Lola bit her bottom lip as she considered the fact that she was going to have to lie to her parents.There was just no other option.Not unless she got Taras’s and Lyra’s permission to tell her parents the truth.But even then, how would they react?She’d like to think that her parents were open-minded and that they wouldn’t freak the hell out.No one was that open-minded.
“Do you hear the words that are coming out of my mouth, Lola Ann Katz?”Her mother’s sharp tone snapped her from her thoughts.
“Lola Ann Leo,” Callon rumbled softly from beside her.
She shot him a glare.“Yes, Mom, I hear you.”
“Then you are already turning your happy, hopping-into-a-car-with-a-guy-you’ve-known-for-less-than-a-fruit-fly’s-life-cycle-ass around.Aren’t you?”She ended the question on a high, chipper note that made Lola cringe.
“Not exactly,” Lola said slowly.“Look, Mom, I know this is completely out of character for me.”
“This is much more than that, Lo.”Mom’s voice softened a bit.“You’ve never done something to please a guy.Why on earth are you doing this now?You have plans for your life.This could mess those up.”
Lola frowned.“What are you talking about?My plans aren’t changing just because I’m taking a little vacation.That’s ridiculous.And”—Lola held up a finger as if her mother could see her—“I’m nineteen.If I want to hop in the car with a guy and my best friends, I can do that.I need you to trust me.”And wasn’t that the kicker?Because they couldn’t trust her.Not when she was sitting there in that car lying through her ever-loving teeth.
Andi went quiet.It was late, and Lola knew her mom had to be exhausted.She hated to add more stress to her parents’ lives.But her life had changed overnight, and now she had to adapt.
“Well.”Her mother finally breathed out a heavy sigh.“You’re right.You can do what you want.I just hope you’ll be smart.Or smarter than you’re being right now.Please use protection.No matter what he says, he could still have some weird disease, especially if he’s the kind of guy who can get girls to drop everything and take a so-called road trip with him.”
Lola sputtered.“Mom, what are… Good-freaking-grief.I’m not sleeping with him.”
“I never said you were sleeping.I’d much prefer it if you weresleepingwith him and not?—”
“Okay.”Lola cut her mother off as her skin heated.“That’s enough of that, thank you very much.”She pinched the bridge of her nose.“I’ll be in touch so you know I haven’t been kidnapped, trafficked, or sold to the circus.Okay?”
“Tell him to choose the circus if he does wind up being a psycho.At least then we’d get to see you every other year when they come through town.”Andi Katz was angry.She rarely spoke this way to Lola, her tone as biting as the winter chill in New York in January.“I love you, Lola.And if you need anything, like a plane ticket out of wherever the hell you are going, then you call us immediately.Promise?”
“Of course.”She nodded.“I didn’t mean to make you angry or worried.”
“I’m your mother, Lo.Worrying comes with the job description because I love you.Just—” She stopped, and Lola swore she could hear the tears in her mom’s voice.“Just promise to keep in touch.”
“I will.I give you my word.”Which isn’t worth shit, by the way.Lola’s stomach twisted, and she thought she might puke at any moment.She ended the call and set the phone in her lap.Her hands trembled slightly, and she found herself squeezing them into fists.
A much larger hand came down and completely covered hers.“It’s going to be okay, Sazzi,” Callon said gently.“I know you don’t like lying.”
“You can feel it?”She looked down at his hand.
“Yes.”
“Can I tell them?I mean, once we get Katy back,” she said quickly.“Can I tell them about you so I don’t have to keep my life a secret from them?”
“I will talk to my parents.”Callon patted her hands.“I’m not going to force you to choose between us, Lola.I would never ask that of you.”
She believed him.And she was glad because she was almost certain she would choosehim.And that would tear a piece of her soul out, knowing she’d discard her parents so easily for someone she just met.What kind of person did that make her?
“It doesn’t make you a bad person.”
“Dammit, I said that out loud.”She shook her head.She needed to invest in duct tape.Lots of it.
“You are no longer human, Sazzi.”Callon’s voice filled the interior of the car, washing over her like a warm shower.He made her feel safe.He made her feel like everything was going to work out.“You’re soul is bonded with mine.I would walk through the fires of hell to get to you, and you would do the same for me.It doesn’t mean you don’t care about other people, like your parents.It simply means that we are committed to each other first.And sometimes that’s going to mean I need to step back and let you have time with your parents.”
“Why do you sound like that’s the most horrific thought in the world?”She glanced away from their hands to his face.
“Because I’ll have to be away from you.”
Lola made an O with her lips.“It really bothers you to leave me, doesn’t it?”
Callon’s chest rumbled with the growly sound of his beast.“You have no idea.”
