15. Raegan

Chapter fifteen

Raegan

If stares could burn holes into people, I’d have two of them right through my cheek. I raise my brows in question at Kellan. What the hell did I do to cause Aiden to stare at me in a way that feels like a glare, even if his expression is stoic?

Kell looks over at Aiden and then back to me with a shrug. “Sorry, beautiful, but you’ll have to ask him. I’m thankful I have no idea what goes on in his head all the time.”

My face drops into a scowl at him for openly outing me in front of everyone.

He flashes me a grin and then goes back to devouring his food.

Dane finishes his orange juice and sets it down with an audible knock. “Why are you looking at her?” he directs to Aiden, who has since dropped his gaze back to his phone in front of him. His food is untouched, with just his coffee finished for his breakfast.

I eat another strawberry that’s sitting on top of my pancakes while we all wait for him to answer. I pile the strawberries on my breakfast, but I always eat them off first and then eat the pancakes—or French toast or eggs—after. I love fruit for breakfast, just not with anything other than maybe whipped cream or chocolate.

Aiden finally looks up at Dane, then shifts his eyes over to Kellan before finally landing on me. “We need to talk about Jackson,” he states.

I pause with the berry poised in my open mouth, then drop it back. Well, that has my attention. “What about him?” I ask defensively. I don’t like the way he said it or the way he’s looking at me. My sixth sense, or woman’s sense, or whatever it is, is putting me on alert on Jackson’s behalf.

He’s done nothing but be there for me ever since I came here. The least I can do is have his back in return.

Aiden’s eyes narrow at me and my tone, but I don’t back down. I don’t care how he feels about me defending Jackson. Even if I haven’t seen him in a month and have no idea what he’s been up to, I’m positive that he’s been visiting me at night when he can.

A phone interrupts us, and he answers it. I go back to eating my fruit, annoyed that he’d answer his phone while we’re all in the middle of a conversation. What was he going to say about Jack? The ‘we need to talk’ phrase always means something bad happened.

“We’ll be right there.” We all look at Aiden expectantly. “Two gifted persons from GE submitted an application to join the Guild. They’re waiting to meet with someone at the city library.”

“Let them wait,” Dane immediately snaps. “Like hell, we’ll let GE scum into the Guild.”

Aiden looks at Kell. “They asked specifically to speak with you.”

Kellan looks as shocked as I feel. Why would they want to talk to him in particular? Not that there’s anything wrong with talking to him, but Aiden is the face of the Guild.

“Any idea why that is?” Aiden questions him.

Kell shrugs and finishes his coffee. “Naw, but I’m interested to see who these people are now. We all going, or just us?”

“I’m going,” I speak up before Aiden can try to decide for me. “I’ve done nothing but hide out here for a month. If these guys can give us any information on GE, then I’m not missing out.”

“You’ve been going into the city and working at a bar every night. I wouldn’t call that hiding out,” Dane unhelpfully counters.

“Don’t be jealous, Rapunzel.” Kellan grins at him. “If she comes, then you’re coming too. So, there. Family outing.”

I roll my eyes at Kellan and stand with my plate. I’m too excited to get out and make some progress on GE to eat now. “Don’t call us that. Hurry up and put a shirt on, or we’re leaving without you.”

The city library is in the heart of downtown. We take Aiden’s Aston Martin, which forces me and Dane into the back together because Kellan is way too large to fit anywhere but the front. I keep a clear amount of space between us because he still doesn’t seem too keen on us making any contact. While we’ve made progress with him accepting my presence in Old Red, mostly at mealtimes or the random training sessions he chooses to attend, touching or casual conversations are still off the table .

It’s more than I ever thought I’d get from him, even after my confession, so I take it without complaint and do my best to respect the boundaries he still has in place.

The librarian at the front desk startles when the four of us roll up through the front doors. I hide a laugh behind my hand as she looks us over. Kellan’s both tall and thick with muscle, his tanned and tattooed skin on display across both arms and up his neck while his hair is tied up. Dane’s dressed in jeans and a gray hoodie with his hood up to hide his face and his hands in his kangaroo pocket. Then Aiden looks the complete opposite of them in his three-piece suit and tie, his posture perfect as he scans the library with a critical gaze. Last, there’s me, dressed in black jeans and a turtleneck sweater. My hair is down and around my shoulders to give the appearance of being relaxed, even though I’m internally ready for battle.

