Cori rolled her eyes, but she smiled back.
We were kind of an odd gang, but we would have each other’s backs, I hoped. And we would have the help of the guardians.
Somehow, we would find a way to stop that madman and his craven organization from waking the Raven King.
36
Bella
I clung to Luke’s arm that night as he drove us down the winding road to the village below Primrose Academy.
“Have you talked to Jon since you got to school?” he asked.
I shook my head, too emotional to speak.
“Thank you for telling me about him,” he said softly. “I want to know everything about you, and about him too, since he’s my brother now.”
I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “He doesn’t even know about the school. And he’s been really down. He hasn’t been responding as much as he used to. I don’t think he’ll want to talk to you. But I’ll tell him about you, of course.”
“There’s no rush,” Luke said quickly. “We have as much time as you need.”
“Thank you for taking me to town,” I said. “I know that’s not how you wanted to spend this night.”
“All I want is to help you shoulder your burdens,” he said. “You know that right?”
I leaned against him and let the waves of happiness wash over me.
Sure, I was conflicted, thinking about my brother’s unhappiness at the same time. But it was impossible to be near my mate and not feel content.
Luke pulled into the main drag of the little village and parked the truck.
“There’s a park,” he said. “We can sit there, and you can call. It should be pretty quiet at this time of night.”
I let him take my hand and lead me down the block and into a small grassy courtyard with a swing set, between a coffee shop and a toy store - both of which were closed for the night.
I sat on a swing and pulled out my phone.
Luke patted my hand, then began to pace out the perimeters of the park. I didn’t know if he was giving me space, or trying to protect me, but either way I was grateful.
Jon and I were usually text people - not phone callers. I hoped that making his phone ring might get his attention.
As we descended the mountain, my phone had gone crazy with all the notifications I’d missed while I was under the blocking magic of the school. But not one had been from Jon.
I touched his contact and held my breath.
He picked up on the second ring.
“Bella?” he said, his voice upbeat.
“Hey, Jon,” I said. “How’s it going?”
“Sorry I didn’t text you back,” he said quickly. “It’s just been…crazy here.”
It wasn’t just my imagination. He sounded happy - like, really happy.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“You know that app I was working on when you left?” he asked.
“Yeah, the one for finding cheap parking in Philly, right?” I asked him.
“That’s the one,” he told me. “Phil and I think we cracked it and we’ve been approached by an investor. I think we’re going to go wide with it. There’s a lot of beta testing first, of course. But it’s a great chance.”
“Holy crap, Jon,” I breathed. “That’s amazing.”
“Yeah, and there’s something else too.” He blew out a breath, as if he wasn’t sure how to say it.
“What?” I asked.
“There’s a girl,” he said. I could hear the smile in his voice.
“Oh yeah?” I asked.
“It’s not serious yet, but she’s… amazing,” he said softly.
“I’m really happy for you,” I told him, tears prickling my eyes.
“Thanks,” he said. “But we shouldn’t be talking about me. My little sister is at college. How’s that going?”
“Jon,” I began, trying to find the words. “You know why I wanted to be a nurse, right?”
“Not really,” he said dubiously. “I always thought that was kind of a weird choice for you.”
“I wanted to help you,” I said, trying not to cry. “I’m so sorry I fell out that window and ruined everything.”
“Bella,” he said sharply. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s my fault you went into the military instead of college,” I said. “It’s my fault about your accident. It’s my fault about your legs. I want to help you, I want to make it right.”
He took a deep breath, and I waited. I had said everything there was to say, even if I hadn’t said it well.
“What you’re saying is very sweet and all,” he said carefully. “But you’re wrong. About everything.”
“No, I’m not,” I said.
“First of all, my choices are not your fault,” he said. “You fell out a window because you were a teenager and you wanted to have some freedom. It had nothing to do with me.”
“If I hadn’t done that—” I began.
“If you hadn’t done that things might have been different now, sure,” he said. “But if I’d been in college, I wouldn’t have met Phil at rehab. We wouldn’t have been following our dreams right now and getting our big break. And I wouldn’t have met Annie either.”
Tears burst from my eyes and ran down my cheeks.
“But Bella, I’m even more worried about what you said about being a nurse,” he said. “You don’t have to fix me, little sister. I’m not broken.”
I was weeping openly now.
Luke walked over, a concerned expression on his face.
“I like who I am,” Jon went on. “I want you to like who you are too. Because I like who you are a lot. As a matter of fact, I love you, scamp.”
Scamp.
When was the last time he called me that? Not since before his accident, back in the good times.
It’s funny, but that one little word was what sealed it for me. Jon really was happy. And that meant I could be happy, too.
“I love you too,” I told him.
“Please promise me you’ll drop out of that shitty school and come home,” he said. “We need to figure out what you really want out
