Chapter 8

Eight

EMERY

I glance for the one billionth time today at the tiny velvet box in my hand.

Fuck, am I making the right decision?

Boyfriends give their girlfriends jewelry.

But friends don’t give friends jewelry unless they have ulterior motives.

Is that what Izzy’s going to think when I give her her birthday gift? That I have ulterior motives? That I want more from her than what she’s willing to give me?

Obviously, I want more from her, but I also recognize that she’s not ready for that, ready for me. She doesn’t trust me yet, and I can’t say I blame her. She doesn’t know me from Joe, and we haven’t spent enough time together to change that.

And of course, there’s the whole Grayson thing…

A tremor works its way up my spine when I think about how close that damn Hunter got to Izzy. He could’ve hurt her. Killed her.

But why he would want to hurt her eludes me. She’s human, as far as I can tell, and the only connection she has to the paranormal world is…

I wet my lips with a sound of regret.

Could she have been targeted because of us?

Because of the mating bond?

How did anyone discover the truth?

Questions tumble around in my head as I wait impatiently at Izzy’s locker for her to arrive. I didn’t see her in the morning, but that’s not completely unexpected. She’s probably surrounded by friends and family wishing her a happy birthday. My girl has only been at this school for a short while, and already she has a plethora of friends who love and care for her.

The bell rings, signaling the beginning of my next class, and I reluctantly push away from her locker. I’ll just have to give her the present during chemistry.

But when I arrive at the class a couple of hours later, I don’t see Izzy anywhere. Ansel isn’t there either, but knowing that asshole, he’s probably off getting his anus bleached or something equally appalling.

An uneasy feeling swarms in my stomach as I claim my usual seat beside Ethan.

My brother looks as shitty as I feel. Dark smudges line both of his eyes, making me think he hasn’t slept in a while. He runs a hand through his disheveled blond hair, then he removes his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. I know he always does this when he’s fighting off an impending headache.

I want to ask him if he’s okay but quickly decide against it.

Ethan’s fine.

He’s always fucking fine.

When chemistry ends, I hurry out of the classroom before anyone can stop me and make a beeline towards Jake in the cafeteria. The quarterback is joking with two of his friends—Kain and Dec—but their laughter immediately dwindles when I step up to the table.

Kain gives me a sour look, but Jake smiles good-naturedly and holds his fist out for me to bump.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” he asks.

There’s no point beating around the proverbial bush. “Do you know where Izzy is? I haven’t seen her all day, and I wanted to give her something for her birthday.”

Dec chuckles obnoxiously, muttering something under his breath about me being whipped, while Kain rolls his eyes. Assholes.

Jake, on the other hand, frowns in concern as he digs out his phone. “Yeah. I’ll text her. We drove into school together, so she should be here. But come to think of it, I haven’t seen her since this morning.”

“I texted her a few times but haven’t received a response.” My words come out low—almost a growl.

I hate being separated from my mate on the best of days, but today? On her birthday? It’s like a punch to the gut. I should be with her, dammit, celebrating.

“That’s weird. I wonder if she left her phone—” Jake breaks off abruptly as his phone pings with an incoming text. “Huh. She just responded.”

A strange combination of jealousy and hurt arrows through me at the fact that she replied to his message and not any of mine.

“And?” I ask, feeling impatient.

I’m vaguely aware that Ethan has joined us, though he stands a little bit behind me. Still, I can tell he’s hanging on to every word, just as eager as I am to hear about his mate. My mate. Our mate. Whatever.

Jake takes a huge bite of spaghetti while typing something out with his free hand.

“And.” Jake shrugs casually and drops his phone. “She’s not here.”

I’m going to fucking strangle him.

“Where is she?” Ethan interjects from behind me.

He ventures a single step closer, and I tense, feeling as if I’ve just been electrocuted. I want nothing more than to crawl out of my own skin just being in his presence.

“Away,” Jake answers evasively.

I narrow my eyes at my friend. “Away where?”

“Look.” Jake’s smile falls from his face, and he swivels completely on the bench to face us. “I don’t know what the fuck you did or said to her?—”

“What are you talking about?” I demand.

“—but she specifically asked me not to tell you or any of the other merry band of idiots her location.” Jake’s eyes promise murder as he glares up at me—a startling contrast to his jovial look from only moments before. “I swear to fuck if I discover you hurt her?—”

“Jesus,” Ethan murmurs, once again removing his glasses to wipe at his forehead.

“—I’ll cut your bodies into tiny pieces and toss them into the ocean. You hear me?”

“That’s disturbingly graphic,” Dec drawls lazily.

“I think it’s the perfect level of graphic,” Kain muses, grinning from ear to ear.

He looks particularly pleased by this turn of events, and I have to wonder if he knows more about our situation than what he’s letting on.

If he knows the truth of who Izzy is to us.

Jake focuses back on his lunch, effectively dismissing us, but I can see the rigid tension that lines his shoulders. He’s pissed, and I have to wonder what Izzy told him to elicit such a reaction.

Honestly, I’m flabbergasted. I have no fucking idea what could’ve happened to make her mad at us. Is it because I didn’t wish her a happy birthday first thing in the morning?

You know why she’s mad, dumbass, a snarky voice retorts in my head. You had her friend arrested last night.

Fuck.

A cyclone of emotions—all of them bitter and toxic—unleashes inside of me. The most prevalent of them all is self-loathing.

I hate the fact that I hurt her, but if I had to go back in time, I would do it all over again. Doesn’t she understand that Grayson’s dangerous? That he hurt people? She may not know about the supernatural world, but she would have to be deaf not to hear about the string of murders in town.

And if Grayson’s behind them…

But what if he’s not? the same voice asks. What if he’s innocent? You have no idea why he had those pictures on his phone. For all you know, he was investigating the deaths.

I ignore the voice and focus, with great reluctance, on my brother. He looks just as lost as I feel and has yet to put his glasses back on. They dangle from his fingertips by his side.

“This is about Grayson, isn’t it?” he asks, his voice too low for anyone but me to hear.

At least, I think that until Kain perks up like a dog scenting a bone. His dark eyes slide in our direction.

“Not here,” I hiss, gripping my brother’s sleeve and dragging him towards our usual table.

I half expect to see Izzy already there, waiting for us, her pink lips curved into a beatific smile.

But she isn’t.

Desiree, however, stands directly beside our usual table, a fierce scowl on her face and her arms crossed over her chest, crinkling her blouse. She stares at me like I’m a piece of shit she had the displeasure of pushing out of her asshole.

Graphic description, I know, but fitting.

“How’d you sneak out from under the house that fell on you?” I ask caustically as I move to stand in front of her. “I don’t hear any munchkins screaming in terror yet. Do they know you’re still alive?”

Desiree doesn’t rise to the bait—which pisses me off, because I could definitely go for a few rounds in the verbal sparring ring.

“We need to talk.” Her scowl deepens, a feat I didn’t think was possible.

“About?” Ethan asks cautiously.

“Izzy.” Desiree aims her glare at him, but it lacks its usual heat. She just seems…tired. “And your fucking idiot of a friend who may have ruined everything for all of us.”

“Ashton?” Something cold spirals through me. It feels as if the Grim Reaper himself is breathing down my neck. “What did he do?”

“Let’s take this conversation elsewhere, shall we? I don’t want the two of you wolfing out and eating the poor humans when you hear what I have to say.”