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“Like you?” the kid’s eyes light up.
“Bigger and stronger,” Everett says.
Leo takes a sandwich and sits next to him, budging up close so there’s barely a space between them.
He eats slowly, swinging his feet. “Big and strong,” he murmurs every few bites. “Bigger and stronger than Every.”
Everett hides his smile with his hand, but I see it.
It’s so damn cute.
The kid sits next to him until the sandwich is done, and then he gets up and races back over to the jukebox. Everett turns to watch him. When Everett’s satisfied that he’s just standing in front of it dancing to the songs he’s playing, he turns back around.
“What?” he asks, when he catches me looking.
“Nothing,” I say. “Just kind of having flashes of the future here.”
“The distant future, right?”
“Oh, definitely. Ten years time, at least.”
His expression relaxes. We all go back to eating and talking about nothing.
The weather, the music. We clap and cheer Leo on when he shows us some dance moves he’s proud of. Then lunch is done, and Everett asks me to help him clean up after. Ivy and Vi offer to do it, but he insists, and I realize it’s a chance to talk strategy alone.
We take all the cleared plates and platters through to the kitchen.
He sets his down on the counter and closes the door while I put the rest next to his.
“What are you thinking?” I ask.
“I’m thinking we should leave soon,” he tells me. “Just you, me, and Rachel.”
Right. We can’t bring Noah, because we need to keep Vi safe and away from them and leaving her and the kid with Ivy isn’t secure enough. They need more than one Beta to protect them. We only have two, so they’ll both have to stay here.
“Maybe we should leave Rachel here too.”
“I thought about that, but we might need her to get Oscar out of there. Truth is, we don’t know what we’re walking into.”
“Talk me through the plan.”
“We get through early and find the Alpha. We demand proof that Oscar’s there and that he’s safe. We leave Rachel with him so she can teleport him home if things go south. I challenge the Alpha, you watch my back, and stop his Betas if he tries to command them into the fight. We win, and we take Oscar home. We can disband the pack later, call the Council of Witches involved to come out and assess the pack.”
“I understand getting there early to make sure we find the Alpha and challenge him as soon as twenty-four hours are up, but how early do you want to get there, exactly?”
“I don’t know. A couple hours. The easiest way for that Alpha to avoid losing their Omega is for them to stop us getting there in time to challenge their Alpha before he passes Oscar over to whoever he sold him off to.”
“You think he might risk handing him over early?”
“It’s a possibility, but it wouldn’t be smart. He wouldn’t just be breaking a condition of taking Oscar. The minute he passes Oscar over to his buyer, he’s committing a serious crime. There’s no way in hell the Council of Witches would let him get away with that.”
Of course, they won’t. This is much too serious.
I’m glad Mabel’s going to The Fates to clear Oscar’s name once and for all, I just wish we knew if she’d be back before we need to do this. I don’t doubt Everett’s abilities, but I know it takes a toll when he kills someone. Even someone as awful as this Alpha. I’d rather save him that anguish.
“Tell Noah what we’re planning. He can update Ivy and Vi. Check if Rachel’s ready. We’ll leave in an hour. I’ll make sure we’ve got supplies in the car in case they’ve messed with the road.”
I nod as he leaves the kitchen. I send Noah a text, asking him to come meet me in the kitchen with Rachel. I fill the sink and start cleaning the lunch plates while I wait for them to get the message and come see me.
