Truce and Lies

Chapter 19: a small request

I couldn't sleep. I left Grant with Aidan and paced the halls of the theatre until light started to glitter through the windows and catch the dust as it was disturbed by my footsteps.

I had found Stefa's new phone charging and took it, turning it over in my hands, wondering who I could call, what I could do. I worried that Helen would make her way up to my pack, but my pack would be difficult to find in the wilderness of Montana. They were safe unless more of them decided to follow me on my adventures.

More concerning was my girlfriend's current plans, or rather, lack thereof. She had told me she knew what she was doing, but eavesdropping on her conversation earlier had not led me to believe she was telling the truth.

I opened Stefa's phone. She had calls from everywhere.

"Don't," said a voice behind me.

Stefa managed a faint smile when I turned her way. I offered her phone back to her and she took it.

"I know you," she sighed. "You'd call Helen or Peter and try to sort a deal. Not this time, pretty boy."

"Then don't tell me you have a plan," I admonished. "Tell me that we don't know what we're doing, and that we're on the run with little options and fewer allies. Tell me I should have stayed in Montana. But don't tell me you know what's next."

She groaned. "You're right. I'm sorry. "

"Thank you," I said.

"I have a tentative plan," she told me. "But I need my phone and to make some calls. And I need you to promise me something."

"Last time you sent me after luggage," I reminded her. "And we both know how that ended."

Stefa laughed and pulled me close for a kiss. I wrapped her in my arms, feeling her relax in my embrace.

"We could just stay here," I suggested, resting my cheek against her shoulder. "I don't know anything about theatre, but surely it can't be too hard. We could just stay right here."

"Conor, I want you to go back to Montana," Stefa said.

I blinked once and released her, frowning at her face. She looked unhappy, but her lips were tightened into a resolute line.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I can't focus on my clan and you," she explained. "Lin was right to keep Aidan and Grant from me, and I couldn't see that because I wanted you to be happy. Without you, I can collect my clan and go to war, and we will be fine. With you, I don't want to fight, I just want to hide in the woods, and let the madness pass us by."

"There's nothing wrong with that," I told her. "Wolves hide all the time."

"Darling, I can't," she said. "Please. We can get you a phone; I'll call every day. But I need to do this and know that you are safe, all right?"

She took both of my hands in her cold ones. I did not like what I was agreeing to, but could see the logic in her choice; I was a liability.

"All right," I sighed. "Every day. You'll call every day."

She rested her head against my chest and squeezed me tightly, as if she had already changed her mind.

"Thank you," I heard her whisper.

After a moment, we walked down hand in hand to the main floor. Aidan and Grant were sitting at a table talking quietly; Pat was on the phone.

"Mike and Lin went to pick up a few things," Grant said. "Like fried chicken."