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“How long have you been able to sense him?” I asked.

“Just a few days.” She was glowing.

At least there was some good news today.

Tiber and Kaden walked back in. Kaden’s eyes moved from my face to my bare feet and back again, as if he were checking whether someone might’ve snuck in and beaten me while he was gone.

“Anything?” Luisca asked.

Tiber shook his head.

“It’s getting late, and you still look pale,” Kaden said.

“Yeah, I’m okay, though. Just a little…”

He picked me up out of the chair.“Night, everyone,” he said, heading to the stairs.

I glanced back over his shoulder to Marina, who was watching us as if we truly were the epitome of everything she wanted.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I woke up alone and a little more sluggish than normal. I dragged myself out of bed, feeling a little unsteady as I put on my shirt and pants. I was pulling on my boots when I heard voices.

I threw it open to find Remy and Jules, two Kradix who’d lived here for years. They’d become part of our core group. Their powers were growing lately.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“Um, guarding you,” Remy said, rocking back on his heels.

I knew exactly where to put the guilt. “Where’s Kaden?”

“The barn.”

The barn? What was he doing in the barn? Why did that make my suspicions tingle in a bad way? “Doing what?”

The two of them looked at each other, but neither spoke. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. I squeezed past them, and they fell in behind me.

“Why are you following me?”

“We’re protecting you,” Remy said.

“From what?” I threw up my hands. “I could kill both of you right now if I chose.”

They turned to each other, as if the obvious hadn’t occurred to them until I’d spoken it aloud.

“Yeah, it doesn't matter,” Jules said.

“If we leave your side, Kadenwilldefinitely kill us,” Remy said.

I wasn’t used to being looked after, and I couldn’t decide whether it was nice or annoying.

As I crossed the field toward the barn, and they continued to dog my steps, I decided it was definitely not an experience I wanted to continue.

Jocko was standing outside the barn door, arms crossed.

“Is Kaden in there?”

“Yes, but no one is allowed in,” he said, positioning himself in front of me.