“Girl, all you have to do is say the word, and Mr. Lusty McLust a Lot here will be happy to whisper some dirty nothings in your ear.”

Kaidan half grinned, sexuality rolling off him as wild as the Pacific below us.

I took a shaky breath.

“I don’t appreciate when people are fake with me.” I pointed this statement at Kaidan.

Okay, calling him a fake was overboard, especially if he was just being respectful. But my feelings were bruised and battered. If Kai wasn’t going to forgive me or be willing to talk, I couldn’t hang around and deal with his bad attitude. It hurt too much, and the unfairness frustrated me to no end. “If you guys will sit down and shut up for a minute, I’ll tell you what I came here to say, and then I’m out of here. You two can find someone else to make fun of.”

They both wiped the smiles from their faces. I pulled a padded lawn chair over and sat. They moved a couple of chairs closer, giving me their attention. As I began the story, my irritation was chased away by the wonder of past events and things to come. I started with the prophecy and how I could be used, somehow, to expel the demons from earth, giving their souls a chance to be redeemed and return to heaven. The guys were avid listeners, staring as if I were bathed in light or something. All traces of Kaidan’s earlier hostility had disappeared.

I forged ahead, telling them of the traveling I’d done, careful not to mention Kopano. I focused instead on Zania in Syria and Flynn in Australia. When I finished, Blake and Kaidan blinked at each other, sober and serious. They were in business mode, all previous emotions set aside.

“What do you think your dad’s gonna do?” Blake asked him.

Kaidan shook his head. “I was just wondering the same thing. I can picture your father turning to the light, but I can’t imagine Pharzuph swallowing his pride.”

“So, what are we going to do to make this happen?” Blake asked me.

“I don’t know, honestly,” I told him. “I can’t just knock on their doors one by one. It would never work.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Kaidan agreed. “They always have whisperers coming and going. Plus, unless the souls of the Dukes are dragged away by God himself, what’s to keep them from staying here on earth, possessing someone else, and then coming after you? They’d alert one another. Unless you take them out one by one with the Sword. You’ll need to gather the Dukes all together. Like at a summit.”

“Yeah, but the Neph aren’t usually invited to those unless they want to kill one of us,” Blake said.

Kaidan shrugged. “So, we show up uninvited.”

“We’re just building the list of allies right now,” I told them. “We can’t rush it. I think when it’s time to act, there’ll be some sort of catalyst to let us know.”

We pondered the possibilities. Kaidan zoned out, lost in thought.

Now was an ideal time for me to leave. I would rather go on a positive note while everyone was experiencing a moment of peace and hope. I knew as soon as the subject got back to personal stuff, Kaidan’s guard would go up. This heart couldn’t take much more breaking. A sharp pang of loss sliced through my chest.

I stood, and they both raised their heads as if shaken awake.

“Where are you going?” Blake asked.

“Home. I said what I came to say. It was . . . good to see you guys.”

I didn’t want to say good-bye. I hated leaving things the way they were. You’re such a coward, Anna. My legs felt weighted to that spot.

“By the way,” I said to Blake, stalling, “here’s a message from Ginger. The G-rated version, anyway.”

I blew a kiss to him. He pretended to catch it and press it to his lips. “Thanks,” he said. I expected some further funny remark from him, but instead he stood and hugged me.

“Don’t go,” he pleaded before releasing me.

“I really should.” I looked down at the silver hem of my beach shorts.

“If this is about earlier, we were only kidding around,” Blake said.

“I told you she can be stubborn when she wants, didn’t I?” Kaidan asked, stretched out on his chair with his hands behind his head. “You didn’t believe me.”

“I’m not being stubborn!” I put my hands on my hips and scowled down at him, wondering if maybe I was being stubborn. He raised an eyebrow when I said, “And you have no room to talk. You’re a mule.”

Blake laughed and pointed at Kai. “She just called you an ass, man.”

“I am an ass-man,” Kai stated.

Blake laughed harder and I rolled my eyes.

“Aw, c’mon, just stay,” Blake said.

“I don’t think so.” Okay, I was definitely being stubborn now, but Kai hadn’t exactly been Mr. Nice Guy today. Yes, I’d made a mistake, but so had he, and I wasn’t dealing with any more of his meanness. “Just get up and say ’bye to me, Kai. Please.” He stood and towered over me, getting close in that intimidating way I remembered so well. I sucked in a breath and held it.

“Bossy, aren’t you?” His voice was low. As I raised my gaze to those perfect blue eyes, I found I couldn’t respond and my cheeks got hot. “Right. You’d best cool off before you go.”

Before I could process those words, he bent down, grabbed me up in his arms, and jumped into the freaking deep end of the pool with me!

We went all the way to the bottom, where I kicked off and swam back up, surfacing with a gasp. Blake’s laughter rang through the air. I swiped water from my eyes. Kaidan was right in front of me and I shoved his chest. My movements in the water were sluggish, laughably ineffective. He grabbed my wrists and he was grinning! I struggled to pull away, still feeling unreasonably emotional. Attempting to wrestle with a big, sexy boy while treading water was not easy.