and takes a step toward me. “Why would you believe anything he said?”
I pause for a minute, a little taken aback. It’s a valid question, and I think back to the exchange and to why I didn’t doubt at all what he told me. “He thought I already knew when he brought it up. He seemed shocked that I didn’t know,” I tell Enoch, and I look to Becket for backup. “He was a psycho, so I get why you wouldn’t want to accept anything he said at face value, but he didn’t have any reason to lie,” I explain.
“That you know of,” Enoch counters.
“Enoch, what he said made sense. There’s the fact that you have only a couple of weapons, your runes are different, and I told you from the beginning that you didn’t feel like Chosen to me.” My eyes soften, and I try to be easy in how I say all of this to him, but it’s obvious Enoch doesn’t want to hear any of it.
“Or he was manipulating you, and our connection is incomplete just like Torrez’s was and now isn’t,” Enoch argues, and I release an exasperated huff.
“She’s telling you that’s not how it is, and you’re not listening,” Valen asserts, and Enoch gets even more irritated.
“No, she’s telling me what some serial killer lamia told her, and nothing about that is definitive.”
“Enoch, just stop,” Kallan interjects, and everyone goes quiet. “We’ll look for the book Vinna is talking about and see what it says. I’m tired of all this fucking fighting. What purpose does it serve? Guards or Shields or whatever we are, it’s fine. If Vinna wanted us that way, she’d be with us in that way,” Kallan tells him and then gestures to Siah. “She doesn’t hold back when she wants something,” he adds, and the air in the room grows heavy with what Kallan isn’t saying out loud.
Enoch runs his gaze over the Sentinel runes that Siah is now sporting, and I see the flash of hurt in his eyes. I fucking hate that he and Kallan look so fucking crushed, and I wish there was something I could do to make it better, but I stay quiet. They won’t want my pity or to feel like consolation prizes. They’re not Chosen, but they’re still marked and important to me. I hope someday sooner rather than later they’ll see the truth in that and realize that I was never the one for them. We’re meant to be connected the way that we are; I don’t know why, but like Sabin said, I trust the magic.
A phone in the room chirps with a reminder, and Knox moves to grab it and turn it off. “Ryker, you’ve got about ten minutes before you need to go relieve Nash,” he calls out, and the phone in Knox’s hands reminds me of something I made a mental note to do.
“Do you think Aydin or anyone has called the sisters?” I ask. “Do you think they know…” I trail off, and Ryker gives my shoulder a squeeze.
“I don’t know,” he admits, and no one else says anything.
I reach out my palm toward Knox, and he gives me a sad smile and places the phone in my palm. I take a deep breath and click on Birdie’s contact and then put the phone on speaker. The line rings a couple of times, and then I’m greeted by a voice that makes my heart squeeze and longing swell up inside of me.
“Vinna, my love, you have the most perfect timing,” Birdie announces, and I can’t help but laugh. The sisters say they’re nulls and don’t have more than a thimbleful of magic, but I don’t know how accurate that really is when they always seem to just know things, like it’s me calling from Knox’s phone and not him.
“We just got done dropping off the Fight Master and Body Opponent, and everything went smoothly! Cyn—”
Panicked, I cut Birdie off. “Oh hey Birdie, I’ve got you on speaker phone,” I announce, and I work hard to maintain my composure and not give anything away. I don’t even dare look at Sabin and risk that he might somehow put those out of context clues together.
“Oh hello, everyone, you’re just going to love the new equipment that came in for the home gym; it’s pink!” Birdie says with a squeal. I internally send her long-distance, high five vibes for that smooth as fuck cover up and then make a mental note