“Levi, there you are,” the Queen harpy from Hell beckons. “I see you got rid of the trash.” Emer sashays next to Levi, and my headache immediately returns.
“Oh, look, the poisonous vulture has shown up. Our night is complete,” Zeke hisses at Emer as JP wraps his arm around his waist.
“What do you want, Emer?” Levi asks, looking bored.
I quickly scan the area to see if any of the other harpies are nearby, but surprisingly, I don’t see them. But I do see someone else I wasn’t expecting: Beck. It’s bad enough I saw that he was with the Bailiwick Academy, but he’s running the Gauntlet, too. Hopefully, we continue to avoid each other tonight and throughout the Gauntlet.
“I was hoping to spend some time with you.” She smiles, trying to look innocent. She’s completely failing. Levi blinks and stares at her for a few moments until she shifts in the uncomfortable silence, yet she doesn’t yield her comment.
“You can join us, but don’t expect a warm welcome,” Levi finally answers, and I whip my head around so fast, my neck cracks audibly.
“What?” My voice echoes along with the others in shock.
“There’s no harm in her joining us,” he explains as he nods for her to join, and Emer greedily steps in next to him, grabbing his arm, making him flinch at her touch. I literally grind my teeth to keep my jaw from hitting the ground as she looks over her shoulder and gives us a smug smile before leaning her head briefly on Levi’s shoulder.
“You really might have a case on the Levi body snatching theory,” Lynx says as he watches the two of them walk away.
“I have to agree, and we might as well put Emer on that list since she’s wide open to allow me to read her and she’s not hiding any ill intentions right now,” JP adds as we start to follow Levi and Emer.
I squint and cock my head as I think about what Lynx and JP said. Maybe he did get body snatched. It’s the only explanation as to what’s happening before me. Is this the spell she put on him working? Are we seeing it play out right before our eyes? If so, I don’t like it, and we need a way to cure him ASAP.
‘I agree. Do you think he’s masking his true feelings for our mate?’Barron asks.
I immediately scoff at the idea.
‘No, there’s no way, but he did take something that we still don’t know how will affect him,’I try to reason, but all it does is frustrate me and leave me anxious.
We stop at a stall of raw items, and something catches Emer’s eyes.
“Oh, Levi! Will you buy that?” She points to a jewel, and Levi scoffs.
“I said you could join us. Don’t mistake my kindness for anything else but being a proper host. My heart still belongs to Ner—” Levi flinches in pain and clears his throat. “Ner?—”
“You might as well give up, Levi,” Emer taunts. “It’s only going to get worse. You’ll find your instincts driving you to me, where you belong. And soon, you won’t even be able to say her name without the excruciating pain.”
“What the fuck did you do to?—”
Emer holds up her hand to Ryker, her next words stopping him in his tracks.
“Remember, he took the potion of his own accord,” she reminds us.
“He was coerced into it, you bitch, and you forced it down his throat in the end,” Zeke spits out. JP quietly grabs Zeke’s hand, trying to calm him down.
Emer shrugs but faces Levi.
“The question still stands. How do you really feel about everything right now? Despite what everyone is saying or telling you, what are you feeling right now?” she purrs with a self-satisfying smile.
Levi’s jaw clenches as he doesn’t answer, and it causes my animals to whine and thrash within me, which is the only reason I don’t feel another pack flanking me.
“Well, if it isn’t the powerful Knox Cloak and his ragtag brothers,” a snarly voice calls out.
My hackles raise as I slowly turn to address the figure I saw earlier. I had hoped it was a mistake, or he would have left the festivities, but apparently I was wrong.
“Beck. For what do we owe this displeasure?” I growl, taking in my old rival. The lion shifter, dressed in an open black velvetshirt tucked into his pants, puffing on his cigarette, just smirks as his friends look over my family behind me.
“Oh, I just wanted to see an oldfriend.” Beckingham runs his fingers through his quiffed blond hair.
“I don’t have time for any of your nonsense, Beck,” I tell him, turning my back on him and focusing back on Levi’s drama.
