Chapter 22 #2
Asher throws her head back and laughs. “Oh, man, this is great. All this time, no one even looked at you.”
Sofia isn’t looking at me; she’s staring at Sebastian.
“You knew, didn’t you?”
“Of course. Though she wasn’t aware I knew.”
“I can’t believe it’s you!” Asher says. “You are so much more sneaky than I gave you credit for.”
“Thanks, Asher,” I say sarcastically.
She shrugs. “So, what’s the problem?”
“Katsu and Fox.”
“Oh, yeah,” Sofia and Asher say together.
“Jinx.”
“Jinx.”
“Double jinx,” they say together.
I laugh because I can’t help it. I love these people so much.
“So, the issue is what?”
“I want to tell them, but everything keeps happening and makes the situation look worse. I uploaded a preorder today, but Fox lost it, and he’s angry with Sebastian now.”
“Okay. So, you need more time to convince them you are a good person,” Sofia says. “Or just tell them.”
“They said they want to slap a lawsuit on me,” I say in a tiny voice.
“Oh,” Sofia scowls. She huffs. “Nah, not on my bestie.”
Devon frowns. “What if we pull on Sunshine Cove itself?”
“What do you mean?” I ask in confusion.
“Sunshine Cove will do anything to protect one of its own, Cordie. You know this,” he says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. I guess I always thought Sunshine Cove would help anyone else but me.
Devon pulls out his phone and walks away.
“What’s he doing?” I ask anxiously, wringing my fingers until Sebastian notices and grabs hold of my hands again.
“Devon stuff. Don’t worry, he’ll get it sorted.”
I can hear him speaking. “We need a favour. No, I know, but it’s a big one. No, it’s for Sebastian and Cordie. We’re down at the beach.”
An hour later, cars start to rock up. Lorelei, Milton, Franco, and Elijah. Yolanda, Grigori, and Harry. Floyd, Clint, Holly. It feels like half of Sunshine Cove is here.
“What’s going on?” Franco asks loudly.
And then I see my mum, and I can’t tell everyone when I haven’t told her first. I walk towards her, nervously glance at Randall, and take her hand.
“Mum, I am Lynn Marino.”
Mum stares at me with wide eyes. “Oh, honey, I know.”
I blink. “What?”
“You are terrible about working with headphones on, every now and then, I sneak up and read as you’re writing. I’m so damn proud of you.”
The ripple runs through the crowd until I finally have to face it.
“You’re Lynn?” Lorelei asks, her face slack with shock.
I dip my head. “Yes.”
“Now, that’s not the problem or why we called everyone here,” Devon says.
The group of eyes look away from me, and I relax in Bas’ arms.
“What the problem is: she’s about to lose her alphas.
We need to convince them that she’s awesome and those alphas need her.
But all this hide and seek with the author has to stop.
All her books need to disappear. If someone utters the name Lynn, we need to say who,” Devon says loudly.
“We need to buy Cordie some time. They need to forget they are here for Lynn and really look at Cordie, only see her.”
I stare at Devon, shocked. It can’t be done. There’s no way it will work. People talk, and it’s-
“There are two weeks until Light Knot Night ends. Two weeks to hide our Cordie, I mean, Lynn. You all have profited from her help. From her running around. So, now we’re going to give back to her. Lynn Marino is dead!” Lorelei punches the air.
A cheer goes up.
I look at Sofia and mouth, ‘What the hell?’ at her. She shrugs and salutes me with a bottle of beer.
Everyone stays for an hour, and then they disperse, but some of us stay until the sun is setting. Just sitting and talking. Asher, Felix, Sofia, and her alphas, and a few of the younger crowd. Imogen is going to kill me when she finds out.
Felix pats my knee. “I think you’re awesome. Also, I knew who you were.”
“How?” I wail.
He chuckles. “You call Seb Bas. And only you would be compelled to write about him. You never take your eyes off him. Even in the books, he’s always there. He’s everywhere you look; he always has been. I’m glad you finally figured it out.”
With that, the incredibly observant omega stands up, puts his hands in his pockets, and walks off alone.
Asher watches him for a long time before she gets up with a sigh and goes in the opposite direction. I want to ask what’s going on with them, but I have no idea how, and I know they aren’t ready.
“I need you to autograph my book,” Sofia says. “I want the first signature for my store.”
Sebastian grunts. “No. Those are mine.”
“Sebastian!” Sofia growls. “I’m the best friend.”
Hmm, should I? Oh, yes, absolutely.
“Did I mention Sebastian does my covers and the artwork?”
The murmurs around the fire go completely and utterly silent. Everyone is staring at us.
“Holy shit,” Sofia breathes. “I want signed prints. We can organise special editions. This is going to be epic.”
I shake my head, but she’s running on a tangent. Elijah picks her up around the waist and swings her around. Danger wakes up from his nap and starts chasing them. Barking his poor little heart out.
“Well, I guess we just need a printer, and we’re good.”
I snort a laugh. “We need a narrator, too.”
“Not true, Clint and his stepbrother would be perfect for the voices.”
I shift so I can see his face. “Have you been thinking about this for a while?”
“Of course.”
My phone dings, and I open it to a message from Fox. It’s simple and to the point.
I miss you.
I write back only the truth. I miss you, too.