Metamorphosis (Breaking Free, book 2)

Chapter 14-Owen

"You're what now?" I asked, my eyebrows climbing into my hairline. Michael sat across from me, thumbing his mug of coffee. Dana sat beside him, her eyes shrouded and wary. Even after my whole mental breakdown, she still didn't trust me; after my behavior, I wouldn't either.

Michael was much more trusting than both his wife and me and it was refreshing. He reminded me of Milo from before. He trusted so quickly and so easily, it was beautiful. Watching that disappear...It broke my heart. I hadn't met someone who trusted so openly since, but this man smiled genuinely as if I hadn't just held him at gunpoint in front of his entire family. Placing his mug on the coffee table in front of us, he leaned on his knees, meeting my eyes.

"We're intermediaries. We essentially board and protect supernatural people as needed." He said, the small smile still on his face despite my dropped jaw and scrunched eyebrows. I had never heard of an Intermediary outside of business terms before, and I was sure that what he was talking about was not that. Dana rolled her eyes and leaned back into the couch, crossing her arms over her chest indignantly.

"But we stopped getting involved with all that," She sneered, her nose wrinkling. "A long time ago. So why are you here?" Michael reached over and squeezed her knee in warning, narrowing his eyes at her. The tension between the two of them was palpable, and I shifted in my seat, staring pointedly at my mug.

What could I tell her? Biting my lip, I thought about my options. There weren't many good options, and I frowned at my coffee. I could tell her about the war, but if she already knew about it then it wouldn't be a good enough reason, and I needed a good enough reason after the stunt I had pulled. Not to mention If they knew and still weren't helping then they wanted absolutely no part in it, and they definitely wouldn't want to change that for me.

If they didn't know about the war, I could potentially be putting them in danger by telling them. And Maisie didn't deserve that. Truly none of them did, but the jury was still out on how I felt about Dana, so she could suck it for now.

If I did tell them about the war, they would want to know why I was specifically in this little hole-in-the-wall town in Oregon instead of fighting in the war efforts. And even if Dana was a raging bitch, Michael had helped me without a single reason and all the evidence stacked against me. I couldn't lie to him, I respected him too much, but I couldn't tell him the exact reasons I was here, that was well beyond dangerous for both of us.

Gripping the mug, I stared at my white knuckles, avoiding their gaze. It was silent for several minutes, a clock ticking in the background. Bouncing my leg, I glanced around the room, purposefully ignoring the question. I hoped they wouldn't notice my discomfort around this topic, even if I knew I wasn't hiding it particularly well.

"How about this," Dana said, a smirk on her face. " We can get in contact with your kind for you." She spat out the words as if they were venomous. " Does that sound good?" She finished with a smug twitch of her upper lip. Michael pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back against the couch.

Stiffening, I looked her up and down warily. I could see Milo's smile at the back of my mind, and my chest hurt. I wanted to hold him and tell him I loved him. I stared at my lap, my eyes wetter than they were several minutes earlier. I wanted, no I needed this to be true.

"How?" I demanded, gripping my knees and trying not to grab her by the shoulders and shake that smug look off of her face. God, I hated that look.

"Dana..." Michael warned, refusing to look at her. Dana shot him a glare and he closed his mouth, staying quiet.

"Dreams. But we'll only help you if you tell us why, exactly, you're here." My head spun with this new information. I could get in contact with Milo or even his dad. This could work, but it could also be extremely dangerous. Chewing my lip, I stared at my mug, half-hoping that it would tell me the answer. When it didn't make a sound, I looked up, straight into Dana's cold, brown eyes.