Page 55 of Vengeful Guard

Catalina shrugs and disappears for a few minutes.

When she returns, Sophie’s silent.

“You’re a magician.” She laughs.

“I know my best friend.” I giggle with her.

It’s fun to talk to my friends like this, but I’m a little resentful that I’m not there. “How did you guys end up there?”

“She called us here. We were already slumming it on the southside, so we came. There’s something about southside guys.” She sighs happily, falling back onto the couch while Tanya takes the phone.

Her brown eyes are a little glassy, but she’s not nearly as bad off as Sophie was. “So, you need to tell us more about Kael Sullivan. Is he big?”

“Oh, god... I think so.” My skin warms all over. I’m the worst blusher. I blame my hot Irish blood.

She cackles. “I knew it!”

Catalina presses her face into the frame. “What happened? Did you finally lose your v-card?”

I bite my lip. “No, nothing like that. It was just...touching. While we were training.”

Catalina’s eyes widen. “Really? What’re you training for?”

“He’s teaching me self-defense.”

“Hot for teacher,” Tanya teases, and I snort.

“Something like that. But it doesn’t matter one way or another because I need to stay away from him. Imagine what Declan and Gray would do to him if they found out.”

“Oh, he’s a dead man,” Tanya says solemnly, as if it’s a done deal already.

I nod. “That’s why it’s not going to happen again.”

“Sure, it’s not.” Catalina grins.

I groan. “I guess I should go. I need to get some sleep. I was told to rest for a bit, and I haven’t been sleeping well.”

Catalina frowns. “Do you need to talk about it?”

I shake my head. “I’m fine. Just need a few hours of beauty sleep.”

“You don’t need it.”

Smiling, I hang up the phone and snuggle up under my duvet, turning off the lamp next to my bed and lying there in the darkened room.

Usually, it takes me a long time to fall asleep, especially since sleep is something I avoid like the plague these days.

But today, knowing Kael downstairs, I feel a lot safer.

Doesn’t mean I want to put my luck to the test and face another nightmare, so I lay in the dark for a couple more hours before I get back up again.

Time to face Kael again. I just wonder which Kael I’m about to meet. The one that has an attraction for me or the one that loathes me to the core.

16

KAEL

I need to blow off steam like yesterday.

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