Page 3 of Outnumbered

“Wait!” Jolie shouted. “I have important news.”

Caleb and I both frowned, knowing her news was likely something we wouldn’t like.

She stood and said, “We’ve decided to take a vacation.”

Caleb blinked. “What? You don’t take vacations.”

She scoffed. “Don’t I know it, but now that you’re grown and have your own pack, we’ve decided to take a week to enjoy ourselves. We’re going to leave next Monday and will be gone for seven full days.”

“So, no training for seven days?” I asked, excitement making my mouth drop and eyes widen.

“That hurts, Ember. Straight to the heart,” Nico said and pressed a hand to his heart.

“Seven days of freedom!” Caleb shouted and raised his hands over his head, pumping his fists in the air.

“Yeah!” Triston shouted and slapped his palms against Caleb’s.

“If you were living at home, I would ground you right now for being disrespectful,” Fox said.

“We love you all, but it’s been a very stressful month,” Caleb explained. “We’ve been training like the apocalypse is upon us. We need a break.”

“You get a break when we dismantle the H.E.,” Nico said sternly.

I flinched, feeling like I was somehow responsible for my adoptive parents’ and their creation of a terrible organization bent on destroying my kind.

Caleb reached over and intertwined our fingers. “We know how important it is, Dad. You don’t have to remind us.”

Nico sighed and ran a hand down his face. “Sorry, it’s been a bad morning already. Caleb, come talk with me in the study.” He stood, kissed Jolie on the cheek, and headed out of the dining room.

Caleb snagged a piece of fruit off my plate and winked. “Duty calls, bunny girl. I’ll be back soon.”

Snarling, I flung a piece of cantaloupe towards him, but the quick bastard just caught it and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Eat more,” Triston ordered and put another spoonful of scrambled eggs on my plate. “You’ve not been eating enough.”

“My ribs hurt,” I complained.

“Eat the eggs and then when we get home I’ll make you a smoothie,” he said, trying to offer me something I would enjoy as a treat.

“Strawberry?” I asked.

He winked. “Of course.”

Within seconds I’d shoveled the eggs into my mouth and swallowed them down. “Okay.”

Jolie shook her head. “The more time I spend with you, the more you remind me of me.”

“Which only worries us,” Fox said. “We know how much trouble you were, how often danger was attracted to you, and if that amount follows Ember, our poor son is going to be wrought with attacks and angst.”

“Wow,” she said, drawing the word out. “Is this attack Jolie and Ember day? Did I miss the memo?”

“Right!” I shouted. “I came here to train and now I’m getting teased and attacked.”

“You know what! No. Come on, Ember.” She set her fork down, walked to me, pulled me from my seat, and tugged me towards the door. “We’re having a girls’ day. You lot can fend for yourselves, or I guess have a relaxing day without harbingers of destruction around you.”

“Jolie,” Fox crooned, “that’s not what we meant.”

She bared her teeth. “No. You. Are. Burnt.”

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