“Pretty sure you’re just a lightweight.”
Evan rejoined us then, but instead of a fresh drink, he was scowling at his phone. “Spare, Beck called and said he needs to speak with Dylan and me urgently.”
When he didn’t explain further, I frowned. “Okay ... and?”
“And the reception keeps dropping out. I need to go back out to the street to hear him properly.” His creased brow clued me in to his indecision, and I shook my head.
“I’m fine here, Evan. Just go and take your call, I’m perfectly safe with Eddy. Right, Edith?” I shoulder bumped my blonde friend, and she hiccupped again.
Evan scowled at her, but the look on his face when he glanced at his phone told me that whatever Beckhadsaid, made him worried.
“Seriously, you’ll be a couple of minutes,” I continued. “Beck isn’t exactly a long winded conversationalist. You can be there, make your call, and be back in half the time it’d take me to walk back to the road in these heels.”
I wasn’t exaggerating, either. The party was being thrown in a fancy, modern mansion on the side of a valley. The driveway to get in was a seriously steep incline, and I’d almost fallen on my ass about fifteen times when we arrived.
Evan hesitated a moment longer, but his decision was made for him when Dylan arrived and jerked his head to his phone.
“I know,” Evan snapped, running a hand through his hair. “But Riley...”
Dylan shook his head firmly. “Beck specifically said no Riley.”
This piqued my curiosity, but not enough that I cared to push the issue. He probably just wanted to talk about how pissed he was at me.
“For reals, guys,” Eddy spoke up. “I got our girl for five minutes. IthinkI can handle that.”
And outside of the plane crash, there had been zero attempts on my life since. I was pretty sure I’d be safe.
Dylan ran his gaze over me, then pulled a switchblade from his boot and slapped it into my palm. “You know what to do if anyone tries anything.”
I snorted a laugh and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, like I’m going to stab some guy who gets handsy on the dance floor.” When it looked like they would argue further, I slipped the knife into my back pocket. “Go. Your mighty leader will be getting anxious.”
I got about twenty looks as they moved together toward the exit. It was very clear that they were not comfortable leaving me, and while I wasn’t afraid for myself, I didn’t like them out of sight either.
Eddy let out a low giggle, distracting me from my thoughts. “I can’t believe the way you drove Jasper’s car, babe. That was seriously the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I wanted to bang you when you crossed the line leaving those fuckers in your dust.”
I snorted, love for her swelling in my chest. I hadn’t had a real girlfriend for years, and I’d forgotten how much I dug hanging out with an awesome chick. There were just some things that dudes sucked at, and girl talk was one of them.
“I almost wasn’t sure I’d win,” I admitted. “A flashback hit me at one point; my tires screeched the same way my dad’s did when we crashed.” I swallowed hard, trying to push the melancholy down again. “But I held my focus this time.”
Eddy reached out and wrapped her hand around mine, holding it tightly, tears filling her eyes. She was drunk girl emotional. “I wish I could take that back for you,” she half sobbed. “I hate that you’ve lost so much, and all for a stupid company that has more money than soul.”
I blinked at her, wondering if she’d meant that the way it came out. “You think Delta orchestrated my parents’ deaths?”
She stilled, some of the haziness in her eyes clearing. “You don’t think it? I mean, timing alone…”
“I was in the car though,” I reminded Eddy. “It’s the biggest flaw I can see in the theory.”
Eddy just shook her head, an angry sort of smile on her face. “You’re thinking like a chick raised in the ghetto. There’s a fuckload that can be done to ensure you survived and your parents didn’t.”
Eddy was the first person to put it so bluntly, and as the horror of her words registered, my stomach swirled with force. I lurched to my feet, ready to chuck up everything in my gut. “Be right back,” I murmured, stumbling off the patio and hurrying to a nearby bushy plant.
“Riles!” Eddy yelled, almost falling down the stairs as she followed me. “You can’t be out here—”
She was cut off then, and I lifted my head, my stomach heaving as I wondered what had happened to her. Stepping out from where I was partly hidden in the shadows, I saw her crumpled form on the ground. My first thought was that she’d passed out, but then a tall, broad shadow stepped out from the side of the house.
“Hello, successor of Delta,” he said.
I couldn’t see his face clearly, but it was not a voice I knew. My instincts told me to run, but I couldn’t leave Eddy here at his mercy. Who knew what he’d do to her to get to me?
