I clear my throat, and she shifts her legs, making space for me to sit with her in the orange glow of the sun. I rest myhand on her legs as Ellie barks in the distance, urging Seven for another throw of Jesse's humerus. They've been at it for twenty minutes straight, and I'm not sure who's having more fun, honestly.
Aurora sits up, putting a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the light. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, but there's something we need to talk about."
Her brows draw in, and I know she's already got her hackles up, but I'm not going to try to help her understand Atticus's actions again. I did that once already, and felt like a total ass afterward.
Even if Idounderstand how Atty's mind works—whyit went to the place it did—I can't justify his actions.
And how can I ask her to forgive him when I'm not sure if I fully have yet myself?
"If it's abouthim?—"
"It is," I admit. "But it's not what you're thinking."
Her brows lower.
"He has everything in place. Says he's ready to go over the plan with us and begin."
I hate how I can see the tension winding tighter in the set of her shoulders.
"He's worried that if you need to learn everything from us secondhand, that things could be missed or misunderstood." I rub soothing circles on her thigh. "You need to decide how you want to handle this part."
She's quiet for a long moment. "What do you think?"
I canter my head this way and that. "I think he has a point. If we go over everything together, then there's no doubt we're on the same page and there's less chance for any sort of error that could…"
I can't finish the sentence.
It's taken everything in me not to beg her to change her mind this week. The closer we've grown, the more of myself I've shared with her and her with me, the less I can stomach the idea of her putting herself at risk for us, no matter how capable I know she is.
I'd have done it, too, but when I talked to Sev about it, he convinced me not to. Not because of what could be gained, but what I could lose by not letting her lead herself.
She needs to be the one in control of her choices,he said.Even if we don't like them.
I know he's right. And I also know we'll do everything within our power to ensure her safety while she helps us exact our vengeance.
She covers my hand with hers, rubbing her thumb over the raised scars there, bringing me back from a very bleak edge.
"If you think that's best, then that's how we'll do it."
"Are you sure, Angel?"
Her jaw flexes, but she nods.
"I want a boundary, though."
I cock my head at her.
"He can pick a place. His office, the library, whatever. Any time there's new information or something that needs discussing, we do it there and only there."
"So we make one place in the house, like…Switzerland?"
She nods. "And when I walk out the door, he goes back to being the North fucking Pole."
Seems fair enough to me.
"Okay, I'll tell him."
