Page 19 of Twisted Gift

I step forward to walk across the room to the office, but Nikolai catches my arm.

“What?” I ask.

“I’m coming with you.”

Arching a brow at him, I say, “You don’t need to, Nikolai. I’m not in any danger.”

Skylar snorts, and Nikolai narrows his eyes at her. “Watch it,” he growls.

“Down boy,” she remarks dryly.

“Okay,” I cut in before they can get into it in front of all these people. “Let’s go.”

Skylar sneers at Nik—whose only response is a wicked smirk—before she flips her hair over her shoulder and walks toward the hallway. I give Nikolai a warning glance and follow her, opening the office door and walking inside.

When Nikolai closes the door, he leans against it as if he’s guarding the thing. “Speak up, kitten. We don’t have all day.”

Skylar whirls on him. “What the fuck did you just call me?” Her jaw is sharp enough to cut metal.

He whistles, thrusting his hand through his already messy hair. “Easy. Put the claws away.”

“Nikolai,” I groan. This meeting is going to go downhill fast if he keeps opening his mouth. Turning my attention back to where Skylar is perched on the edge of the desk, I ask, “What’s going on?”

She crosses her arms, looking at me. “Tristan is calling a meeting. The dark are going missing left and right. He gave you time to do something about it. You haven’t.”

My pulse skyrockets at the mention of him, and anxiety bubbles in my chest, threatening to boil over. “The dark aren’t the only ones going missing. The light are, too.”

Skylar sighs, probably having heard the increased thrum of my heartbeat, but seems to ignore my response. “I don’t think I need to tell you a meeting of the leaders is a formal event.”

My head shakes. “Why exactly does he want to meet?”

She shrugs as if the reason is obvious enough. “To stop the war.”

It’s what I’d wanted Tristan to do with Jules. Meet and figure out a way to coexist with their differences. We all know now why that never would’ve worked—not with Jules wanting to lead the entire race of fae himself—but it could now.

“All right,” I say. “I’ll go.”

“He’d like to see you tomorrow morning at the hotel.”

“No,” Nikolai cuts in. “There’s no way we’re walking into a building full of dark fae right now.”

Skylar doesn’t even spare him a glance. “Nine o’clock,” she tells me.

All I do is nod.

“Absolutely fucking not.” Nikolai pushes away from the door and prowls closer. “I don’t trust anyone there, especially not Westbrook.”

Sky rolls her eyes. “I don’t care what you think, Sterling.” She looks at me with a bored expression. “If there’s a problem, take it up with Tristan.” She slides off the desk and steps past me, but Nikolai is blocking her exit.

“We’re not done here,” he barks at her.

She huffs out a laugh. “Oh yeah?”

I turn in time to watch the two of them in the middle of a glaring match. The sight is so comical, I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Nikolai towers over her by at least a foot even with Sky in heels. He’s leaning toward her, appearing as if he’s ready to pounce. While she looks rather tiny opposite him, I’m confident she could hold her own if it came to a fight, not that I would let it. Fighting now is counterproductive. We have to focus, now more than ever, if we’re going to come up with a game plan.

“You think it’s a good idea for her to walk into a building full of your people?”

She blinks. “I walked in here without a problem.”

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