I nibbled my lip, holding back from saying, “um, no, I’m not your family”, when a sudden warm body pressed against my back. Kipp wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my shoulder.
“I need you to listen, all right?” He turned me into him, cupping the side of my neck. He pressed his thumbs against my chin, drawing my focus up to his serious expression.
“Maybe,” I muttered.
His lips twitched. “Can we agree that I’ve been doing what I can to ensure you’re safe?”
“Possibly.”
His eyes twinkled. “That’s what this is, so please, hear me out.”
At my silence, but narrowed eyes, he added, “I know you’re used to being alone. You’ve grown used to that since your parents died, and think it’s what you want. But I can’t allow that any longer.”
My breath hitched at the emotion in his voice, along his face, and in his eyes. Even if I wanted to say something to argue with him, considering I saw where he went with this, I couldn’t.
He brushed his thumbs along my chin as he kept my focus on him alone. “You need the Animus, even if you think you don’t. You deserve to have people around you that get you and understand what you go through. No one, not me, Zach, or Caley, can ever truly understand that part of you.”
“That’s not true—you do,” I whispered, hating the sudden tears welling in my eyes.
He shook his head, a strand of his hair breaking free from the gel that slicked it back. “I understand what you see, but I’ve never had your gifts. I don’t know how you must feel having to deal with death like you do.” He gestured toward the group of silent people behind him. “They do.”
As my lips parted to try to argue, he pressed his finger over my mouth and sighed. “I believe I told you to listen.”
He hesitated and, at my huff, he lowered his hand to my chin again. “They only want to support you. You don’t need to fight your way through this life anymore. If you have a question or need help, you can find it in these people.”
“He’s right,” Gretchen interjected.
She placed her hand on my shoulder and her not surprised expression declared they had planned this…intervention. “This life is dangerous for you, because you’re fighting it alone. But it’s why the Animus exists—to keep each other safe.”
Her head tilted as she hesitated, and then her eyes sharpened. “When Dane needed help with the demon not long ago, he didn’t go at it alone, he came to me because I could help. I held the knowledge to keep you safe, he didn’t.”
Greta stepped forward, taking up my hand in hers and her touch was so warm, just like Gretchen’s. “We’re sorry your first introduction to us was met with hardships, but we’d never put you in danger. None of us would. We only want the Animus to be a place for you to belong. To be around others like you. To help keep you protected.”
Moving out of Kipp’s hold, I released a long slow breath and studied the people around me. Dane smiled at me, as did Amelia. Frustration welled up inside me. Hadn’t I already stated I didn’t want to part of the Animus?
I turned to Kipp and there, in his gaze, was a hard truth that maybe I had to accept. No one here judged me, yet I didn’t offer them the same respect. Why was I shutting them out?
Dane, the one person who I thought was evil, had turned out to be one of my saviors. Gretchen had stayed by my side and helped me when she didn’t need to. Quite possibly, from the very beginning—right back to when Alexander learned of me—this group had gone out of their way to protect me.
The Animus meant safety.
The knowledge they possessed provided a barrier between me and danger. If another demon happened to show itself, one call to the Animus would have me surrounded by those who would stop it. Those who weren’t afraid of the evil in the world and those who knew how to banish it.
In Kipp’s intense stare, I read that he wanted me to have others like Gretchen in my life. I suspected he saw how knowing her made me feel more accepted than I had before. But he also wanted me to gain these friendships because if danger came knocking, they could deal with it, not me.
He, as he’d shown since he’d been saved and without my say-so, had become my protector.
“Well then.” I looked at each face of the people I had yet to be introduced to, but the energy in the air told me enough each held some supernatural talent, making us already connected. “Hi.”
Soft laughs spilled through the air as I received either a smile or a wave from each of the members. Then the air seemed to turn ice-cold as a screech erupted to my right. I turned and cursed.
“Oh my god, you are all so freaking dead,” Caley roared, running in her high heels across the deep green grass, which looked upwards of ridiculous.
Once she reached Kipp, she latched on his hand, and then pushed him toward Zach. “You two, go, right now!” She set her blazing eyes on Zach, arms folded with a deep scowl on her face. “Get dressed.”
I gave him a sympathetic smile and he strode away in a jiffy. Smart guy. He might control some of Caley’s hissy fits, but when completely pissed, Caley was a force to be reckoned with.
Kipp reached his hand out to me, his eyes gentle and content with my decision about the Animus, but Caley slapped it away. “Did I not tell you to go?” She pointed at Zach who headed off toward the gallery. “Don’t make me say it again. You’re not supposed to be near her anyway!”