Page 285 of Boys Who Hunt

“So, I heard you three were together now. Is that true?” Levi asks me casually.

I blush. “Um, yeah. Pretty much. Ivy is with me, Heath, and Silas.”

“Interesting …” He taps his knuckles on the table as he looks at Ivy. “I’ve seen you around. You’re Aspen’s friend, aren’t you?”

Ivy nods. “We met on campus. All of us, actually.” She laughs awkwardly.

This must be so weird for her.

It’s normal to us, but our families aren’t exactly the regular kind.

We tend to kill people if they do us wrong, and that’s okay. Every family has its flaws.

“Anyway.” Levi shrugs, turning to Mavis instead. “So, are you coming on the camping trip next week, or what?”

Okay, this conversation shifted out of nowhere.

“You know, I thought about it, and why not?” Mavis replies, leaning over the table on her elbows. “Are we just going hiking up the mountain, or are we going to go visit some spooky shit? I’m talking graveyards, abandoned houses, stuff like that.”

“No, I was actually thinking of going far beyond Lake Verity,” Levi says. “There’s another ridge there that directly overlooks the sea. I think it’d be nice.”

“Oh …” Mavis sounds disappointed.

“Romantic,” Apollo jests, winking at him. “With Silas’ sister?”

“You’d better not say that out loud again if you value your life, Torres,” Silas grits.

Apollo clasps the table as he stands up, those muscles looking all menacing. “I’d love to see you try to kill me.”

“Apollo …” his father’s voice booms across the table, silencing everyone. “Sit. Down.”

“Yeah, shut up.” Mavis throws some bread at Apollo too.

Finally, he sits, the annoyance clearly showing on his face.

“Why is everyone throwing the bread around?!” Penelope growls, and half the table begins to chuckle.

Ivy frowns. “Wait a minute … A camping trip?”

She looks over at Aspen, whose eyes have widened, and then she quickly turns to chat with her brother Xavier.

“Never mind.” Ivy casually tucks her hair behind her ear.

Xavier throws his arm around Aspen. “We’re coming too!”

She punches him in the shoulder.

Levi grins. “Perfect.”

“I wish I could come to the camping thing …” Melody mutters to herself, rolling a strand of her hair around her finger before sighing loudly.

“Camping sounds dreadful, not gonna lie,” Orion says, shivering again. “All those bugs out there crawling across your skin.”

“No, it’s gonna be fabulous, and I, for one, can’t wait,” Elliot says. “I’ll be there, along with Talon and Océane, and maybe some others, if we can convince them. Oh, and Cecelia’s coming too!”

“Wait, what?” Heath furrows his brows. “Since when do you like camping?”

“Since I just came back from Prodigium Academy. I mean, why not?” Cecelia says. “You should come too.”