Sins of the Innocent - Jamie McGuire Page 0,22

doesn’t occur as frequently as a demon would like. It’s all the Balance. There are rules in play, and disobeying means death.” Dad looked at me. “And Eden is now the watchdog.”

“I wasn’t before?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. You haven’t had to be. Something has changed. Maybe Levi’s decision has been a catalyst. I’ll keep researching with Bex. You have a specific purpose.”

Mom stood, her body between my father and me. “This is our daughter you’re referring to, Jared. She’s not a sacrificial lamb. She’s our baby.”

“I’m sorry,” Dad said. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Eli said something else,” I said.

They all turned their heads in my direction.

“He said now that I’m in human form. He wouldn’t clarify, but I don’t think this is my first rodeo.”

“So …” Ryan looked to Dad. “She’s lived before?”

Dad frowned. “Or she’s always existed.”

Ryan made a face. “What does that mean?”

Bex squeezed my hand. “That she knew Dad before we did.”

That thought brought a smile to everyone’s face.

“So … now what?” Mom asked, twisting her wedding ring around her finger.

I let go of Bex’s hand and stood up next to her. “We’ll continue, despite what we know, like we’ve always done.” I covered her arms with mine, hugging her tight.

Dad walked over to the bar and filled a short tumbler with ice and then turned on the faucet, adding water.

“You have to find that boy,” Mom said.

“What boy?” Dad asked, turning around. “Leviathan? No.” He lowered his chin, meeting my eyes. “Stay away from him.”

“Jared,” Mom began. “Eli named him. If he’s her ally, she needs him.”

Dad shook his head, took a drink, and then wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “We need to think about this first. We need a strategy.”

“Eli told us the strategy. Levi might be able to help. He might be the only one who can keep her safe,” Bex said.

Mom turned to face me. “Find the boy. At least see what he knows.”

Levi wasn’t difficult to find. He sat with his feet up, his ankles crossed on a table at the same coffee shop where we’d met. The fact that my parents had also shared one of their first moments there wasn’t lost on me.

Levi smiled when I walked through the door, reaching his hands behind his head, lacing his fingers against his straight dark hair. It was long enough to knot my fingers in, and I might have already once when we were grappling in the alley. When he blinked his long lashes over his ice-blue eyes, punching him was the last thing I wanted to do to him.

He sat up, his boots making a thud on the floor, and leaned forward on his elbows. “I was wondering how long you were going to make me wait.”

I stood next to the table, pressing my lips together in a hard line, while I decided my next move. Levi was clearly fond of strategy, and whatever game he was playing, he was at least one step ahead.

Levi held out his hand, tilting his head just a bit to the side. “Sit with me?”

I didn’t take his hand, but I sat on the thinly padded chair across from him. I pulled a knife from its leather holster hidden in the back of my pants. Levi wasn’t surprised to see the impressive blade as I gripped the ancient handle in my hands. The knife was a gift from Claire, and if Levi made a move, I would use it to kill him.

“This is a weird date,” Levi said.

“It’s not a date. It’s a meeting.”

“Well, that’s disappointing.”

“If you’re here to kill me, let’s get it over with,” I said quietly.

He raised a thick eyebrow, making something twinge deep in my chest.

“You wanna get coffee first?”

I closed my eyes, my entire face compressing in frustration. “No, I don’t want coffee.” I glared at him. “Why are you in Providence?”

“I live here. Well, I have a place on Rose Island at the moment.”

“How long have you lived here?”

“Nearly a year.”

“Why?”

He reached over, slowly covering my hand and the knife with his.

“Try to take it from me, and I’ll run it across your jugular.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Eden. I came here because I needed to see you again.”

“Again?”

His eyes flickered, and for the first time in my life, I felt intimidated. Levi didn’t scare me. The way he made me feel did. I didn’t understand it, and the unknown was unsettling for someone who already knew too much.

I pulled my hand