Intended Series Collection: Books 1-6 by Abigail Grant (best summer books .txt) 📗

I can’t help but join in on her excitement and a small squeal sneaks out of my throat. “I am so amazed at that silly friend of ours. He has turned into quite the man, hasn’t he?”

She shrugs again and flips her hair behind her shoulder. “He is still a very big goofball, but I love him so stupidly much, it’s actually ridiculous.”

I shake my head at her. “It’s amazing, Kass.”

She giggles and shoves my shoulder. We talk about all of the things that happened while we were away from one another. She guffaws at all of my retelling of demon encounters and I laugh at all of her and Liam’s adventures. Thankfully, it doesn’t feel like we missed too much of each other's lives. I feel like I’m home again.

“... and then he kissed me. I swear, I thought it was Gavin!” I tell Kassy about the moment I had to tell Neo that I wasn’t interested in him.

Kassy covers her mouth with one of her small hands. “Oh, no!” she nearly shouts. She shakes her head. “First Liam kisses you, and now Neo. Boys really need to ask a girl a question before just jumping right on in.”

My eyes widen to their fullest roundness and I’m sure my cheeks are ruby red. “Liam told you about that?” I’m mortified.

She smiles and nods her head at me. “Oh yeah. He was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing but I told him I didn’t care. I mean, my exploits with Max are enough to be embarrassed about.”

Her mention of the large demon-possessed guy that was killed by Thrane sends a small ping to my heart. Sometimes I can still feel the pain of him strangling me, if I think hard enough about the memory. I try not to do that though.

I tilt my head at her and feel the need to apologize about kissing Liam, even though it was completely unwelcomed. “I’m sorry he kissed me, Kass. I wanted to tell you, but more than that, I wanted you both to just be insanely happy forever.”

Kassy waves a hand at me. “Oh, you quit that. I wasn’t worried about it as soon as Liam told me, and I’m still not at all concerned. I’m actually flattered that he liked me so much that he was trying to make me jealous.” She raises a single eyebrow at me. “And you both bicker like six-year-old siblings so much, no passion could be found in that duo.”

We laugh together but the laughter stops when we hear Gram calling us in for breakfast. “Girls! Ya better come eat, before I feed it to the boys!”

Kassy and I look at one another and her eyes squint into an evil stare. She places her hands on the bed on both sides of her, bracing herself. “Last one there is the rotten egg!” she yells and dives off the bed toward the door.

Guess it’s time to show Kassy my superspeed. I will never again be the rotten egg.

Chapter 5

I lean against the tall wooden back of my barstool, completely stuffed with delicious, warm bacon and three large, buttery pancakes. Gram really knows how to make a person want to go back to bed and hibernate for the winter. Thank heavens for that woman.

I watch Gram put the last of the pancakes into a clear tupperware container. “So, what’s this Kassy mentioned to me about a family reunion in Greece?” I ask her.

Gram turns to me with a huge smile. “Oh, yes! It will be so fun. We leave in less than a week. I hope you and your mom can come.” She looks over at Aunt Mags where she sips her morning coffee on the window bench seat and watches the large trees blow in the breeze.

Aunt Mags looks up at us and places a hand on her chest. “You guys want me to come? That sounds like so much fun!” She smiles up at me. “You know, El, Greece is where your dad’s family lives.”

I raise my eyebrows and sit up straighter. “Wait! Do I have grandparents?” I would love to have grandparents. My mother and father never mentioned any and Aunt Mag’s parents passed before I ever met them. I remember them sending me cards on my birthdays, though.

Aunt Mag’s nods. “I haven’t talked to them in a lot of years, but I do believe they’re still there.” Her head drops for a moment and a thin line forms on her lips. “Your mom and dad never told them you existed.”

I gasp. “Why would they do that?” I ask her, completely shocked.

She shrugs. “I really wish I knew the answer to that, sweetie. Your mom wanted so badly to keep everyone out of harm's way. I guess it was just another precaution to protect others.”

I shake my head, amazed that I have family out in the world that can tell me more about my parents. I can actually be connected to my father like I never could before. I always felt like my bloodline was just severed. I almost can’t fathom that I have real blood relatives… and I get to meet them in a week.

***

        I’m training with Alexa and I can’t get thoughts of the future out of my head. My dream of Barron last night was surprisingly tame for him, but I know he is going to be here soon. I can almost feel the incoming danger, even though I have no clue when I’ll be needing to finally fight.

I space out near one of the bows hanging on the wall in front of me. I’m still long enough for Alexa to throw a rock at my left shoulder. I groan and grab my arm. “Ow! Son of a…” I trail off, trying to hold my tongue.

I peer over at Alexa and her hands are resting on her hips above her high waisted, skin-tight blue yoga pants.

We have been dodging each other's rock