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“Sit. I’ll dish us up, and I’ll put some in the fridge for Eryn for when she gets home.”
While Lexi pulled the sheet-pan meal from the oven and drizzled a creamy sauce over the plated food, Vann sat at the new table and tipped back.
Eryn and Lexi may have thought he was doing this for their sakes, but they had no idea how selfish he’d been.
“Hope you’re hungry.”
His stomach groaned at the savory heap on the white plate, sitting on the woven placemat with a cloth napkin on the sturdy table. “Starving.”
“You never answered my question.”
“About teams?”
“Do you work with the same team for life? How do you form a team?”
“Other hunters we meet and click with. Often a parent’s teammate’s kid, or you find each other. Fate always sounds like a load of bullshit, but the only two hunters in San Francisco, and Quinn moved into the apartment next to mine.”
“She’s coming tomorrow?”
Lexi was as easy to visit with as Eryn, open and curious. Quicker to smile, though. “Later tonight, with her husband. Ryan. They’ve got a five-year old, but she’s got grandparents who take care of her when it’s not safe for her to come along. Anyway, it’s a rare occasion to not stay with the same team for life.”
“I love that. Like a family you choose.”
“Pretty much. Otherwise, it’s just me and my dad. I’m close with his team, too, like aunts and uncles. I don’t know where I’d be without my team. They know me better than I know myself.”
“I felt that, when they helped you move in.”
“That was only half of them. You’ll love the rest.”
“Do they know?”
“About what?”
“About… this place? The wyverns?”
“Of course. They’ve been researching and waiting for me to call them in.” Hell, he’d gotten so lucky. Brain, brawn, and heart. His team was more than he could have hoped for.
Lexi drained the last of her coffee.
“You and Eryn are close.”
“We are. We’ve had to be.”
“Because of your parents.”
“Yeah.” She set her fork down and stared out the window, at nothing in particular.
He finished the last few bites from his plate and set his fork down. “What aren’t you and Eryn telling me?”
She froze, unmoving except for the tightening of her brow. “I’m not saying there’s anything to know. But… shit. I’m sick of keeping everyone else’s secrets. I can’t tell Eryn about you, or, according to the edict, you’ll kill me, and that’s a… well… it’s framed pretty direly, and no coroner would dare break it, risk of death or not. I don’t think you’d actually kill me, but hell, maybe you would… but if I have to risk myself to save Eryn? If I have to break my oath for her? I will.” She shook her head and bit her lips together.
“The other secrets are Eryn’s?”
Eyes red, she puffed out her cheeks and held her breath. She pushed back from the table, stalked into the kitchen and rinsed her empty plate, and loaded it into the dishwasher. “Don’t ask me, and I won’t have to lie to you.”
He cursed under his breath.
She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m grateful, you know. Not just for protecting us, but for everything. I feel lucky to be in the position of knowing that you and your kind keep our world safe.”
