Page 104 of Raine

“You don’t have to.”

“Raine…” he tries, but I cut him off.

“No, Acheron. I am my fucking own person, and you don’t get to tell me what to do. You may be my blood, my brother, but you do not order me around.” I snap, the frustration bleeding through and I stagger.

Acheron rushes to my aid before Gabe can and holds me up, fear racing over his features before he lands on my eyes, and I see the exact moment he notices my bloodshot eyes.

“What happened?” he asks, and I’m warmed by the fact he didn’t immediately think I’d been using again.

“Gabe, use my keys and head inside. I have some shit I need to sort through.”

He nods, smiles at me and walks past us and tries to unlock the door, but it beeps, alarming us that it needs my fingerprint.

I quickly run up the steps, put my finger down on the pad, and Gabe unlocks the door. He gives me a kiss on the cheek and walks inside. When the door closes, I move toward Acheron and see the deep scowl on his face.

“Why him?”

“We can talk later. I have something I really need to run by you all. Are Justyce and Arrow around?”

“Justyce is, and I’m sure he can get that other surly ass to come around as well.”

“Good, because what I’m about to tell you is going to blow your fucking mind.”

Within ten minutes, we’re all sitting in Justyce’s entertainment room, waiting for Arrow to appear. Apparently he was going to be another fifteen minutes, and I couldn’t help the unpleasant feeling moving around inside my belly.

Justyce and Acheron spoke in hushed tones at the bar, and if it were any other time, I would have given them a piece of my mind. However, with my head the way it was, I wasn’t even entertaining it.

Arrow walks in the door fourteen minutes later, his signature leather jacket on and a pair of distressed, faded black jeans and boots on.

The air in the room drops; the intensity and coldness coming off him was near arctic. I refuse to look at him, focusing on the glass of water on the table and the way the beads of condensation drip down it.

A whoosh draws my attention, and when I look up, I see Arrow has fallen into the single seat, his arms outstretched and head back on the chair.

“So what did you call me here for? I was in the middle of something,” Arrow remarks, his head tilting forward and his eyes on mine.

Justyce growls. “Don’t start this shit now. Raine has something to tell us.”

Arrow scoffs, and Acheron snaps at him. “Would you just grow the fuck up?”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll punch that pretty boy face in, that’s what.”

Arrow stands up and Acheron mirrors him. I decide to follow suit and stand, my hands outstretched as I yell, “Avernus was in my beach house!”

“What?” the three of them say in unison.

“What beach house?” Arrow asks, a deep crease forming on his face, and his cognac eyes narrow on me.

“I brought a beach house.”

“When?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Arrow, we have more important things to worry about than Raine’s extracurriculars,” Justyce admonishes, and Acheron nods in agreement before the three of them focus on me again.

“Alright, Rainey, start from the beginning,” Justyce says, and it takes me a second to wonder how he’s so composed.

For the next half an hour, I explain the situation and the experience I had with Avernus. The room is filled with tension — so many things unsaid — but the energy hangs heavy in the room like an angry cloud above our heads.