Page 99 of Unclaimed Bonds

“Joe, find Anders! Jessica’s room is destroyed. It looks like she was attacked!” Everyone in the kitchen stops and turns toward my mother. “I would get Nathan, but he’s busy right now.”

Joe doesn’t move and starts to laugh. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. With all the prep work needed this morning, I forgot to inform you that Jessica told me before she left that the twins discovered some new… abilities sometime early this morning. It was quite catastrophic, but she will clean her room when she returns.”

“Clean up her room? Joe, it’s destroyed. There are scorch marks on the carpet and walls. What exactly can the twins do?”

Joe cracks a smile. “They make things explode.”

My mother grimaces. “Of course, they can. If it’s not one thing, it’s another,” she huffs, drumming her fingers on the kitchen counter.

Everyone resumes their tasks. Just a normal day in the life. This loyal staff has been with my family for years. They know my brothers well.

“I let them leave the house. I should have them return right away.”

Joe raises a finger. “They were fine when they left. They didn’t leave a path of destruction in their wake. I’m sure they’ll be fine. I also sent a message to Anders before my attention went elsewhere.”

My mother sighs.

“I can straighten the room, Mom.”

She shakes her head. “It’s fine. I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”

“No, really. I can clean what I can before I head over to the graduation ceremony.”

“Thank you, sweetheart. Your brothers should be the ones to clean their mess.”

No, Jessica should clean it up, I think. But I don’t want my mother to suffer for it.

I haven’t seen the twins, Emily, Sixes, or Charlie. The ceremony will start soon. I’m still in a mood, but it lessened somewhat over the course of the day.

Sodie places his hand on my shoulder. “Can you and I talk in private?” He furrows his brow, and his mouth is set in a firm line.

“Sure.” We move to a more secluded area.

“So, what’s the deal? You haven’t answered your phone or responded to any texts after you left last night,” he claims.

I pat my pockets to locate my phone. I’m sure I grabbed it before I left. “Shit. I must have left it at the dorms.”

He raises an eyebrow. “No, I don’t think so. Stan and I had cleanup duty this morning. Didn’t come across it.”

Where the hell is my phone?

“I guess that explains why you went MIA. Anyway, have you seen Jessica at all today?”

“No, I haven’t.” Not exactly a lie.

He nods. “Your girlfriend and Cassie arrived not too long after you left. They gave us hell, trying to round them up. Your girlfriend disappeared after we tossed her friend off the property. We searched but couldn’t find her.”

“So, what? You thought I went MIA because I was with her?”

Sodie shrugs.

“I’m not that desperate for pussy,” I retort.

He shakes his head. “Nah, that’s not it. Liam found Jessica with fucking bruises on her face, neck, and arms. But she refused to tell him what happened. Charlie insists she didn’t look like that when he left her early this morning, sometime after midnight, not quite one in the morning.”

But Jessica didn’t come home until a few hours later. She was probably with Liam, then. “So, when did Liam find her with bruises?”

Sodie frowns. “Close to four a.m.”