There are metal detectors at the entrance, so we’re all unarmed aside from Aiden, who looks like some hardcore metal fan with the amount of metal “jewelry” he has on him under his suit. It’s not enough to arm all of us, but it’s something.

The expression on the security guard’s face when the man in the suit pulls all his metal jewelry off into the bin is priceless .

We move to the back of the library reading corner, where Cibrina told Aiden they would be waiting until five o’clock tonight. My steps falter when I see who’s waiting there for us, and then I look up at Kellan to check his reaction. His eyes widen, and then they find mine.

“You know them?” Aiden asks when we both stop.

“They were at the warehouse with the congressman,” I tell him. The guy and girl who had fought with Kellan. “She’s fast, and the guy can teleport.” I report their gifts before they notice us, just in case this is a trap.

“I thought you killed everyone.” Aiden’s back to watching them with a calculating eye.

Kellan crosses his arms as we watch too, and they both jerk upright when they feel our gazes on them. “The guy wanted nothing to do with his assignment. He was just looking out for the girl. She…well, she seemed to have a fun time fighting me. But after she got hurt, the guy grabbed her and ran rather than fight me. I’d trust him more than her.”

“We don’t trust either of them,” Dane reminds him sharply. “If they work for GE, then they’re both a threat.”

“I agree. Let’s go.” Aiden leads the way and pulls out the chair at the head of the table and across from them. Dane takes a seat to his right and Kellan on the other side of Dane, as if this sort of seating arrangement was pre-planned. And maybe it is. I just haven’t been around them outside of Old Red enough to see how they work together without needing to say anything. I sit on Aiden’s other side.

I wish Jackson were here to watch our backs, then squash the thought. We can handle this ourselves. Worst case, I can get up to scout the library more if needed. Until then, I plan to hear what’s going on firsthand if I can.

“Your request said you’re looking to join the Guild,” Aiden begins, pulling a folded piece of paper from his blazer and then opening it .

The guy at the end has dark hair and blue eyes. He’s wearing whatever loaner clothes GE probably gave him to wear when not in the military uniform, which is jeans and a plain, long-sleeved shirt. We haven’t even started and his face is already tight and brooding.

It’s completely unlike the ball of energy at his back. She has long chestnut hair and brown eyes. She’s wearing a medium green turtleneck and a white skirt with tan leggings. She, on the other hand, is smiling and looks excited.

Based on their history, it’s a red flag for me.

I share a look with Kellan, who gives me the barest of nods. Good. We’re on the same page.

“We’re looking for asylum,” the guy replies evenly.

“And why would you think we would offer it, considering where you’re coming from?” Aiden asks.

The guy’s eyes look to Kellan and then back to Aiden. “Because he offered.” He jabs his thumb in Kell’s direction, and we all look at him.

“What?” He scratches his beard, and then his face opens back up when it hits him. “Oh, right. I did.” Kellan laughs like it’s all no big deal, and I snicker behind my hand at the smallest twitch of Aiden’s eye.

“He promised we had more options than whatever GE was giving us. And when we were ready to take our lives back, we could come to the Guild. So, here we are.”

Aiden shoots Kellan a look, who merely shrugs. “What? Better at the Guild than with GE.”

Aiden sighs. “Alright, let’s start with your names. Then tell us about how you wound up with GE and why you’re leaving.”

The guy nods. “I’m Reid. This is Tinsley. We were both taken a few years ago under the promise of being able to use our gifts without fear or restriction. It wasn’t until after we joined that we learned it was on their terms rather than ours. And…” Reid’s eyes slide to look at Tinsley, and the affection in his gaze is palpable. He looks back at us. “Threats were made if we disagreed with them or tried to leave.”

Ah. I know all too well how they target loved ones and use them against you. They must have used Tinsley to keep him in line. And it probably escalated to where it was safer to run away and hope for asylum than to stay there.

“Gordon?” I ask, since he was the one who did it to me.

Reid shakes his head. “Some crazy chick called Vera.”

Dane’s fist slams onto the table. “Don’t call her that.”

Reid scowls. “She’s a psycho bitch who’s threatened both of us more times than I can count. So, I’ll call her as I see it.”

Aiden puts his hand on Dane’s arm, who growls and leans back in his chair with his arms crossed. Aiden shifts the conversation back to the two of them. “How can we trust that this isn’t some ruse to gain you access to the Guild?”

