“Becks!” a familiar voice shouts, and Locklyn pops up from the other side of the car.
Speeding around the hood, she tosses herself into my arms. I absorb her impact easily. She’s a tiny thing. Just like her sister.
I stand a little woodenly in her embrace, hesitant for the first time to have her in my arms. After a moment, she lets go of me and steps back.
“Umm, why are you half-dressed?” she asks, giving me the same look her husband just did.
“That’s the question,” Talon says from behind her.
I clench my teeth, irritation prickling under my skin. But confusion twists inside too.
I should be glad they’re here. It means more of us to protect Haven. Instead, all I feel is this restless, territorial itch, like they’ve stepped somewhere they shouldn’t.
“Hey,” Locklyn says, catching my scowl. “Is everything all right? I thought you’d be happy to see us.”
“Yeah, yeah, of course I am,” I say, forcing my body to relax.
Reaching up, I try to run my hand through my hair, but find it crunchy, frozen from the water Haven dumped on me. Locklyn notices it as well.
“Is everything okay?” she asks, sounding confused.
I’m about to assure her it is when the cabin door slams open and Haven comes running out and down the steps. There are tears running down her face, and my instant reaction is that something’s wrong and she needs me.
I step around Locklyn, my pulse spiking, ready to help, until I see what actually has her so worked up.
“Mom! Dad!” she shouts, darting toward the figures who’ve just climbed out of the car, flinging her arms around them in a tight hug.
The tension in my chest eases as the truth sinks in. Her parents. Of course. Relief floods me, followed quickly by chagrin for assuming the worst.
Locklyn glances over, brows knitting. “Maybe we should take this reunion inside before you freeze solid,” she suggests, already heading up to the door with Talon.
Still, I don’t move. Not until Haven starts up the steps with her parents. Only then do I follow, cold biting at my skin as Locklyn gives me one last puzzled look before disappearing through the door.
Twenty
HAVEN
I’m still reeling from that kiss Becks and I shared, my lips tingling and my cheeks flushed, but for once his half-dressed state isn’t what holds my attention.
I can’t stop sneaking peeks at my sister. My twin.
Becks excuses himself to go put a shirt on while I’m getting another hug from my mom.
“I’m just so glad you’re safe,” she says for the third time, her eyes filled with tears.
“You’re glad? I’m not the one who had a knife in their gut the last time you saw them,” I say, shooting my dad a look.
Just thinking about that horrible night makes my stomach twist. I almost lost him.
“I’m all right,” he assures me.
I frown, because he says that, but are any of us truly all right with a body-jumping demon on the loose and gunning for us?
A throat clears and I glance over my mom’s shoulder, where Locklyn and who I’m assuming is Talon, are standing. He has his arm wrapped around her shoulder and she’s tucked into his side.
My sister’s husband—it’s still weird even saying that—is ridiculously handsome in that bad boy-esque way: dark-haired and chiseled, with stormy blue-gray eyes. I’m starting to wonder if the guys from their world are just grown hotter or something.
They make a striking pair, but that’s not really what stands out. It’s the way he’s offering her comfort without being physically overbearing, and the way she’s lightly leaning into him, taking what’s being offered.
