“The ice cream store,” Paxton said.
“No, the movie theater,” Hope said, trying to sound happy and not like her heart was breaking.
Libby smiled. “No. The three spies, remember? We’re gonna be spies.” She wiped her nose. “Except now we might have to spy against each other.”
“No,” Pax said, putting an arm around each of them. “Never against each other. Not us.”
“Okay.” Libby hugged him again and then hugged Hope. “I have to go. I’ll call when I get to Montana.” She ran out of the room, still crying.
Hope ground a palm into her eye. “I can’t believe this.” The Seven weren’t bad, or Garrett and Logan wouldn’t be part of them. “What are we gonna do?” They had to figure out a way to get the shifter nations to change their minds. They were a part of the Realm.
Pax shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe if we kicked the Seven out, then we could all align again.”
Hope shook her head. She wanted to tell Pax everything she’d dreamed and figured out so far, but sometimes he made judgments without all the facts, like he had with Drake the Kurjan. She didn’t want Pax mad at her right now, especially since Libby had just left. “Why do grownups goof everything up all the time?”
Pax patted her shoulder with his bony hand. “Maybe the grownups are right. Your dad is really smart and he knows how to protect the nation, so we should trust him. Let’s ask him what he thinks about the Seven.”
It was a good plan.
Her dad walked into the room right then, a scowl on his face. Pax took a step back.
Hope picked up the present from Libby. “Dad? Do you think the Seven are bad?”
Her dad paused, his eyes greener than usual. “What do you know about the Seven?”
Her stomach rolled over. “We’ve been hearing rumors that the shifters are leaving because of the Seven, and that maybe they’re bad, but they might be good. What do you think?”
“I think they’re a disaster,” her dad growled. “I need to figure some things out before I make a decision.”
In other words, he knew that Uncle Logan was a member of the Seven and he wanted to get Logan out. But there was no getting out, as far as Hope knew. She kept quiet, though. Sometimes fate wanted secrets kept, and since the adults kept screwing things up, she wasn’t going to say a word. Right now, anyway.
Zane looked at Paxton. “You ready to go see your uncle?”
Pax’s eyebrows rose. “We’re still doing that today? With everything else going on?” He sounded kind of nervous.
Zane nodded. “Yeah. I could use some air and am planning to walk back to demon headquarters. Do you want to come with us, Hope?”
“Yes,” she said, wanting to reach for Pax’s hand but feeling weird about it. They’d kissed, and it was nice, but they were just friends. Hopefully Pax knew that, too. “Dad? Can’t you make the shifters stay in the Realm?”
Her dad reached for her coat on the sofa. “Honey, I’m not even sure I can make the demon nation stay in the Realm right now.”
* * * *
Paxton felt skinny and slow as he walked along the lake by the demon leader. Zane was silent on the journey, no doubt trying to figure out how to fix the Realm. Change sucked. It totally sucked that Libby and his other shifter friends had to leave Idaho. It wasn’t fair that the kids all suffered because the adults kept screwing things up, just like Hope had said.
She knew more about the Seven than she’d admitted. He’d been able to read her for a long time, because she wasn’t very good about keeping her expressions hidden.
Not like him.
He couldn’t believe she’d let him kiss her the other night. It was the best night of his entire life, even though his dad had nearly broken his hip this time. But he’d gotten out, and he’d kissed his girl, and he was like a guy in a movie. Well, except that he wasn’t tough. Yet.
His gut ached at the thought of staying with his uncle, but the demon couldn’t be worse than his dad had been. His memories of his demon uncle were hazy but seemed pretty cool. If he turned into a jackass who hit, Pax was out of there. He’d spent enough time feeling scared, and he was old enough and big enough to make it on his own.
They reached the demon subdivision and walked through the snowy streets to a small home, all brick, at the end of a drive.
Pax couldn’t breathe.
Zane slid an arm over his shoulder. “Your uncle is a decent guy. I wouldn’t let you stay with him if I hadn’t checked up on him.” He rang the doorbell.
