Page 89 of Flock This

I walked over to the limo and opened the back door, no idea who was there and no real worry about it. I leaned down to find a familiar face.

“If you didn’t know who was in this car, why’d you come?” Kelvin asked.

I slid into the back seat, then pulled the car door shut. “Why run? I figured whoever was here was going to take me to the trial. No reason to find my own way there if I had a ride.”

Kelvin peered past me, toward the house. “Did you tell her anything?”

“Like what? ‘Thanks, Mom, but I’m going to go get myself killed now. It’s been fun!’” I shook my head. “No. I just wanted to see her one more time.”

“You’re giving up that easily? It sure isn’t like you. The girl I know fights everything to the very last second.”

“And where exactly has that gotten me?” I leaned back and crossed my arms, closing my eyes. “I did everything I could and I’m still here. It’s time to stop running. Can I ask you a favor?”

“You want me to hide you?”

“No. We’re way past that. What I want is for you to keep watch over my family. They don’t know about this world, and I won’t be here to keep them safe anymore. I’m doing what I can to help them, but I need to know they’ll be safe.”

“Grey…” Kelvin started, and I could hear his argument without him having to utter it. He was about to tell me that wouldn’t be needed, that I’d still be here, that we’d find some way through.

Before he could say all that shit, I cut him off. “I’m serious. You have the power to make sure that they stay safe, that they don’t get dragged into any of this bullshit. Maybe I didn’t understand it before, but I sure as shit know now just how much reach you have. You’ve got standing with the vampires, you’ve even worked with the Justice Department. If I just go missing, my mom will try to find me. It could lead her down a bad path. I don’t ask you for anything, but I’m asking for this. Watch over them for me, please. I can’t go into tonight if I don’t know that they’ll be okay.”

Kelvin sighed, then put his arm around me and pulled me against his side. “They are yours, and you are mine, no matter how you want to feel about it. That makes them mine, and I swear I will treat them as such and afford them all the security I have at my disposal.”

I shuddered, relief swamping me. For all the reasons I distrusted Kelvin, all the shady shit he’d pulled over the years, I believed what he said now. No matter what happened, my family would be safe.

And so long as that was true, I could face anything I had to.

Chapter Twenty-Two

There was some weird sense of nostalgia being in Kelvin’s room. He hadn’t even given me the option to head back to mine—assuming I still had one. Instead, he’d brought me here, then said he had things to deal with.

He told me he’d be back at eleven, that we’d head to the trial, then. The idea of spending my last few hours alone sounded horrible, but what else was there to do?

I sighed, staring out at the cityscape from Kelvin’s balcony. It made me realize how little of the world I’d really seen. Despite how crazy my life had been in many ways, I’d spent most of it in this little corner of the world. It made me wish I’d seen more snow, that I’d spent time trekking to see the Northern Lights, to spend a month out on the sea, living in a houseboat.

Basically?

I wish I’d seen more, done more, experienced more. It never seemed that big a deal before, but now, facing my own end, it saddened me to realize just how much I’d missed out on, how much I’d never get to do or see.

A knock on the door made me turn. Kelvin would have just walked in, so who was it?

I could picture a group of Justices standing there, ready to haul me in. At least it’d be a waste of their time since I was planning on going to the trial anyway.

I went over and opened the door, finding instead a thrall I didn’t recognize there.

“Kelvin isn’t here,” I said automatically.

She shook her head, then held out an envelope. “I was asked to bring this to Kelvin’s thrall.”

I took the item, and she rushed away as soon as I had it. Weird…

I closed the door after she left, then peered down at the front of the large yellow envelope with nothing written on the front.

The envelope tore easily, and I pulled out a sheet of paper with handwritten letters.

The first thing I noticed was Roger’s name written at the bottom.

Dear Grey,

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