, I pulled up the flight schedule. No time like the present to get started on knocking things off the list.
I was about to hit purchase when I realized that I had two mates that I probably should take into consideration. I couldn't feel the bond as they could, so I had no idea how they would feel if I had just up and left. However, I knew enough to know that if my boyfriend disappeared right after I confessed to him, I would be more than a little upset.
With another sigh, I put down my phone and grumbled about how complicated my life had become. This never would have happened if I had just turned around outside of Knights Security and never went in.
But there is no medicine for regret. And I can't say that I actually regret it. Yes, my life is a lot more complicated than it was before. However, I am finally feeling like I am on the right path, no longer drifting with the wind.
And that had to count for something.
I left my cave and went to go track down the two shifters, hoping they were somewhere still in the mansion. Me being me, I completely forgot to ask Dementyev for his number. Mathew's, I think I still had. And if not, I could get it from Mike. However, Dem was a completely different story.
I wandered through the halls until I found everyone in the kitchen. They were sitting around the table with a cup of coffee in their hands, and Levi was cooking something on the stove. I blinked a few times at this very domestic scene.
I haven't lived with anyone since Mother, and no one had ever cooked for me since I was old enough to manage the fire myself. Well… that was assuming that he was actually cooking for me.
"Hey," I said lamely, knowing that the shifters would have been able to hear me for miles away, but the humans couldn't. "Whatcha cooking?"
Levi turned to look at me, and I couldn't surpass the smile on my face when I saw him in a white, frilly apron. It was really a good look on the man. "I am making some dinner for us all. I hope you don't mind," he said before turning back to the stove.
I don't think I would ever mind someone cooking for me. And from what I smelled, it was going to be good. Whatever it was.
"Not at all; make yourselves at home," I assured him. After all, I had offered to let them stay here. "Now, I am going on a little trip, and I wanted to know if anyone wanted to come with me?"
The five men looked around at each other, exchanging a looked that required a cock and balls to be able to translate, and then turned their attention back to me. "Where are you thinking?" asked Mathew.
"I could do someplace warm. I just got back from a mission, and my General owes me some time off," said Levi, throwing a look over his shoulder at Greyson.
"Same here," agreed Dem as he, too, looked at Greyson.
The man just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know if I can give you the leave. After all, I might be looking to take some, too," he said with a careless smirk.
Wait… what?
"You all want to come?"