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Rafael met my eyes. “I always understood why you wanted them dead. What I didn’t expect, was how badly I’d want it too. They’re going to pay for Winter. If you didn’t believe this promise before, believe it now. I won’t stop.”
Something fluttered in my chest, awakening a part of me long dead. My hand skimmed his cheek, cupping his smooth, strong jaw. “Ask me again what I’ll give you for being there for me?”
Eyes darkening, Rafael moved as I did.
“Hey, man, you okay? Wesley? Wesley!”
Our necks snapped to the side. Wesley shot up from his chair, gasping and clutching his neck. He gestured wildly at his mouth, miming to Giovanni.
“In your research, did you find out that Wesley is severely allergic to peanuts?”
“No,” I drew out, grin stretching my mouth.
“It’s very bad, darling. If he doesn’t get a hit from his EpiPen soon, his throat could close up and—lights out.”
Half the Royals were in a frenzy. Piper got on her phone calling for help while Giovanni tore Wesley’s backpack open.
“They better find it soon unless—” Rafael took the injector out of his pocket, tossing it up in the air. “Whoops. Looks like I’ve got it.”
Laughing, I jumped up and down, restraining myself from throwing my arms around him. I lost the fight and did it—hugging him tight.
“You are incredible, Rafael Dumont. You planned this morning’s surprise for me. To cheer me up after yesterday.”
“Did it work?”
Wesley—the guy who almost killed my sister by messing with her brakes, and then did kill her when his cruelty added to the weight pushing her down—dropped to his knees, his desperate wheezing heard clearly from our spot.
“Yes,” I said. “It worked. The next time you sing Happy Birthday to me, this’ll be one of the memories that come up. It’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten. But I want to be a part of it from here on. The five of us—a team.”
“The five of us.” Rafael tucked me under his arm again. “Rogues.”
“ARE YOU GOING TO TELL me why he’s staring at us?”
I snapped out of the memory playing on repeat. Over and over, Wesley collapsing on the concrete as Giovanni bellowed for help. The scene ended when a Royal joined the balcony crew with his breakfast and saw what was going on. His EpiPen was safely in his backpack, and he administered it in time for Wesley to wake up and wave away the paramedics.
“Luna, what’s with that guy?”
Victor stared across to Lucien sitting two booths down. The gentleman he was, he offered to give me and Victor privacy. That might’ve worked if he didn’t stand and glare away everyone that came near me holding a drink. He was drawing attention—Victor’s most of all.
“Nothing,” I said. “Lucien heard about the new game everyone’s playing and that I was chosen for target practice. He offered to look out for me.”
My explanation didn’t appear to satisfy him. On the contrary, his handsome features screwed up further. “Why is he looking out for you? How do you know him?”
“We met the first week of school.”
“Luna, did you...?” He checked around, lowering his voice. “Did you hire the Rogues to protect you?”
I blinked. “Hire them? You know what they do?”
“Everyone in Regalia knows what they do,” he hissed. “Are you insane? Do you have any idea what people will think if they see you getting chummy with those guys?”
“Victor, how long have you known me? Do you seriously believe I give a shit what anyone around here thinks about me?”
“It’s more than that. Calais dresses like a lunatic, pretending he’s another harmless nutjob—”
“All the words you’re using are insensitive.”
“—but it’s an act,” Victor said forcefully. “It’s plausible deniability in case the cops ever pick him up, demanding to know about his folks’ mob connections. Prosecutors can’t put a guy who thinks he’s a vampire on the stand.”
I bobbed my head, lips pushed out. “Not a bad plan.”
“Don’t get me started on Dumont’s old man.”
“But I have a feeling you will anyway.”
“He’s dangerous.” Victor grabbed my hand. “He does the kind of jobs for people that gets his name whispered in the back of a bar. Word is Rafael helps him. And O’Rourke? The guy is a paranoid delusional.”
“Is that a noun?”
“He thinks everyone’s out to get him whether it’s true or not. He’s destroyed people and their reputations because he thought they were poisoning his food or spying on him. When we were in high school, I heard he refused to go on a field trip because he was convinced the bus was taking them to a secret government testing facility. He made the bus lady cry.”
I inclined my head. “Now that, I believe.”
“And Cato...” Victor gave me a look like that’s all that needed to be said about the youngest Dumont. “These aren’t the kind of guys you hang out with, Sinclair. You wouldn’t kick back with Al Capone and Jack the Ripper, but you would expect everyone to keep their distance if you did.”
