Page 23

I mmy stepped into the house, glad to be home.

The charity concert had been a huge success. At least for the charity.

For her, the whole thing had felt odd.

Maybe it was because Abe and Isaiah hadn’t been there. Or because she hadn’t seen much of Sampson and Jenner.

The only constant person in her life at the moment was . . . Tobias. Which was a bit odd given she didn’t know him that well.

But you’d like to.

Hush.

Yeah, she didn’t know him that well, but he had proven to be reliable. Immy could cope with changes in her environment as long as the people in her life remained steady.

“I’m going to go check on Abe and Isaiah,” she said, grabbing her suitcase.

Her hand was instantly brushed away from the handle and she glanced up, surprised to find Jenner frowning down at her.

Why was he frowning at her? What was wrong?

“What is it?” she asked.

“You don’t carry your own luggage, Immy, and you know it.”

She gaped as he stomped up the stairs.

“You know the rules, Immy,” Sampson added, giving her a frown as well.

Sheesh.

She turned to see Tobias looking up the stairs thoughtfully.

“Can you believe them?” She raised her hands into the air. “I’m in trouble for grabbing my bag? Men!”

“Well, you should know better,” Tobias told her.

“Don’t you start!” She waggled a finger at him. She should go up and put her stuff away.

But she needed to see the others. Everything felt . . . wrong at the moment. Her worry about Maeve’s stalker should have disappeared, but all of this confusion about why he’d had a Sentinel tattoo had left her feeling unsettled.

Plus, Lauren seemed to be placing more and more barriers between her and Jenner. Trying to separate them.

Although Jenner had insisted on her sleeping in his room after Maeve’s kidnapping. That had been so nice.

She sighed as she headed to Abe’s door. Abe always had the ability to make her feel better about life. She knocked on his door.

“Abe? You in there?” she called out.

There was no reply.

Worry filled her. “Abe?”

Then his door opened and he stared down at her with a frown. His room smelled musty. As though he needed to open a window. And he looked like he hadn’t had a proper shower in a while.

“Abe,” she said softly, her heart breaking. She wasn’t sure what was going on with him, but she had to do something to help him.

“Immy? What are you doing back? Aren’t you supposed to be gone until Sunday?”

“It is Sunday.”

He rubbed his head. “It is? Shit. That means I’m going to work tomorrow.”

“Yes. You’re supposed to be going to work. So you probably want to shower, right? I’ll change the sheets on your bed while you do.” She ducked under his arm before he could reply.

The drapes were pulled and it really didn’t smell great in here. Which was so unlike Abe. That worry in her gut grew.

“Immy, you’re not changing the sheets on my bed. And I don’t want to shower.”

Immy wasn’t sure what to do or where the tears came from. But a small sob escaped her.

“Immy? Shit. Fuck.”

Abe turned her so she was pressed against his chest. Then he wrapped his arms around her.

“That’s t-two dollars for the s-swear jar.”

“I’ll pay it later. Honey, what’s wrong?” he asked, rocking her back and forth.

“I don’t . . . I don’t know. I was so worried about Maeve and then she was kidnapped and now we don’t know whether her kidnapper was tied to the cult.

I thought the cult was far behind us, but it keeps coming back.

No one is acting the way they normally do.

Sampson is extra grouchy. I hardly see Isaiah or Jenner.

And I’m so concerned about you. You don’t seem yourself. ”

“Shit, Immy,” he muttered. “I’m fine. I’m all right. I just . . . being knocked out like that. It showed me how vulnerable I am. And I didn’t like the feeling. I was supposed to be protecting Maeve and she nearly fucking died.”

“That wasn’t your fault.”

“Wasn’t it?” he asked pensively.

“Look at me, Abraham. It was definitely not your fault.”

“Ooh, my full name, I must be in trouble with the munchkin.” He tickled the sides of her neck where it met her shoulders and she giggled, trying to get away from him.

“Stop! Stop!”

“Right.” He rested his hands on her shoulders. “I’m going to take a shower and try to come back to the land of the living. You go unpack or have a lie down or something. You look a bit pale. Are you feeling all right?”

She groaned. “Why do you guys always do that?”

“Do what?” he asked.

“Turn things around on me. I’m supposed to be taking care of you, not the other way around.”

He turned her toward the door. “Go. Rest.”

She spun at the doorway. “Love you, Abe.”

“Love you too, Immy. And don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

Nodding, she waited until he went into the bathroom. And then she stripped the sheets off the bed, opened the curtains and a window.

Then she grabbed the sheets and started walking down the stairs. She wasn’t really paying attention to what she was doing and she stepped on a sheet. Letting out a cry, she suddenly found herself in the air.

“What the fuck!” a male voice said before she was caught against a firm chest with one arm.

