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Spinning to look behind me, the guys remain frozen in place, with Eldon on my right and Zane on my left, while Brax hovers at my back and Creed stands front and center.
It’s Lyra.
Her eyes meet mine through the crowd and she waves for me to come closer. It’s like she heard my thoughts from a moment ago and waited until I was sure peace and quiet were guaranteed before perking my weariness back up again.
It’s surprisingly easy to get through the crowd, which parts like the sea for the Bishops that surround me.
“How are you today? You had me worried yesterday,” she states, folding her arms over her deep-navy suit jacket, her red lips twisting as she assesses me.
“Uh, I’m fine,” I mumble, noting that I can’t sense her magic around me, and I make a mental reminder to bring it up to the guys as soon as we’re done here.
“Good. I also have Monarch Denver in one of the communication rooms.” Her gaze shifts to Zane, whose eyes widen, but I almost feel like it’s surprising it’s taken this long. Then again, I don’t know the man well enough to make that call. I purposely hadn’t thought about him reaching out in hopes I didn’t jinx it, but it seems it was meant to creep up on me nonetheless. “He’s waiting in booth one,” she adds, and Zane sighs.
“You guys go ahead, I—”
“No, no,” Lyra interrupts as she takes a backward step toward her office. “He requestedallof you.”
“Allof us?” Eldon clarifies, and she nods.
She disappears back into her office after that and Zane waves for us to follow him toward the booths. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Now I’m panicking. “Have I fucked up with him?” I murmur, glancing at Zane from the corner of my eye, and he grabs my chin and grinds us to a stop as he looks deep into my gaze.
“No, never.” He sounds so certain that hope fills me with the chance of those words being true.
“The quicker we get in there, the quicker we can get out,” Brax grunts, stepping around everyone else to grab the door handle and push it open.
With no more time to prepare, I follow after him and find a projection of Monarch Denver sitting on a sofa to my right while Brax drops down onto the empty one facing him. I take the seat beside him and Zane presses into my other side, sandwiching me between the two of them.
“Zane, boys, all okay?” Rhys asks, accepting the nods as a reasonable response before settling his eyes on me. “Raven, how are you today?”
Gulping, I nod. “I’m okay.” I think. What else am I supposed to say?
“Good.”
“What’s this about, Pops?” Zane asks, leaning forward to rest one elbow on his right knee and the other on mine.
“Don’t make me come there for real and get you in a headlock, son,” Rhys grumbles, catching me by surprise. My back stiffens as I stare between the two of them, but Zane smothers a laugh, which eases the rising tension flooding my veins a little. “Quit your bullshit. I did some digging around after I got Evangeline and Abel out of Haven Court and I understand exactly why they’ve been pushing for Raven’s magic to come to light.”
I can’t breathe. I can’t move. I can’t be a weapon.
Panic burns up my spine. I can sense it by the mere look in his eyes; he’s not lying. He knows. I fucking know it.
“Pops, what—”
“Test me on the headlock, Zane. I dare you.” He stares his son down and Zane slouches back in his seat. I immediately feel exposed without his hand on me. Brax must sense it, though, because his hand clamps down on my other thigh, pinning me to him.
“Maybe what Zane should be trying to ask is if you could be more specific with what you believe you know,” Creed interjects, but Rhys’s gaze is fixed on mine.
“It’s okay, Raven. It’s all going to be okay. I’m extremely sorry I didn’t know about their intentions this entire time.” Is he trying to bullshit me to make me fall for some false sense of security? My fight or flight instincts are kicking in, and although I’m currently stuck on freeze, my arms are going to be swinging as I run for the hills. I’m sure of it.
“I still don’t know what you’re talking about, Pops,” Zane insists, and I grimace.
“I said, quit your bullshit. I told you a necromancer had been sensed, and when I mentioned it the other day, you didn’t think to mention you knew who.” He cocks a brow, glaring at his son, while all I can do is gape at him.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The silence extends between them, consuming the room for what feels like an eternity until Zane sighs. “It’s not my story to tell.”
He’s not doing this right now, right? Handing me over so effortlessly. I’m fucked.
