Her voice cracked and Ginger gathered her into her arms just as Marna broke down, shoulders shaking with the force of her tears. I blinked the sting away from my own eyes.

“They’ll really be gone,” I promised her. “And you’ll both be free.”

“What do you need us to do?” Ginger asked in an uncanny moment of teamwork. Marna dabbed at her eyes with an ivory cloth napkin from the table.

“There’s no long-term plan, yet,” I explained. “We just need to be ready, at any time, to band together and fight. I have no idea how it’s going to play out. But when I leave, you can’t talk about this at all. You can’t tell the guys. My dad’s sending me places when he knows it’s safe.”

I told them about the trip to Syria. They were good listeners, enthralled and full of questions. The things we were doing and planning right under the Dukes’ noses were extraordinary and unprecedented. Neph had never banded together against them, and the possibilities were enough to give us head rushes.

“We’re still trying to find other Neph to be allies. I need to see Blake and Kai. I know they’ll be in, but they need to hear about the prophecy.”

A thoughtful minute of quiet passed. My nerves felt like they were being wrung out at the thought of seeing Kai again. Ginger eyed me.

“You realize he’ll never let you love him, right?”

She could verbally punch like no other.

“I know that, yes.”

She crossed her arms, one shoulder cocked up, and glared at me as if I’d never truly understand Kaidan the way she did. And maybe she was right. Because even though my mind knew he wouldn’t let me love him, my heart continued to hope.

Kope caught my eye from across the table and we both looked away.

“Let’s do something fun together while arsey-Astaroth is gone!” Marna grabbed my arm, redirecting my attention. “Let’s get our nails done!”

I could never tell Veronica. She’d combust if she knew I’d cheated on her with Marna.

“You ladies should enjoy this time.” Kopano sounded weary. “I will go to the hotel.”

“Ah, Kope, I’m sorry!” Marna laughed. “Men get their nails buffed, too, you know.”

He stood. “I could use an early night to bed.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “We could do something else.” I knew how he felt—jet lag was setting in—but I was too excited to sleep yet.

“I am certain.” He headed for the door, bowing his head at us.

“I’ll come by to see you in the morning before you leave,” Marna promised. “Text me your hotel info.”

His eyes looked weary when he gave a small nod and turned to go, and it made something inside me seize up with sadness.

When he left, Marna sent me a meaningful look and I nodded. We’d talk. We grabbed our purses, but Ginger still sat, staring off, deep in thought.

“You coming, Gin?” Marna asked.

But Ginger looked at me. “You say it’s safe tonight?”

“Yeah.” I told her about Dad’s intel, and how they’d let me know if danger arose.

“You two go,” Ginger said. “I think I’ll have a night to myself.”

The mother bear was letting the cub out of her sight. Shocking.

Marna looked completely taken aback. “If you’re quite sure . . .”

Ginger nodded absently and waved us off, already falling into relaxation mode, getting up and plopping herself on the couch with a remote. Marna shrugged and linked her arm through mine, leading me out of the flat with a skip in her step.

“Don’t go back to the hotel tonight,” Marna pleaded. “Stay here with me!”

“Okay,” I agreed, and we chatted the whole way to the salon.

After manicures, pedicures, and pub baskets of fish and chips, we started making our way through the night crowd to the hotel so I could get my stuff. I pulled my jacket closed as the fall breeze kicked up and we passed a pub playing live music.

“I could totally live in England,” I said.

Marna took my arm again. “You would totes love it here.”

We walked quietly for a minute.

“What do you think is going on with Kai?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No idea. We were all shaken up after the summit, but him worst of all. Maybe he’s going through a rebellious stage.”

“I don’t want him to do anything stupid,” I whispered.

“I know. He’s just testing the boundaries, but I’m sure he’s fine. Don’t worry, ’kay?” She squeezed my arm and I squeezed back.

We retrieved my bag from the hotel and took the Tube back to Marna’s place.

“What’s it been like to travel with Kope?” she asked as we ascended from the Tube at her stop.

“It’s been great. He’s actually talked to me some. He was awesome in Syria. You should have seen him.”

We sidestepped around a street violinist. He wound a string of sad, whimsical notes through the air, and I tossed a few bills in his open case.

“He likes you, you know,” Marna said.

For one confused second I imagined she was talking about the violinist. When I realized she meant Kope, my heart sank. “We’re friends. That’s all I want.”

“Okay,” she said quietly. “I understand.”

But I felt the need to explain. “Sometimes I forget how he is,” I said. “And I touch him, like I’d do with Jay or Blake. But it’s weird. He gets all tense, and then I feel bad. Does that ever happen to you?”