Page 14 of The Broken Note

“It’s too late for that now, isn’t it? There’s a freaking corpse in our living room and you were in on it.”

A corpse?

I study Cadence’s pinched expression and a shudder goes down my spine. Whatever I’ve stepped into feels more serious than two bickering sisters mourning their dead mother.

My brothers and Sol arrive in a blaze of concerned eyes and sweat-stained faces.

Cadence places a finger on her lips and gestures for her sister to be quiet. Viola scoffs, tosses her hair and folds her arms over her chest, but she doesn’t utter another word.

The air is tense, but Zane, as usual, cracks a joke to lighten the mood.

“I didn’t think creepy meetings in the middle of the woods was your thing, Vi.”

Viola blushes.

“We were worried about you.”

“You were worried about me?” Her voice is hopeful.

“Of course we were.” Zane coaxes another smile from her. But that smile flattens when he adds. “Especially your sister. She was tearing that neighborhood apart looking for you.”

Viola’s eyes swerve to Cadence and go dark again.

I step forward, sensing that Vi might hurl more unpleasant words Cadence’s way.

“It’s been a long night. I’ll take the girls home.”

“Glad you’re safe,” Finn says, nodding at Viola.

She gives him heart eyes.

Sol walks forward and sticks out his hand. “Hey, I’m—”

“Sol. The fourth member of The Kings,” Viola gushes. “I know who you are.”

“We haven’t met, but I’ve heard a lot about you.” I stiffen when Sol glances at Cadence with a thoughtful look and mumbles, “I hope I’ll see you around more often.”

I set a hand on Viola’s shoulder and tug her back a step. “Thanks for joining the search.”

“Of course.” His jaw is set in a hard line. “Cadence is important to me too.”

Something uneasy stirs in my gut.

His lips arch up in a smile. “Later, C.”

“Thanks again, Sol.”

I watch my best friend traipse off into the night, and I can’t shake the sense that something’s very wrong.

Now that Sol’s gotten a taste of setting fires, he might torch something even more precious than a building.

CHAPTERFOUR

CADENCE

I’m trembling on the way back home. Dutch shrugs out of his jacket and drapes it over me, but it doesn’t chase the chill.

Viola is in the backseat.