Page 151 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“Cool!”

“You didn’t need to bribe him, Adrien. Kids love you.”

“You have way too many cousins, Bells. I need to get a leg up.”

“He’s got you there, Bells,” Violet laughed.

I laughed along, but all I could think about was how many of them had come to visit me in the last eight years. Two? Maybe three of them? The attack last year didn’t count. I always knew they would come when shit hit the fan, but hardly any of them visited me outside of that.

After dinner, I took Adam up to play with the rabbit and then put him to bed. Cade was waiting for me outside of his room when I came out.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

“I can’t. I’m helping Elim catch the chupacabra,” I told him, cringing at the name, but Cade would look at me as if I were losing my marbles, if I called it a chimichanga while he was trying to have a serious conversation.

“What if I want to chupa your cabra?” Cade asked, wincing as he realized the absurdity of his statement. I giggled, despite all of my internal conflicts. “I didn’t think that one through.”

“Nope. You certainly didn’t.” I walked over to my room to change into something more mobile and ready for fighting.

“You’ve been avoiding me all day, Princess.”

“I haven’t. I’ve been busy. There’s a lot riding in the next few weeks, Cade. I can’t afford to let anything fall through the cracks.”

“You’re going to burn yourself out, let me help.”

“I did fine for a full year by myself. You’ve got a lot on your plate, too. Concentrate on your pack and all the plans you have for your new pack grounds. I’ll be fine. I promise.” I was lying through my teeth. I hadn’t been doing fine by myself and I didn’t know if I was going to be fine when I was alone again, but that was my problem.

“Bells, wha—”

A knock on the door caught us by surprise.

“Who is it?” I called out.

“It’s Elim. We’re getting ready to go.”

“I’ll be there shortly.” I finished putting on my clothes and turned to Cade. “I have to go. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Elim

Iwalked downstairs to meet my cousin Adrien and Chris. I found Violet there, too, and I furrowed my brows. She looked like she was ready for training, though I knew Chris told her he was helping tonight. She didn’t think...

“Bells said the more people that helped, the higher the chances of catching it. I want to help.” Her voice reached me as I approached the second floor and I stopped.

She couldn’t come help. She could get seriously hurt.

“No. Absolutely not! I’ve faced that thing, Violet. It’s fast and violent. After a few nights without food, it’s going to be even worse.” Chris tried to put his foot down, and I was holding my breath to see if it worked.

“What? When did you face it?”

Chris looked uncomfortable at her question for a moment. His eyes met mine briefly as I started down the steps to the ground floor before looking down at Violet. Was he going to tell her what happened that night?

“It doesn’t matter. You’re not ready. I won’t let you put yourself at risk.”

I was relieved he avoided telling her what he was doing in the forest when he met the demon dog. That would crush Violet.

“You’re not my father, Chris,” Violet challenged.