Reid shrugs. “That’s up to you, isn’t it? You tell me what I have to do to gain the Guild’s protection for myself and Tins. I’ll answer any questions about GE or whatever.” He looks over at Dane. “Like how they’ve been sending out multiple units to hunt him down, but they’ve pulled it back in the last week.”

“Why?” Aiden questions .

“Don’t know. They didn’t share that with us. I just noticed not as many of them going out as before. They still want him, without a doubt, but they may be changing tactics.”

I check Dane’s face, and his lips have thinned into a flat line. I’m sure he hates being the target for GE, especially with his sister being one of the ones out there trying to bring him in now.

Aiden nods. “You’ll have to accept being quarantined from the others for a time until we know we can trust you. And we’ll have a lot of questions.”

“As long as we’re not separated. I need to know that no harm will come to Tinsley.”

Tinsley rolls her eyes and squeezes Reid’s arm as she leans into him. “I can handle myself, Reid. I’d run away before they could touch me.” She turns to peg Aiden with an excited stare. “Is it true I can use my gift there whenever I want? I don’t have to hide it?”

“No, you don’t have to hide it,” Aiden answers slowly. “But there are still rules that have to be followed for everyone’s safety.” Her face falls a little at that, but she doesn’t look completely deterred. “We’ll give you the rundown of everything if we’ve decided you can be trusted, and you’d be a good fit for the Guild.”

“A good fit?” Reid asks.

“Yes. If you don’t like the way things are done in the Guild, or don’t mesh with our mindset, then it would be unfair on either side to try to force you to,” Aiden replies coolly.

“And if we aren’t a good fit?” Tinsley inquires next.

“Then we’ll look for other places you can be among others like us where you fit in better. We aren’t the only group of gifted people. ”

Reid and Tinsley both nod at the acceptable terms. It’s Reid who speaks up first. “When can we start?”

I step out of my room with a towel and stride toward the girl’s bathroom for my shower after a long training session with Kellan. I’d planned to hunt Aiden down and finish the breakfast conversation about Jackson, but apparently, he’s still at the Guild making sure Reid and Tinsley are all set in their quarters .

That’s the fancy term Aiden is using for a lockup, but it does supposedly look like a bedroom with an ensuite bathroom rather than a room with bars. It’s just locked from the outside and has security cameras to keep an eye on them.

I just hope he’s not asking them questions about GE without me.

Shit.

What if he’s doing exactly that?

I need to hurry and shower and head down there to make sure he’s not back before I’m out.

I pick up my pace and gasp when I’m yanked into one of the empty dorm rooms. The citrusy scent from the body I’m being held against switches my momentary panic to annoyance. “What the fuck, Dane?” I snark into his hand over my mouth, so it comes out as just a muffled noise.

“Vera’s willing to meet me again. But we have to leave now before we miss her. Are you in or out?” he whispers behind me, sending the stray hairs that came loose after training into a tizzy tickling my ear. I fight against the prickle of goosebumps that carve up my neckline at his breath and push away from him.

“Now?” I ask in a hushed tone. Aiden may be out, but Kellan’s still around and would interfere if he found out. We don’t usually go until after everyone’s asleep, so leaving this early in the night when the others are still awake is suspicious.

“Now. Are you coming?”

I check my person. “I need to grab some weapons. I took them all off.”

“You don’t need them. You swore not to harm her.”

Fuck. He has me there. I feel naked without them, but if I run to my room to grab some, I know he’ll leave without me. “Alright. Fine.”

We sneak out to the truck bay again for his motorcycle, bring it down the road, and then take off to the usual meeting place.

I go up the ladder first to make sure the coast is clear, but freeze when I see Vera already there and waiting. She smirks at me like she’s won something, and my gut clenches. Why does it feel like we’re falling into a trap?

“Dane, I don’t think—”

“Is she there?” His hopeful voice is breathy from the climb. He’s wearing the backpack from the last time.

I remember the notebook and his letters to her. If anything or anyone is going to save Vera, it’s Dane. Can I really take this chance away from him?

I turn my gaze back on Vera, who’s seemingly waiting for me to give him my response rather than answering herself. To see if she can call me out for lying if I don’t? Well, I’ve got Dane’s back here no matter what. She’s about to learn that very quickly. My eyes harden with determination while meeting her stare. “She’s here.”

He pushes at my legs to urge me onward. “Hurry up! Why’d you stop?”

