Page 37 of Coco and the Misfits (The Candyverse #4)

COCO

A tticus carries me up to my apartment and I don’t even think about refusing. My legs are like jelly and won’t hold me. His strength is a balm.

My entire body starts shaking as he carries me up the stairs, Zach and Ryder following. Delayed shock reaction. Delayed panic.

I can’t believe I was rescued. That I’m safe.

I wish I had taken self-defense classes for years, not days. I wish I had not let my guard down. In retrospect, I wish for so many things. I cling to Atticus and wish I had never opened my heart.

Look what happened the moment I started trusting again.

Something about this isn’t making sense. I’m confused and I feel it, a fuzziness around the edges of my thoughts. Something about the three of them being there because of Zach… the courting…

I close my eyes and struggle to regulate my breathing. It’s wheezy, shallow, and it makes me dizzy.

The door to my apartment is, of course, wide open. Was it only minutes ago that I was grabbed and tied up right here, on my doorstep?

The dizziness gets worse.

Atticus carries me to my sofa and lays me down. When he starts getting up, I make a grab for him. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he says, “I’m not going anywhere. We just need to cut the cable ties. Do you have scissors?”

“Fuck scissors,” Zach says, rummaging in a kitchen drawer. “A knife will do.”

I lift myself a little against my pile of favorite cushions. I feel too vulnerable lying down, not because I’m afraid of these guys, but… generally.

If I was traumatized from the first kidnapping attempt at the bar, imagine now.

Dammit.

Zach returns with a sharp steak knife and gets to work. I flinch when he grabs my still-tied arms and he growls. “Keep still, kitten. It will only take a second.”

He snaps the cable tie and my hands fall into my lap. My wrists are red and raw from struggling against the binds, and his face falls when he looks down at them.

“I’m gonna kill those sons of bitches,” he breathes and gets up. “I’m going down now to castrate them.”

Ryder grabs him. “Cub, no. Let the police deal with them.”

“Let go.” Zach shakes him off and stalks over to the window. “I’ve never wanted to kill someone until today.”

“There’s always a first time,” Ryder mutters.

“I’d help you castrate them,” Atticus growls, “but our top priority is our girl.”

“What…?” I frown down at myself. Atticus is sawing off the cable tie holding my ankles together. What did he just say?

“How did they get you?” Ryder turns to me. “Did they force the door open?”

“No. I opened the door,” I whisper. “I thought…”

“You thought what, girl?” Atticus is gently rubbing the red welts on my ankles. “Why would you open the door to them?”

“I thought it was flowers,” I say, barely audible. “From Zach.”

Zach groans. “Fucking hell. This is on me.” He runs a hand through his short blond hair. “My fault.”

They all glare. At me? At Zach? At the void? Hard to tell.

My eyes burn, but I can’t cry anymore. I won’t.

“I’ve called the police,” Atticus says, and only then do I realize he has his phone in his hand. “I’m going to go down, make sure those assholes haven’t escaped from your car, Ryder.”

“I’ll do it,” Ryder says. “Stay put.”

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

Ryder snarls and leaves.

How is this happening? How are these three alphas moving about my apartment as if they own the place? It feels so… natural having them here, all three of them.

Natural, and strange, heartwarming and alarming at once.

“I’ll make you some tea, if you like?” Zach asks and I nod automatically. “Ryder, get her a blanket from her room. I think she likes the pink one.”

“That’s because she’s a candy girl,” Ryder mutters and wanders off in the direction of my room.

Small noises from my kitchen indicate that Zach is indeed making me tea, and I listen to them moving inside my apartment, my heart glad.

Then Atticus opens the door and enters the apartment. After stomping his shoes, he comes to sit beside me. “All right? How are you feeling?”

Wait… Have I landed in an alternate reality? Did I fall down a rabbit hole like Alice?

I want this so much to be real, I’m breaking apart. It’s a mindfuck, having them here.

Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?

“Here is the tea.” Zach carries a cup to the table, looking worried. “Not sure I made it right. I rarely drink tea.”

Ryder arrives with my blanket and drapes it over my legs, tucking it against my sides. “There. Ace, how are the dicks in my car doing?”

“They were yelling and banging on the windows. They are still alive, sadly.”

“Damn.” Ryder goes to the window again to check. “Ah. The police have arrived. Time to deliver the dicks over to them before our desire to gut them prevails.”

