Page 80 of Hybrid Heroics

She dragged her feet, not wanting to leave my bedroom, but she knew she had to talk to them.

“They’re going to ask me questions that I’m not ready or willing to answer,” she muttered.

“Then don’t answer them, Sweetheart. It’s not like you have a problem with saying no.”

She snorted, but didn’t say anything else until we were downstairs.

“Was Palmer coming?”

“He grabbed Murphy and went to the library to call Miller,” I confirmed. “Vaughn went to see his sisters, tell them what’s happening. Novak went with him.”

“Stone and Briggs?” she inquired.

I shrugged. “Briggs is running with the hounds—or that’s what he was doing. Stone is… Actually, I don’t know what Stone is doing.”

“He’s not in the house,” she said, biting at her lip.

“Then he’s with Briggs or Palmer or Vaughn and Novak.”

“What are they doing?”

“Helping you make preparations,” I confessed. “Stop stalling.”

She cut her eyes at me, flattening her mouth to hide her smile.

Her parents were lounging on the sofas, talking through their own plans. I had a flash of memory, recalling the weekend we spent breaking in the furniture in this room. That oversized armchair in particular had seen some weird shit from us.

Sloane cleared her throat, gaining their attention before she was ready. She glared at me. “Really?”

“I couldn’t help it,” I defended with a grin.

“Who is Geetha?” she blurted, causing me to furrow my brows.

“Why?” Amelia asked. “I haven’t heard that name in a long time.”

Lo pursed her lips. “Franklin mentioned the name.”

Her mother nodded slowly. “She’s my grandmother’s great grandmother.”

“That’s what he told me,” she admitted.

“Why were you talking to Franklin about Geetha?” Amelia inquired.

“He said that he had been alive long enough to know her and watch the King line come into fruition.” Lo shrugged a single shoulder.

Charlie sat up. “Franklin said that?”

“Where else would I have heard it from?” she snarked. “None of you tell me anything.”

Amelia frowned. “I told Vaughn and Novak some of our family history yesterday while you were still asleep. It was more to do with Alric and why I think he is the way he is.”

“And why is that?” she countered, less sarcastic than I was expecting, though more calculating.

I knew that tone, the slight tightening of her shoulders and the predator lurking in her eyes. It wasn’t time for her to slip yet.

“He was conceived under deceptive magic,” her mother answered. “An old type of love potion.”

Sloane grimaced. “That explains so much.”