A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

"Uh, n-no, it's nothing!" Ryan stammered, quickly shaking his head. He tried to smile at Calliope, but it was the kind of forced, crooked grin that pretty much screamed something's up.

Calliope saw right through him. She knew Ryan too well-when he got anxious, his eyes darted everywhere, and right now, he was practically begging Neil for

help with his gaze.

Neil had already set down his fork and gotten up from the table. "Callie, really, it's nothing. I'll go talk to him. You guys finish your dinner, okay?"

He started to lead Ryan away.

But Calliope stood up right away, her chair scraping against the hardwood.

Silas followed suit, towering over the table.

argument. "What's going on that you can't

to mess with. "Yeah, seriously, Ryan. If you've got a problem, say it. I brought some friends with me-if you need backup, just say the word. They're

glanced helplessly at Neil, whose look said,

You know how jealous they've been since our town started doing better? They keep saying we 'stole

tried to talk it out, but they went straight to throwing punches. I was

"You know Kyle from Ivory Town? The guy who used to be in the army? He basically flattened Jacob and then they wouldn't even let us take him to

our town into a tourist spot, we asked them to partner with us. They said no. Now

do? Jacob's blood is all over me, I'm scared he's really hurt. The others are still facing off with them, and it could get

We need to go check it out," Neil said, already heading for the

had gotten up, half-eaten plates of roast chicken and

been more than