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Neither Quinton or Tyson had looked impressed when I'd pulled away from the curb and left them there exposed to the street. Guess they should have thought better about things when they had talked about me leaving. I'd given them exactly what they had wanted, just not how they'd wanted it.

Whatever.

You couldn't be a winner when it came to everything.

I met Rain about a block away. He was in my Range Rover and parked in a parking lot in front of a building that looked empty and abandoned. Garbage was liberally strewn throughout the lot, making the place look like a dump even though the building itself sadly looked like a newer build.

I'd honestly never once taken notice of the area around the shop and paid much attention to the neighborhood it was in.

When I parked the black Suburban in the parking spot beside my black Range Rover, I put the SUV in park and shut it down. There was no point in leaving the thing running when we weren't in need of a quick getaway this time, or so I hoped.

I didn't hit the key fob on the ring to lock the doors as I got out. There was no point since I was just going to the vehicle parked in the spot right beside it. If we left I would lock it up, I didn't want anything to happen to Marcus's vehicle he'd so kindly loaned me. Neither did I want anything to happen to the expensive vehicle he'd given me, but I opened the passenger side door and got in all the same.

Rain was seated behind the wheel. Both Simon and Trenton were in the backseat, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for them. I loved my Rover dearly but I wasn't well over six feet tall and forced to stuff all that and my muscles into the backseat. I knew I would like my Rover a whole lot less if it were me stuffed back there with my legs cramped in too small a space for them.

"Where are the others?" I asked, as I closed the passenger side door behind me. "The rest of my coven, I mean."

Rain turned in his seat to look me directly in the eye.

"Dash rode with Damien and Julian in their silver SUV. Your Salt and Pepper twins took their truck. Quinton had driven your Range Rover, but when he realized the Council had arrived on the scene he parked here and ran the rest of the way. Anybody else I'm missing?"

I shook my head, but I was stuck on the fact my father had just told me Quinton had been the one to drive my Range Rover with these three. To the best of my knowledge, none of them had keys to my Rover. Though, I had thought many times about making a set for Rain because I still had no idea how he got around to places and whether or not he had a car. I had never gotten around to it though.

Then it hit me… Trenton had stolen my keys and refused to give them back. That jerk.

"Good," Rain said, and he looked down back at his cell phone in his hands. He held it up for me to see along with the two brothers in the back seat.

There were several tiny squares on the screen, all of them aimed either inside the shop or outside of it.

I spotted the place the SUV had been parked at before I'd driven off and it thankfully was just an empty curb now before an empty lot. The Alexander's and the Council member were nowhere to be seen. Another glance through the squares on Rain's phone told me they weren'tanywhereto be seen. None of my coven members were, neither were any of the other Council members, if there even were any other Council members on site.

My cell in my hoodie pocket chimed and I pulled it out. I had a text from Quinton and I opened it to read it.

Quinton: The rest of the guys are here as well as several members of the Council.

I frowned down at my phone. Was that supposed to make me feel better? It didn't. It just succeeded in making me feel even more afraid than I already was. Not afraid for myself, but afraid for the people I loved. Like we could trust the Council to help take care of my boys and keep them safe. I would have rolled my eyes if I wasn't so upset about the whole thing. And terrified. It wasn't something I would have admitted in front of the rest of my coven, that I was scared out of my mind for them, to lose them, and maybe I wouldn't have admitted it aloud to anyone.

My phone chimed again and I looked back down at it.

Quinton: Rain should meet you back up at my house. Your new bodyguards will be with him and have guaranteed me they'll take good care of you. Text me when you're home and safe.

This message had me frowning even harder. He expected me to just go to his house, which wasn't my home at all, and relax while I waited for him to bring the others home safely? Did he not know me at all? There was absolutely nothing in me that gave off the impression that I could be able to do something like that.

Did he think I was that big of a coward or did he think I was just that useless? I understood his need to take care of me, and I even loved him a lot for it because that was how he usually treated the others as well. But this shit was becoming ridiculous. Eventually he'd have to peel back the bubble wrap and let me breathe.

I knew that if it were up to Uncle Quinton that day would never come, and that upset me more than it probably should. Here they were putting themselves in harm’s way and I had been forced to the side, to run home and hide with people he thought could keep me safe. All I kept thinking were those people belonged withmypeople, Quinton being one of those, so they could help where it was actually needed.

I didn't text him back, and I think that had more to do with being in a horrible mood because of the way he'd treated me.

I shoved the phone back into my hoodie pocket and turned back to face Rain who was watching me carefully from his seat.

"Was that Quinton?" Rain asked me.

Who else would it be?

"Yeah," I replied quietly in a sad, defeated voice. "He wanted to let me know that the rest of the guys had showed up and more of the Council had as well. He then went on to tell me I needed to go home and meet you, Simon, and Trenton there because you all would keep me safe."

"So what's got you looking so down?" Rain questioned me seriously.