Page 48 of Anathema Codex

I wonder if she’ll knife her here in public.

I tilt my head to the side as I fold a leg and place my foot against the wall. Watching them ready to assault each other is starting to calm me down, so I think I’ll just stand around for a little while longer and let them go at each other’s throats.

The door opens again, and the young man steps out. He glances at the scene that’s moved toward the middle of the street by now, then looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Are they okay?” he asks me uncertainly.

“Nope.”

“They shouldn’t be in the middle of the—”

He stops short when another man walks out of the house and brushes by him. He’s tall, well-built, and has the most impossibly shiny, messy yet neat, black hair that I’ve ever seen.

And he’s heading straight toward Willa and Daphne.

“Is that—?”

The young man looks at me and nods instantly as the hope that was in his eyes vanishes and he begins to chew his lower lip nervously.

I push off the wall and slip my hands into my pockets as I watch the scene unfold curiously.

The man that has just been confirmed to be Lakyn Meyer walks right into the street, grabs each girl by their arms and hauls them to the other side of the road. Wills wrenches her arm out of his grip and looks like she’s about ready to deck him, when her pure rage is taken over by shock.

Even from here I can see her blink rapidly a few times. She looks up at him and then cranes her neck around his form to look at me, then back again.

“I guess your friend sees it too,” the young man states quietly.

I watch carefully as Willa takes a step back onto the sidewalk then pushes her hair behind her ears before she starts to talk to him.

I wish I could hear what she’s saying.

Daphne’s looking at him curiously as she takes a step further away, but I can see that she’s being held hostage by whatever the hell he looks like alone.

“That’s how he works,” the young man tells me knowingly as he crosses his arms over his chest again. “There isn’t a goddamn thing on this Earth that Lakyn can’t get with his charm.”

I don’t say anything because there isn’t anythingtosay.

Not anymore.

I take a deep breath as I walk by the young man and attempt to break into the trio’s little heart to heart, but he catches up almost instantly and shakes his head as he puts a hand on my forearm.

“Let him come to you. Don’t interrupt him. Smile and thank him for everything. Even if you don’t want to.”

“Who the fuckareyou?” I finally explode at him. I didn’t mean to yell at him but at this point, I apparently got some rules thrown at me that I refuse to adhere to. I’m no one’s bitch and I’m not going to start now.

“Ichabod,” he tells me, the smile returning slightly. “What’s your name?”

“Aftyn,” I reply through grit teeth.

I’ve never once heard of an Ichabod before, but anything that ever had to do with this side of the family tree had always been sheared down whenever I asked.

He holds a hand out toward me and I take it, initiating a quick shake, then let go.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks me, glancing at Lakyn again who now has his hands in the air like he’s explaining something to the banshees.

“Absolutely.”

He lets out a heavy sigh, then cups his hands over his mouth. “Lakyn! You’ve got company!” he shouts across the street.

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