Free Sundown & Serena by Tara Fox Hall

that! She has
enough!
    “Sun?”
    Bitch! I was tired
of her taking everything that was mine. Sick and
tired.
    “Sun, why did you call?”
    “It was nothing,” I whispered. “I just wanted
to...” Shit, think of something.
Anything.
    “Wanted to what?”
    I had to say something. The truth would do,
though I’d be damned if I’d admit to Terian what Devlin had done to
me. “I just wanted to make sure that Sar was okay,” I said lamely.
“I had this dream—”
    “What dream?” Terian said, alert.
    I remembered he was a big believer in the
power of dreams for some reason. “Nothing. She was in danger, and
there was a blond man hurting her with gold eyes. It was bad. I
woke up screaming. So I tried her at her house, but no one
answered.”
    “Don’t worry,” Terian assured. “Sar lives
here now. Elle does, too. Devlin hasn’t come around here for a good
while, since the big fight with me that night. He and Danial talk,
but Danial’s forbidden him from coming to even see Sar, though
after the baby’s born, Danial said that might change.”
    I felt a wave of sickness, and fought it
down.
    “But he’s done nothing in close to a year,
Sun. I don’t trust Devlin either, but he’s been nothing but polite
when I’ve seen him. He knows Danial’s more powerful, and so he
stays in line.”
    I remembered Devlin’s treatment of me, and
what Lash had said. Devlin’s only biding his
time. He hasn’t forgotten Sar at all . But I was angry and
hurt. I did my part. It’s not my job to save
Sar. “That makes me feel a lot better,” I agreed. “I’m glad
to know I was wrong.”
    “Is there anything else you wanted?” Terian
persisted.
    “Like what?” I retorted sharply. “What else
would I want? You seem to be getting along just fine.”
    “I thought you might miss me,” Terian shot
back angrily. “But forget it. You clearly don’t.” He hung up.
    I replaced the pay phone in its cradle, and
walked back to my car. Screw work, I couldn’t pretend to feel or
act sexy, not after that. I needed a drink, and to not be alone. So
I drove to the nearest bar and had a few shots, trying to convince
myself that I’d done the right thing.
    There’s no way to make him see Sar is
still in danger without admitting what had happened to me. And I’m
never going to admit that to anyone, ever.
    It was midnight when I got up to leave, but
before I turned around, I heard a familiar voice ask for some
scotch. I turned to see Lash sitting down at the end of the
bar.
    I looked in fear to see if Devlin was with
him, but there was no one else in the bar at all. Unnerved, I drank
down my shot, and headed for the door. Devlin
might be just outside. I didn’t want a repeat performance.
I’d finally stopped having those wet dreams that drug he’d dosed me
with had inspired, those dreams that made me long to be under his
hands again, sickening me with my own twisted desires.
    Lash saw me as I tried to slip by him to the
exit. He nodded to me, then looked away.
    Well, if he was going to acknowledge me, I’d
just ask him. “Is he here?” I whispered. “Is it safe to go out this
door?”
    “No, and yes, respectively,” Lash answered,
sipping his scotch. “I’m meeting someone here in a few minutes for
business. I wanted a drink first, so I came early.”
    I sat beside him on a stool. “Thank you, for
what you did,” I whispered, my eyes cast down.
    “You’re welcome,” he said, then sipped his
drink, draining the glass.
    “Give him another one on me,” I said, handing
the bartender some money. “I owe him one.”
    “Thanks, but you don’t,” Lash commented with
a faint grin. “Now get out of here, Sun. You don’t want to be here
when the shooting starts, and it’s going to start in about five
minutes. I’m not meeting a client, I’m meeting a mark, though it’s
going to be a surprise to him, I’m sure.”
    I went to leave, then turned to him with
determination. “If I need to find you sometime, where do