I step over the ledge and then move to the side to make room for Dane while making sure I’m standing between them. She’s in the middle of the roof, so as long as we keep our distance, we should be okay. Her ability to manipulate technology doesn’t help her on a brick roof with nothing but big letters on it. Other than turning the lights on and off.

“Vera!” The hope in Dane’s voice is soul-crushing. If she doesn’t break out of whatever brainwashing or infatuation she has with GE, it is going to destroy him. She is going to destroy him. And I’m stuck standing on the sidelines to watch like a car crash in slow motion.

“Dane.” I notice the smile she gives him is nothing like the look she’d had before he could see her.

Gah. Manipulative bitch.

“I figured out why you won’t leave her to come with me. You don’t know about all the horrible things she’s done. You don’t know where, or who, she comes from.” Vera’s smile turns sly as she looks at me before sliding back to Dane. “So, I’m going to tell you everything. And then you can decide if you’re going to come with me or leave with her .”

A wave of nausea hits me at her threat. She can’t possibly know , I try to reason with myself. She wasn’t there. She could be making up bullshit just to make Dane hate me.

She doesn’t have to make anything up for that to happen .

“Vera, I don’t want to talk about Raegan. I want to talk about you. About mom. And dad. They’re both alive, you know?” He takes a step closer to her. When she doesn’t immediately retreat like last time, he takes another. By the third step, I move next to him and touch his arm in a silent reminder not to get too close just yet. He gives me the barest of nods that he understands, and I drop my hand. “We could go back to them. I couldn’t go back without you, but now that you’re here, we could see them again.”

“Why would we go back?” She sneers. “You don’t care about them. I doubt you even remember them.”

Dane’s hand tightens on the strap of his backpack. “Of course, I do.” He bends down and pulls his backpack forward to unzip it. “Here.” He pulls out his notebook, and Vera laughs coldly.

“You may not want to hear about her, but I can’t let you stay near her in good conscience unless you know this. Her mother was a terrorist. She blew up buildings full of people with her gift until GE captured her. What do you think Raegan’s going to do on the loose?”

What did she just say?

This time, Dane turns to look at me. I can’t give him anything, though. I have no freaking clue how to process that information. Is it a lie, just to catch us both off guard? Or is it the truth? Is that how I was born on the island? Did Grams know and lie to me about my parents’ deaths?

You’re dangerous , Gordon’s voice bubbles up from my memories and pops, leaking pain and misery into my head like pus from an infected wound.

“Raegan,” Dane’s voice calls to me. My face turns instinctively to him, but it takes forced blinks to bring him into focus. I’m frozen on my feet, my hands grabbing my arms, as I see him now standing in front of me. I’m expecting fear, or maybe anger, in his expression. But all I see is concern as he calls me back to him. “Look at me. We’ll figure this out.”

“What’s there to figure out?” Vera’s voice practically screeches from behind Dane. Apparently, seeing him come to my aid was not what she had expected. “She’s a fucking whore , Dane! A murderer and a whore! Don’t waste your feelings on her. She doesn’t care about yours.”

“Did you kill me?” Dane’s voice is soft, almost like he’s not positive he wants to ask the question. When she doesn’t respond, he turns to look at her over his shoulder and raises his voice. “Did. You. Kill. Me?”

“What? No, I’d never! You’re my sweet younger brother. How could you ask me that?”

“Fine. Did you almost kill me? Over an experiment? Raegan said she was trying to stop you when…it happened. Is what she said true?” he tries again, his voice trembling.

Vera stomps her foot. “No! She’s exaggerating. You weren’t going to die. Worst case, the machines would have brought you back, so she was overreacting. I told her you would be fine.”

“Worst case?”

Vera’s eyes widen when he turns, fists clenched. I can’t think about the literal bombshell she just dropped on me right now. Dane’s right. We can look into it later. I can’t even let myself absorb the words she’d called me in front of Dane, either. Right now, I need to make sure he’s safe.

“You were fine , Dane.” She takes a step away from us and starts digging into her pocket for something. “Did you hear anything I said before? She’s the murderer. Hundreds of people, little brother. She killed her boyfriend and his friends, too. You could be next. You have to get away from her.”

Jab after jab hits my psyche, but I hold them there. I won’t let them sink in just yet. I can fall apart later, but for now, I keep my eyes trained on whatever’s in her hand that she pulled from her pocket.

