Chapter 17

I blinked, realizing he hadn’t made room for any other option, and was about to beg off when a shadow fell over the both of us and I gazed up to find Elijah standing with his hands in his pocket and a tic in his jaw.

“None,” he answered smoothly for me. “Aurora is on a very tight schedule.”

Vincent’s expression went from warm, to nonplussed, and then cold in an instant. He fixed on a thin smile and stood to his feet, holding out a hand.

“Wilder,” he said, “I didn’t even notice you.”

Elijah looked from his face to the proffered hand but made no move to take it, and after a few moments of tense inaction Vincent let the limb drop uselessly to his side. His smile had turned strained, and I stood shakily to my feet so that all three of us were standing.

“Aurora and I met up earlier, before I got called up,” Vincent explained, gesturing toward me in one easy motion. “I wa