I shove it all down. Hard.
Locklyn being alive is a miracle. Anything less than pure joy feels wrong.
Becks’ voice cuts through the noise, low and easy as he recounts what happened in the last hotel, though he smooths over most of the details, making it seem not quite as dangerous as it actually was, most likely for my parents’ sake. They’re already gripping their utensils a little too tightly, trying to act calm. I shoot him a quick look of gratitude, and his mouth curves into that barely-there smile that makes my heart do stupid things.
When the conversation shifts, I work up the courage to tell my parents about my training, how Becks has been helping me learn to use my magic, little by little. The words come out carefully, like I’m testing them for danger. My mom and dad exchange a nervous glance, and for a heartbeat I think they’re going to tell me to stop, that it’s too risky. But when I explain that I’ve been using it consistently for a week now and the demon hasn’t found us, I see some of the tension ease from their shoulders.
“She’s making good progress,” Becks says encouragingly.
I nod, smiling faintly.
Progress.
The word settles warmly. For the first time in a long while, it seems like things might finally be moving forward, even if the world around me is still a dangerous mess.
After dinner, we figure out rooms. There are only three bedrooms. Becks is quick to offer his up, letting the two married couples take the rooms beside mine.
He’s so much larger than me, he shouldn’t be the one to sleep on the couch, but when I try to get him to take my room, he won’t hear of it.
I’m headed up the stairs when I hear my dad’s voice from down the second-floor hall right before I reach the landing.
“Thank you for keeping her safe like you promised,” he says, and I pause.
“Of course,” I hear Becks answer.
“She’s been our world since the day she was born,” my dad confesses. “After we thought Rose, or rather Locklyn, was killed, we’ve been living in fear that someone would take her from us too. Her mother and I . . . I don’t know that we’d survive that.”
“I won’t let anything happen to her. Not while I still have air in my lungs.”
He says it with such conviction that my breath catches. I’m instantly touched.
“I know you want to protect her,” Becks goes on, “but she’s strong. Excuse me for saying so, but stronger than I think you realize.”
I feel my eyes widen. I don’t know how my dad is going to take that.
There’s a brief silence. Then my dad clears his throat.
“Perhaps you’re right. Our fear has held her back from experiencing life. Sometimes when you want to protect someone, you end up holding them back from their true potential.”
“I’ve experienced that firsthand. It’s not a mistake I’ll ever make again,” Becks says, making me wonder what he’s talking about.
“Well,” my dad says gruffly. “I just wanted you to know I appreciate you looking out for her.”
“I’m glad I was there,” Becks replies. “She’s special.”
A throat clears behind me and I startle, my foot sliding on the stair before I catch myself.
Locklyn is just below me, an amused gleam in her eye.
“I was just . . . um . . .”
She raises an eyebrow. “Eavesdropping?”
My cheeks heat. “Pretty much.”
An impish grin slides on her face. “Well then, I approve. Find out anything good?”
I give an uncomfortable laugh. “Not really. Just my dad thanking Becks for keeping me alive.”
