“Annika, Cade, I’d like you to meet my friend Savannah.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Savannah,” Annika said brightly, getting up and coming to shake her hand. I was a bit puzzled by her warmth. She’d never shown that much affection for me. Of course, she probably wanted to throw me off a bridge so she could have Bo al to herself, so…
Cade got up and slowly approached Savannah, but his eyes kept straying to me.
“Savannah,” he said in his deep rumbly drawl.
“Cade, I don’t suppose you’ve met Devon yet. He’s Savannah’s boyfriend.”
I heard the clap of Devon’s hand on Cade’s shoulder, drawing Cade’s eye to the now completely invisible space that Devon occupied.
“Nice to meet you, man,” Devon said, pumping Cade’s hand.
It was comical to watch. It looked as if Cade was just shaking his hand up and down in midair.
“You guys can pick whatever room you want except—”
“Who’s that?” Savannah asked in a hushed voice.
“Who’s who?” I asked.
Savannah pointed down the hal and al eyes turned toward Bo as he made his way toward us.
“Who, Bo?”
“That’s Bo?” Savannah asked.
“Yes, but how can you see him?”
I was confused. I could see Bo clearly, as could everyone else. But so could Savannah and she was only supposed to be able to see vampires when they were invisible. She’d never been able to see Bo before…
“I can’t real y see him. I can only see a blurry white silhouette. It’s kind of like that dark shape I saw grab Devon, only white.”
No one said a word. Bo had stopped dead in his tracks and was staring at Savannah, open-mouthed.
Slowly, careful y, cautiously, Savannah made her way to Bo. As she walked, she held one hand out in front of her as if to ensure she didn’t run into anything. When she was directly in front of him, she stopped.
Raising her hand to his shoulder, she swiped at the air behind Bo, but her fingers met with nothing but empty space.
Bo was the first to speak, his voice barely a croak.
“What is it? What do you see?”
“It looks like- like- like wings.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
It was so quiet a pin dropping across the street could’ve been heard. I don’t think any of us knew quite what to say, what to make of Savannah’s strange observation. But then Cade spoke, adding another layer of bizarre mystery to the situation.
“It’s beginning.”
Al eyes then turned to him.
“What’s beginning?” I asked.
“The battle,” Cade answered enigmatical y.
“What battle? Cade, what are you talking about?”
“Sebastian must have located al the necessary components. He’s preparing to carry out Iofiel’s letter.”
“What does that even mean?”
Even as I asked this, I was afraid that I knew.
“It means that he’s found a way to kil Bo.”
My heart stuttered like a faulty airplane engine, stopping for just a second before it dropped through the floor. Even though I knew that’s what Sebastian was planning, knew that was his goal, the worst part was finding out that it was imminent. It was nerve-racking to have someone like Cade confirm that we were, in fact, running out of time.
“How do you know that?”
It was Bo who asked this time.
“I’ve seen it. Your true nature is emerging, preparing to fight. Preparing for the fight.”
“But that can’t be right. I don’t know how to defeat him yet. Al of the letter hasn’t appeared on Ridley’s skin yet.”
One side of Cade’s mouth turned up in a smirk.
“Then I guess you’d better start letting her feed more often.”
Bo’s lips thinned. Aggravation was clear in every hard line of his face and in the tick at the corner of his clenched jaw. I knew he wanted to lash out at Cade, but Bo was smart enough to realize that we needed him.
With great effort, Bo brought his anger under control and asked, “Do you know anything more about these sources that Sebastian needs?” His words were tense and purposeful.
“I know that this place, this town is a nexus for the elements that Sebastian must use against you. Al that he needs, he wil find here.”
“So we need to find the rest of the people and make sure that he can’t get to them,” Bo concluded.
“Yes, but you’l have to hurry.”
“Why?”
“Because the visions I’ve seen show your wings coming very near the end. The changes have already begun.”
Al eyes turned toward Bo, but his eyes were locked with mine. In his gaze, I read a thousand things. Some scared me, some reassured me. Some turned my bones to butter, but al of them pierced my heart with tiny needles of mad desperation.
Underlying the myriad things in his eyes was a coolness, a bravado that was meant to be reassuring. I tried to return some of that confidence, but it was difficult. After al , I had seen what could happen if I didn’t make it in between him and Sebastian in time. I had seen what was at stake.
“Then what are you people waiting for?” Savannah chimed in, throwing her hands up in question.
Everyone glanced at me, as if I was supposed to just walk right over and sink my teeth into Cade.
“Um, you can just forget it if you think I’m gonna be putting on a show for everybody.”
“You’ve done it in front of others before,” Cade added with a sly little grin.
“Wel , this is different. The three of us can just go somewhere else and y’al ,” I said, sweeping my hand to include everyone else, “can go get to know each other or something. Talk. Laugh. Plot. Do whatever.”
“We could use my room,” Cade suggested.
“No.” Bo was quick to shoot down that idea. “No bedrooms.”
Cade shrugged, not surprised by Bo’s reaction. I was beginning to think he liked provoking Bo.
“Wel that leaves bathrooms, the kitchen, the dining room
—which would be very appropriate in my opinion—the garage, the hidden room or the study.”
Bo scowled at Cade, in no way amused by his flippant attitude.
“The study sounds good,” Bo said. “And that wil no doubt work out best for you. There are fewer weapons I might be tempted to use against you in there.”
Cade arched one ebony brow at Bo and inclined his head in silent agreement, not the least intimidated by the blatant threat.