“We’re family friends,” I explained. “I haven’t seen or talked to him in over a year. I’ve been out of the loop.”
“How old are you?” she asked.
“Eighteen.”
“Oh. You look younger.” She sipped from the dark bottle. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
I almost said no, out of habit, and an uncontrollable smile leaped to my face. “Yes,” I answered.
She relaxed at that, leaning back on her elbows and taking another drink. “Want one?” I was roasting, and the thought of a cold drink sounded really good. When I hesitated, she said, “Nobody’s paying any attention, it’s okay.”
I swallowed hard. “No, thanks. I have to drive soon.”
She shrugged. We watched and clapped as the bikers performed insane and impressive feats. The crowd hissed and flinched when stunts didn’t go well. Blake never fell. He had no fear, and the fans were crazy for him.
He came to us after the awards ceremony, laden with trophies. I slinked back to the shade of the tree while Blake was approached by spectators giving congratulations. Michelle never left his side, beaming at Blake and his fans. Her prideful aura bothered me. The purple was so dark and thick that it overlapped the pink of her love for him. I couldn’t look at pride without thinking of Duke Rahab, the most loathsome of hell’s workers. My skin chilled at the memory of how he mentally tortured Gerlinda before killing her. Despite the day’s heat, I shivered.
When the crowd began to disperse, I joined Blake and Michelle. He was explaining to her that he needed to do the “family thing” for a few days. Her bottom lip plumped fuller.
“All right then,” she said, sighing.
He tipped her head up by the chin and she raised her puppy dog eyes.
“It’s all good, Chelley. I’ll see you in a couple days.”
“I’ll miss you, baby,” she said.
“I’ll miss you, too.”
Gag.
He kissed her until a stream of red was roused into her aura, and I had to look away. I wasn’t sure what kind of game he was playing with her, but it made me uneasy.
I followed Blake to his house; he drove a shiny new truck with the dirt bike strapped in the back. Being at the Duke’s house again made me nervous, even though I knew he was in Vegas. The summit could drag on throughout the day, but my paranoid instincts had me worrying it would end soon.
Blake was quick about showering and getting ready, coming out in dark jeans and a backward baseball cap.
“So, what’s up?” he asked.
I exhaled, so glad not to be alone. “If you don’t have plans, I could use your company. My dad sent Kai on a mission with Kope.”
“For real?” His eyebrows shot upward and he half grinned. “Awwwkward.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Can you come to L.A. with me? Just until they get back? I can tell you everything while we drive.”
“Yup,” he said. “On one condition.”
“Uh-oh.” I eyed him as he twisted the barbell in his brow, looking devilish.
“I get to distract you any way I want. And you gotta be a good sport about it.”
That was a frightening condition. Knowing Blake, he’d have me parachuting from a plane. But I agreed, thankful for his company. He ran back in the house to pack some things before we set off in Kaidan’s SUV.
I told him everything about the mission, careful to keep my eye off the speedometer. He was an even scarier driver than Kaidan. But at least he couldn’t pop a wheelie.
“They’ll be fine, Anna,” he assured me. “Seems like a cut-and-dried scenario to me. I know you’re scared, but I’m gonna try to keep your mind off it, okay?”
I chewed the inside of my lip. Nothing was cut-and-dried about this situation, but I appreciated his efforts to ease my worry. Talking helped.
“What’s a changing of the guard?” I asked. “My dad said that’s what they’re doing this summit.”
“Ah. Yep, that makes sense. It’s where the Dukes change positions, move to other parts of the world, get new bodies.”
Ick.
“All of them get new bodies?”
“Nah, just the ones whose bodies are getting old. Like my pops. He mentioned he’s due for a change. That’s gonna be weird. Pretty soon me and my father could be the same age. He could be even hotter than me.”
He laughed. I wondered if my dad would have to change, too.
“Will you have to move?” I asked.
“Probably not. Some Dukes make their offspring follow them wherever they go, but my father usually doesn’t. He let my brother stay in Panama—”
My head whipped toward him. “Your brother?”
“Yeah.” He looked surprised by my shock.
“I never knew you had a brother.”
“He’s, like, forty. I have a sister in Belgium, too. She’s real old.”
I stared at him. How could I not have known this? “Do you think they would be willing to ally with us?”
He scoffed and shook his head. “No way. My sister is ninety and my brother hates humans. He came around during my training to work with me, and I couldn’t stand the dude.”
“He helped train you?”
“It’s usually the older siblings who do the training if they’re around. If it’s an older sister, she’s the one to raise the younger Neph. Kope and his brothers were raised by a sister. She’s gotta be pretty old, too, by now.”