"You're riding up front now."
It's not a question.
I look at him. Slide in.
He shuts the door, walks around. When he climbs into the driver's seat, he doesn't start the engine right away. Just looks at me.
"What?" I ask.
"You're going to tell me everything."
"I said I'd fill you in."
"No." His hand comes up, fingers curling around the back of my neck. Not rough. Just... there. "Everything. No more half-truths. No more protecting me from whatever you think is too much."
My pulse kicks up. "Octavian?—"
"I'm not going anywhere." His thumb brushes the side of my neck once. "But I can't keep you safe if you keep me in the dark."
I should argue. Point out that I've been handling this family for years without him.
Instead I hear myself say, "Okay."
Something shifts in his expression. His hand slides away and he starts the engine.
We pull out of the driveway. The city blurs past.
"So," he says after a moment. "Start talking."
"Where should I start?"
"The beginning."
"You sure? It might make you reconsider your assignment."
We stop at a red light. He looks at me, then reaches over and pulls me toward him by the back of my neck.
The kiss is brief. Certain.
When he lets go, he doesn't look away. "Nothing on this earth could make me reconsider being exactly where I am."
He starts driving again like he didn't just make my stomach flip.
I turn toward the window so he won't see me smile. Touch my lips.
"Okay," I say quietly. "Here it goes."
26
KEIRA
The car comes to a stop outside my family's estate, and Octavian turns the car off. For a second, neither of us moves. I just look at him as he's processing everything I've just dumped in his lap.
After a few seconds, he turns in his chair to face me. "Okay, let me make sure I have this right. People have been targeting your family, leaving feathers on dead bodies and in warehouses. Your brother gets stabbed, and the man tells him their leader, this Phantom King, is coming for all of you. And somehow this Shadowharbor Foundation, the same one hosting the gala you just got invited to, might be involved?"
I nod. "More or less. That sounds about right."
He exhales sharply, fingers tapping against the steering wheel. "And you still want to go to this event?"
