Emma knew that. Zach moved through the world like he was surrounded by an invisible barrier, maintaining a careful distance from almost everyone. She’d seen him go entire days without touching another person, communicating through words and looks, and body language that somehow said more than anything else ever could.
But he’d touched her. In front of his brothers. In front of everyone. For him, that was a blatant claim.
“Okay,” Emma sank into a chair. “Maybe it was something.”
“Thereit is,” Lena crowed.
Despite everything—the exhaustion, the residual adrenaline, the sheer surreal quality of the last twenty-four hours—Emma had to smile.
“Ooh, wait—you’re family now!” Lena exclaimed.
Emma furrowed her brow in confusion. She and Lena had been family for years, since they met in high school. “Um, Lena, we’ve been family forever.”
“Yes,myfamily. But now you’reIvoryfamily.”
A flash of understanding crossed Kate’s face, and she started laughing. Hysterically. What was she missing?
“Let’s not rush things. Zach and I may be trying, but we haven’t talked futures or anything.”
“Oh, that doesn’t matter,” Lena said blithely. “You’ve been accepted into the family. That means…”
She and Kate exchanged glances before they chorused, “Family Training!”
“Family training?” A curl of unease flickered to life. Kate and Lena were finding this way too funny. This could not be good.
“Yup. Family Training, led by Drill Sergeant Zach.” Lena chirped.
“You mean like the self-defense he’s been teaching me?” How was this funny?
“Yes.” Lena nodded.
“Okay…”
“It’s weekly wherever Zach is.” Kate said.
“Okay…” She was definitely missing something.
“Sundays,” Kate continued.
“5 am.” Lena added helpfully.
Emma blinked, looked between the two of them. “You’re telling me Zach runs drills for the family members every Sunday at 5 am?”
“Yup. No excuses accepted. We’re all there.”
“Oh, fuck me,” she slumped back in her chair. Now she understood their laughter.
Eventually, the girls stopped giggling enough to speak.
“So,” Lena leaned back with the air of someone preparing for story time. “Are we going to talk about what happened?”
The smile faded. “What do you mean?”
“I mean—” Lena gestured. “The storm. The artifact. The whole dramatic weather event that decided to throw a temper tantrum right over Ivory Island. Word is it got pretty intense.”
Emma hesitated. How much had the men told Kate and Lena? How muchcouldshe tell them?
“It was… complicated,” she said finally.
