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“When have you ever?” she shoots back, and there’s a fire in her eyes that despite the fire blazing through me makes my chest fill with pride. Our girl is strong—oftentimes stronger than I think we give her credit for. It’s one of many things I admire about her… and the thought of walking away from that and into the arms of the monster who created me has my thoughts moving toward a white ash stake to the heart.
Before I can speak, Calla says, “I’ll agree to waiting to train on one condition.”
Atlas offers a dry laugh. “There you go again thinking you have any choice in the matter.”
Her usually soft, warm brown eyes darken as they narrow on him. “You’re not the only person who could train me.” Her gaze moves to Kade—specifically the bulging muscles in his arms.
Kade smirks when he realizes she’s looking at him. “Oh no. Don’t drag me into this.”
She rolls her eyes, huffing out a frustrated breath. “I’m not asking for much here, guys.”
“Whatareyou asking for?” Lex asks.
“Answers. Honesty.Transparency.”
I glance between the guys, shrugging. We’d been planning to bring her into the fold anyway. This doesn’t seem like a stretch. She deserves to know about the world she’s living in.
“I want to know everything,” she adds in a firm voice, looking at each of us.
Kade tuts his tongue. “Always so stubborn.”
She shoots him an annoyed look, which does nothing to diminish the smirk on his lips as he watches her.
Kade glances in Atlas’s direction, waiting until he nods to start talking. “Your BFF Brighton’s family are vampire hunters.”
Calla frowns. “I know that part.”
“You also know that before we came for you, we spent some time—”
“Stalking me,” she cuts in. “I do recall that part being mentioned, yes.”
I frown at the bitterness in her tone and the tension in her body. Seeing her upset doesn’t sit well with me. But we all agreed she deserves to know everything, and she’s asked for transparency. She’s entitled to any response she feels like.
“We gathered information on the people you spent time with,” Kade continues. “Brighton included. We knew her relation to the hunters and very quickly deduced that she was not involved with the organization. From what Atlas could gather, Brighton’s mother refused to allow her daughter to be a part of it. She didn’t want that life for her.”
“I met with Brighton a month before we came to your apartment,” Atlas says. “I confirmed she had no prior knowledge of hunters or vampires or anything supernatural.”
“So her reaction that day when I told her about you guys was genuine,” Calla muses, her brows pinched together.
Kade goes on to reiterate the information we’ve already discussed about the hunters. That they’re growing in numbers and that white ash may not be as rare as it used to be.
“What are we going to do about that?” she asks.
Lex chuckles. “You’re going to focus on building your strength during training with Atlas and finishing the semester. You’ve always been adamant about school. Let us worry about this and you worry about that, okay?”
She blinks at him, and for a moment, I’m not sure if she’s surprised by his suggestion or pissed that we’re attempting to sideline her from the hunter action. Either would make sense at this point.
“Fine,” she finally says, “but once school is done for the term—”
“We’ll revisit this conversation,” Kade says, adopting Atlas’s firm tone.
Her eyes narrow on him and a muscle ticks along her jaw. She opens her mouth as if she’s about to start arguing again.
“Okay,” I say before the two of them can get into it in the middle of the kitchen. “I need to speak with Marcel—update him on the situation. Lex, can you start dinner? I shouldn’t be long.”
He nods, grabbing his empty glass off the counter and sticking it in the dishwasher before walking to the fridge.
I take that opportunity to slip out of the room, walking into the formal living room at the side of the house and perching on the stiff armrest of the couch. It’s no wonder we never use this space—the furniture is most definitely for show and not comfort.
