Troy pointed at her. “It is a name!”
Rogue nodded, her eyes on Reed. “And if you don’t like that, what about Rack or Reena?”
Troy looked like he was considering it. Reed shook her head, shooting eye-daggers at Rogue.
Troy snapped his fingers. “I like it.”
Rogue nodded again, full of my-job-here-is-done energy, then strolled off. Reed stared after her. “She did that on purpose,” she said. She grabbed Sage’s elbow and whispered in her ear. “She mocks Troy constantly. I’m this close to telling her off.”
“Oh no,” Sage said. “I mocked Troy. Are you mad at me?”
Reed smiled. “No, you do it in a funny way.” She pointed at Rogue’s back as she walked away. “She’s just mean.”
Like thevod, went through Sage’s mind, and she shook the thought off, looking at Canyon. Canyon wasn’t mean.
Reed pulled her toward the back of the house, where two rows of four cabins sat. “Ours is Cabin #9. We have a dual cabin with Troy’s brother, and his mate.”
Sage’s mind felt overrun with details. Reed pulled her down a center path between the cabins, until they reached the last one. It was twice as big as all the others, almost like a duplex, but with one connecting room in the middle. Reed pulled her to the front door on the left, and they went inside. The door opened into a living area, with the kitchen and dining area to the left, plus a hallway to a bedroom. On the right was an airy dayroom walled in mostly with glass. Boxes were stacked everywhere.
Reed pointed at the dayroom. “That’s the connection to Trent and Rowan’s place. They’re not here right now—off on some secret assignment.” She moved boxes off the couch and Sage went over to help. Troy and Canyon moved farther into the room to look out the back windows, talking about some investigation.
Someone knocked on the door and Reed answered it. Timber stood there. He pushed his way inside and flopped down the couch. “Graeme's not home.” He pointed at Canyon. “Wulf’s outside.” He pointed at Sage. “Heather said she’s coming by to meet you and she’s bringing the spicy baby.”
“Spicy baby?” Sage repeated, sitting down in an easy chair. “Should I be scared?”
“Kendra’s pretty scary,” Timber said, nodding.
“Psh. She’s just a baby,” Troy snorted.
A knock at the door came again. Reed opened the door, but instead of a fire baby, it was… Crew Arcoal! He wore jeans, boots, and a dark blue Henley top. He held a female’shand, but Sage barely noticed. He’d saved Paisley and she owed him everything. At the very least, she wanted to express her gratitude. She moved to the doorway, waiting for someone to introduce them.
“Sage, this is Crew and this isDahlia,” Reed sang.
“Hi,” Crew said, coming in the room, with Dahlia next to him.
“Hi,” Dahlia said with a smile. “We saw you drive in and rushed right over to meet you.”
Sage clasped her hands in front of her, saying, “Crew. Ah, on behalf of my family, we want to say thank you for saving Paisley White, when you, you know, back last October when she was—”
Crew smiled. “No problem, but it wasn’t me. It was Dahlia.”
Sage’s swung her gaze to Dahlia, looking at her for the first time. She was short, like Sage, with untamed brown hair and big brown eyes, wearing slacks and an SPD sweatshirt.
Dahlia said, “I didn’t do much, just die.”
Everyone in the room laughed except Sage and Reed. Sage looked at their amused faces, not sure what to think.
Canyon crossed the room and took her hand. “Khain was after Dahlia all along, using Paisley to lure Dahlia out in the open and kill her in front of Crew without him being able to fight back.”
“Kill?” Sage whispered, staring at this very alive female.
Dahlia shrugged. “I got to choose whether to live again. They sent me back.”
“Who sent you back?” Sage asked.
Dahlia shrugged. “You know, Rhen and myecho. We can talk about it sometime if you want. Go to lunch.”
Sage nodded, feeling dazed at the same time. “I would love that.” She released Canyon’s hand and took Dahlia’s in both of hers. “On behalf of my family, thank you.”
