Page 44 of Warlander Beast Cat

Lucia broke the silence. “When my dad helped me build this place, he said someday I would have two friends sit here with me. He said I needed three chairs. Maybe four. He said he had a vision. I was going to have friends.”

Chills rippled up Cadence’s arms and spine. When she glanced at Jenna’s face, she was pretty sure she had chills, too.

Beaston had a vision of this?

Chills. Chills. Chills.

Lucia continued. “I didn’t know about visions back then, and I thought he was just talking to give me hope. I don’t…” She tilted her head back and drank all of the contents of her cup, and then said, “I don’t make friends easily. I was lonely, and I thought he wanted to make me feel better.” Lucia drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, swirling the empty cup gently. “Now I know about the visions. I wish I didn’t, but I do.” She dragged bright eyes to Cadence. “Now, you go.”

“You want me to go…away?” Cadence asked softly.

“I told you something real.”

“So, you want me to say something real?”

“Are you okay?” Lucia said stiffly.

Kru had asked that too. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

“Because I’ve seen.”

“Seen what?” Cadence asked, her irritation growing.

Lucia inhaled deeply and shrugged. “This one changes. No point in telling you until you make a decision. Are you okay?”

She didn’t know why this conversation made her defensive. “I guess…” Cadence took a big drink and mirrored Lucia’s posture—knees up, arms wrapped around her bent legs. “I guess I don’t understand myself around him.”

“You really care for him?” Jenna asked softly.

Cadence pursed her lips against a tremble there. “I’m not weak,” she gritted out, hating the stupid moisture that rimmed her eyes. She blinked hard and repeated it. “I’m not weak.”

“Feeling isn’t weak. Not feeling is weak,” Lucia said.

“He played with me.” Cadence made a clicking sound behind her teeth and stared out at the dark ravine. “I feel stupid. I feel…hurt. But it’s okay. It’s all good. It’s all going to be all right,” she said, throwing it away and preparing to change the subject. “I’m very tough.”

“Did you hear what he was saying to Sasha?” Lucia asked.

“During the speed-dating? Nope.”

“I mean when he was talking to her outside,” Lucia said. “He didn’t sound like he was chasing that relationship.”

“She’s wearing his ring.”

“Do you know what is wrong with his animal?” Lucia asked suddenly.

“No one knows what’s wrong with him.”

“I do.”

Cadence snapped her attention to Lucia. “What?”

“Ask me what the problem is with his animal.”

This was some kind of trick, right? Lucia was dangling a piece of bait in front of her, and then when she took it, Lucia would pull the rug out from under her. Like she had done by not warning her about Sasha tonight.

“Ask me,” Lucia said again, softer.

“What’s wrong with his animal?” Cadence didn’t know why, but the answer mattered dearly.

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