Page 278 of Pucking Feral: Part Two

"I'm meeting Valek in the woods tonight."

Silence.

"The woods," Thane repeats.

"At midnight," I confirm. “Yep.”

Whiskey opens his mouth soundlessly, looking at the others. "Just to be clear,” he croaks, “the creepy envelope and black roses are telling you to go into the woods at midnight?"

"Yes."

"Alone?"

"That's the idea."

Whiskey shrugs. "Okay."

Thane shoots him a look. "Okay? That's it?"

"Yeah, man," Whiskey says, clearly having already processed it. "It's Valek. He's good."

Wraith's hands come up. Is this your date?

I meet his eyes. His beautiful, uncertain blue eyes. "Yes. He's going to mark me, and this is how he needs to do it."

They all exchange a look.

Whiskey and Plague seem to be having some invisible communication thing going on. It ends with Whiskey shrugging his big shoulders again and Plague nodding.

Thane still doesn't look convinced. His jaw and stance are so tight, I’m pretty sure he’s about to combust.

Wraith just watches me.

"I'm not afraid of him," I tell them. "I mean that. He gave me a way out if I need it." I hold up the wooden box. "Flare gun. One shot. If I fire it, it's over and he stops. You’d all know where I am if you saw that anyway."

Wraith rumbles with a soft but affirmative growl.

"Let me do this," I say. “It’s safe. Val is safe. I promise.”

Thane opens his mouth to protest, but Wraith steps forward. His scarred hand reaches out and covers both of mine where they're wrapped around the wooden box.

He holds them for a moment.

Then he lets go and steps aside.

Thane exhales through his nose and runs a hand through his shaggy hair. "If anything—anything—feels wrong, you fire that flare."

"I will."

"Promise me, Ivy."

"I promise."

He nods once.

Whiskey sinks onto the couch, scrubbing both hands down his face. "Maaaaan. I'm gonna be pacing craters in the floor. The woods?"

"I can handle the woods," I remind him. "It isn't exactly Everest."