It looks…like a cell phone?

Oh.

Fuck.

A myriad of red lasers cover me from head to toe in an instant.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her for the both of us. She won’t be able to kill anyone anymore. I’ll be doing the world a favor.”

“Vera…” I start, but I trail off when I realize there’s probably nothing I can say to stop her. I close my eyes and look inside to where my gift lives in my gut, calling it to me. The burn sears through my limbs, but I drive it on and concentrate it into my hands. I can hear Dane, too close to me, trying to talk her down.

“Stop! Don’t do it, Vera. This has nothing to do with her. I just wanted you to read this.” I hear something slapping on the ground close to Vera and assume he’s tossed her his notebook. “Read it. Right now. Turn that off, and show me that my sister is still in there somewhere.”

I open my eyes to see Vera kicking the notebook away. “What could I possibly read that would make me change my mind about killing the person who killed me first?”

I know then that she’s going to do it. There is no getting through to her when it comes to me. Maybe not even when it comes to Dane. How much does she even want him back because he’s her brother and not just as the lab rat GE needs?

Dane’s standing too close to me for whatever’s going to shoot at me and for what I’m planning to do, so my foot strikes out with all the strength I’ve gained from training with Kellan. He falls back on the ground, his expression wide with shock, but it’s enough to ensure he won’t follow me. I take two large steps away from him and then drop my hands to the rooftop.

My gift pulses and then strikes. It tries to rush out of me in a torrent of heat and disaster, but I clench my teeth and pull it back. It feels like scrambling at hundreds of threads and trying to keep them all together and reel them in, but I still miss a few that lash out and send cracks further out than I planned.

The roof drops out beneath me just as the sound of gunfire reaches my ears.

“Noooo!” Dane yells, but he sounds distant and soft.

I crash onto something metal and start sliding off of it, but I grab it and hold on tight, my gift thankfully back asleep. Vera screams, and I look up to see the roof beneath her feet caving in.

I pull myself up on what looks like a metal catwalk and run toward her just as she drops. My hand grabs hers, and then her body yanks down until I face plant into the metal walk. I groan, seeing fucking stars from the impact. It felt like someone wailed a heavy metal tray into my face.

Vera shrieks and jerks in my grip, and I have to squeeze tighter to make sure I don’t drop her. I had a brief look down when I first fell, and the top floor is apparently two stories tall. A fall from here could kill or permanently damage us.

“Get off of me! Don’t touch me!”

Her movements grow more frantic, and the stress on my arm sharpens. “Stop moving! I’m trying to save you, but I’m going to drop you if you don’t quit it!”

“Fire! Fire!” she yells out, and I realize that the stupid phone is still in her other hand. I check my body over for any red lasers, but the nearest ones can only get an angle into the hole where neither of us are.

Bullets fly into the brick and cement, but it’s the sharp ping each time it hits metal that sends my heart into my throat. They better not ricochet and hit us. Then small chunks of concrete and debris fall, and I realize a whole other way that she could kill us with this. “Stop it! If you actually care about being alive, then turn it off ! You could hit Dane up there for all you know!”

Vera doesn’t acknowledge me, but the shooting stops, and I drop my face back on the catwalk with a sigh of relief. Then something sharp burns across the back of my arm, and I scream in pain. I look back over the edge. Vera’s changed out the phone for a knife. For fuck’s sake , does she want to die that badly?

I should drop her. Fuck the crazy psycho bitch. She’s gone. Completely lost to GE or Gordon. I don’t know who this person is anymore, but she’s not the Vera I once knew. I can’t see any sign, any inkling, that we’ll ever get her back.

“Vera! Raegan!” Dane shouts down at us from the edge of the hole I made now that the firing has stopped. “Fuck!” he adds when he sees the predicament we’re in.

His voice brings back the promise that I wouldn’t harm her. And I’d do whatever it took to save her.

Guess this counts as that.

I groan my frustration at what I have to do, even as my shoulder aches and the cut on my arm throbs. Blood trails from the cut to my hand on hers, and I know it'll slip before long. I reposition myself and reach down to grab her elbow with my other hand, making sounds of struggle and pain as I have to try lifting her with my one hand to make it to her elbow.

Vera’s still screaming about me touching her, and I’m afraid she might stab me with the blade, but I’m able to grip her elbow, plant my feet, and then fall back. I use my body weight to heave her up until she’s on top of me. She raises the knife up, and I shove her off of me and roll away.

