Page 84 of Misfit Monsters
Her four partners—the men who acted as my sort-of dads—stopped by the academy with her today to offer guest talks on their specialty subjects. My spirits lift at the thought of having my makeshift family back together for our next road trip.
Rollick shakes his head. “There’ll be time for that later. My little team has been making good progress, but my colleagues aren’t prepared to let them rejoin the regular academy program yet. I’d like to give them more opportunity to prove themselves.”
He catches my eye. “I have a few instruments I’d like you to bring along on your next venture. The readings they take will help us make a more objective assessment of what exactly is different about this rift.”
I lift my chin, ignoring the knot that’s formed in my gut. I’m going to be in charge again, wrangling the four very different shadowkind who sometimes seem more interested in harassing each other than finishing our mission.
We have made it through without anyone resorting to murder so far, though. Peri deserves a chance to prove herself even if I’m not sure about the others.
“Of course,” I say. “It shouldn’t take long now that we know where to go.”
“I’ll be sending equipment for trapping one of the morphing shadowkind as well, if you have the chance,” the demon adds. “But that’s a lower priority. I’d also like you to test if you can ‘convince’ the rift to shrink even a small amount with your sorcery. Its size and power concern me.”
That makes two of us. I swallow past the sudden dryness in my throat. “I’ll give it my best shot. I’ve never tried to use sorcery on a rift.”
He claps me on the shoulder. “There’s a first time for everything. You can have the rest of the day off—no teaching necessary. I’ll get the equipment loaded onto the jet for departure tomorrow morning.”
Sorsha folds her arms over her chest. “You really believe in throwing people into the deep end, don’t you, Rollick?”
He grins at her. “At least I don’t have any intention of burning the whole world down. But they won’t be without backup. I was hoping you and your associates would show off the speeds that RV of yours is capable of and take me on a trip up the same way, so we’ll be nearby if the team needs additional assistance.”
Knowing he’ll be close eases my nerves and appears to mollify Sorsha too. With a satisfied expression, she swipes her hands together. “There’s room in the Everymobile for one more. Or two or three, ifyourassociates?—”
Rollick cuts her off with a raised hand. “We have other matters keeping us busy, or I’d have been more involved already. I’m hoping this will be a quick trip.”
Sorsha laughs as if accepting a challenge. “Omen will make sure of that.”
Rollick pats Peri on the shoulder. “You wanted to take another look at the map, so go ahead. Then you should get some rest too, shiny one.”
As he ambles out of the room, my gaze follows him. I want to ask what other business has been keeping him and his colleagues busy, but I don’t think he’d tell me. The demon likes to keep his cards close to the chest.
Has Quinn had a lapse with her heart condition? Her health has always been shaky.
Sorsha lopes out after Rollick. My skin tingles with the awareness that I’m now alone with Peri.
I step to the side to put more distance between us. “I’ll get out of your way. If you notice anything new that you think might be useful, let the rest of us know.”
I’m planning on taking a casual stroll out of there, but Peri fixes me with her vivid blue gaze. My legs stall.
She hesitates before speaking. “Did I do something to upset you?”
My stomach drops. I haven’t been hiding my internal conflict well enough.
“Not at all,” I say as firmly as I can. “You’ve been great, Peri. I’m not sure we’d have gotten this far without you.”
She only looks more puzzled. “Something’s been making you uncomfortable around me in the past couple of days. You don’thaveto talk about it, but if there’s anything I can do to fix what went wrong, I’d want you to tell me.”
I know she would. Fuck, what do I even say?
I grope for an answer. “It isn’t your fault. I’m just sorting out some things that are mine to deal with.”
She steps closer, making my pulse skip a beat. Then she touches my forearm as if trying to solidify a connection between us. “The one thing I’m good at is helping people sort through their feelings. If you’d ever want a hand with that, I’m right here.”
Heat blooms through my arm. I ease back as gently as I can so I’m out of reach. “Thank you for the offer. This is the kind of thing I should work out on my own.”
Peri is watching me even more intently now. She takes another step toward me with an experimental air.
The wall stops me from retreating any farther. She lifts her hand to trace her fingers along my jaw, and a zing of desire shoots to my groin.
