Jordyn (A Daemon Hunter 1)

Not returning his smile, I sat on the padded window seat with a sigh. Mark sat across from me with the same dippy smile on his face. I stifled a groan. This was shaping up to be as much fun as listening to an all-day lecture on fossil fuels. Krista joined us a moment later with a glass bowl towered high with cooked spaghetti.

"Smells great, love," Mark said, sniffing appreciatively.

"Yeah, well it'd be pretty bad if even I screwed up spaghetti," she answered dryly, heaping noodles on her plate. "And don't you dare mention those first couple batches," she continued, threatening him with her fork.

"What? It wasn't that bad. I, for one, didn't see the big deal of cutting the noodles with a steak knife," he said, shooting her a real smile. "It was at least better than my first attempt," he continued as Krista gagged slightly at the memory.

"What happened?" I asked curiously, despite my misgivings about their intentions.

"Well, just put it this way—you could have plastered a wall with my noodles," Mark answered chuckling as Krista made more gagging noises. "Come on, babe, it wasn't that bad."

"They tasted like they'd been run through a food processor. We had to eat them with a spoon. Remember? You kept trying to convince me that if I added more sauce it would help. I wound up eating just the sauce with my spoon," she said, laughing at the memory.

"Come on, now you're hurting my feelings," Mark said defensively.

"Really? That's why I saw you dumping your plate in the trash?" she teased, taking a bite of bread.

"I was stuffed, that's all."

"Right," Krista said, openly laughing now.

Despite myself, I couldn't help joining in their laughter. "I guess I can see now why we get takeout so much," I said, slurping my noodles.

"Yeah, culinary skills seemed to be on the low end of the spectrum when The Light created us," Krista said, still chuckling.

At least for now, the tension disappeared while we finished eating. I knew the boom was still coming, but at least they were serving me one last meal before I was locked away for good.

We were just about done eating when Krista finally spoke. "So, your uncle and I were talking," she began, looking at Mark for his approval before she continued.

"I figured as much," I said, scooting my plate away. "So, let's hear it. I now have to wear leg irons or maybe just a ball and chain, right? Wait, I got it. You guys have decided to build a dungeon under the house. Just to throw my two cents in, a dungeon might take away from the curb appeal of the house," I added.

"Well, a dungeon did cross our minds, but we figured that wouldn't do any good at keeping yourfriendfrom springing you," she said. "Kidding. Truthfully, we just finally came to the conclusion that we're treating you both unfairly. My mom once tried to keep me from Mark and it turned out to be a disaster," she continued.

"Really?" I asked, sitting excitedly forward. This was the last thing I had been expecting.

"Yes, but with stipulations," Mark answered, bursting my bubble.

"Right," I said, sinking back on my seat.

"Nothing unreasonable," Krista reassured me. "We just feel that before we allow you to hang out with this Soul Trader, we should get to know him too. We're not comfortable with you running all over the world with him, getting tattoos in Shanghai and who knows what else."

Gah, freaking Lynn was going to get a smack the next time I saw her. Shanghai was supposed to be our secret. "What do you have in mind?" I asked, still leery of where the conversation was going.

"We thought, instead of sneaking into your room and bathroom, he could visit you like a normal boy your age would. We'd obviously like to have him over for dinner so we can get to know him, and then from there maybe we can move to double-dating."

"No way are we going on a double date with you guys."

"I'll try not to be offended over your reaction, but no, we weren't thinking of double-dating with us. We figured you wouldn't mind going out with Lynn and Robert," she said dryly.

I exhaled a breath I wasn't even aware I was holding. This was doable. Sure, the idea of a family dinner was cringe-worthy, but I'd been wanting to double date with Lynn and Robert for months. Emrys would probably find the whole idea ludicrous since he was used to coming and going as he pleased, but maybe I could talk him into it. Besides, if he really likes me the way he seems to, he'll at least consider it, and surely after they all saw how fantastic he was we'd eventually be left to our own devices.

"What exactly will the family dinner entail? And won't Haniel crap a brick when he finds out?" I asked, suddenly afraid their plan would be smothered out before it could even begin.

"We've already discussed it with him," Mark answered, sitting back in his chair. "He has grudgingly agreed to trust us on this, although he plans on joining us for the family dinner," he added, smiling almost gleefully at the thought.

"Oh, god. I can just imagine how that's going to go," I griped, not relishing a night of hanging out with Haniel, my aunt and uncle, and Emrys.

"You have to understand his side, Jordyn. Soul Traders have earned their bad reputations for good reasons. More times than not, Soul Traders turn away from helping souls move on to a better place. The Dark One entices them to bring the souls to him instead with promises of power and immortality," Mark said, defending Haniel.