Page 52

“Right,” the delivery man says, walking across the room and setting the package down on the closest table before handing Fuzz a clipboard to sign. He scribbles his name then hands it back with a nod of thanks. Clutching his clipboard to his chest, the delivery man practically runs out of the clubhouse as we all turn to the box. The outside is stamped with the labels “perishable” and “open immediately” but those are the only clues available to us.

“Is there a note?” Blaze asks from the back of the room and Piper nods as she plucks a little card off of the top, opening it.

“To Wyatt and Piper, congratulations on your special day.”

Travis scowls, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into his side. “It doesn’t say who it’s from?”

“Nope,” she answers before looking around at all of us. “Did one of you send it?”

Everyone shakes their head and she shrugs before grabbing the pocket knife Fuzz holds out to her and flicking it open. She drags it along the top seam of the box where it’s taped together before handing the knife back to her husband and popping open the top. A horrified scream fills the room and she stumbles backward almost tripping over her dress but Fuzz catches her before she can hit the floor, pulling her into his arms as he whispers something to her but her eyes remain wide in fear and her hands shake. Curiosity getting the best of us, we all surge forward almost like we’re being pulled in by the box itself and when I get close enough to peek inside, I gasp and clamp my hand over my mouth as I stare down at the contents. My breath catches in my throat and tears sting my eyes.

It isn’t real…

This can’t be real. I tell myself to relax as spots dance in my vision and I focus on each breath entering and leaving my lungs, putting all of my attention on the act itself so I don’t have to think about what is in front of me.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Just fucking breathe, Rowan.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Storm whispers, his voice as haunted as I feel as I stare down at the box’s contents, trying to make my brain form even a single thought but the only thing that registers is the fear pumping through my veins. My hands shake and my body feels on edge as my heart hammers in my chest. Tears streak down the sides of my face as I wrap my arms around my body and shiver.

When in the hell did I start crying?

“Is that Tawny?” Carly asks, horror in her voice. Horror that I feel down to my very core as I try to pull my gaze away from the contents of the box but I can’t.

She just keeps looking at me…

Tawny’s severed head stares back at me as my hands shake and my stomach churns violently. It’s terrifying, hard to look at, and I desperately want to turn away but, no matter how hard I try, I can’t force my eyes from her face, my heart pounding and my entire body rigid. My ribs feel tight and Travis wraps me up in his arms, pulling me firmly against his body as he buries his face in my hair and presses his lips to my head. His body is impossibly tense and he’s shaking, too, pulling on every last one of my heart strings as I turn into him and wrap my arms around his waist. We back away from the group a little, needing a private moment as we both try to wrap our heads around everything that has just happened but as far as I can tell, it’s senseless.

Who could do something like this?

As soon as the thought pops into my head, I want to roll my eyes at my own idiocy. Every person in this room knows who did this. The question is why? But as I run it through it in my mind, it doesn’t take long to come up with an answer. Tawny told us everything she knew so she was no longer of any use to Warren and with her able to identify him, she had to go. It’s as simple and sick as that and as an added bonus, he could send us this part of her to one, ruin what was supposed to be a happy day but two, let us know exactly what he’s capable of.

“This is my fault,” Travis whispers and I jerk back, looking up at him but he won’t meet my eyes, his face contorted into a grimace.

“What are you talking about? This isn’t your fault. This could never be your fault.”

He shakes his head and his eyes finally find mine before he closes them and takes a deep breath. “I went to talk to her about Warren and now she’s dead. How is this not my fault?”

“No,” I whisper, cupping his face as pain floods my chest. His eyes pop open and his pain filled gaze meets mine, stealing the air from my lungs. “This is all Warren and you’re reacting exactly the way he wants you to. You couldn’t have known he would do this.”

“I should have,” he hisses, gritting his teeth as his gaze goes back to Tawny. He blows out a breath again but it doesn’t seem to calm him in the slightest as he drags his eyes back to mine. The pain shining back at me feels like a knife to my chest and my heart cracks wide open as I try to think of anything I can say or do to ease his suffering right now. “I should have fucking known, Rowan. I should have known.”

I lean up on my toes and press a kiss to his lips, feeling every ounce of his pain as he holds me tighter and kisses me like I am the air he breathes. I don’t know if it’s doing any good but any other time he’s been too stressed to function with all this Warren stuff, distracting him with a kiss has helped. And more than anything, I just want to help him release this guilt he feels right now. When we finally part, I meet his eyes again and hope he can see my sincerity. “You’ve done everything you could think of to find this monster and his actions do not reflect on you, do you hear me? He is the only one responsible for this and I will not listen to you talk about yourself like that when you are one of the most sincere, genuine men I’ve ever met.”

“Rowan,” he whispers, his voice cracking as he shakes his head.

“Is that another note?” Carly asks before he can say anything else and we turn back to the group as she points inside the box where a little envelope is tucked on the side. Storm takes a deep breath as he reaches in and grabs it. We all stare at him, the air in the room thick with fear, as he pulls out the little card and hisses a curse.

“What does it say?” Tate asks, her expression fierce and her gun in her hand as my brother wraps an arm around her, pulling her into his side. Storm scrubs his hand down his face and shakes his head.

“One down, four to go.”