“Stop soaking up the sun and get your ass in the car. We have to get ready for the party tonight,” Shay says, poking me in my side.
Laughing, we hop in the back of the car, and Thomas drives us to my house. “You’re lucky I love you, or I wouldn’t be going to this thing at all,” I state as we enter my driveway.
Shay ignores me over my whining. “Do you finally know what you’re wearing? Since you didn’t want to get anything when we went shopping last time,” she grumbles.
Now who’s whining?
“My closet is full of clothes. So I didn’t need to buy anything new,” I retort.
Her eyebrow arches. “You have so much to learn.” she sighs as Thomas parks the car.
As we step inside, my grandmother informs me Dad wants to see me in his office. I tell Shay I’ll meet her upstairs then walk down the hall.
The door is open. “Ry, come in,” my Dad signals.
“What’s up?”
“Thomas won’t be able to come with you tonight. Instead, he’ll accompany me on a lead we got on your moth— Elise. So, Antonio and Erik will guard you. It’s of the utmost importance that you don’t go anywhere without either of them and don’t take off your pin for any reason,” he explains.
I nod in agreement. I wouldn’t go anywhere without them, not after the freaking Selection ceremony last year. “How solid of a lead do you have?”
“Visual confirmation in the last twenty-four hours. I think this is it,” he says, rubbing his fingers against his jaw. I can’t imagine how he’s feeling. She was our mom, but she was the love of his life, and she betrayed him the entire time.
My gut twists in anger and sadness at the trail of destruction Elise has left in her wake. “What will the Fraternitas do once she’s captured?” I secretly hope she’s killed instead of brought in because the alternative isn’t something I want for my father. I know him, and his subsequent response proves that point.
“I’ll kill her. She was my fuck up,” he states in a voice void of any affection for the woman he’s spent his adult life with.
“Dad,” I start, but he holds up his hand, silencing me.
“No, Ry. Whatever consequences she faces must be at my hand.” He gets up from his seat, steps around the desk, and hugs me. “I have to do this,” he whispers into my hair.
I hug him back, still grateful he’s home.
Releasing me, he says, “I love you, Ry. Now, go on. Go get ready for your party.”
“Love you, too, Dad.”
As I cross the door, he shouts, “Please be safe.”
“I will. I promise.” Then I turn and head to my room.
* * *
“I can’t believeyou’re out at another party,” Shay says to Eva. “The end of the world must be upon us,” she jokes.
Eva laughs. “Hey, I wasn’t that much of a recluse.”
“Yes you were, bitch,” she quips. “If I didn’t see you around school on occasion, I would’ve thought your parents shipped you off to boarding school or some shit.”
“Riri, bring that ass over here,” Wyatt demands.
I try to muster a scowl, but the sight of them all standing on the dance floor makes that an impossible feat.
“You better get out there,” Eva teases.
After hanging with her all night, I’ve decided she’s okay people. I wouldn’t call us fast friends, but she has potential.
I smirk, “Always make them work for—” My remark is cut off when I’m dragged into Wes’s waiting arms.
