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Gabriel regards her thoughtfully. “We’re just worried about you, angel. This could be the start of a very positive thing for us and the human population as well, but it also has the potential to be—”
“A bloodbath,” she cuts in. “I know that. But I want this just as badly as you do. All I’m asking is for you to see that and believe in me. I can handle this.” The determination in her voice grabs my attention, and I can’t stop staring at her.
We need to give her more credit.
Ineed to give her more credit.
She survived us coming into her life and stealing her away from it, then she survived becoming a vampire.
Calla is quite possibly the strongest person I’ve met in my many decades on this earth—and she deserves to know it.
She sucks in a soft breath, her eyes landing on me and her pulse racing. Realization colors her delicate features, and her lips slowly curl into a smile.
“What is it?” Kade asks, arching a brow at her.
She bites down on her bottom lip, her eyes bouncing between mine as if she’s waiting for me to speak.
“Is this some weird sire thing?” Kade asks Lex, who likely is feeling some of what is happening between Calla and me right now, though certainly not to the degree we are.
“You could say that,” Lex answers him, while I keep my eyes trained on Calla. There’s a bright shimmer of hope in her eyes that makes my chest tighten.
She glances around the circle we’ve made in the center of the garage, pursing her lips for a moment. “I should call Brighton. If she’s going to be involved with this, she needs to know what’s coming down the pipeline. She doesn’t know I’m a vampire yet, and I want to be the one to tell her. I’d rather do it in person instead of over the phone, but I’m not sure there’s time.”
“Absolutely not,” I say immediately. “You’re not seeing her ahead of any meeting we have with the hunters.” Before she can run her mouth at me, I continue, “You need to be more cautious from here on out, Calla. Being too trusting during anything with regards to the hunters is dangerous. Do you understand me?”
“Do you want to keep talking down to me as if I’m a child?” she shoots back. “Of course, I understand that. But we have to be somewhat trusting; otherwise, this isn’t going to work, and then what the hell was the point?” She crosses her arms. “You told me you needed my help with this, so you’d better fucking listen to what I have to say and fully consider it before you stand there and act like you know better than me just because you’ve been around the sun a million times.” Her pulse is ticking faster by the time she finishes speaking, her chest rising and falling unevenly.
Lex whistles under his breath and the others remain silent.
I stare at her, her gaze unwavering as those silver eyes hold mine. “Fine,” I finally say in a tight voice, because nothing about this feels comfortable. I’m used to being in complete control, and this… this is very new. “We’ll try it your way.”
19
Calla
Sleep refuses to pull me under. I toss and turn for well over an hour, and I’m not the only one who isn’t able to find rest.
Atlas and Gabriel are sitting in the backyard shortly after two in the morning, speaking in hushed tones, but I hear every word clearly—and I really wish I don’t.
They don’t have high hopes for the meeting—Atlas especially. He wants to ensure we’re prepared for a fight if that’s what we’re walking into; however, Gabriel is far more optimistic that we can have a productive discussion. He’s always the most level-headed of our group, it seems.
“It’s in their best interests as much as it’s in ours,” he says to Atlas as I press myself against the wall beside the window so they can’t see me from below. I peer down at the T-shirt I stole from Kade a while ago. It’s an old Pink Floyd tour shirt that nearly reaches my knees, making it the perfect sleep shirt.
“We’ll see,” is Atlas’s only response.
Gabriel sighs heavily. “We should try to get some sleep. Kade’s been snoring for over an hour and Lex was half asleep through dinner.” There’s a brief pause. “And Calla’s been hanging onto our every word and should get to sleep as well.”
My stomach drops, heat filling my cheeks as I dive into the bed, hauling the covers over me, and turn onto my side, hugging my pillow to my cheek.
They share a short laugh as my pulse pounds after getting caught. Rookie mistake.Of course,they knew I was listening.
I close my eyes, focusing on leveling my breathing. The patio door opens and closes before footsteps come up the stairs. I hold my breath as one set of footsteps slows outside my bedroom.
“Goodnight, angel,” Gabriel says from the other side of the closed door.
I press my lips together, smiling faintly. “Night.”
He walks away, and a few moments later, his bedroom door shuts.
