We Own the Night (The Night Songs Collection Book 3) by Kristen Strassel

I landed on the hood, I had to hold on to the windshield wipers to not be thrown off.
    Cash Logan got out of the car once he guided it into the spot with me still on it, shaking out his hair and pushing up his dark glasses. “Well hello, Mistress.” He laughed, offering me a hand. “Let me get you back on your feet.”
    “You drive like a frigging maniac,” I spat as I took his hand to climb off the car. “And don’t call me that.”
    Still holding my hand, he jerked my body close enough to his that his long hair tangled in mine. “If you want people to start treating you like the leader, you have to accept what you are.”
    His words echoed in my head, slamming against the sides of my skull. How many times had I said those same words to Tristan? Yet I did the same exact thing. I swallowed hard and nodded, looking up at his light eyes. I could understand why Lennon had a thing for him. Something about him truly was magical.
    “I can help you, Callie.”
    “What do you want from me?” Why beat around the bush, right?
    Cash burst out laughing. He ran his free hand through his beard and looked off towards the road. “I’m not sure yet, but when I have a favor to call in, I’ll know who to ask, won’t I?”
    I needed allies, and I was starting to run short on options. “Okay.” I hardly could do more than mouth the word.
    He looked towards the Viper, as Tristan revved the engine long and hard. “Your creator is waiting for you.”
    “I know.”
    “I like him,” Cash said. “This comes easy to him, and that’s why they all hate him, Callie. That’s why I’m helping you. You’re meant for this.”
    I shook my head. “I’m not.”
    “Nobody wants to help you, Callie, because they’re afraid of you. They know you have something they don’t. Focus on their energy. That’s why they’re trying to keep you down.”
    I tried not to lose myself in Cash’s hazel eyes as I met his gaze. “But you’re not.”
    “No.” He didn’t clarify if he meant he wasn’t afraid of me or not. I didn’t want the answer.
    Tristan leaned on the horn of the Viper. I rolled my eyes and fought the urge to give him the finger.
    “I have to go. He’s already pissed at me.”
    Cash let go of me. It was harder than I thought to walk away from him. It didn’t take long to fall under his spell.
    “Don’t let them hold you down, Callie.”

T ristan peeled out of the parking lot like he was qualifying for NASCAR. Hopefully, even in an exotic sports car, we still moved faster than human eyes-- most notably, police officer’s eyes-- could see. “Are you going to fuck the magician, too?” Tristan growled, not even bothering to look at me.
    Was he kidding? “What’s wrong with you tonight? No. He wants to help us.” I held on to the door handle as we passed Industrial Boulevard in a blur.
    “I bet.” I swear he pushed the accelerator even harder.
    “Do you have some pissing contest with him, too? Because if you do, you better tell me now. And get over it. I don’t have any other options. You created this mess. I’m going to get us out of it.”
    “Oh, save me, Mistress,” Tristan laughed. “Maybe you shouldn’t have been fucking around with Noah.”
    I wanted to squeeze his neck so hard his eyes popped out of his pretty face. “If you hadn’t been fucking around with Talis, no one would be in this mess. I’d be home on Martha’s Vineyard, leading a normal life.”
    Tristan pulled into the parking spot in the garage below the Alta Vista, and once he cut the engine he finally looked at me. “Then go home, if that’s what you want so bad.”
    Bastard. I could never go home again. It was the loneliest feeling in the world. “I can’t. I’m dead, remember? You think my mother would find that amusing when she wanted me to work the opening shift? If I frigging exploded all over the cappuccino maker?”
    Tristan’s eyes widened, and his cheeks puffed, trying to hold in his amusement. A few seconds later, he