“Not unless I give my blessing.”
Titus rolls his eyes and then shakes my hand.
“Who’s going to introduce me,” says a new voice, and when I peek around Titus there’s a petite dark-haired girl standing there.
She’s a little thing, but when she spots me, she grins, and it isn’t a friendly one. When her lips lift, they reveal two pointed teeth. To make sure I don’t miss them, she runs her tongue over the tip of one and then winks at me. Considering the vampires are the demon’s biggest supporters here in the human world, it makes me a little uneasy.
“Cut it out, Imogen,” Talon says, and she looks up at him and pouts.
“You’re no fun.”
Talon glares down at her and says, “She’s harmless, I promise.”
Imogen gapes at him. “That was offensive.”
“And also not true,” Kade says, speaking up for the first time since the group burst into our meeting. “I’ve seen that one in action,” he says, referring to Imogen. “Her bite is just as vicious as her bark.”
Imogen grins back at him, blowing him a kiss. “Missed you too, Kade.”
He quirks an eyebrow. “I didn’t say I missed you.”
“It was implied.”
I catch Talon looking over at Ares with suspicion, but he still nods his head in greeting.
Everyone takes a seat, filling out the table.
As she passes, Locklyn pauses next to me. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she says. “I was so worried.”
“I’m all right because Becks found me,” I tell her. “How are Mom and Dad? Did they come back too?”
She shakes her head. “They stayed in the creature world for their safety. They’re staying with my parents.”
I lift my eyebrows, wondering what that’s like for them.
“Don’t worry. They’re already getting along. When there’s a second, I’d love to talk,” she says, and I nod, forcing a smile.
I’m a little nervous about what she wants to discuss. What if she wants to tell me something else about Becks I don’t already know? I’m not sure I’m ready to have my love bubble popped quite yet.
When everyone is seated, Locklyn speaks up. “I have good news,” she says, but the look on her face doesn’t say it’s good. “We found a way to defeat the demon. But it’s not going to be easy.”
Her gaze lands on me, and a pit forms in my stomach.
“But in order to have a chance, we’re going to need to make it through the next couple days first.”
Thirty-Three
BECKS
“No, absolutely not. There’s no way.”
Haven’s eyes blaze as she shakes her head. I reach over and grasp her hand under the table. Her fingers are cold, and so I push some extra heat toward my hand to warm it.
I know why she’s upset. This plan of theirs puts Locklyn in danger, so I’m not wild about it myself. But Locklyn’s tough, and I trust Talon to protect her.
Locklyn frowns at her twin. “It’s the best way to keep you safe and run out the clock. If we can keep you out of the demon’s grasp until after the blood moon, then we have two years to train you to go up against it.”
“You think this is the best plan? Pretend to be me and be used as bait for the demon and every creature out there looking to end the world? Because I don’t. I’m not letting you take that risk for me. If something happened to you, I’d never be able to live with myself.”
