Page 85 of Vicious Luna
I shrug a shoulder. “I guess.”
“The more you shift, the easier it’ll be,” she quips, a victorious grin stretching her lips. “So c’mon, let’s go again.”
“Do we have to?” I groan, dragging my hands down my face.
“Yes,” she deadpans. “You’re a shifter now, Cameron Knox, and it’s about time you owned that. Now c’mon, try to do it without me this time.”
“Okay,” I sigh, closing my eyes again and picturing the cage.
Here goes nothing.
38
My girlfriends are the sweetest. The cyberattack Cam launched on The Guild has given us a temporary reprieve where we can actually breathe for a second, and while my friends could’ve done anything they wanted with this rare moment of peace, they decided to surprise me by putting together an impromptu ‘spa day’ at the local hot springs.
Sloane packed my favorite swimsuit. Cheyenne and Lo brought several bottles of wine. Andie passed around a joint the moment we arrived, and River put together a killer playlist for background ambiance, which is currently bumping from a portable speaker propped up on a rock at the pool’s edge. It’s just the six of us, and after the craziness of the last few weeks, I can’t think of anything better than an entire afternoon of getting buzzed on wine, having girl talk, and relaxing.
Well, as much as any of uscanrelax, with a fight looming on the horizon. Cam keeps reminding me of the possibility of negotiating a ceasefire with The Guild, should his potential ally on the inside respond, but I’m decidedly less optimistic about his former colleagues suddenly seeing the light and laying down their weapons. I mean, the moment they found out whatheis, they turned on him, tortured him,and shot at him. If that isn’t an indication that they’re far too entrenched in their beliefs to see reason, I don’t know what is.
Thankfully, we’ve all been careful to avoid the topic of the inevitable war to come. It’d only bring down the mood. That doesn’t mean I’m off the hook as far as Cam is concerned, though- my girls love spilling the tea, and my tale of sleeping with the enemy is too piping hot to resist. I also might’ve let it slip that he had me dicknotized from the start, and Andie Raines’ morbid curiosity knows no bounds.
“So exactly how big is it?” she questions, bringing her palms together in front of her then slowly moving them apart. “Just say when.”
I roll my eyes, kicking a leg toward the surface to splash water in her direction. “My cousin’s here!” I remind her, throwing a thumb over my shoulder toward where River’s stretched out on a towel, drying off.
“So?” Riv chimes in from her spot on the bank behind me, propping herself up on an elbow. “I’m eighteen now, it’s not like I’ve never seen one.”
I choke on the sip of wine I was taking, coughing and spluttering as I turn to look back at River.
“What?” she asks with an innocent shrug.
“We just still think of you as our baby cousin,” Lo says, taking the words right out of my mouth. Her mom is my Uncle Theo’s sister, so Riv’shercousin, too.
Andie waves a hand dismissively. “If I knew we couldn’t talk about dicks, I wouldn’t have invited her.”
“Hey!” River protests, twisting at the waist as she curls up to sit.
“Oh that’s right, you basically invited yourself,” Andie teases, sticking out her tongue at her. “My bad.”
River pushes up from her towel with a huff, eyes sparkling with devious intent as she starts around the edge of the pool toward Andie.
“Don’t you dare,” Chey warns, pointing a finger at her asshe advances closer, no doubt angling to jump on Andie and dunk her underwater. “We’re supposed to be relaxing today, remember? No roughhousing.”
“But what if that’s what relaxes me?” Riv asks sweetly, batting her lashes.
“Save it for squad training,” I laugh.
My cousin heaves a sigh, easing down to sit on the edge of the pool. “Yeah,ifthat ever happens,” she grumbles, dangling her feet in the water.
“It will,” Sloane pipes up. “Just as soon as this mess is behind us. You’re not the only one chomping at the bit to start training camp.”
“Javi said Seb was grilling him about it the other day,” Lo adds, leaning back against the rocks and allowing her feet to float out in front of her.
I furrow my brow, turning my gaze on her. “What was Javi doing hanging out with Seb?”
“He wasn’t, he was working with Seb’s mom to hone his tracking skills.”
“Ah,” I nod. Luna Vienna’s the best tracker the squad’s ever had, so it makes sense that Javi would go to her for some pointers. We’re all curious to see how much of her tracker DNA was inherited by her son, but Seb’s only eighteen, so he hasn’t had a chance to go through summer training camp with the squad yet. He’ll be in the same class of recruits as River once we can put this hunter situation behind us and get back to business as usual.