I pressed my hand to my navel as though my touch could somehow reactivate the link.
Liam’s gaze drifted to my hand. Thankfully, he didn’t ask me how I was feeling . . . or rather what I was feeling.
As we drove over miles of concrete roads that turned into rough terrain, I wondered what August was doing.
What he was feeling.
My blood turned to ice as a thought collided into me. What if August had been wrong about liking me before the link formed? What if he felt relieved by its absence?
I dug my phone out of the front pocket of my backpack and powered it on to send him a message that I’d arrived safely.
That I was thinking of him.
As my carrier searched for network, Jane said, “You won’t get any reception ’round these parts. Dad put up a bunch of jammers. He’s not a fan of technology.”
And suddenly my concern of what August was feeling was superseded by a new one-that of being disconnected from the entire world. The Rivers suddenly felt more oppressing than welcoming.
Liam leaned over me. “Will you have Wi-Fi at the compound?”
“We have a computer connected to dial-up.”
I gaped at Liam.
They hate the Creeks, not us, he said through the mind-link.
I tried to let his words reassure me, but I wasn’t reassured.
What had we gotten ourselves into?
August and Nelson had come out to Tennessee and returned to tell the tale.
The Rivers weren’t going to make Liam and me vanish.
I repeated this to myself as we drove down a dusty road lined with identical one-storied stone and log cabins. The only building that was different was the one at the very end. It was built in the same style-rough gray stone, tawny slats, grids of windows-but it was long like horse stables with a thatched roof.
The car came to an abrupt halt right in front of it.
“Lunchtime,” Zack bellowed, stretching himself up to his full height before vaulting over the side of the car.
This time, Liam jumped over too, then held out his hand to me. When in Tennessee, do as the Tennesseans, I supposed. I sat on the edge, swung my legs over, then placed my hand in his and hopped down. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I let go.
This trip wouldn’t change the fact that I was Liam’s Second and not his girlfriend. Not even his friend for that matter.
Business partners.
A petite and shapely woman with crinkly blue eyes was stationed by the entrance of the thatched structure. As we approached, she extended both her hands. First to me, then to Liam, and then she stepped close to Zack.
“My mate, Eileen.”
The word mate made my heart pinch. Even though werewolves called their spouses this way, I couldn’t help but think of August.
“Nice to meet y’all,” she said.
Zack pointed to the two women standing around a young boy. “Three more of my flesh and blood: Poppy, Penny, and Jack.”
I committed all of their names to memory. Where Jack waved to us, his sisters-who looked identical-observed me and Liam with quiet caution. They had the same auburn hair as Jane, but their eyes were different, dark, almost black, like the bitter coffee I’d drunk on the plane.
Zack rubbed his palms. “Lunch ready?”
Eileen nodded.
He kissed the top of her head before striding through the open doorway.
Eileen tipped her head for us to go ahead of her inside the giant structure. Clutching the strap of my backpack, I walked alongside Liam, gaze zipping over every inch of the building. I’d expected it to be dark, but the entire back wall was made of glass. A river rushed beyond the picture window, and beyond that stretched a copse of evergreens so dense the trees looked welded together.
“A Watt original,” Zack bellowed. “Ain’t it strikin’?”
I pulled Mom’s ring out of my tank top and speared my finger through the warmed band, twirling it at the same time as I rotated to take in my surroundings. The building was spectacular. When I stopped spinning, I came face to face with one of the twins. I wasn’t sure which one she was.
The girl observed me quietly, like most of her pack.
I stood my ground even though I wanted to back up a little. “Poppy or Penny?”
“Poppy. Penny’s the ugly one.”
Her twin sister smacked her arm. “Bitch.”
Poppy grinned.
“You’re twins, right?” I asked, even though it seemed obvious.
“Yup.”
I wondered how old they were. Nineteen, maybe?
“Just call them Pee. They both answer to that,” their older brother said, ruffling Penny’s hair.
“So not funny, Sam,” she said.
Their familiarity slackened some of the tension in my body.
“We don’t respond to Pee. Or Pee-wee. Or any derivative of that nickname,” Poppy added.
“Yeah, they do.” A girl with brown hair down to her waist came up to us. “I’m the last Burley child. Or rather the first. Ingrid.” She extended her hand, and I shook it.
“Now that you’ve met the whole clan, it’s time to take your seats and dig in.” Zack gestured to the table that stretched the length of the structure and that was heaped with bowls of creamed corn, crisp salads, barbecued meat, and pitchers of fresh juice.
In a rush of excessive affability, Jane hooked her arm through mine and towed me toward one of the benches propped under the table, chattering on about how hungry she always was. I looked over my shoulder toward Liam, wondering where he would be sitting.