Levi huffed, then stomped to the sofa and collapsed, making sure he could see up into the loft where Ever and Shiloh stood. Ever held up a seemingly endless assortment of candy. Shiloh stood, smiling, expression a bit dazzled.
Ever had that effect on people. He was so sweet and endearing, it was hard to believe he was even human. Truthfully, Levi wasn’t a hundred percent convinced Ever wasn’t some fairy creature trapped top-side. He’d probably fallen in love withArsen thinking he was a fairy, too. The mechanic’s blue hair and annoyingly perfect bone structure confused people.
Whatever Ever was, he would take care of Shiloh. There was nothing he liked more than caring for people. That was how he became the sitter for almost every Mulvaney. Kids loved him and he loved them. Ever had so much empathy for a kid raised in an actual closet.
With one more longing look, Levi dragged his gaze back to his friends. When he saw they still waited for an answer, he sighed. “His brother wants to use me to get close to Jericho because he thinks he’s some criminal mastermind.”
Lake snorted. “Jericho?”
Levi nodded, expression grim. “Yeah.”
Felix giggled. “Boy, is he barking up the wrong tree.”
“Not really,” Arsen said. “Right tree, wrong species.”
“You’re losing me with the tree metaphors,” Seven whined.
“Jericho is criminal. We’re all criminals. We kill people. Regularly,” Arsen reminded them quietly.
“Micah knows about that. It’s no secret around the neighborhood that we’re who people call when they can’t call the police,” Levi said. “That’s not what this is about. Micah claims he wants to take over 4Loco’s territory and Jericho is in his way. He told Shiloh to find something on Jericho that he could use to frame him, send him to prison like he did Shiloh’s brother.”
“Jericho sent Shiloh’s brother to prison?” Nico asked, frowning.
Levi worried about his friend sometimes. He wasn’t stupid, but he sometimes failed to grasp the simplest things. “No, you dumbass. Shiloh’s brother, Micah, sent Shiloh’s other brother, Malachi, to prison.”
“What? Why? What did Malachi do?” Nico asked. “Is he a maniac, too?” They all stared at Nico until he grew defensive. “What? I’m just asking.”
Felix shook his head, looking at his perfectly manicured nails. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty, angel.”
Nico gave him a radiant smile. “You think I’m pretty?”
Levi rolled his eyes. “Malachi didn’t do anything. That’s the point,” he said. “Micah framed Malachi to punish him for pissing him off over something. But without Malachi to torment, he’s apparently decided to turn all his energy into making Shiloh his punching bag.”
“What a douche,” Felix muttered. “Shiloh just confessed all this to you?”
Levi nodded. “As soon as I said you guys thought he was a spy, he just blurted it out, then had a panic attack.”
Arsen gazed up at the loft. “Poor thing. Ever will take care of him.”
“Poor thing?” Seven echoed. “He’s a spy. A spy Jericho is letting into his home. How do we know this wasn’t his master plan all along?”
Arsen raised a brow. “His plan was to come here, confess he is a spy so Jericho then makes him double agent, but really he still plan to report to his brother about Jericho, making him what…triple agent?” Arsen said, his voice dripping with cynicism.
Seven’s expression turned sullen. “What? It could happen.”
Cree shook his head. “Something’s still not adding up. I just can’t put my finger on it.”
Nico rolled his eyes. “Look, not that I don’t trust your sixth sense, but Shiloh is telling the truth. Look at his face. Someone’s definitely using him as target practice. It’s not like we can’t check to see if his brother is actually in prison. If Jericho says he’s cool, then he’s cool.”
Seven scoffed. “Ass-kisser.”
“What was that?”
They all turned to find Jericho standing there, arms folded across his muscular chest, chin raised in Seven’s direction, his icy stare daring the boy to say something else. They called it Jericho’s dad stare.
“Nothing,” Seven mumbled.
“Are yousurewe can trust him?” Cree said, not to Levi but to Jericho.
