Noah looks Devlin up and down, moving his chair a little and giving himself some space. “I uh, work with Lia at the library. I’m a clerk.”
“Ah. An archivist. That’s brilliant. You read, then?” Devlin leans in a little more, making up the space Noah put between them.
Noah pops a piece of steak in his mouth, chewing then taking a drink. “I do. I read all the time. It’s my favorite thing.”
“I love a well-read man. Glasses. Nose stuck in a book. How many books do you read a month?”
Noah shrugs. “I don’t know. With audios included, probably about twenty.”
“I bet you’re brilliant.” Devlin grins at him.
Noah smiles. “You know. I have been told that, yes.”
“Last week we read a book about a gargoyle in a museum coming to life and railing the museum owner,” Jamie snaps, then blushes. “Sorry, Mom.”
Lia takes a deep,deepbreath.
Devlin glares at Jamie before his gaze softens on Noah. “You love fantasy, then?” he purrs, and Noah nods. “How whimsical. I love to role-play.”
“Jesus Christ.” Jamie gets up, taking his empty plate, as well as Hunter’s and mine, to the kitchen, then he walks back into the dining room. “Dinner was great, Mom, but we um...” Jamie looks at me. “Unfortunately, we have something important that Devlin’s going to help us with.”
She frowns. “What do you mean? Are you going to get into trouble?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “It’s just something Devlin’s agreed to help us with. Right?” He looks at Devlin, but he’s staring at Noah. “Devlin!?”
“Huh? Oh, yes,” he says, his attention still on Noah. “I’ll help Noah.”
“Us. All, of, us.Weneed help.”
Devlin waves Jamie’s words away, still staring at Noah.
“You’re not in trouble, right?” Lia stands. “If I get a call from the police station, Jamie, I swear?—”
“No. Nothing like that. I promise.”
She sighs, getting up. “And I wonder why my hair is graying.” She smiles tightly but gives Jamie a big hug. “Help me clean up please, and then you guys can head off, but if I get a call from the police station, I don’t care how old you are, you’re grounded.”
“I don’t getwhy we needed to come here!” I just want to go get Sawyer back. I didn’t think I had much hope, but with Devlin we may have a chance. Ivan only has Dom and Tagar, and when it comes down to it, I know Tagar wouldn’t hurt me unless he absolutely had to.
Dom on the other hand, I’m not so sure.
“Do we have a plan?” Hunter asks.
“Don’t get killed?” I say. It’s been hours now, and god knows what he’s doing to Sawyer. Or Katya. He could already be gone. I’ve never been this out of control.
“Where is Devlin?” Noah walks out in jeans and a T-shirt. When we got back to Noah and Jamie’s, Devlin said he needed to change his clothes into something comfier and easier to move in.I’m not sure why. What he had on was fine. With a bag in hand, Devlin disappeared into their bathroom.
“Babe, I don’t know, maybe you should?—”
Noah presses a finger to Jamie’s lips. “We are a team. This is a team effort. We don’t leave friends behind.” He gives Jamie a sad smile.
“If things go wrong?—”
“Then they go wrong as a group. I’m not letting anything happen to you guys.” Noah looks around the living room. “Where’s Devlin?”
“He’s using the bathroom. Said he needed to change into something comfier.” My heart is beating out of my chest.
I look up and find Hunter’s dark eyes on me. I’m positive he would already have killed me if I wasn’t the only one who knows where Sawyer is.
