APEX

Ch. 18: The Date

Calla

Just when it began to sink in that a terrorist attack had taken out my path back to Apex, my mother called me with another surprising development to add to my day.

"I need you to drop what you're doing and come back to Crown."

I shut myself into Dev's empty office, not sure I'd heard her correctly. "Are you serious? It's over?"

"Am I serious about what being over?"

She sounded perturbed that I hadn't just said "yes ma'am" and hung up the phone. I poured myself a cup of coffee from Dev's sideboard and added in a hazelnut creamer.

"You told me to return to Crown." Annoyance noodled its way into my own voice. "That means I'm done with Apex, correct?"

"Heavens, Calla! What could you be thinking? You've barely done anything of consequence all the time you've been there. No, it's nothing like that. I need you here now so you can go on a date."

Hazelnut flavored coffee spewed from my mouth, peppering the white walls and Dev's framed diploma from the Sury Police Academy. I wiped the bronze frame with my sleeve. "You did not just say you want me to go on a date."

Rhys's broad shoulders and the wide stance he always took to let everyone know he was in control floated into my head. I imagined meeting him at a French restaurant around the corner from Crown. He'd hand me a bouquet of purple and yellow irises, which somehow, he'd have figured out were my favorite, and then we'd follow the maître d' to the best table in the house.

Ugh, why had Rhys been the first person I'd thought of? What was wrong with me?

"I've arranged a potential mate for you."

Bullshit. For years, my mom had dragged her feet on this subject, and now of all times, she'd decided to move forward without even telling me who my potential prospect was. "Mom, I told you I can handle that myself."

"That's not how we do things. You're a modern woman and I'm very proud of your independent spirit, but you must leave some room for tradition, Calla."

I wasn't entirely opposed to being set up but the strange timing made me suspicious. "Who is this guy?"

"You don't know him. He's from one of the lesser packs."

I flinched at the way she'd phrased that. "They're smaller packs, not lesser. There's nothing wrong with them."

"Well then, you shouldn't object to being mated to someone from one of them."

'I'm not, it's just...which pack? Which guy? Details would be nice."

"You'll find that out soon enough," she told me. "When can you be here?"

"Give me an hour."

"An hour? Why so long? It's not like you'd be stupid enough to get stuck on Neutral Isle during a terrorist attack."

Her sarcasm was a direct hit. Damn it. How did she know? Had Jackson told her? "I assume you're referring to the bridge?"

"Yes of course. Which means you'll need to come east through Crown to get back to Apex Headquarters anyways. It will work out perfectly."

Perfectly for her, at least. Sighing, I consented. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing. Whoever my mom set me up with, he had to be better than the current company I'd been forced to keep. Rhys's backside as he'd been fumbling with his computer cord underneath his desk sprang up and I took a mental mallet to it, pounding it back down. But trying not to think about Rhys really was like a game of Whack a Mole. As soon as I hit each thought of him, another would pop up.