When she looks at the messy sheets, her cheeks darken, and she scrambles to make the bed. Amused, I help her until it looks better than it did before I climbed in it last night. After that, we look through the room.
“These drawers have clothes in them,” she says. I move over to the dresser, and we look at what’s inside. It’s filled with a variety of very basic clothes. Sweatpants, T-shirts, boxers, and women’s underwear. Even some sports bras.
Wren pulls out several pairs of yoga pants and starts looking them over in more detail, reading the labels.
“That’s strange,” she mumbles. When she doesn’t say anything, I grab her hand to get her attention and raise my eyebrow in question. “Oh, it’s just that they aren’t even all the same size. There are four pairs here, sizes small, medium, large, and extra extra large.”
I frown as she shows me the labels.Strange indeed.
After putting the clothes away, we look in the other two bedrooms and find one empty and the other with clothes similar to the first room. Near the end of the hall, I find a tiny linen closet filled with towels, a few backpacks, paper towels, toilet paper, and some cleaning supplies.
“You guys find anything?” Sly asks as I close the door.
I shake my head as Wren fills him in. “Just some clothes, but they were in different sizes, like they didn’t belong to the same person.”
“Something about this place is off,” Sly says, and I nod in agreement.
“Hey,” Pete calls as he and Dex join us in the hall. “Want us to go get some real food?”
“I’m actually wondering if we should leave. I don’t feel safe here,” Sly says, his eyes darting to Wren’s in concern. I nod in agreement.
“Where will we go?” Dex asks.
“A hotel, I guess.”
“Can we at least get some food on the way? I’m still starving,” Pete complains.
Sly rolls his eyes but agrees. “Fine. Let’s pack and get out of here.”
Dex steps forward and swoops Wren up into his arms, yelling, “I’ve got everything I need!” She giggles, and I swear to God my heart literally leaps in response. I love seeing her like this. Happy and without fear.
He carries her into the room they slept in with Sly on their heels, telling us over his shoulder, “Grab your stuff and let’s get out of here.”
Pete moves into the room he slept in, and I do the same. My stuff is mostly packed, I just grab my toothbrush, toss it in, and zip up my bag.
As I step toward the bedroom doorway, the front door loudly bangs open down the hall as a stranger's voice calls out, “Rise and shine! It’s time to go!”
Dropping my bag, I pull my biggest dagger from my thigh and sprint down the hall, ready to stop them from getting anywhere near my girl.
As I charge into the living room, I see a brown-haired man walking toward me. I don’t stop to ask questions; I just pull back my knife and throw.
“Shit!” His reflexes are fast as he dips his upper body to the side, and it narrowly misses him, insteadsinking deep into the door. “Dude, what the fuck was that for?”
He asks it like we’re friends, but I know I’d remember his face. He’s got that all-American boy next door look with blue jeans, a plain tan T-shirt, and a brown bomber jacket. His brown hair is styled in such a way that it looks somehow both messy and perfectly in place.
I pull out another dagger as I charge him with bared teeth. I won’t let anyone take Wren from me. I don’t know who he is, but it doesn’t matter. It’s the five of us against the world right now, and that makes him my enemy.
He swears, yanking a gun from his pocket and aiming it at me, but I don’t slow. He pulls the trigger, and I hit the floor, muscles seizing as a bolt of electricity rips through me.
That fucker tased me!
“Jagger!” Wren screams my name, and as I lay twitching on the floor, I watch in horror as she yanks herself out of Sly’s hold and charges toward my assailant.
She seems to turn feral as she launches herself onto his back, and he drops the taser, his hands flying up to stop her from choking him.
“Stop!” He yells through her screaming as he squirms under her hold.
I continue to twitch on the ground as the other three surround the stranger, looking for an opening to get Wren free and take him down.
