“Maybe just text him, pretend to be Katy, and say her phone died.Use some big, fancy words and say she’s going on a road trip with us.And we’ll tell our parents the same thing.Spur of the moment, completely irresponsible nineteen-year-old thing to do.”She nodded frantically, as if that would somehow make her idea more plausible and less ridiculous than it sounded.
Maddie gave her a flat look.“Because we don’t have a car.”
“We’re borrowing Callon’s,” Lola countered.
“A guy you’ve known all of five minutes.”Maddie held up a finger, stopping Lola from speaking.“Though, considering you might be pregnant with his child, it would be more probable that he would let us use his car.Okay, carry on with your hole-riddled plan.”
Lola held up her own finger.“First, unless kissing is what it takes to make a baby these days, I am no more pregnant with Callon’s child than I could be with Roan’s.”
“Whoa, donotbring me into this conversation.You and I have never kissed.”Roan snapped.“I’m lucky to have made it out of your bedroom alive in the first place.”
Callon growled and pulled Lola closer to him, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders as they walked.
Lola bowed her head.“Sorry about that.For a few seconds, I forgot that he’s a psycho, berserker lion.The point I’m trying to make is I’m not stinking pregnant.”
“You’re awfully defensive,” Maddie said as they reached the elevators.
Lola pinched the bridge of her nose.“I’m just going to ignore that entire part of the conversation and remind myself that you’re under a lot of stress at the moment.Let’s refocus on what we’re going to tell all of our parentals so they don’t go to the police and report us missing.”
Maddie blew out a sharp breath and jammed the elevator button with more force than necessary.“Deal.”She growled while stabbing the button again.“Why are these things so freaking slow?And why are we here instead of on a plane bound for New Orleans?That’s where you said the girls are being taken, right?”
Roan placed a hand lightly on her shoulder.“We’ll figure this all out.”Though his voice was gruff, the gentleness in it was unmistakable.“We will have her rescued as quickly as possible, so hopefully a swift road trip won’t make your parents suspicious.But we must be smart.A reckless mistake could risk Katy’s life.”
Maddie bit her lip but gave a tight nod, conceding his point.Lola didn’t miss the way her friend sidestepped around Roan so that his hand dropped from her shoulder.She watched Maddie’s glare as her friend’s eyes shifted between Roan and the elevator doors.Lola couldn’t help but feel that something had happened between Maddie and the Shaman while she and Callon had been away from them in her room.Something that seemed to be unfinished, though both of them were attempting to ignore whateveritwas.
Finally, the doors slid open, and they stepped inside.Lola leaned into Callon’s strength as his muscled arm tightened around her.Now that her mouth was closed, and she was no longer having her own panic attack, she could feel his emotions.He wasn’t as unaffected as she’d first thought.Though his face remained impassive, the rage coming off him was stifling.
The elevator opened directly into Taras’s spacious office.Lola glanced at Maddie to gauge her reaction.Her eyes were wide, but she was focused on the large windows.To be fair, they were an impressive sight.But if Maddie were able to see past the glamour in the Prime’s office, her attention would have been on the textured terracotta walls, the rough stone floor, and the expensive-looking, exotic woven rugs.It looked nothing like a modern business office.
The Prime stood behind his massive oak desk, concern etched into his leonine features—a mixture between man and beast.Again, Lola looked at Maddie, but she didn’t get the impression that Maddie was seeing anything other than a handsome man who didn’t look quite old enough to have a son Callon’s age.
“My son.”Taras came forward to grip Callon’s shoulder firmly.“Congratulations on your mating.I only wish it were under better circumstances.”
Lyra, the Prima, and Taras’s mate, stood at his side, regal and beautiful despite the late hour.She was in her fully human form.Her brow was pinched with worry, and after looking everyone over, she focused her gold eyes on Lola.Her features softened as she quickly walked over and wrapped Lola in a tight embrace.Callon kept a firm grip on Lola’s hand throughout the hug.
“I am so sorry, sweet Lola.”Lyra’s voice was as gentle as a soft breeze.“This should not have happened.We should have considered that since you’ve become of interest, they might target your friends and family.Typically, ananimusis treated with utmost respect and reverence, but the Kingdom of Venom seems to have forgotten the blessing of ananimuscan only be fully realized if theychooseto be with a beastwalker instead of simply being forced into our culture.”
Lola’s body stiffened at the Prima’s words.Her friend was quicker on the draw as Maddie’s voice filled the quiet, tension-filled room.
“What do you mean, ‘forced into our culture’?”
Lyra stepped back, her hands sliding to Lola’s shoulders.She gave them a final squeeze.“We aren’t cruel or evil.But not too long ago, all of our kind made bad choices.”
Lola could see the pain in the Prima’s eyes as they filled with tears.“We’ve all done bad things.No one is perfect.I mean, I’ve done bad things.Maddie, you’ve done bad things, right?”When her friend didn’t answer, Lola turned her head and nodded frantically at her.“Right?”she said again, more sternly.
Maddie blinked several times, looking from Lyra to Lola.“Right,” she said, though it sounded like a question.“I mean, of course.But you know, there’s bad things and then there’s baaaaad things.I feel like the beautiful, yet scary-looking woman is sayingthey, I’m guessing she means the collective whole of her people, have done baaaaad things.I haven’t buried any dead bodies lately, soooo…”
Lola huffed out a breath and turned back to Lyra.“Not to call your integrity into question or anything, but we’re not talking the ‘burying dead bodies’ kind of bad, are we?”She held up a hand.“Not that I’m judging.I’m totally not judging.It’s not like I haven’t ever thought, ‘Man, I wish that so-and-so would drop dead.’We’ve all had those kinds of thoughts, right?”Lola nodded.Again, her head was moving a little too fast and, as usual, her mouth wouldn’t stay shut.“But, even if it isthatkind of bad, sometimes there’s a good explanation.”
“Okay, that’s totally true.There are some people that just need to be un-alived.”
“Un-alived, Maddie?”Roan asked, his tone dry.“Is ‘murder’ one of those words that’s been canceled?”
“I was thinking it was nicer than saying made dead.And I wasn’t going to touch the M word.But now you’ve done and gone there.So let’s just get the elephant out of the room.Who’d you guys kill?But don’t tell us where the bodies are.Then we can truthfully say we don’t know anything.”
“But you’ll knowwhowe killed,” another voice said.
Lola turned to see who’d spoken.
