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Sophie tilted her head, regarding him "Well, now that I’m here, ill you do?"

"Finish you" Without anyhe launched himself at Sophie He moved faster than anyone Ree had ever seen His motions were a blur as he struck at the tall wo around her, but was pulled back by the scruff of his neck

Sophie tsked at hi sensation fro, and more centralized in her chest As she watched her boss, she realized she was feeling an echo of what the other wo She tried to focus past the flurry of movements and was able to sense the y The dark man disappeared just like the other one had done earlier

Before the dust had even settled, Sophie turned and looked at the young couple The two teenagers stared back in shock She had been fast, just as fast as the dark ht and cocked his head to the right for just a moment as he watched Sophie walk back toward the her boss in some way He ran a hand over his jaw cautiously, obviously frustrated

"What the," Paden began and then stopped "Hey, they’re gone" He opened his ue over his teeth "You okay?"

She nodded her head at hiht?"

Sophie chuckled "It’s been a while since anyone has asked ainst Must have been pretty new"

"Nehat?" Paden asked, frustrated "What the hell is going on?"

"There’s a lot to explain, but now is neither the time nor the place We need to talk, but I think it can wait just a little while Perhaps you and your friends would like to come to my house after the concert" It wasn’t a question

"Talk? After the concert? How the hell are we supposed to walk into that concert and act like everything is just perfect?" Paden’s voice was beginning to get louder Ree had to agree This was insane, completely unbelievable

A few people wandered around the corner, and Sophie took a step closer to both of theht now Not in the open Do you kno to get to the dock for Sanctus Island?"

"The Witch’s Island? I think the dock is just off of Shipyard Road But that doesn’tto coht Not to al to take a boat over the water in the dark," Paden said, raising an eyebrow

"I understand this is a lot to take in I understand that you have no idea what is going on And I understand that you need to know, that you have to know Go enjoy the concert, and I’ll have a boat waiting for you when you get finished This is important for more than just the two of you"

Ree looked at her for athat had happened She re up inside of her, knew the fear had been real and justified She needed to knoas going on She would go to the island Her eyesreed

Paden threw his head back and made a frustrated sound

"Two houses down from the boat ramp, there’s a private dock The boat’ll be there" Sophie took a step back and gave theo Beware some of the humans you spoke with at the restaurant They are not what they seeifts you can’t begin to fathoht your instincts, but try to keep theerous at this point Alht" With that final warning she turned, ht quicker than should have been possible

Chapter 4

Paden stood watching, looking in the direction Sophie had disappeared, his expression thoughtful "I guess we should go in and find the others They have to be getting worried about us," Paden said

Ree thought about that as they climbed the steps to the center and presented their tickets to the doorman There was no doubt Sophie had meant to be wary of Michael and

Shannon That left Juliette, Melanie, Bryce, and Weylin to come with them to the island Were they involved in this as well? Didn’t Juliette notice there was soht at dinner? Jules had made a coht n

As theynear the concession stands, Ree began to feel overwhelhing on her mind Without a word Paden put an arm around her shoulders and soh to cal became heavy, and she ducked into a dark corner to escape the people walking in the hall Her eyes pressed shut and she counted each breath to try and calently tilted her face up to his so he could search her eyes He didn’t say anything for a while, just let her catch her breath When he saw that she was in better control of herself, he squeezed her shoulder "Are you alright?"

She nodded her head "Yeah, but I don’t know if I can handle being around all of these people right now This is going to sound crazy, but it feels like they’re weighing on et this flash of so"

His eyes became concerned and he reached a hand up to brush her cheek She closed her eyes, just letting hi She was overwhelht This was all so crazy When she was finally able to look at hireen eyes were thoughtful

"Alright Let’s go find the others and get out of here Can you last that long?"

She nodded her head They were about to leave their hidey-hole when someone cleared their throat loudly Both of therin on her face, and Bryce pulled Paden out by his ar on over here?" He chuckled loudly Juliette rolled her eyes at Bryce’s lack of tact She ave her a head a quick shake no Juliette pressed her lips into a disappointed line She was one of the only people that kne Ree really felt about Paden and she had sworn herself to secrecy a while ago

Paden shrugged uncomfortably "It’s not what you think," he said, ehed "Okay Then ere you two all huddled up in the corner? Looked rather cozy" He let his voice trail off suggestively