Page 93 of Death Warden
“What?”
“I’m going to pack my things and go home and speak to my parents. I’m going to tell them the truth about how I feel and then I’m leaving the city with the man I love. They’ll cut me off, sure, so what? I don’t care.”
“You’ll have no bloodline claim.”
She shrugs. “But I’ll have Ben, and that…that will be more than enough for me.”
How can it be that Chrissy, egotistical, shallow Chrissy, could have bigger balls than me?
This time her smile is filled with amusement. “You really didn’t expect this, did you?”
I shake my head. “Honestly no. But I’m happy for you.”
“Be happy for yourself too, Logan. My backing out leaves you in the clear. Your family can’t disown you for my decision.”
She’s freeing me by leaving. “Are you sure about this?”
“One hundred percent.” She reaches across the table and takes my hand. “Don’t squander this opportunity. Tell her how you feel.”
“She’s mated to Spectre.”
“And she’s a hellhound female. We can choose to take more than one mate if we want to. It’s rare with females who have a fated mate, but not unheard of, and Adi is only part hellhound. Don’t waste this opportunity. Take whatever happiness you can get before she has to leave for good.”
Everything she’s saying evokes bittersweet emotions, because if what Tobias said on the phone is true, I may never get to tell Adi how I feel.
“What is it?” Chrissy asks. “Logan…what’s wrong with Adi?”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “We think…We think she might be dying.”
* * *
CURO
Tobias looks like a librarian in his early thirties, all tweed and glasses and hair slicked back. If not for the storm brewing in his eyes and the dried, bleeding cut on his forehead, he’d have come across as unperturbed and composed.
Instead, I look closer, noting the tremor in his hands as he lifts the cup of strong tea to his pale lips.
He takes two huge glugs and closes his eyes. “Oh, God. That’s good. That hit the spot.”
Logan enters the meeting room and closes the door behind him.
“Sit,” Dax says.
“Has he seen Adi yet?” Logan asks.
“No, he wants to talk to us first.”
Logan looks like he wants to argue.
“Adi is safe. Riley is watching over her,” Dax says.
He presses his lips together and takes a seat.
Tobias takes a shuddering breath. “You are all that Adi has left of a family, and to be frank, I’m at a loss to help her. Maybe we can come up with a solution together. But in order to help me, you must be given all the facts. Facts that even Adi isn’t privy to. Information I vowed to keep secret unless the sanctity of the lock was threatened.”
“As in now,” Dax says.
Tobias nods. “Yes, as in now.”
