Page 8 of Knot Your Karma
“So we find out where it is. And then we figure out how to get it back.”
“We?”
“You think I’m letting you handle this alone? After some black-market dealer just threatened my best friend?” Cinnamon wraps around me like a promise, fierce and protective. “Hell no. We’re in this together now.”
“I can’t ask you to?—”
“You’re not asking. I’m telling.” She stands and holds out her hand, her grip strong and sure when I take it. “This is what ride-or-die friendship looks like,Mija. You don’t get to carry this alone just because you’re embarrassed about taking what Blake owed you.”
“It isn’t taking what he owes me. It’s theft.”
“It’s justice. Blake owes you a lot more than one compass after what he put you through.”
“What are you thinking?” I ask as we start walking back toward Main Street.
“I’m thinking we need more information. About where the compass ended up, about what Declan’s really planning, about how much time we have before this all explodes in our faces.”
“And how do we get that information?”
“Well, for starters, you’re going to call your gorgeous cedar-scented alpha and tell him you might have a lead on his family heirloom.”
“Destiny, I can’t?—”
“You can, and you will. Because right now, you’re the only one who knows what he’s looking for and why. That gives you an advantage.”
“An advantage for what?”
“For figuring out how to fix this before it destroys your life.” She bumps my shoulder with hers, warm and solid. “Come on. We’re going back to my place to plan.”
“Destiny?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For not telling me I’m an idiot for stealing the compass in the first place.”
“Oh, you’re definitely an idiot.” She grins at me, fierce and loyal and completely unrepentant. “But you’remyidiot, and nobody gets to mess with my people except me.”
“That’s very comforting.”
“I aim to please.” Her hand finds mine and squeezes, warm and sure. “Besides, Blake had it coming. The only thing you did wrong was not taking more stuff when you had the chance.”
Despite everything—the threat, the fear, the disaster spiraling around me—I find myself smiling. “I love you, you know that?”
“I love you too. Even when you make spectacularly bad decisions that require emergency bestie intervention.”
“Is that what this is?”
“Honey, this is definitely emergency bestie intervention. The kind where we’re going to fix your mess and probably bend a few rules along the way.” Her voice carries that particular note of mischief that usually means I’m about to get in trouble.
“I’m not breaking any more rules.”
“We’ll see about that,Mija,” Destiny says cheerfully, and I find myself gravitating toward her warmth as we walk. “We’ll see.”
Declan
“—andI just don’t understand why this is so complicated, Dec.”
I’m stretched out on the narrow bed at Anchor’s Inn, one arm thrown over my eyes to block out the afternoon light that’s somehow making my headache worse. Blake’s voice through my phone has that whiny edge that used to send our mother running to fix whatever crisis he’d created this time, and honestly, some things never change.
