Daphne meets us at the back, still gaping.
“Your sister’s not answering my texts,” I say as I climb inside. “We’re here to do whatever she needs us to.”
“Not coerced at all,” Jack says.
“No emotional manipulation,” Lucky adds.
“I’m trying to be pissed, but you really do look like the kind of fun we could spring on the Tooth,” Decker says.
I twist my neck to look at him as he’s the final one of our bunch to climb into the little seating area at the back of the bus. “Are you for fucking real right now?”
“And I thought my vibe sparkled,” Lucky says, squinting at Daphne like he’s getting a better look now.
“You have my brother’s eyes,” Jack says.
“Can we do this family reunion in the car on the way to wherever it is that Margot’s hiding?” I ask. “Whatever she’s planning, she’s not doing it alone. We want to help.”
“The cityagain?” Oliver says dramatically from just beside the window, where he’s not trying to sell burgers anymore.
Bea’s brows go up. She’s also abandoned her customers.
We get a look from a grumpy guy who’s manning the kitchen setup, but he just rolls his eyes and goes back to his work.
“Two days in a row?” Bea says. “When we barely got out yesterday without an international incident? This doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
“Are you Rhys?” Daphne says to me.
I nod, glancing past her at the kitchen guy again.
“He’s family,” she says, clearly understanding my hesitation to speak in front of strangers. “Steel vault with secrets, mostly because he doesn’t want to know them in the first place. Show me your hair.”
I pull the cap off and dip my head so she can see the purple at the top.
She squeals and claps her hands. “Itisyou! And you’re here to help Margot?”
“Yes.”
Her smile is the first thing that’s reassured me since Mrs. Sullivan pulled Margot into that office Friday night.
The first thing that’s given me the ability to draw a full breath.
“She’s been tied up with admin work all weekend, but I think you can probably get to the city in time to catch her having dinner with our parents tonight,” Daphne says.
“Oh, shit,” Lucky mutters.
“Dinner withyour parents?” Jack says.
“Is it gonna be as ugly as I hope it is?” Decker asks.
Daphne grins even bigger. “I have a feeling it might be.” She waves her hands at her face like she’s trying to cool it down as she looks at me. “I can’t believe you’re real. And them too.”
“Them too?” Jack echoes. “We’re justthem too?”
“My dudes,” Daphne says, “if you hadanyidea how much Margot has needed someone who would turn her insides to jelly and then come storming in here like an avenging angel ready to stand by her side while she does the scariest thing she’s ever—yeah, sorry, right now, you’rethem too. Tomorrow and probably the next year or two, you take top billing. I mean, after this guy.” She hooks a thumb toward Oliver. “But today, I’m gonna do a little swooning for my sister, okay?”
I swallow. “You think—you think she’ll be happy to see me?”
Daphne and Bea share a look, then they both look at Oliver.
