“Would you spin for me while I jumped rope?” I ask, tugging on Trips’ arm and blinking up at him, the picture of childish innocence.
“Of course,” he says at the same time the guard whispers to Falk and rushes ahead of us into the building.
We’re in the atrium before I spin to face our remaining guard, and he’s shaking his head, soft chuckles I wasn’t expecting coming from him. “He’s going to lose his breakfast after the show you two just put on.”
“Good. Is it possible—” I start when he turns his back to us.
“I’ll let you know when he’s coming back.”
I’m practically skipping as I scan the lobby, looking for Walker where he usually waits. Then I’m sprinting, flinging myself into his arms. “Oh God, I’ve missed you so much,” I whisper into the crux of his neck, his familiar maple and pine scent making my eyes water. A moment later, arms band around us both, the scent of clean laundry and something earthy I can’t quite name tickling my senses, and my giggle comes out a near sob.
Walker sets me down, pressing a kiss to my lips before turning me toward Jansen. Only the guy there isn’t the JansenI remember. The same green eyes smile down at me, but they’re surrounded by smudged black eyeliner, his cheekbones sharp against his pale skin, the newly shorn black hair making him look like a ghostly, puckish vampire prince. The addition of a nose ring and a lip ring has me raising my fingers to his face, and he burrows his cheek into my palm.
“What the fuck are you wearing?” Trips asks from beside us, breaking the trance.
Jansen’s grin presses against my hand, but his eyes stay locked on me. “Your dad is looking for a blond hippie dude. I’m not a blond hippie dude anymore. Ergo, I get to come out of hiding. I’ve been watching from a distance for about a week, seeing if your guards would recognize me.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” I whisper, my other hand trembling as I place it against the center of his chest. Against the point where so much of him flooded out that I was sure I’d lose him.
Walker presses against my back, his lips soft against the side of my neck, and I lean against him. “How did you two lose your guards? How long do we have?” he asks.
Jansen presses his lips to my palm, and I feel a childish urge to close my fist to keep the kiss safe.
“Clara scared the one not on our side away. The other one is keeping watch,” Trips explains.
“Clara scared him away?” Jansen asks, lifting his chin as I slide my hand down the side of his neck, feeling the pulse there, steady and strong.
“She threatened to jump rope with his intestines. He ran off to vomit.”
Walker’s laugh jostles me, and I don’t mind one bit. “He believed her?”
“I’m intimidating,” I say.
The three of them stay silent.
“What?” I ask, finally turning away from Jansen and spearing Trips with a glare. “You were there.”
“You weren’t exactly intimidating. You sounded like a ten-year-old with no respect for human life and a strange infatuation with balloon animals.”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
Jansen’s about to ask us to clarify, but I press a finger to his lips, the moments slipping away too fast. He quiets, his posture turning rigid as I keep him from speaking. It affects me too, for all that I can’t act on it right now. “It’s not important. What is important is two things.” Removing my finger from his lips, I shiver as he licks them. “One: I have a phone now, but it’s monitored. I’ll use it to reach out to you guys, but it’ll have to be in simple code and about nothing particularly important. Two: I found a way for either RJ or you, Walker, to come to the wedding, but it’s not the best deal.”
“You made a deal with my father?” Trips asks, while Walker asks what the deal is.
I ignore Trips.
“I promised him a liver.”
Once again, I’m surrounded by their silence, but this time, there’s a lot less humor in it.
“Whose?” Jansen asks.
I shrug. “Someone who deserves it.”
They share a look, and I don’t know what else I can tell them. “I said it wasn’t the best deal.”
“What are the chances Bryce is a match?” Walker asks nobody in particular.
