Jo opened his mouth and then closed it again.
I threw up my hands. “You’re having us followed? Seriously?”
Jo had the decency to look caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Not both of you...”
Calan and I exchanged a look and a storm moved over Calan’s brow as the realization set in. “You are only following Emma?” There was a dangerous edge in Calan's voice.
The last time we saw Jo, he’d sent me flowers on Valentine’s Day as a last-ditch romantic effort to woo me. To say that did not go over well was an understatement. The tenuous alliance between Calan and Jo had all but snapped.
“We want to offer Emma a wedding present before the big day, and I didn’t know how you would take it, big guy.” Jo patted Calan’s back.
I couldn’t decide if it was ice or fire shooting out of Calan’s eyes.
Jo took a step back. The friendly smile was still on his face, but he nervously straightened the plaid shirt over his white tee.
“Again, you weren’t invited,” I reminded him.
Jo shrugged. “Sure we are. You invited the Order of Veritas and the Order of Luxis. It would be rude not invite the Order of Terra and potentially start a war. You wouldn’t want that, would you?” There was a slight teasing in his tone, but I knew he was serious enough. The Orders spent more time in pissing matches with each other than fighting the force of the Stygian.
I pushed my hair behind my ears. “Calan’s parents just happen to be in the Order of Veritas, and my dad hasn’t been with the Luxis in decades so...” Before I could finish, I noticed Jo had pinned Calan with his eyes. My normally stoic fiancé squirmed under Jo's pointed gaze.
“What am I missing?”
Calan answered, “I may have had to invite Ylang to our wedding.”
“What?” It came out as a screech, drawing the scowl from a nurse who walked by. She slowed down her step as if ready to kick us out for being disruptive. When I spoke next it was at a normal volume though I felt like throwing a fit. “Why?”
“It was the only way I could secure the book, which I currently have in my possession for a limited amount of time,” he said in a hushed voice.
Jo had the decency to pretend not to hear. Besides, he knew if he tried to come after the book, I really would beat him within an inch of his life.
Crap. Should have known the old man wouldn’t have given it up for free. It was just like Ylang to find a way to weasel his way back in somehow. But I did want to understand the Reckoning better and the Luxis had the best records of all the Orders. They even had the Order of Tenebrae’s book.
Judging by Jo’s arched eyebrow and insufferable grin, he was reveling in the all the tea that was being spilled in front of him.
Sucking in a breath, I debated if I could pummel Jo in a hospital. After all, he could get the medical attention he’d need on the spot when I was through with him.
“Fine, you can come,” I relented with a sigh.
“And my mom, and my sister,” Jo said in a matter of fact tone.
I would have been more pissed if he hadn’t surprised me. “You have a sister?”
Jo nodded. “I do. And until recently she has been out of the country. Now that she is back, she keeps insisting she has to do a reading for you.”
Glancing at Calan, I asked, “Like a palm reading?”
“Yeah, something like that. I don’t let her do readings for me, so I stay out of it. She said it was appropriate for me to make the official introduction and I was trying to get you along because I didn’t want ninja warrior here”—he jerked his chin toward Calan—“to get butt hurt that she wanted to see you alone. He might think it was some kind of ploy for me to try to romance you.”
“He does,” Calan practically growled.
Jo pulled at his collar. “Yeah well, Mika wanted me to give you this.” He handed over a business card with his sister’s name and contact info.
I flipped the card over, appreciating the use of rainbow colors in her logo. “She’s a photographer?”
Jo rolled his eyes. “Don’t bring it up unless you want her to bore you to death with how awesome she is.”
Jo left when I promised to text her, and I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding.
