Page 113 of Stargazer

When Amelia missed her next one, she shook her head with a laugh and turned to us. “You’ll have to show me your technique,” she said, addressing Kit this time.

“Anytime, girl,” Kit promised with a confident grin.

Now that the conversation had been initiated, we were able to talk without it looking too suspicious. Kit stepped between Amelia and me and went through the motions as if she was showing her the best way to aim.

“The others?” I asked under my breath.

“Ferris wheel and tarot card tent. More outside the perimeters and in the woods,” she said in hushed tones before acing her next shot with her natural wolf reflexes.

Kitana clapped. “There you go, you got it.”

I looked back at Griff who was already texting the updates in our group chat. When he was done, he assessed me with urgency in his eyes. “You okay here with Kit?”

“Of course.”

With that, he gave me a quick kiss, handed me his lion plushie and stalked away, disappearing into the crowd.

Now out of darts, Kitana stuck out a hand to our new friend. “I’m Kitana,” she introduced herself and then turned to me. “And this is Vee.”

I smiled like we were meeting for the first time. And in a way, it kind of felt like we were. This Amelia looked supernaturally beautiful, with this air about her that was pure wolf shifter. It emanated from her.

“Amelia,” she replied brightly as she shook Kit’s hand.

Then Kit linked her arm through Amelia’s and gestured for her to follow. “Now that you’ve aced the darts, let me show you how to kill it at the ring toss.”

Analysing the area, I quickly picked up on why Kit thought it would be a better place. With the way it was set up—all the bottles in the centre of the tent with participants throwing from all four sides—there was simultaneously a larger group of people around for cover and more space so we could talk freely.

With an airy laugh, Amelia happily walked with us. “Sounds like fun.”

“I can’t believe I’m looking at you right now,” I blurted, almost choking on the words with all the emotions bubbling to the surface as we started the new game with my old friend—whose body I last saw as what seemed to be a freshly torn-apart corpse.

“I know.” She ever so lightly grazed my hand before tossing another ring. “But this is real. I’m real. I’m here. We can’t talk for long, but I’m so happy I get to see you and speak to you.”

“What’s going on there? Riv has said no one has been able to meet up with you or reach out as much.”

While we spoke, Kit acted as our lookout and diversion, continuing to play the game with little effort.

“It’s been hectic. With my new role, there’s always other shifters with me. I can text, but it’s harder to take calls or find time to leave.”

I nodded in understanding. “Thank you for all the tips. I can’t imagine it’s been an easy task. But they’ve been so immensely helpful.”

“You’re welcome. That’s literally what I’m here for. I’m glad I’m making a difference.” She threw another ring to keep up appearances. “But your town, and the ones of your ally packs, are becoming more of a problem than their worth for the rogues now with all that you guys have done to stop the attacks. They’re going to start focusing their efforts elsewhere.”

Doing another quick check of our surroundings, she made sure no one she knew was nearby.

“I have news.” She ducked her head closer to mine. Close enough that Kit would hear too. “You know how they keep talking about something big?”

I nodded, knowing what she was referring to. River had mentioned it more than a few times. It always sounded so imminent and menacing.

She continued, “Well, I don’t know if this is it exactly, but they’re planning an attack on Aconite Hall.”

My mouth dropped. “The English headquarters?”

She nodded gravely.

“Why? When?”

“Partial luna eclipse. Next full moon. They want to take it down. They’ll be transporting many of the rogues there for the takeover. The Gray Knights HQ has something they desperately want. They won’t tell us lower downs what it is though. We’re just the footmen. And if we don’t comply, they’ll kill us. So there’s not many questions asked.”

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