“A feather?”
“Yeah.”
“And then do what?”
“Pierce my heart with it.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Bo’s face swam in front of my eyes for a moment as I thought back to my vision, to the strange stakes that Bo and Sebastian used to stab each other. Bo’s was white and Sebastian’s was black, which was, according to Savannah, just like their wings.
It’s real, I thought . It’s all real and it’s actually going to happen.
I opened and closed my eyes several times to clear Bo’s blurry image.
“So what you’re saying is that his wings are deadly?”
“So it would seem.”
“Then yours must be, too. I mean, you are an angel after al .”
“That might be the case if I could actual y see them or feel them.” Bo patted his back and snatched at the air behind him like he was grabbing for an imaginary arrow from an imaginary quiver. “See? Nothing.”
I frowned. That couldn’t be right.
“Maybe they’re just not completely developed yet. That night upstairs, when Sebastian showed me his wings, they weren’t real y real . They were more like a shadow or something. Maybe they’l get more pronounced as you get closer to figuring out how to stop him.”
Bo shrugged.
“If they’re some sort of weapon then I would hope so. The one thing we know for sure is that we need to get Lil y, right?”
I nodded.
“Wel then, let’s start there and see how the puzzle pieces fit together afterward.”
Again, I nodded. A look of concern settled over Bo’s face as he watched me. I wasn’t even going to attempt a smile to ease his mind. I knew my failure to produce a convincing one would only serve to further alert him to my turmoil.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I managed. I had to work to steady my hand as I reached for my discarded clothes. I couldn’t let Bo know that something was wrong. He’d dig it out of me one way or the other and then al would be lost. He would never let me go through with it. He’d die first and I couldn’t let that happen.
“I guess we’d better go get some kind of plan worked out with the others, right?”
“We’ve got time,” Bo assured me as I slipped my shirt over my head.
I avoided his eyes as I stepped into my jeans.
“Yeah, but there’s no sense waiting until the last minute, right?”
I had to get Bo back out in front of the others so that his focus wouldn’t be concentrated on me. I’d fold like a house of cards if he pressed me very hard. Bo was not only nearly impossible for me to resist, but I had a very difficult time misleading him. I knew the best thing I could do was to keep his attention divided between me and something or someone else.
“Besides, much as I’d like to spend the entire day in here with you al to myself, I can’t ignore Savannah,” I said, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. Taking his hand, I pul ed him toward the door. “Come on, my angel.”
Bo smiled, as did I. Genuinely. He was my angel in many different ways. Now I could say that he was literal y my angel.
Back out with the others, Bo and I fil ed them in on the rough details and we set about formulating a plan for nightfal . When we were al in agreement, everyone clear on their role, we fel into easy, inconsequential conversation and wiled the day away with friendly chat and surprisingly natural laughter, al things considered.
One thing I was learning was that, as a vampire, time had a total y different feel and meaning. It seemed that only an hour or so had passed when I looked up and saw the fiery sun making its final appearance on the horizon. It bid us al goodnight with one final kiss of red and gold. It burned through the wal of windows in the living room like a sky-wide fire.
I was watching nature’s gorgeous display when Savannah’s voice broke into my musing.
“I know you al don’t need to eat, but what about us humans?”
Cade, who’d come back to join us after his nap, chimed in.
“I could use something, too. I’m starving.”
“I guess we should feed before we go, too, just for added strength,” Annika proposed, directing her comment to Bo.
“I’m sure that wouldn’t hurt,” Bo agreed.
“Since Ridley’s pretty juiced up, you and I could run into that smal patch of woods to the north and see what we can scrounge up.”
I gritted my teeth and kept my expression as blank as possible. Bo looked at me, the tiniest bit of hesitation on his face.
“I’m sure you don’t want to go. Wil you be alright here for half hour or so without me?”
I wanted to growl, but I didn’t. I wanted to cross the room and slap Annika, but I didn’t. I wanted to taunt Bo and say that if I got hungry while he was gone that Cade would take care of me. But I didn’t. Instead, I plastered my brightest smile on and said the only thing I could.
“I’l be fine. You go and have fun.”
A frown flickered across Bo’s smooth brow, but it was gone nearly as quickly as it had appeared.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“She can supervise meal preparation for the human and the visual y impaired people in the house because, I assure you, Devon can’t cook,” Savannah chirped. “Provided that there is some sort of food here, of course,” she added.
She raised her eyebrows in question, her blank eyes staring straight ahead.
“I’m sure there’s something. Sebastian did have to feed Lil y after al . And he kept up pretenses for a while, so…”
“It’s settled then. You can tel a poor blind girl what’s for dinner.”
I stood and grasped the hand that Savannah held out expectantly. Bo stood as wel , walking behind us as I guided her toward the kitchen. When we stopped in front of the huge pantry, Bo whispered in my ear.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
I turned back to look at him. I looked at the face that haunted my world day and night. I looked at the unease that was written there, plain for al to see, and I couldn’t bear it.
What began as a smile for Bo’s sake quickly became sincere. I felt it melt my icy disgruntlement like the sun melts fresh snow and, with it, Bo’s reservations.
“I’m sure. Just come back soon.”
Bo was so sensitive to me—to my moods, to my feelings, to my needs—that he knew this time I was truly earnest. I should have known that he couldn’t be fooled by my earlier acquiescence. I should have known that he would quickly surmise that it was feigned.