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It was mine.

And it would be until the threat was gone—she just didn’t know it yet.

7

RAVEN

The one where tears solve nothing.

Iwoke up sobbing thinking—assuming—that Louis was there, only to be holding a pillow and feeling even more nauseated than last night. My head pounded from crying myself to sleep and lack of hydration. I half expected Ace to be leaning against the door when I finally got dressed and made my way downstairs.

Instead, he was nowhere to be seen and someone had cleaned the entire kitchen.

"Hey.” Ivan waltzed in wearing jeans and a black peacoat. “I’m taking you to campus. Ace decided to go early to make sure that everything was up to his very anal and annoying specifications. I wouldn’t be surprised if NASA had a satellite trained on your ass at this point.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I wasn’t the target.”

“Sure, because we have the technology of heat seeking bullets now.” He rolled his eyes. “I already have some tea for your stomach along with a muffin in the car, stopped by your favorite coffee shop on the way here. Oh, and your dad and mom hadto run up to Seattle for the next thirty-six hours so you’re stuck with Ace riding your ass, Phoenix checking on you on a daily basis, and me trying to keep you safe without making you feel like you’re being suffocated.”

I grinned. “Did I mention you’re my favorite cousin?”

“Did I mention I heard you say that to Serena last night?” He winked. “Let’s go. You have your first class at ten, and you’ll want to get settled in the townhome.”

The idea of living with Ace made my stomach clench even more. Couldn’t they have just let me still live in the dorms? They had some of the best security in the world.

But no, I had to live in a townhome meant for married couples on campus, making me feel even more insecure.

I was alone.

But I had a good-looking guy who’d rejected me in the past just…lurking around every corner reminding me that I was alone—that I had nobody, that I fit in nowhere.

That Louis was gone.

My stomach rumbled. I touched it briefly. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

My first class was Operations Management. Hah, if they only knew the I was well versed in how to operate many a business—were they legal? No. Were they lucrative? Yes. Besides, I was convinced that any business that excited always had a dark side.

Humans were still humans.

More and more I was starting to believe that nobody was what they said they were, or who, and that it was just a matter of time before they revealed their true colors. And yet I still held out hope for every single individual I met.

Louis was the only one who never let me down other than my dad, but even some of my cousins had me questioning the sanity of a lot of our family members.

I got it—blood over everything.

The five families protected their own at all costs. I could be ruthless—the point with my own moral compass? I refused to show that side of me unless I was pushed past my limit, and then all I saw was red.

Maybe that meant I had patience?

Or maybe that meant I was more unhinged because there was no holding me back once someone betrayed me.

There was only blood.

And I could guarantee it wouldn’t be mine.

I made my way over to Ivan’s waiting black Escalade. He’d bought it the minute he found out Bella was pregnant—it was bullet proof; the guy didn’t want to take any chances, and yet it was always on the tip of my tongue to remind him he did in fact shoot her last year.

My body felt heavy as I climbed into the front seat, put on my seatbelt, and reached for my tea.