Page 126 of Moonlight Hearts

I dug my heels in.“No.I’m staying.He told me not to call Soyer because Caecilius still has a witch blade left.I’m not leaving.”

“B-but you’re bleeding,” Elias said.

I looked at where he’d bitten me.It was soaking into my sweater, but it wasn’t too bad.It hadn’t gotten on my watch.“It’s fine.If Caecilius is here and plans on hurting people, that’s not.”

“The only one he’d really want to hurt is you,” Elias said.“I remember the IBT.You were in a state, and he did that.”

I had been.Logically, I remembered it.I also remembered what had happened to the person he’d made shoot me.Still, I squared my shoulders and said, “What’s he going to do, kill me again?”

Ambrose clicked his tongue.“Point.But you’re a baby.You don’t know how misery is made.”

“I’m not—”

Elias put his arm around my shoulders.“Ambrose doesn’t mean it like that.He means simply that you’re very new to our world and that it worries him, because in secret, he’s a big fluffy bear.Although he’s never called me ‘baby.’”

Ambrose ignored that.“You two do what I say.Elias, you keep that arm where it is, and you drag your buddy off to the back room if shit goes down.”

Elias just nodded, his lips pressed tight.

“I hate shit like this,” Ambrose said, then opened the door.

Echo and Thaeros were already right outside.

“You got the gist?”Echo asked.

I noticed only now that Thaeros was still wearing his uniform under his coat, his bow tie askew.That irked me more than it should have in this situation.

“Yeah.I don’t understand what you’re doing in the middle of it though, and I don’t like things I don’t understand.”

Echo met my eyes.“We’re called Cassandrians for a reason.If we take money for it, people find it easier to believe the truth than if we simply speak it.”

Ambrose crossed his arms.“Talk to me, not to him.”

“I’m letting you listen,” Echo said.

“I’m letting you breathe.”

Thaeros actually flinched at Ambrose’s words.Maybe I wasn’t sure whether Echo was lying or not, but I had no trouble at all believing that Thaeros didn’t want to be here.

“Hold on a sec,” I said, and pulled out my phone.

With Elias looking over my shoulder and right at the screen, I navigated to my chat with Soyer, ignoring how embarrassing it was to let someone else see it.

>Hey, I got in the secret chat, but I’m behind.Thaeros mentioned something someone called Echo said, something about our menu for the holidays.Idk who that is.Soyer, am I being paranoid again right now?

I didn't have to wait long for an answer.

Not about Echo.Has an attitude, but that’s it.Didn’t think he’d be the kind to be impressed by Thaeros’s charm.

“I would remind you that this is the definition of being out of context,” Elias said.“And you lied.I get spanked when I do that and get found out.”

“Not the time,” Ambrose said.

Thank you.Maybe Echo wants us to cook a holiday menu he likes.

A possibility.You’re going to manager that, my heart.I’m confident.

“Aww!”