Before showing up here last night, I’d told Abby all about Karina and her psychic gifts. Abby was intrigued, but she was still dealing with everything she’d learned about Isach, so she didn’t ask nearly as many questions as I’d expected.
She hadn’t dumped Isach, but she was taking a break from him, at least for the weekend. I hoped spending some quality girl time with our friends would help her. It always seemed to work for me.
“Why wouldn’t you want to know?” Whitney asked, head tilted.
“Because what if it’s something bad?” Abby asked. “Like, what if you found out you were going to die?”
“We’re all going to die someday,” Tonya said.
I shot Whitney and Abby a knowing look and shoved a potato chip into my mouth to stop from laughing.
“Yeah, but do you really want to know when or how?” Abby asked. “If you knew, you’d be obsessed with it, right? Like, you’d do everything you could to change your future.”
Ellie shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe you’d be more willing to do risky things because you know that specific thing isn’t going to kill you.”
Part of me was curious to know how my life would turn out. Would Trent and I get the eternity together we wanted? Would we defeat the Zoya? Would we have a child? A bigger part of me, though, didn’t want to know any of that. Because Ellie was right—if I knew what was going to happen, I’d probably try to change the outcome.
“Not knowing is half the fun,” I said, munching on another chip. “Sometimes, life can surprise you.”
“Yeah, like you moving here and meeting me,” Ellie said, flipping her hair over her shoulder and giggling.
“Exactly like that,” I said, laughing.
“I think I’d like to know some stuff,” Whitney said.
“Such as?” I asked.
“Am I ever going to meet a guy I fall crazy in love with?” she said. “Don’t get me wrong. Luke is great, but I don’t think he’s the one.”
I frowned. As a vampire, Whitney could tell if someone she was interested in was her soulmate or not, and if she wasn’t feeling that with Luke, then he wasn’t the one for her. I hoped she’d find him someday, too. But as Trent and Jax had both pointed out to me—it’s rare.
“Okay, who’s hungry?” Whitney asked, shaking off her melancholy and springing to her feet.
“You’re kidding, right?” Gina said, staring up at her with wide eyes. “There’s already enough food here to feed the entire town.”
“Those are snacks,” Whitney said. “I’m talking about real food. You know… pizza, chicken wings, some breadsticks…”
“Oh, I could eat some pizza,” I said. Not that I was super hungry or anything, but I couldn’t say no to a slice of extra cheese pizza.
“I’ll order it.” Whitney practically skipped into the kitchen.
I stood and picked up some of the snacks, intent on putting them away. All of us had slept in the living room last night—mostly because there wasn’t a single room in this house large enough to accommodate seven of us, and Whitney insisted we stay together. I assumed we’d be doing the same tonight, too.
Karina helped me carry food to the kitchen while Abby and Ellie tried to find a scary movie to watch. Gina and Tonya gathered the blankets and pillows from Whitney’s room and dumped them on the living room floor.
“Your friends are so nice,” Karina said as she shoved packages of cookies into the cabinet.
“Yeah, they’re pretty great, aren’t they?” I said, smiling.
She nodded vigorously. “Thank you for letting me hang out with all of you.” She set a container of chip dip in the fridge, then spun to face me. “Because of how things turned out with my parents and then everything with Dante and Colt, I don’t really have any friends.”
Karina hung her head as if she were too embarrassed to look at me. My heart splintered for how sad and alone she was. I knew the feeling all too well.
“Now you do,” I said.
She jerked her head up, eyes wide. “You mean that?”
“Of course. I mean, you and Colt are going to stay, right?” I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms. Only then did I notice Whitney wasn’t in here. Where did she go?
“Yes,” Karina said. “Colt’s so happy here, and he deserves that.” She moved to sit in one of the kitchen chairs. “All he ever talked about was his dad and brothers. He really missed them.”
“He shouldn’t have stayed away so long,” I said, then winced at how harsh and accusatory I sounded. “Sorry. I just meant—”
She held up her hand to silence me. “No, I get it. I’d been telling him the same thing.” She laughed. “But as I’m sure you’ve realized, those Halstead boys can be incredibly stubborn.”
“Tell me about it.” I laughed and sat across from her. “So, was Dante really that awful?”
Karina’s face paled, and she quickly averted her gaze. Clearly, she was still very much afraid of him. I shouldn’t have mentioned his name, but Trent hadn’t given me much information about Dante, and I was curious.
“He’s worse than awful,” she said after a moment. “He has no compassion for anyone but himself.”
Hesitantly, I reached over and patted her hand. “I’m sorry. But you’re away from him now, and if Colt is anything like Trent and Jax, he’ll die to protect you.”
She gave me a grateful smile. “He’s already done so much for me.”
Even though I didn’t know her well, and this was the longest amount of time I’d spent talking to her, it was clear we had a lot in common. I was suddenly struck with the desire to ask her to be my other bridesmaid. Doing so would save me from having to choose between Gina and Tonya, and if Karina said yes, she could walk down
