Before we land, I make everyone what I hope are the Elders equivalent of bulletproof vests, only I make sleek, fitted black long-sleeved shirts and pants that are hopefully flexible and lightweight and yet warm in the chilly forest we’ll be heading into. Karl provides sophisticated earpieces he commandeered from the Guard HQ so attacks can be coordinated and members accounted for. When the team is finished gearing up, we look like some kind of Black Ops mission, which I think that several of the Guard rather like.“This is the photo we ought to take for Frieda,” I tell Will once we’re on the ground. Most of the rest of the team is off to one side, making sure their bags are packed properly. “Totally screw with her mind, make her believe we ran off to join the CIA or something.”
From behind his dark sunglasses, an eyebrow lifts. “And you call me devious.” But his lips curl upwards. “Let’s do it. It’ll be proper punishment after all those bloody texts she tormented us with.”
“Are you serious? I was kidding!”
“And yet you weren’t. C’mon now. Pass the phone over.”
“I’ll take it,” Kellan says, holding his hand out. I stare up at him, but as he’s behind dark sunglasses, too, I can’t tell what he’s feeling about all of this.
“Right. Thanks, mate.” Will passes over his phone. “Chloe, hold out that bad-ass bow of yours. I shan’t hold my sword, because that will simply confuse her, so we’ll just make do with what you have.”
I can’t stop cracking up. “You’re crazy!”
“Very possibly true. I’m here today with you, hunting beasties, aren’t I? The lone Métis amongst the mighty Guard?” He says this lightly, but I get what he’s letting me know. He’s here because of me, and what I mean to him, and because he’s the kind of good guy who heard people were getting hurt and didn’t think twice about jumping into the fray.
I lean into him, curving my arm around his waist. His loops around my shoulders, pulling me even closer into the lines of his body. As Kellan steps forward, Will’s phone facing us, I look up at my friend, my heart feeling like it might burst because I adore him so very much.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He leans down and presses a lingering kiss against my cheek. I hear the phone click, signaling the photo is done, and then Will’s arms are gone and he’s already half way between me and Kellan.
“Aw, brilliant, mate. Just brilliant. Chloe, look here—we actually look like we’re shagging like bloody rabbits, don’t we?” He chortles, clearly delighted, as he takes the phone back from Kellan. The screen is held up for me to see, but I’m staring at Kellan.
And . . . I’m astonished, because Kellan is smiling, too. A real smile—not one of the ones I know he can put on like an actor taking the stage.
As Will moves away, already sending the photo to Frieda, I find myself saying to Kellan, “That was . . . surprising.”
Kellan adjusts the straps of his bag on his shoulder. “I would’ve thought that his propensity towards pranks would be something you knew about him.”
“Not that.” I slide my sunglasses from the top of my head down to my eyes. “I meant . . .” An exhaled laugh escapes me. “Maccon Lightningriver kissed my cheek once, and you nearly ripped off his head.”
“The difference is,” Kellan says, stepping closer, “Mac was interested in you.”
I scoff. “He was not.”
“He most certainly was.” Kellan’s lips twitch. “I’m an Emotional, or have you forgotten? Lust is a pretty easy emotion to pinpoint in people, since it’s so strong.”
Huh. That’s . . . I never saw that one. Mac and I were friends, good friends. I knew he was a player, but never once did he try to hit on me. As this is a bit of a sore subject between us, I switch tactics and tease, “You don’t think Will feels the same?”
There’s that half-smile I love. Damn him—butterflies explode once more in my chest, making it so hard to be clear about what I know I want nowadays. “I know he doesn’t. I knew it the moment I stepped into his apartment the other day. He loves you—probably more than anyone else in all the worlds other than his dad—but he thinks of you like his sister, not the girl he wants to scream his name in bed.”
My cheeks blaze; and then, like I have no control over it at all, an image of me doing just that in Kellan’s bed flashes through my mind. I force myself to count to ten and will my heart to slow down, but as I’m not hiding behind any shields anymore, I know he feels all of these confusing, conflicting feelings racing around me. So, even though he’s completely aware of how he’s affecting me, I fake outrage. “Are you telling me you surged with him without his permission, in addition to whatever other checking up on him you did?”
“Hell yeah, I did.” He takes my bow from me and pretends to check it over. “This is nice work.”