PROLOGUE
VIVICA YOUNG
My sister Erica answers my call on the second ring.
“Hey, Vivi,” she greets sunnily.
It’s still so, so good to hear this joy in her voice after all she’s been through. Riley is my only brother-in-law so far, but even if he were one of four, I’m pretty sure he’d be my favorite for the miracle worker he is.
“Hey back. So! Coven business and also pack business. Jason Creed. Bailey Blackwood.” I pause for effect, then add, “It’s time. Not getting detailed clarity but what Iamgetting… we need to seek a way to get her to follow Jase out of town.”
There’s a beat of silence before my sister exclaims, “What?”
“Jason Creed and Bailey Blackwood. It’s–”
“Uh oh. Oh shit! Do you think Jase might be in danger?” she exclaims. “Do you think it has something to do with the Starling artifacts?”
I can’t help but laugh at how animated she’s being. I’d say Bailey Blackwood is in earshot, and this is Erica decidingaction – it’s go time!
“I’ll call Dani now,” I tell her. “Get her to take a back seat so Bailey can step in. Safely. Yeah?”
“I mean, can’t we dosomething?” Erica sounds incensed.
We’ve already talked a little about this. Me, Ronnie, and Jess are trying to avoid getting too emotionally attached to this situation, though it’s not so easy after having spent some time with these folks. And Erica is absolutely invested, which my intuition is telling me could be problematic. She adores Bailey and told me she wanted to intervene days ago, but I asked her to wait until more was revealed to me, so she has managed to hold her urges in check. Most surprising is how invested Dani is, which is unusual for her as she’s probably the most pragmatic of the five of us.
This wolf shifter is hot and he knows it. And on Erica’s birthday, Dani let him charm her a little and when Erica stuck her oar in to put a stop to whatever was brewing between them for Bailey’s sake, I told Dani what I knew, what I hadn’t officially admitted to Erica until yesterday when I told her how to pack what we were sending with Jase. I told her I know BaileyisJase’s fated mate. But Erica said she’d already guessed the minute she saw them in the same space.
Dani and Jase were just about to lock lips when Erica’s text stopped her and Dani is relieved about that, never ever wanting to bethatgirlin the way of or causing drama when there’s a serious bond.
“I definitely know how important – howcritical– that he gets those artifacts there safely,” she replies. “And then gets home safely, too. What are we gonna do?”
I say, “We could use your help mapping out of some problems associated with all this. Can you come here or should we come there?”
“I’ll run coming to Marblehead past Riley. We’ve been talking about it and now might be the best time to do it,” Erica replies.
“He can’t catch wind of all this, or he’ll likely try to get involved.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“No,” I say carefully, “but that’s blaring in my mind right now so it’s obviously a warning to us.”
Now is the best time for Riley to leave his village while there’s a short reprieve between Arcana Falls council alpha claimings. Though I’m not sure it can be called a reprieve since I’m fairly sure the time for Jason and Bailey will descend while they’re overseas. Though I also know some unknown things will get in the way and strangely I know one of those things is us. This time around, we’re going to have to react on the fly, unfortunately.
“I’ll handle my man,” she says softly. Her volume increases, “I know we can’t always get involved, but don’t you think we should this time to make sure things don’t go wrong in Romania?”
“You’re doing well trying to stir Bailey into action,” I observe.
“Damn it, Vivica, okay, okay. Okay, I said! I won’t get involved, but I hope your instincts are right. I’ve got a funny feeling about this trip…”
I stifle a laugh. She’s good. More than good. My sister is who she was when she was nineteen and twenty. The Erica we all missed these last several years.
“We’ll talk later, okay? When there are no ears around. You let me know if you’re coming here or if we need to come up there.”
“Okay, okay.” She fakes being disgruntled with a heavy sigh.
“Okay, I’ll wait to hear from you.”
“Love ya! Bye for now!” she replies sunnily.