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Before I could retort, Chrome gestured for me to take our seats at the opposite heads of the table. I took mine at the far end, where River and Aella flanked both sides.

I fought the blush that crept up my neck, fighting the erotic images of Chrome’s face buried between my thighs. I squeezed them together, taunted by the memory of his mouth, tongue…

“Princess Gray.”

I snapped my head up and cleared my throat, straightening my spine.

“I’d like for you to meet Sergeant Hogan, leader of the rebel militia in the southeastern region.” Orion waved a hand toward the muscular, bearded man draped in American military camo. The fabric was old—faded, stained, and frayed—but the name tag beamed proudly on his chest.

Hogan appeared to be in his late thirties. He wasn’t an unattractive man by any means. Yet, the hardness in his eyes told me he’d seen too much death to ever be okay again.

“And you must be the princess everyone’s pinned all their hopes on.” A strained smile, as if he was too tired to muster a genuine one, pulled at the edges of his mouth.

“I am, although I warned those here that it wasn’t the wisest choice.”

Hogan breathed out a weak laugh. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise, Sergeant.”

Chrome took the time to exchange pleasantries with the sergeant while everyone chatted amongst themselves before the meeting began. I caught Dash smiling mischievously at me. Before I could say something, River smacked my arm.

She leaned into me, whispering, “About time you two fucked.”

I tensed. “Why the hell would you think that?”

River laughed as if I was missing something important. “Honey, everyone in the fucking lodge heard you.”

“No…”

“Oh, yes, Princess.”

Aella leaned in on my other side. “Don’t listen to her. It wasn’t the entire lodge.”

I sighed but caught her keyword. “Entire? You mean…”

“Just River because she was being a nosy bitch.”

I shook my head and laughed at River’s shameless shrug. “Oh. Well, in that case, was it a good show?”

River snorted. “All I know is I wish someone would make me feel like that while eating my—”

She was cut off by Chrome grabbing everyone’s attention, but his intense gaze narrowed on River. “Now that we’re all here,” he started.

River suppressed a laugh, her hand covering her mouth. “Who was it we were waiting on again?” she mumbled in a smartass retort.

Aella snorted, holding back a giggle while studying her hands in her lap.

I bit my lip, determined to keep a straight face. Chrome cocked an eyebrow, waiting for us to get it together and be serious.

“As I was saying,” Chrome said. His severe expression said he wasn’t amused, but the twinkle in his eyes said otherwise. “Sergeant Hogan has been kind enough to come to us withThe Book of the Arcane. We should give him our undivided attention.” He speared River with a hard look before his lip twitched.

Hogan cleared his throat. “This book was hidden in D.C. The government had it under tightly sealed protection for centuries, and before that, monarchies and the Catholic Church did. It’s been well-guarded.”

The sergeant looked to his right, where Dash sat. Holding his palm out, he gestured for the teen to slide the ancient tome to him. Dash pulled it from his lap, carefully setting the thick book on the table before gingerly passing it to the rebel leader.

“It’s ancient. It must be preserved by some form of magic because if it weren’t, it would be decayed by now,” he said as he slowly flicked through its pages. “According to the reports stolen from the Pentagon, there is no known language from our world in this book. But the illustrations are indicative enough.” Sergeant Hogan then slid the book to Chrome, whose brows were furrowed as he studied it.

After flipping through several pages, he stopped, pointing at something that caught his eye. “That’s the beastie-bear.” He looked up to meet my gaze. “Take a look?”