“Oh? Where’s that?” Aunt Matilda asks.
I give her the address, explaining we’ll be headed there soon.
“We’ve been on the streets for too long, and we’re tired,” I say. “I’m scared.”
I make sure to sound pathetic and sad. I think that I would be freaked out if I had to sleep on the streets. Bell and I have never been homeless before. The cage we typically were in wasn’t even gilded, but it kept people from touching us.
Until they dragged us out anyway.
A tear finds its way trailing down my cheek, surprising me in its journey. Fuck. I need to keep it together. Bellamy’s fingers dig into my thigh, my shorts allowing him plenty of access. It helps me focus my thoughts, and I drag in a breath.
“Aunt Matilda?” I ask in a tiny voice.
“I’m here. I was writing the address down. I’m not young anymore, Winter,” she snaps.
And there she is, people.
“I’m leaving now to get you. I’m closer than you think,” she says cryptically.
I just bet she is.My aunt has to be working with Madam Clara. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.
“I’ll make sure you get where you belong,” she adds, hammering the final nail in the coffin of any familial feelings I’ve ever had for her. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” I breathe, hanging up. “God, she’s fucking evil.”
The room full of alphas shudder as a group, and Easton drops back in his chair.
“I’m trying to remind myself not everyone is this terrible, but it’s very difficult,” he rasps. “You’re a very good actress, Winter.”
“It’s not hard with a little motivation,” I mutter.
Shiloh went very still during the call, but he picks me up and dumps me in his lap, wrapping his arms around me before he buries his face in my throat.
“She’s fine,” Bellamy reminds him, though his voice breaks at how badly the call affected him too. “We’re going to keep it that way, right?”
“Yes,” Abbott says. “We aren’t leaving without a plan. We’re also going to have you change and load you up with weapons.”
“That’s a terrible neighborhood,” Ansel tells Lyle.
“I know. I own the building,” Lyle says with a calculating smile. “All I ask is that you not blow it up, and that if there are pyrotechnics involved, I get to collect insurance on it when you’re done.”
“The warehouse is a dump,” Silas chuckles. “It would be better off as a pile of ash.”
“We do enjoy our fire,” Ansel sighs. “We promise to do the best we can. Thank you for your help. This is less stressful with support.”
Lyle glances at Easton, who stands. “I’m coming with you. Silas will listen to the police scanners for us,” he explains.
“Thank you,” Shiloh mumbles, standing with me in his arms. “This means a lot to us.”
“Karmic energy finds its way around,” Lyle says with a shrug. “May your bullets find their marks.”
“And may the dead stay that way,” Silas says.
It feels like both an omen and a prayer, but I’m okay with that.
The best things tend to have darkness even within the light.
Chapter
