Endless Knight(37)

Matthew said, “Peas. Pod.”


At that, Jack hastily squired me outside, as if he thought I’d change my mind.

I could hear Finn chuckling. “Checking perimeters? Is that what the Louisiana kids are calling it these days? Hey, Lark, can I check your perimeter?”


Jack was already dragging me out into the night. I’d been dizzy, cold, and weak just moments ago, but as I gazed at him, excitement filled me.

I felt alive. . . .

14


He led me past one of the briar walls to the overhang where Matthew had sheltered earlier, and we leapt through that veil of water. Inside, it was like being cocooned from the world.

He shook his hair out in that way I loved.

“Aren’t you glad you stayed with us?” I asked him in a wry tone.

“It’s never dull.” He pulled me close, nuzzling my ear. “Miss you, peek?n. Been with you the entire day, so how does that work?”


God, I’d missed him more.

“I doan know about the new girl though. All I been hearing is how these players are supposed to kill you. But I bet you’re still thinking new friend, new ally, non?”


“Me? I’m not thinking new friend.” Okay, I might have been thinking new friend. She was funny. I liked her attitude.

“Hell, Selena was ready to off you without blinking an eye. You kept telling me you didn’t trust her. Now I know why.”


I frowned. “But she’s changed. She’s made up her mind to keep me alive.”


“Look, all we know for certain about Lark is that she’s got monster wolves to do her bidding. I doan trust her. Just keep it close to the vest, Evie. No need to tell her anything about us. You’re the best secret keeper I know.”


“Okay, I’ll try to learn more from her than I reveal.”


He nodded. “If this thing goes sideways tonight, I want you to run.”


I stroked the backs of my fingers along his jaw. “I’d never leave you in danger.”


“You mean that, doan you?”


“Yes. But if anything happens to me, I need you to take care of Matthew.”


“Doan you dare talk like that, bébé.” He gripped my nape, a move that was at once protective and possessive. “I’m not goan to let anything happen to you, no.”


“Well, don’t go leaping in front of bullets or anything. Remember, I regenerate.”


“What if you got shot in the head, like Bagmen?”


“I’ve wondered the same. But I think the Touch of Death is what I need to be looking out for.”


“He’s not goan to hurt you either. Not while I’ve got a breath in my body.”


When I shivered, Jack said, “I’ll start a fire.” He gathered some dry branches and kindling, arranging them near a shelf of raised ground in the back. With efficient moves, he struck his hunting knife against a flint, coaxing a fire to life. As it grew, he collected his sleeping bag from his pack, laying it atop that shelf.

Shadows danced, the air soon heating. We sat side by side, warming our hands.

The setting, the fire, the rushing water outside, the looming danger . . . everything was intense, primal. And at that moment, I felt as if I had been destined to end up in this place with this boy.

We felt fated.

He gazed down at me. “You know what we used to say about girls like you?”


I shook my head.

“You fall in love with your first.”


“Ah.” I bumped my shoulder into his. “Now I see why you pushed so hard to score with me that night by the pool. All becomes clear.”


His expression was serious. “I wanted you. Christ, I wanted you. But for a lot longer than a night. In my mind, if we slept together, we’d stay together. I needed that. I need that now.”


Sometimes it was so apparent that he’d been raised in a different culture, one in which a boy carried a girl’s things to signal possession to other beaux. “What gives you that idea about me?”


“Deny it, then.”


I’d never had a first, much less stayed with him. But if Jack was mine, I thought his theory would prove to be correct.

He raked his fingers through his hair. “Made me crazed when I heard your message to Brandon. That you were goan to let him have you.”


Little had I known that Jackson had stolen Brandon’s phone, had listened to my message.

“That was one of the reasons I was so angry when you came to my house that night,” Jack explained. “I figured you were already lost to me, but after what you saw there, I knew you were out of my reach. I didn’t act right.”


“That’s past. I’m here with you now.” I placed my hand on his knee. “Like you said, we can pick up where we left off.”


His body shot tight with tension.

I bit my lip. “Just in case we somehow live past tonight, do you, uh, have protection?”


“Ouais, and it’s from this century,” he teased, referencing our first ill-fated make-out session. “You sure about this? Last time . . .”


I cupped his face. “We could die tonight.”