“Shutting good things down before they have a chance to happen. Who gives a shit what the media says? Remember how badly they went after Mindless Delirium when we met? Was it rough? Yes. But it didn’t matter in the end because I was happy and so were they. If you’re truly happy, they can’t touch you.”

I slumped back against the leather seat, staring at the car ceiling. On the one hand, she was right, and on the other, I was a realist. The media loved Eva, and they were likely to forgive her more than they would me.

Eva had her phone out, texting someone. Probably Jasmine. Her schedule was so busy I was amazed she even had time to grab lunch. “So, where are we going again?”

“Almost there.”

We were downtown now, the mix of slick high-rises mixed with older, more decorative buildings always an interesting thing to watch. When I was a little younger and I didn’t have as much attention on me, I liked to come down here and draw the juxtaposition between the old and the new.

But this neighborhood wasn’t where we’d find a hole-in-the-wall restaurant to eat.

The car pulled to the curb, and I saw the sign on the storefront we landed in front of. “No.”

Nautilus.

There was a twisting spiral next to the word, evoking the image of the shell, but not completely. The studio where Bennett and his entire pack worked.

“Esme, it’s going to be fine.”

I looked at her, my heart already pounding. “Why would you bring me here when I look like this? When I still smell like him?”

Leaning across the car, she touched my knee. “Do you really think I would have let you out of the house to meet your future pack if I thought you looked bad? You look casual and adorable, and whether or not you believe it, smelling like him is only going to help you here.”

I whined, anxiety welling up in my chest. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why are we here?”

“Because I never would have gotten you out of the house at all if I had. Listen. If this is too much and you’re genuinely terrified, I won’t make you go in. But I hope you know I only want you to be happy, May-may.”

Could I do this? Every part of me was terrified. But that tiny piece of me which had kept hope alive the past two days while I stalked all of them on social media perked her head up. The traitor.