* * *

The two police officers come up and look around my apartment. A police man and a police woman, both of them betas.

She comes to perch on the coffee table in front of me. “Hi, I am Jena. Your name?”

“Coco. Cosette Amos.”

“Nice to meet you. I will need you to tell me what happened. Your mate called to tell us you were kidnapped.”

“Not my mate,” I whisper.

She arches a brow but nods. “Do we have forced entry?”

“No, I opened the door.”

“You opened the door for them? Did you know them?”

“Only the time they tried to kidnap me before.”

The officers exchange glances. “When was that?”

“I… A few weeks ago? I didn’t think they’d try again.”

“Miss—”

“It’s a long story,” Atticus interjects. “She’s in shock. Can’t we do this another time? What do you say, Coco?”

I nod.

“You will need to come down to the station to give your detailed statement. Tomorrow, if possible.”

“Tomorrow,” I echo. “All right.”

“We can’t keep the suspects for longer than twenty-four hours unless you file a formal complaint.”

“You should look into them,” Ryder says. “I don’t think what happened was random. They must be trafficking omegas.”

I stare at him because that had been my thought, too. “Really?”

“They tried to get her twice. They must have been following her. This screams target.”

The officers exchange another look. “We have been investigating an omega trafficking ring. We will look into that.”

“You do that,” Atticus says. “And keep those assholes locked up before they kidnap more people.”

The officers show themselves out, accompanied by Ryder whose car has become an impromptu jail, and I’m still struggling to absorb it all.

Somehow, for some weird reason, I’m still stuck on the three alphas happening to be outside my door at the right time.

“Explain it to me,” I say as Ryder returns.

“Explain what?”

“What the three of you were doing on my street tonight.”

Ryder glances at Atticus and rubs his brow. “Zach is courting you. He wanted to put up a banner.”

“A banner ?”

“Yes, a big banner with something romantic?—”

I shake my head. “No.”

“But we wanted to help him?—”

“Help him get me?” I’m still shaking my head. “What the hell?”

No, I’m confused, nothing makes sense, and I’m hurt they’d help Zach but not want me for themselves, and why would they, they probably sensed I’m not really an omega, that I’m playing pretend, that I’m an impostor, a fraud.

My head is pounding. The thoughts get tangled up, losing their form, their meaning.

My mom’s voice mingles with the voice in my mind, telling me to accept who I really am, not to lead others on, not to lie even if I believe what I say is the truth, and?—

“Okay,” I whisper, “out.”

I can’t do this right now. I need some time alone. Some time to think.

Zach stares at me. “What? But?—”

“All of you, out.” I’m clutching my blanket to my chest and I feel as if my head will erupt any second now.

“We’re not leaving,” Atticus growls. “After this attack? No fucking way.”

“You’re going,” I say firmly. “I’ll call Sawyer or Gigi to stay with me.”

Zach is scowling. “But?—”

“Go.”

“No,” Ryder says, “we can’t?—”

“Thank you for saving me. I still don’t understand what all of you thought you were doing outside my building, but thank you. Now, go. Please.”

* * *

“We’re coming,” Sawyer says, “hang on tight.”

After the guys filed out, casting me worried looks over their broad shoulders, I locked up and sat on the sofa, wrapped burrito-style in my blanket, waiting for Sawyer and his pack to arrive.

I will get over this, I promise myself. I will be fine again.

But tonight I’m allowed to break down a little, right?

So, while waiting for Sawyer and company to arrive, I do just that.

I ugly-sob, throw my precious little cushions all over the sitting room, scream into the void, and wish…

I wish I’d asked the three alphas to stay, because right now I’m weak and I need their arms around me.

Zach, Ryder, and Atticus. With flowers and a banner. A banner saying what? What was that about? The sense of betrayal is deepening. Was Zach’s courting a joke? An elaborate ruse? What for? To make me believe Zach wants me and then dash my hopes once more? Break me completely?

How could they?

And then… how could they be my heroes, saving me and taking care of me?

The tea Zach made me is cooling on the table, untouched.

I don’t know what to think anymore and I need to think. I’m caught in limbo, unable to move forward.

When the doorbell rings, I almost scream. But then Sawyer’s voice comes through the door. “It’s us! Coco, are you there?”

I scramble to open the door for them and then I fall into Sawyer’s arms. He’s sweet and comforting, rubbing my back, murmuring that everything is okay.

So why am I still wishing for my men’s arms?