She tries to swipe at me again, and I crawl backward far enough until I can get my feet under me. One foot slips on the blood I’ve been spreading across the walk from my arm. I cling to the bar before I slide right off, then right myself and grip at my arm to slow the bleeding.

“Vera, stop!” Dane yells on deaf ears. Her murderous glare stays locked on me .

The sound of helicopter blades snaps my gaze back up at Dane.

No. I must have misheard it.

The sound intensifies, and the wind behind Dane picks up.

“Dane! Run! Get out of here!”

He looks behind him, then at us. At the wicked smile on Vera’s face as she advances toward me with her knife. “I’m not leaving you. I’ll find a way down, and we’ll both get out of here.” Then he disappears from the hole, and I have no way of knowing if they’ve taken him or if he’s evading them.

“This was a trap all along,” I hiss at Vera.

She smirks. “I told you. I wouldn’t come back unless he came with me or with your dead body. I just found a way to give me both.”

“You’re a complete psycho, you know that?” I offer her a sharp smile that tells her to go fuck herself, then turn and run. The catwalk ends at a ladder and then stairs, so I slide down the ladder and jump down the stairs. I need to get back to Dane as fast as possible.

I can hear her clanging behind me, but other than the faint light coming through the hole in the roof, it’s pitch black in here. No technology or electricity for her to use, but also no light for either of us to see by.

It’s just the sound of our heavy breathing, feet pounding the floor, and my heart stampeding in my chest.

My hand drags along the wall on one side while my other hand is extended out. I can’t move at a full run without risking hurting myself if I bash into something, so I keep it to a light jog while I try to get my bearings. As soon as I feel a door, I turn the handle. I could cry with relief when it turns without needing a key. I close it quietly behind me, knowing that unless she has perfect hearing, she won’t know where I’ve gone in the dark.

It also means I have to move quietly in this room.

I feel around, taking my time to place my feet somewhere solid without bumping into anything until I make my way to the windows. They offer a bit of light, so I can see exactly which one is in front of the fire escape. I silently break the window with my gift and put it away again.

I’m pretty sure there are tears in my eyes from the pain of everything, but I ignore them and pull myself out of the window. I climb up like my ass is on fire

I search for Dane before I’m even completely up the ladder and stare for a second when I see Aiden and Kellan up here fighting along with Dane. Aiden sees me first, his eyes dropping to the blood on my arm and then back up to my face.

“She’s here,” he tells the others with a raised voice. “Let’s go!” Aiden’s arm swings from behind, throwing the whipsword at the helicopters. The metal narrows and extends to make the distance before it slashes downward and slices one of the two helicopters clean in half. He flips it back to the other one and removes its tail.

Dane punches the guy he’s fighting in the face, throwing his entire back into it, and the guy is lights out on the roof. He runs to me with Aiden and then Kellan at his back after taking care of the ones they’d been fighting. More agents hop out of the helicopter, but we’re already hurrying down the fire escape to the ground.

“Dane and Raegan, in the car. Kell, take Dane’s bike,” Aiden orders before my feet can touch the ground. Dane tosses his keys to Kellan, and then we’re all flying down the road.

My heart thunders in my ears as we make sharp turns again and again, then finally park under the cover of trees once we’ve reached the edge of the city. I check out the window to see Kellan right next to us and look up to make sure there’s no sign of another helicopter that might have been out for Dane tonight.

“Let me see your arm,” he demands, grabbing my hand and pulling it to him. I bite my lip as the adrenaline recedes now that we’ve escaped, and the pain creeps in.

“Do I need to call Cassandra?” Aiden asks from the driver’s seat. He looks pissed, and I wonder if it has anything to do with me bleeding all over the back seat of his fancy car.

Dane answers for me since he’s the one inspecting it, “It doesn’t look like it’ll need stitches, but—”

I pull my arm back to me and hold it against my chest to keep the bleeding to myself. “Then it’s fine. I’ll just wrap it when we get back, and it’ll be good.”

“Good,” Aiden croons. The car moves again. “Now you can both listen to everything fucking wrong with tonight and how you will never do anything like that again.”

Dane and I look at each other, but there are no words for how either of us is feeling right now. The things Vera said about me, about my mother, come back to me, and I rip my gaze from his with shame.

We remain silent the entire drive back through Aiden’s reprimand and then some.