Page 66 of His Atonement

I really need to fucking smoke.

Lions and Tigers and Bear, Oh Shit!

Igiggle my head off, laugh like a complete crazy person as I look around the yard, look at the incredibly serious expressions on the faces of the people I've come to love.

"That weed must be a lot stronger than I thought.” I snort into the back of my hand, wiping a few tears from my eye. "Either that or I'm straight up fucking delusional now."

Allie reaches over and takes my hand, holding it firmly in hers. "I know it's a lot to take in, Frankie, but it's not a joke. You aren't delusional and despite smoking some of the best weed you can get your hands on, it's not that either."

"Yeah, ok.” I roll my eyes and start laughing even harder. "So I'm not too high and I'm not crazy, yet, which either means you and your entire clan are nuts or—" I snort, and clutch my stomach—"or werewolves and vampires are real."

"Wolf shifter,” Colt, the total babe of a brunette I just met, says from across the picnic table. "Werewolves aren't real."

This just makes me laugh so hard I almost pee my pants.

I had no idea that thissecretAllie wanted to let me in on was going to make me hysterical as well as super concerned about my cousin and her girls.

I'm actually about two seconds away from finding someone that deals with cults and how to reverse the brainwashing they do on their members.

There is just no fucking way Allie believes this without having someone put it into her head in order to force her into buying it. And to think I really liked Andrej and his brothers so fucking much, but now I have to kick their asses for doing this to my cousin. Bummer.

"You really expect me to believe all of you turn into gigantic predatory animals, including but not limited to dragons that don't exist in anything but fairytales?" My laughter hits a new high as Allie squeezes my hand. "And you are an actual fairy?"

Cora frowns. "Fae. There's a difference."

“Sorry." I hold up my hand, and shake my head. "I didn't mean to offend you, I just… oh my god, I can't even handle this right now."

"I think you're gonna have to show her,” Allie says as she looks at Andrej. "Someone's gonna have to or else she's going to get stuck like this and probably end up pissing off the wrong kind of creatures."

Andrej grunts his agreement then goes to stand, but Posey and Grace stop him.

"We'll do it,” Gracie says as she takes off her glasses and hands them to Henrich. "She'll be more likely to believe it coming from us."

Posey smirks my way as she pulls her shirt off. "Frankie, I seriously love you, but right now you're acting like an ass."

I snort. "So sorry I didn't just jump on board with the group delusion, Pose. It's a little hard to roll with a cult when they're this extreme."

She rolls her eyes and drops her pants, taking several big steps backward. "Well get ready to eat your words, sweetheart. Just cause you haven't seen it does not mean it doesn't exist."

"Don't be so mad at her,” Grace says while she drops her jeans. "Before you remembered everything, you thought Kai was gonna kill you. You can't blame her for having such a normal reaction."

"Yeah, I guess you're right.” Posey shrugs. "Sorry, Frank. I get it. Just don't scream too much, ok?"

I giggle again then lift my fingers to my lips and make like I'm turning a key.

This is fucking nuts, man.

I seriously can't believe my friends and my family all believe this shit.

And I'm someone that hasactualhallucinations!

"Promise me you won't freak out,” Allie says as she grabs both of my hands. "No one's gonna hurt you, everyone is safe, and it doesn't hurt them either. Just remember everyone here loves you, you're safe."

"Jesus, what the fuck are they gonna do in their underwear, Al? I mean it's not like—"

The air around us gets hot, impossibly hot, so much so that it actually sparks but I force my eyes to stay open, refusing to look away as two mini bombs go off in front of me.

And there, where two of my best friends stood only seconds ago, is an enormous white dragon that is burning in golden flames and a huge fucking tiger, bigger than any I've seen in the zoo or on safari.