“Is Joey the one who is threatening your friend Chloe?” he asked, his voice deadly.

“Yes.”

“Then it is a trap.”

I realized he was right and dropped my sandwich.

“No.” Vedar picked it up and nudged it into my hand. “Eat. We will save Chloe.” He stroked my hair, and I felt my tension melting a little before I leaned out of his touch.

“I’m eating.” I took another big bite and chewed but could feel him behind me. “Sure am thirsty,” I said around my food.

He moved away, and I caught Zoe smirking and watching him. I elbowed her.

“What? You look at him all the time.”

“One of us needs to keep a level head. And we both know I’m failing at that.”

The clicking started up as he filled a glass with water. I scowled at his back. There was no need for him to feel so damn happy about making my brain mushy.

After setting the glass in front of me, he went back to the fridge. This time, he opened the freezer. As I gobbled my sandwich, I watched him scoop a large serving of rich chocolate ice cream with dark bits into a bowl. He slid it in front of me and put away the ice cream without serving Zoe any.

“Rude,” she muttered, glaring at his back.

“We don’t have time for ice cream anyway.” I pushed the bowl away.

“Eat, Kelsey. We aren’t leaving until you’re done.”

If he hadn’t already proven how stubborn he was, I would have argued. Instead, I shoved a huge bite into my mouth and passed the spoon to Zoe. She took the same big bite, returning the spoon just as Vedar faced us.

He narrowed his gaze at her. I hastily finished swallowing.

“Vedar, I’ve never flown before. What if it makes me sick? What if I eat so much I throw up mid-flight?”

His gaze shifted to me.

“I’d rather just save the ice cream until we’re home again.”

A click storm exploded from him.

“Yes. Leave it. We will have your treat when we’re home again.”

“Oh, boy,” Zoe said under her breath.

Rather than side-eyeing her and bringing more negative attention to her, I stood and arched a brow at Vedar.

“Okay. Where are my shoes?”

He glanced at Zoe and started heading out of the kitchen. We both hurried to follow. When he stopped at the front door, I frowned and looked around. My shoes weren’t anywhere nearby.

“The shoes are in my room. Do you trust your sister to get them?”

“Uh. Sure?” I glanced at Zoe and shrugged.

“Watch your back,” she said after a long look at Vedar. “I don’t trust him.”

I almost snorted at her belated show of common sense since she still stared directly at him all the time.

“Just hurry up,” I said.