“I love your dog,” Mel says. Ya-Ya looks at her with her eyebrows raised. “What? He’s cute.”
“Let’s focus. We have confirmation. Now, how much do we disclose?” Rye says.
Rye looks around the crowded room, but nobody steps forward to fill in the very large blanks I have floating around in my head. A phone buzzes and Jinx’s face lights up a moment later while his fingers dance across the screen.
“Jinx!”
“Sorry, dude, just had to check my Tinder.”
“Gods use Tinder?” I ask.
“He’s joking,” Grace says from behind me, her hands resting on the back of my chair.
While I might hold some reserve jealousy for her, I also like the warmth that seems to radiate from her. Maybe there is something between her and Rye, maybe not. What would I possibly have to compete with a gorgeous goddess like her? And why is that even on my list of concerns now?
“What you need to do, Jinx, is get off your damn phone and pay attention. We have confirmation. Now, we disclose. Then, hopefully, if you can pull your head out of your ass, we can save the world.”
Rye is seething. It’s a strange look on him after how soft and kind he was to me earlier. I should be turned off, but instead I think he’s even hotter when he’s mad.
“You still haven’t explained to me what this all means. Chosen one? Paradox? Dead tree and four crows? I’m freaking out now, Rye. I wasn’t so bad before, but now, I think I am going to be sick.”
My stomach twists and turns and just when I think I will get a moment of relief, I think of my dad again.
I am so sorry, Dad. I swear, if I can just get out of here, I will never complain about you moving us to this Podunk town in the middle of Idaho-nowhere again.
“It’s quite simple really,” Aziza notes, moving around to the fireplace to poke a fresh log with her boot.
“You, yes you, a simple mortal, are the chosen one to save the world. One girl to rule them all kind of shit. Mel blew a seed, it stuck, you got some new ink, and we got our confirmation. Did I miss anything?”
Her Lord of the Rings reference isn’t lost on me, but even Frodo got more than this.
“Yeah, I got the Cliff Notes version, but can someone maybe give me the...oh, I don’t know, unabridged version?” I say.
“Yes, but first, why don’t you call your father so he isn’t so freaked. I know you are worried about him,” Grace says.
She rests her hands on my shoulders and I feel a sense of calm. Dammit, I think I will like her after all.
“Okay. Yeah. I do need to talk to him.”
Mel disappears and reappears a moment later with my phone in her hand.
“Here. I charged it while you were out. I know how exhausting being healed can be on the body. Sorry about that. How do you feel, by the way? You know, your chest.”
“It’s fine. I don’t even have a mark, not a scratch.”
She smiles, her eyes big and shiny.
“Perfect.” She grins.
Nervous, I open my phone with my fingerprint and command Google to call Dad. It rings once and he picks up. How do I even begin to explain any of this? It’s simple. I’ll have to lie.
“Sailor! Oh my god, where are you? Are you hurt?”
“No, Dad, I’m fine. After I told you I would just be a second with Loki, the brat took off on me and I thought I lost him.”
He exhales loudly on the other line, but at least he sounds less frantic than when he picked up.
“Biscuit, where have you been? I tried calling, I was scared half to death something happened to you.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I got lost and then my cell phone battery died on me. I actually ended up meeting up with a group of kids that go to my new school. Luckily, they knew their way out of the woods. One thing led to another, and I ended up crashing at one of the girls’ houses. You should see it, it’s huge.”
Rye’s eyes narrow at me and I smile. I like the way he looks at me with those smoky blue eyes, but I wish we didn’t have so many extra sets on us right now.
Dad is quiet for a moment, then finally he exhales again.
“Are her parents home?”
“No. I mean, they were. They left for work, first thing this morning. Gone before we woke up.”
“And Loki?”
“Safe. He’s with me, drinking in all the extra attention and enjoying endless doggie treats as we speak. He’s probably in doggie heaven. They have an English mastiff, so the treats are like five times bigger than the little chewies we give him at home.”
Mel gives me a thumbs-up and Ya-Ya looks at me, unimpressed. Behind her, Jinx is on his phone, Sunday is yawning, and Grace is nowhere to be found. Only Rye is watching me, hanging onto my conversation as if I am actually saying something worth listening to. The intensity in his eyes tells me this isn’t over.
“Just come home as soon as you can. And Sailor?” Dad adds.
“Yes?”
“Don’t ever do this again.”
“I promise I—” I start but Dad interrupts.
“We will discuss this face-to-face. I have another call coming in and I need to alert the authorities that you are okay. Just come home and try to stay out of trouble. Love you.”
He hangs up and I drop the phone into my lap, sighing in relief. While my head is still spinning, and nothing
