I had planned on staying in the guest bedroom all night, but my stomach growled. When I remembered Tessa said something about dinner, I couldn’t resist. Besides, I was bored and worried and still feeling like I was swimming in a muddy ocean. Maybe the girls could take my mind off all the bad, crazy things happening.

Skeptical, I went downstairs, but the moment I stepped into the kitchen, I inhaled the deep, spicy aroma wafting around the place, and I was glad I had come.

“There you are,” Tessa said, looking over her shoulder at me. She stirred something in a big pot on the range. “I was about to send Sophia to call you since I’m almost done here.”

A girl with thick, brown curls seated on one of the stools around the island raised her hand and looked at me with her dark blue eyes. “I’m Sophia.”

“Hi,” I muttered, coming closer.

Amber picked up the plates from the cabinet. “We’re eating here, right?”

“Yup,” Tessa said. “More informal.” She smiled at me. “I hope you like chicken fricassee.”

I had no idea what that was. “I’m not sure, but it does smell good,” I said.

Her smile widened. “That’s good. The smell is always half the battle.”

Amber set the plates down on the island, then turned to get the glasses. “Eating your food is never a battle.”

“Tessa’s cooking is amazing,” Sophia said. “We make her cook for us all the time.”

“As if it was a terrible thing,” Tessa said.

“How can I help?” I asked, feeling awkward standing there.

“If you really want to help, you can get drinks from the fridge,” Amber said. “Sophia will have orange juice, I’ll have grape, and Tessa will have water. And you can get whatever you want for yourself.”

I went to the fridge, one of those huge side-by-side ones with the freezer as big as the refrigerator side, and picked up the drinks. Tessa finished the fricassee, Amber got the utensils, and Sophia just watched.

Soon, we were all seated around the island, eating Tessa’s delicious fricassee.

“How was school today?” Tessa asked Sophia.

The younger girl rolled her eyes. “The same. Boring. It’s too boring. I would prefer to go on hunts.”

Amber shook her head. “You know the deal. Finish high school first. Come on, there’s only five months left. After that, you can do whatever the hell you want.”

“That’s so far away,” she complained, sounding every bit like a teenager.

Tessa chuckled. “That’s so ridiculous. You’ve been in school your entire life and now, with only five months left, you want to quit?”

Sophia shrugged. “It’s not like I’ll do anything useful with my diploma.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Amber said, her voice firm. “That’s what Douglas wants and that’s what you’ll do.”

Sophia grumbled under her breath and I smiled. All right, I confess. Spending some time with the girls as if everything was normal was doing wonders for my broken soul.

After that, they told me a little bit about themselves. Sophia’s parents were hunters in the Sanctum of the Seven, and they died when she was little. Amber, who was Aidan’s sister, lost her mother to an enraged werewolf years ago. Broken from the loss, her father Hendrick went out on hunt after hunt, circling the country and taking any crazy case that crossed his path just to keep busy. Although, he came home occasionally to check on his children. And Tessa was Isaac’s daughter, the hunter who was killed last year. She told me her father pushed her away to keep her from this life—much like Nathan’s father had done—but after his death, she joined Landon to get revenge and never left.

Like Nathan had said, everyone in here had lost loved ones and sacrificed so much. I couldn’t imagine a life like that.

Next, they told me about the cases and the hunts. There was always a case going on, if not many at the same time.

I wondered, if they were always hunting …

“If I might ask, what do you guys do for money? I mean, hunting doesn’t really pay, does it? You don’t get a reward every time you kill a demon or solve a case, do you?”

Sophia scoffed. “I wish.”

“The humans in town think we’re an odd family of investors, and I guess that is true. We are a family, even if most of us aren’t blood related, and our money comes from investing. Thankfully, it’s a large sum and we can live comfortably without worrying about that.”

“That’s cool, I guess.”

“It is,” Sophia said. “My tantrums usually consist of going to Amazon and spending a huge amount of money. I only get a quick don’t-do-it-again speech and that’s it.”

“That’s because you’re too old for tantrums,” Amber protested.

I chuckled and realized I was feeling a little better. The food had been delicious and the company wasn’t too bad either.

“We have Wonder Woman ready to play in the living room,” Tessa said, while she rinsed the plates and put them into the dishwasher. “Have you seen it?”

“I have. Several times, actually. But I love it. I don’t mind watching it several times again.”

“Great.” Tessa smiled. “Let’s go to the living room. In the middle of the movie, I’ll come and get us some dessert.”

I placed a hand over my stomach, feeling so full. “There’s dessert?”

“With Tessa, there’s always dessert,” Sophia said, closing the Tupperware with the fricassee leftover. “We love her for that. Just for that.” She winked at Tessa, who chuckled at the joke.

After we finished cleaning up the kitchen, the girls and I went to the living room. Once again, I was taken aback by how expensive and fancy and yet comfortable and inviting this place looked. The living room, or sitting room as Amber called it, had long sofas with soft cushions, large ottomans, thick rugs, and a huge TV over a heavy entertainment center.

I sat down at one of the couches when my phone dinged. Thinking it was probably my mother, checking in on me, I fished out of my pocket and glanced at the message.

It wasn’t my mother. It was an unknown number and it was a picture, not a text.

I stared at it and my heart stopped.

“I’ll be right back,” I muttered, standing up.

“Everything all right?” Amber asked.

I forced my eyes to her and said, “Yeah, it’s my mother. I’ll give her a quick call.”

Tessa frowned. “But it’s past midnight.”

“I know, right? She’s a night owl,” I lied. “You guys can put the movie in. I’ll be right back.”

“All right,” Tessa said, looking unconvinced. Still, I heard the movie starting when I walked out of the room.

I went to the kitchen and clicked on the picture. My heart sped up as I took it in—a photo of the same beige paper and handwriting for the two notes I had gotten before.

---

Brooke, I would like to meet you tonight. Come to the carousel pavilion at the abandoned amusement park as soon as you can. But don’t tell the hunters. If you do, they will arrest me on sight, and I won’t have an opportunity to explain everything.

Love,

Your father.

---

My hands shook.

Now he wanted to see me? What did this mean?

I looked in the direction of the living room. The girls would kill me if I left without telling them. Hell, Nathan would kill me. But I had to know. Why was he sending these letters? Why had he warned me I was in danger? In danger from what?

My heart pumped against my ribs, hurting.

I felt like I was going against the law, but I had to know.

I stayed in the kitchen and listened. The movie was loud and clear. The girls would only know something happened if the house shook or if they came looking for me—which I hope would take a long time.

As silently as I could, I climbed down the stairs to the underground garage and picked the keys to Amber’s Jeep on the hook panel beside the door. I hoped she would forgive me for borrowing her car for a couple of hours.

I sent up a silent prayer and drove out of the manor.