Page 60 of As Darkness Fall
I grimaced. Here it came.
“Jo,” I started to say but stopped as she sighed.
“I can’t, can I?” she said. “That’s what you’re going to say.”
I shrugged helplessly.
“It’s because I haven’t had my Soulshift yet, isn’t it?”
My heart broke for Jo. She’d looked forward to that night for so long, for when the two of us could finally be together, shifting and running under the Wild Moon as friends once more. Her heart had been set on it, on finding her mate and starting a family.
And now, thanks to her parents’ addiction problems, she didn’t even know when her real birthday was. As it turned out, they had been celebrating it wrong for most of her life.
“I’m sorry, Jo,” I said, gathering her into a hug. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Jo nodded into my chest, squeezing me back. I could hear her sniffling, and I waited until it died down before pulling away.
“Who’s going to protect you, then?” she asked.
I grinned. “Aaron and Vir are pretty good at that. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Jo glanced out of the open doorway to the kitchen. We couldn’t see Aaron and his men, but I could imagine that she was picturing him there, along with Vir.
“They are pretty big and strong looking,” Jo mused. “But, Dan,twoof them? At once? I know you’ve changed, but…”
“Not like that!” I said, swatting at her, trying to cover my horror. There was nowayAaron’s hearing wouldn’t have picked up those words. I didn’t want him getting any ideas. Because that most definitely wasnotgoing to happen.
Jo grinned wickedly but didn’t push the subject, much to my relief. Not about those two, at least.
“Aren’t you worried about Johnathan? Whatever happened between you and him? Your Soulbond?”
“He’s not an issue,” I said, thinking about how much differently I thought about Johnathan now that weweren’tSoulbound.
The truth of it was that I actually found myself almostworryingabout him and his part in the plan. It was weird. Then again, I could worry about him as a person since I could see him as one now. One who had been manipulated and used by his vicious father and was only now beginning to see the light.
And taking steps to fix it.
“That’s it?” Jo asked. “Just, he’s not an issue anymore?”
“Not to me,” I said, trying to politely shut down the topic.
“You have changed,” Jo said for a second time. “I like it. I approve of this new confidence.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Now, whatcanI do?” she asked. “Even if I can’t go with you, there must be something I’m good for.
“You can man the fort,” Aaron said, interrupting us.
I looked at him sharply. He was staring at me this time, his attention unwavering. I raised my eyebrows in question.
“It’s time to go,” he said.
Time to go steal from a god.
Chapter Thirty
“Right now?” I asked, surprised by the announcement.
