Page 113

“Go ahead.”

He never takes much. Just enough to feel close.

Later, when Nick and Luca are in the garage with the van’s hood up, I sit in his kitchen and call Willow.

“You’re not coming home, are you?” It’s the first thing she says.

“No.”

The line goes quiet. Behind her, a siren rises and fades, and I can picture the exact corner she’s on.

“I get it. I do. But I’m flying up there to check out this Nick guy before I sign off on any permanent move. No arguments.”

“Okay, okay. I love you too.”

After some thinking, I call my cousin Logan, who has always been the warmest of the Ashford relatives, and tell him what my mother said.

“It’s all yours, Logan.”

“Thanks. I think.” He laughs. “I’d better start accepting brunch invitations.”

“And tell me if they’re determined to ruin my life here.”

“First peep of evil scheming, you’ll hear about it.”

When I got here, I couldn’t build a fire, and I’d said no to my mother exactly once. I didn’t know vampires existed, and I didn’t know if I could be a writer. And now, it’s like I can’t imagine being any other way.

Luca wanders into the kitchen and grabs a soda, taking a seat at the breakfast nook with me.

“Can you hurry up and move in here, already? I need someone that eats actual food. I miss a good taco night.”

My laugh comes out half an octave too high. “Um, Nick and I haven’t discussed that.”

“Stop wasting time.” He waves his hand dismissively. “You’re both crazy for each other. Why wait?”

The next morning, we stop by town hall for a meeting to confirm Anna’s acceptance as the new Guardian for the Renard clan before heading to the airport to pick up Willow.

When we arrive, Pete asks after Willow’s flight, and Lloyd moves his coat off the chair beside him. I help myself to a tea in a paper cup and an oatmeal cookie before we’re sequestered away in the small chamber.

Dominic had no idea what his uncle had been up to and was devastated when he learned the extent of it. Anna’s friend, Cole, arrives this week to help the made vampires integrate into the community.

“Anna will be sworn in tomorrow evening. Any objections?” None, of course.

“Any word on Angelo?” Lloyd asks.

“Nowhere to be found,” Anna says. “But I will keep looking.”

“And what of Miss Stephens?” Roslyn works through the agenda.

“Discharged Tuesday,” Caleb says. “Doesn’t remember a thing. She told the troopers she spent the week in Anchorage and can recount every day of it.”

“Then we leave her be,” Hazel says. “No risk of anything getting out.”

Roslyn makes a note and turns the page. “Next, the matter of Nick’s unsanctioned disclosure.”

I freeze.

“With the investigation concluded and the objector deceased,” Roslyn says without looking up, “the review of Miss Ashford’s provisional approval can proceed.”