“I…I don’t know.”
The van split again, multiplying before their eyes and making it impossible to tell which was real.
“Teddy, look out!”
Teddy hit the brakes in a screech of rubber just as a van hit them head-on and passed straight through them.
Shaken, they watched all the vans disappear slowly, vanishing as if they had never existed and leaving none behind.
Wren
Wren scrambled out of the car. Teddy killed the engine, then followed on shaky legs, watching as Wren paced fruitlessly.
“He’s gone, Wren,” Teddy said.
“He can’t be gone!”
“I’m sorry. We lost him.”
Wren spun and grabbed the front of his shirt. “You don’t understand! He had themark!”
“The mark?”
“The eye symbol. The one from Ash’s case. The one that had the list of names. The fucked-up cult behind all this weird creepy shit! The one they carved into a tree at my sanctuary!”
“Wait…wait, Wren, slow down.” Teddy cupped Wren’s face between his hands. “Are you saying these people are targeting you?”
“Not me specifically, I don’t think, but they’re in Slatehollow and now they’re here. There’s something huge going on, Teddy Bear.”
He didn’t realize the name had slipped out until he saw the way Teddy reacted to it. And he was suddenly acutely aware of their position. Of Teddy’s hands on his cheeks.
Teddy let go and stepped back.
“We’ll, uh…we’ll look into it. This eye cult and what it means,” Teddy said. “Maybe we can crack both cases.”
Wren swallowed, his throat suddenly tight. He couldn’t say anything else, only able to nod. He crossed his arms over his bare chest, feeling a shiver of cold as the adrenaline drained.
Teddy noticed, because he always did.
“Are you okay?” Teddy asked softly.
“Fine. We should get back so you can check on Saint,” Wren mumbled, hating that it fell out of his mouth as soon as he opened it.
“He should be fine with Trace. Hopefully they’re cleaning up the mess inside with a better outcome than us.”
Wren glanced out the corner of his eye and caught the embarrassed expression on Teddy’s face. It was the same expression he always got whenever he thought he’d lost control and broken his perfect outer image.
It used to be one of Wren’s favorite expressions, because it used to be that only he could get this Teddy to come out.
Had that really not changed?
Had he left Saint just to check on him?
Had he hit that guy because of Wren?
The thoughts sent his heart pounding in desperation to know.
He turned his face up to Teddy’s, catching his eye and visibly startling him. “Why did you leave Saint to chase after me?”
