He ignored the jab, while laughter rippled around the room.He didn’t care what Maddie, or anyone else, thought of him.Lola’s opinion was the only one that mattered.Callon pulled out his phone and sent Riker a quick text.Then he slipped it back into his pocket and looked back at his female.“I know.”He held up his hands.“You’ve got questions, and I’ve got answers.You can ask them on the way to the compound.”
“Just what I was going to suggest.”Lyra’s voice was light.Callon could tell she was trying to defuse the situation.“I’ll join you.I need to address theanimi.”Her voice didn’t sound nearly as light when she made that statement.
“I agree.”Taras nodded, then added, “Kian, you and Roan head to the compound as well.Roan, you can help Lyra.Kian, did you text Jaxine?”
“Yes, Prime.”Kian glanced down at the phone in his hand.“She agreed to meet us.I told her I’d explain when she arrived.”He paused and his gaze bounced to Callon.
Callon rocked back on his heels.“What?”
“She might have mentioned something about wanting to fill you so full of poison that your eyeballs popped out.”His eyebrows raised.“Because of her back room, or something like that.”Kian’s gaze darted away from Callon’s as soon as he was done speaking.
Callon held out a hand toward Lola.“She’ll get over it.Sazzi, let’s go.”
“What about me?”
“You’ll go with me, Maddie.”Roan spoke up.“You’re not a Damarian and therefore don’t fall under their jurisdiction, so to speak.Since you know about us, the Shaman are now responsible for you.”
Her brow rose.“And if I don’t want to go with you?Aren’t there nine other Shaman I can pick from?”
“Maddie,” Lola hissed.“Don’t be a brat.Just ride with the grumpy Shaman to the compound, and we’ll meet up back there.”She paused as she pulled out her phone.“Oh, and text your mom.The only thing I can come up with is that we decided on a last big hoorah before we start community college.”Lola tilted her head to the side.“I mean, we’re nineteen?—”
“Which means we’re completely impulsive, emotional, and driven by our libidos,” Maddie finished for her.
Lola pressed her lips together and shook her head.“I’m not telling my parents that I’m being ‘driven by my libido.’”
“Why?”Maddie shrugged.“It’s actually true in your case.”
Callon pulled Lola toward the elevator doors.He had a feeling if he didn’t separate them, they’d do this all night and then all the next day.
“I’m reminding myself that I love you, Mads,” Lola called back to her friend.
“I’ll text Katy’s dad,” Maddie replied.
The elevator doors closed.Lola looked at Callon.“Why didn’t Wyatt and the others use the elevator?”
“Some cats don’t like enclosed spaces.Especially ones they can’t see out of.”
“Hmm,” she breathed out.“Makes sense.”
He held her hand as they walked to the car, then opened her door.Lola buckled in and angled her body toward him.“Now tell me what in the ten kingdoms your father was talking about when he said I need to know how to shift.”
Callon smirked.“Did you just use my world as a curse word?”
“I did, and I will do more than that if you don’t start explaining stuff.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she suddenly reached over and slapped her hand over it.“Hold that thought.I gotta text the ’rents.”
Callon nipped the soft flesh of her palm, causing her to squeak and pull her hand away.
“No biting.”She scowled and focused on her phone.
He chuckled as he pulled out onto the dark street.“One day you’ll change your tune.”
Lola’s thumbs quickly moved across the screen as she typed out a text to her mom.She didn’t even bother to acknowledge Callon’s comment.Mostly because she had a feeling he wasn’t wrong, and that annoyed her.But worse, it made her feel exposed and vulnerable.She hit send and less than twenty seconds later, her phone rang.
Lola took a deep breath and then let it out slowly before answering the phone.“Hi mom.”Her voice sounded tight even to her own ears.
“Have you lost your ever-loving, pizza-fumes-saturated brain?”Andi rarely used the mom-voice since Lola became an adult.“You can’t just take off without talking to us first.”
