Chapter 27 #2
“Thanks for finding my phone, Daphne. And for telling Beckett,” I said when the line quieted again.
“Abi?” I almost didn’t recognize Flint’s voice, it sounded so much younger than usual.
“Hey, Flint! How you doing, kiddo?”
Someone sniffled. (Surely not Flint?) “I found your phone.”
“Yeah, Daphne said that. Thank you. I really didn’t want to have to fork over the cash to buy a new one. Is the screen cracked?”
“You were kidnapped by a murderous vampire and you want to know if your cellphone screen is cracked?” Daphne shrieked.
“It’s not,” Flint confirmed for me.
“That’s fantastic news!” I said.
Daphne made a choking noise that sounded like she had a hairball stuck in her throat.
“Daphne, would you send four of your Pack members to my location?” Beckett asked. “I’ll pin it. We need to keep Josephine under guard until arrangements can be made to dump her on the Curia Cloisters.”
“Sure. We’ll all come out—I can take Abi to the hospital while you and the rest of the Pack handle Josephine,” Daphne said.
“I will be taking Abi to the hospital,” Beckett said.
“Shouldn’t we prioritize getting her there as swiftly as possible?” Flint asked.
“Flint has a point, especially since I think I have a concussion,” I said.
“That’s why Mom and I should take her,” Flint said.
“No way, I said I was taking her,” Daphne said—I was relieved to hear her usually bright tone was back.
“Your leadership will be needed. For the Pack,” Flint said.
“I’m the temporary Alpha! You’re the real Alpha!”
“I’m just a kid.”
“Once again, Flint has a point,” I said.
“You are the only one who thinks that,” Beckett said.
“This isn’t fair. We don’t have enough Pack members to handle this,” Daphne grumbled.
Beckett glanced at Josephine—who was still moaning in pain—and the line was quiet for several long moments.
For some reason, I could tell this moment was important—though I couldn’t exactly say how.
Beckett rolled his shoulders back. “Call the gnomes and tell them to meet us at my house. I’ll contact Christopher; he’s a fae, too. Between him and the gnomes, they can cast some charms on Josephine that will be useful to keep her enchained.”
“Yes, Mr. Kinge,” Daphne said, her tone respectful but brimming with an emotion I wasn’t completely certain I could pin down. Was it… joy?
“Yes, Mr. Kinge,” Flint echoed, his voice similarly emotionally complex as his sister’s.
“We’ll get on that and update you when we’re en route,” Daphne added.
“Thank you,” Beckett said before ending the call.
We sat in silence for several moments.
“So.” I delicately folded my hands in front of me, deliberating how to best phrase this. “I get the feeling things just changed.”
“I would hope so,” Beckett said. “I did tell you I loved you.”
I mashed my lips together in a futile attempt to stop from feeling whatever giddy emotion was sloshing around my gut at the moment.
Beckett, still holding his phone, took a step closer to me and slid his free hand around my waist.
When he leaned into my space and angled his head towards mine, I managed to rustle up what little sense of self-preservation I had and nudged him. “Might I remind you that you asked for a raincheck. And I wasn’t talking about that!”
Beckett kissed the top of my head. “Then what were you referring to? Because to me that is the biggest, most important change of the night.”
I gave into the alluring temptation of Beckett’s shoulder and leaned against him, my muscles relaxing. “I was talking about the way the phone conversation ended. You were calling in the Pack—and Christopher and the gnomes—and taking control of the situation.”
“Ah. Yes.” Beckett swatted a mosquito away from me.
“When I realized you’d been taken, it made me reevaluate my priorities.
While politics are annoying, and I can’t say the idea of being responsible for the area thrills me, the frustration of such things is insignificant in comparison to having you and keeping you safe. ”
I peeled myself off his shoulder so I could stare up at him. “Wait, does that mean you’re going to go public?”
“Yes.”
“Because of me?”
“Because it means I will better be able to keep you safe and act when needed.”
I fiddled with my glasses as I thought. “Are you sure about this? Not that I’m not flattered, but you decided this in a span of minutes. This is a big change. You shouldn’t be impulsive.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you considering how you got yourself kidnapped,” Beckett wryly said.
“I just don’t want you to regret this.”
“I won’t. Listen.” Beckett slid his hand under my chin and tilted my head to make me meet his eyes. “I’d been considering this as a possibility for days. Weeks, even. I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t certain.”
“And now you’re sure?”
“Now, I’m entirely yours.” Beckett’s voice had a rawness to it that made my heart stutter in my chest.
I couldn’t look away from him—not because of his vampiric beauty, but because of the sheer love I could see in his eyes.
There was something earth rattling to knowing that I mattered so much to him, and that it was okay for me to let myself love him back.
Josephine made a noise, and Beckett brushed my cheek with his fingers, then turned his attention to her, breaking the tense moment.
He was at her side in the time it took me to blink, leaning over her with disgust in his eyes.
“Is she still out of it?” I asked when I could talk again.
Beckett used his toe to prod her. “Yes.”
“Good.” I peered up at the sky where the silvery moon glowed. “When the werewolves get here, I want to go back to Josephine’s car.”
Beckett looked at Josephine and frowned. “Why? Did you leave something in it?”
“Yes. My Algoma guidebook!”