Just as Libby started to jump over her head, Hope leaped up, locked her arms around Lib’s waist, pivoted, andtook her down.
“Nice.” Libby moved easily out of the way. “I didn’t expect it.”
“Thatwas the point.”
Lib danced for a while, looking for an opening. “We should probably talk about this. How was he?”
Hope rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. I didn’t sleep with him.”
“You didsomethingwith him.”
“Well, I did sleep with him. He stayed the night,” Hope admitted. “But he’s done that before.”
Libby shook her head. “So, what? Are you guys together now? I mean, what about your grand fate planand all that?”
Hope wanted to chuckle and tease with her friend, but her chest felt heavy. “I don’t know. I just got carried away and, I mean, it’s Paxton, except itwasn’t Paxton.”
Libby rubbed her eye. “What do you mean itwasn’t Paxton?”
“He turned into full-on vampire-demon-hybrid pain-in-the-ass last night,” Hope said. “All of a sudden, he was a warrior insteadof our friend.”
Libby tipped herself into a handstand and started walking across the room on her hands. “Paxisa warrior. I saw him fight, Hope. He’s definitely been training the last several years, and from what I can tell, most of it was live training. You need to know that. He’s not the same kid who would run scared tous as a child.”
Hope’s thighs carried his whisker burn this morning. She shivered, her body still sensitive. “I’m fully aware of that fact. He proved it all over again last night.”
“What about Drake?” Libby easily flipped her legs over and landed in perfect form.
“I don’t know,” Hope said. “Every time I talk to him, I feel like we could make a difference and prevent war. But he also has some grand scheme that I’m going to be queen ofall the land.”
Libby dropped into a deceptively casual pose before she turned and kicked Hope in the thigh. Hope went down and came back up, dodging in to tackle her friendto the ground.
Libby rolled easily away.“Nice tackle.”
“Thanks. Good kick,” Hope said, her shoulders feeling better. Her arm was finally completely healed.
“It might be nice to be queen.”
Hope chewed on the inside of her lip. “I wouldn’t mind being queen. But I want to actually work, not just, I don’t know, tell people what to do. I don’t even know what a Kurjan queen does.”
“Has there ever been a Kurjan queen?” Libby asked.
Hope thought about it. “Not in a long time, I think.” She’d never heard of one, but Drake had had a mother a long time ago. Had shebeen the queen?
“So couldn’t you just decide what you want to do?”
Hope shrugged. “I think the Kurjans are stuck in the last century, especially in their view of females.”
“Then you can bring them into this century,” Libby said. “However, I don’t think you should sacrifice yourself to do that. If the Kurjans need to be brought into the current century, we can figure out a way to do it. If you want to be with Paxton, then you should follow your heart, not some duty you’ve put on yourself.”
Hope didn’t know what to do, but she couldn’t get the previous night out of her mind. She still felt the imprint of Pax’s mouth on her. Everywhere. “I needed to see if you were okay with all of this.” She sat and stretched out her legs. Libby had a heck of a kick even when shewas pulling it.
Libby dropped into a split and stretched back until her head rested against her thigh. “Okay with you becoming queen of theKurjan nation?”
“No,” Hope said.
Libby leaned forward, her chest lowering all the way to her other leg. “You sacrificing yourself and saving the world?”
“No.”