Another arm reached out so his hand could wrap around the banister and she stared up into the shocked face of Tobias.

“Um, hi.”

“What the fuck?” he repeated.

“I, um, well . . . I think that’s self-explanatory. And I’ll give you a pass on the swear jar. But only because of the circumstances.”

“Immy. What. The. Fuck?”

“What’s going on?” Jenner rushed down to them from the top of the stairs.

Why?

Why did this keep happening to her?

“What happened?” Jenner asked.

“Was walking up the stairs toward her when she went flying through the air,” Tobias snapped.

Yikes.

He really sounded mad.

She leaned back to look into his face. “You sound mad.”

“I am mad!”

“I’m not sure why. But you should probably do something about that. You’ll give yourself an ulcer. Or gray hair. Not that you wouldn’t look good with gray hair. No, not good. Hot. Um, no, I didn’t mean that. I meant, distinguished. That’s what I meant!”

Please, God.

Someone stop me from talking .

“Already getting the gray hair and the ulcer, too,” he said.

She nodded. “Yep, that’s what I thought. Maybe you should take up yoga. I can help you. I’m a yoga expert.”

“Since when?” Jenner asked, moving closer.

She glanced over at him. He had a strange look on his face that she couldn’t decipher.

And then she realized that Tobias was still holding her in his arms.

“You can put me down, now,” she said.

Shoot. Where did the sheets go? Yep, there they were, all over the stairs. Great.

“I put you down, you gonna slow down and not rush around and risk breaking your damn neck?” Tobias asked.

“That’s a dollar,” she told him.

“Thought I didn’t have to pay?”

“That was before. Things change. Keep up,” she advised him.

“Can someone help me keep up,” Jenner said. “What are you doing carrying sheets down the stairs, Immy?”

“Um, because they need to go to the laundry to be washed.”

Jenner put his hands on his hips. “Are you allowed to carry things up and down the stairs?”

She groaned. “Not this again.”

“What’s this?” Tobias asked.

“Immy has a rule for using stairs,” Jenner replied. “She tends to be a bit clumsy on stairs.”

“I’m not clumsy,” she muttered. “I’m just normally in a hurry.”

“When going up and down stairs, she has to have one hand on the rail at all times and she’s not allowed to run or carry anything.”

“Smart rule,” Tobias said. “She needs it.”

“She does,” Jenner said. “And now there need to be consequences for breaking it.”

Well. This was just rude.

What were they doing agreeing with each other? She wasn’t certain that she liked this unlikely alliance.

They were ganging up on her!

Wait. Did Jenner say consequences?

Darn it. Why did her body grow all warm at that thought? What was wrong with her?

“There will be no consequences!” she cried.

“Well, if there’re no consequences then how would we get you to follow the rules?” he asked.

Lord, he had the prettiest eyes.

No. Nope! You’re not being taken in by a smooth tongue and pretty eyes, Immy! You’re fighting for your life here.

Oh, but she did think about the ways he could use that tongue.

What if Tobias was to pin her down while Jenner spread her legs and used that tongue on her . . . stop!

“Like what? I have to pay a dollar into the swear jar? Well, it seems a bit mean, but okay.” She wiggled in Tobias’s arms. “Why haven’t you put me down yet? Don’t I weigh a ton?”

“That’s another consequence,” Tobias growled.

Darn it.

Why did she feel that growl in her pussy?

This was terrible. Just terrible.

Right. Terribly good. Admit it, you like having the two of them close.

“I don’t think that’s enough of a consequence,” Jenner said.

“Five dollars?” she said.

“I was thinking no Twizzlers for a week,” Jenner said, crossing his arms over his chest.

What? No!

“When did you become so cruel and heartless!” Immy cried, patting her chest. “My heart has stopped. It’s stopped.”

“Didn’t know she could be so dramatic,” Tobias said.

“It’s a hidden talent of hers,” Jenner replied dryly.

It was not! And she was not dramatic.

“I’m not dramatic.”

“Cherry, it’s Twizzlers for a week,” Tobias pointed out. “Not like you’re having to give up your favorite treats for a year.”

Wait. What?

“Jenner would never do that,” she said in a dark voice. “Or he knows I’d come for him. In the dead of the night. With a knife.”

“Knife?” Tobias said in a strange voice. As though he could barely get the word out.

“A sharp knife,” she added. “And then I’d chop it off.”

“Fucking hell.”

“You can breathe easy,” Jenner said dryly. “She’s talking about my lucky wristband.” He held up his hand to display the leather wristband.

“Oh. Thank fuck,” Tobias muttered, shifting around.

“What did you think I meant?” she asked curiously.

The two men stared at each other.

“Uh, nothing,” Tobias said.

“You should put me down,” she told Tobias.