I stood up. “What does that mean?”
“It means… there’s a child waiting for us.”
Chills swept across my arms. “Are you sure? Maybe it’s a scam. Maybe they—”
“It’s a live transaction. I have to make the exchange today or she’ll withdraw the offer.”
“It could be dangerous,” Leo warned. “They might be luring you for money and using a woman to gain your trust.”
Levi pressed his fingertips against the table. “Leo’s right. You need to arm yourself.”
I stepped back and pushed in my chair. “I’m going.”
Several voices rose up in argumentative chatter, some mentioning the dangers of the snow while others were concerned about who we were dealing with.
When Justus seized my arm, I searched his eyes for some sense of understanding. “I have to go. You know I can take care of myself. I’m not letting Logan do this alone. I know it’s dangerous, but this could also be our only chance.”
Justus loosened his grip without a word. Only a father could understand how important this was to us.
Unlike some of the men in the room, Logan didn’t argue for me to stay. We’d always done everything together, including fighting battles. If this was a setup to ambush him for money and take his head, I wasn’t going to let that happen. But if this was a legitimate offer, I had to be all in, despite what we’d agreed upon the night before.
Simon polished off his wine. “You need backup.”
“We can’t risk it,” Logan said. “My contact is already jittery about the situation. I don’t think she’s done this before, and I’m afraid she’ll back out. We can’t come across as people with malicious intentions to steal the child without paying. I had to extend my trust in exchange for hers. No backup. No weapons.”
I flashed upstairs as fast as I could, my heart racing inside my chest. Was this really happening? Or were my hopes going to be dashed once again?
I stuffed clothes into a bag for each of us. Toothpaste, toothbrushes, underwear…
“What else? What else?” I whispered, looking around the room.
Logan came into the bedroom. “We go now. There’s a cabin upstate she reserved for us, and we’ll meet her there. It’s secluded, and I don’t know how long it will take to get there with the weather. We might have to walk some of the way.”
I snapped my fingers. “Boots.”
Logan and I had quality winter gear, so I slipped on thermal pants beneath my jeans before grabbing my waterproof boots. Logan put on his black down coat with the fur-lined hood. I had a matching one except that it reached my knees. My mind wouldn’t think straight, so I didn’t bother packing anything else.
As I lifted our bags, Logan took me by the arms and kissed me hard. “It’s happening, Little Raven.”
“What?”
“Our destiny.”
Chapter 14
Levi
Levi glancedat the clock again. It had been two hours since Silver and Logan left, and his nerves were a mess. He could barely enjoy his fourth helping of apple pie à la mode.
Sunny and Novis had talked about canceling their plans to stay the night until Justus convinced them the roads weren’t safe enough to drive. The city trucks would be out the following morning, so there was no sense in putting the kids in unnecessary danger. There was plenty of room, and Page offered to lend them something to wear if they had to stay a little longer. After all, Sunny and the children were mortal, and that made them fragile. Had they insisted on leaving, Levi was pretty sure that he and Lucian would have removed the tires from Novis’s car.
Levi folded his arms while listening to Sadie’s sweet voice singing the children to sleep. They were snuggled up on the sofas with their blankets and stuffed animals, and their eyes were transfixed on the light display above. They could be a handful, and while some of the adults needed an occasional break from all the noise and excitement, Levi didn’t mind. He liked the sound of children and the energy they brought into a house. It was a sound absent from his own home.
Leo was their only real hope for expanding the Cross family, and like most Chitahs, he was probably waiting around to meet his kindred spirit. If that didn’t happen, he’d just have to settle with someone who could make his heart go pitter-pat. Logan and Silver obviously couldn’t have children together, and Lucian was too damn introverted to become a family man.
Levi sighed and leaned back in his chair. It wasn’t in the cards for him to have kids. He had a hard enough time finding men who were out with their sexuality, let alone a good match. The men he dated were outside his Breed. What was the point of dating another Chitah? Because of the social pressure to have kids, most of them didn’t come out. They were treated as traitors who didn’t care about their race surviving. Statistically there were more male Chitahs than females, and most waited as long as it took to find their kindred spirit—sometimes centuries, which was why there weren’t as many as one might think.
He rubbed his face. Now Logan and Silver were in a dangerous predicament. Some of the criminals who worked the black market were honest, but Levi patrolled the streets and had once worked in a Breed jail. He knew all about that dark underworld. Children were rarely given up for adoption, and those who wound up in orphanages or on the black market came from tragic circumstances. Unless they were stolen. There were plenty of sickos who wanted children for sadistic reasons. Some used them as personal servants, and others selected kids of a certain Breed to do their dirty work. They raised Shifters and Chitahs to become killers who did their bidding. It was the ultimate form of brainwashing.
