She took another careful sip of water. “I’m not stupid.”
“Just the rest of it then.” He nodded as he took a step toward her. “Blair, it’s not always where you end up, is it, that’s the most important thing? It’s the journey itself, and what you find, what you do along the way. Now I’ve found you, and that’s an important thing.”
“Where we’re going matters.”
“It does. But so does where we are. I have feelings for you, feelings I’ve never had for anyone. They don’t always fit comfortably inside me, but I have a way of shifting things around until I find the fit.”
“You maybe. I’m not good at this.”
“As I am, you’ll just have to follow my lead.”
“How did you manage to turn this around on me?”
He only smiled, then kissed her cheek, her brow, her other cheek. “I just managed to get you faced toward me. That’s the right direction.”
She had to keep her mind focused on the job, the work. If she didn’t, Blair found it tended to wander in that direction Larkin had spoken of. Then she’d catch herself daydreaming, smiling for no reason, or remembering what it was like to wake up beside a man who looked at her in a way that made her feel so much like a woman.
There was too much to do to take time indulging in fantasies.
“You have to be practical, Glenna. We all do. Now.” Blair tapped Glenna’s storage chest with her foot. “What’s essential in here?”
“All of it.”
“Glenna.”
“Blair.” Glenna fol
ded her arms. “Are we or are we not going into battle against über evil?”
“Yes, we are. Which means we go in lean, stripped down, mobile.”
“No, which means we go in loaded. These are my weapons.” Glenna swept out a hand, a bit, Blair thought, like one of those game show models showing off fabulous prizes. “Are you leaving your weapons behind?”
“No, but I can also carry mine on my back, which you can’t do with this two-ton chest.”
“It doesn’t weigh two tons. Seventy-five pounds, tops.” Glenna’s lips trembled at Blair’s long, cool stare. “Okay, maybe eighty.”
“The books alone—”
“May make all the difference. Who’s to say? I’ll worry about the transport.”
“This better be a damn big stone circle,” Blair muttered. “You know you’re taking more than the rest of us combined.”
“What can I say? I’m a diva.”
Blair rolled her eyes, stalked to the tower window to stare out into the rain.
There was little time here left, she thought. Nearly moving day. And while she could sense—nearly see—a few of Lilith’s forces in the trees, there’d be no movement toward the house. No attack.
She’d expected something. After what Larkin had pulled off, the sheer balls of it, she’d expected a reprisal. It seemed impossible Lilith would take such an insult, such a loss, without slapping back.
“Maybe she’s too busy gearing up for Geall, too.”
“What?”
“Lilith.” Blair turned back to Glenna. “Nothing out of her for days now. And Larkin’s infiltration had to sting. Jesus, when you think about it, one man—unarmed—not only getting in, but getting prisoners out. It’s a kick in the face.”
Glenna’s eyes glinted. “I wish that was literal as well as figurative.”