Page 36 of Unmask (Crew of Elmwood Public #2)

KAYLOR

I stared down at our woven fingers, his hand enveloping mine, and it couldn’t have felt more natural.

His fingers were so much larger, stronger…

marked. Each one inked with a suit from a deck of cards: spade, heart, club, diamond.

Just a few of many tattoos inking his body, but it was the raven spread over his forearm that should have warned me he wasn’t safe.

But he felt so damn secure, and that comfort I had from being with Kreed made my guilt magnify. I was in this lush bed with the most gorgeous guy I’d ever seen, willing to risk his life for me, and my best friend was in a locked glass cage. It wasn’t fair.

My heart twisted painfully at the thought. As if my mind needed the reminder, flashes of that photo burned behind my eyes. It was my best friend, and yet it hadn’t looked like her, and I was here…in a warm bed, wrapped in blankets, cushioned by comfort…and, worse, beside Kreed.

It would be so easy to follow his lead, to lean into him, to let him shoulder the burden of everything. But would that help Kenny? Would that get her back?

I hated how tempting it was to stay locked inside this room, for how my body ached for the comfort Kreed offered, even as my soul was riddled with guilt. What kind of friend was I? My best friend was trapped in hell, and here I was…being held like I was breakable and protected like I was sacred.

Maybe that was why it felt so wrong. What made me so special? Why hadn’t Kenny had someone to protect her? Why hadn’t I protected her?

It was making it damn hard to remember all the reasons I should be running away from Kreed. Why was it such a horrible idea to fall for him?

Drawing in a deep breath, I unwove our fingers and inched up into a sitting position on the bed.

The soft hush of morning light spilled through gauzy curtains, the world too still, too quiet for how shattered I was inside.

The air was cooler than I expected, or maybe it was guilt digging its nails in.

“How long am I supposed to wait?” I asked, second-guessing my choice not to show the police the message I received.

If Kenny died because of me…

I’d never fucking forgive myself. Hell, I definitely wouldn’t forgive Kreed. It would be the end of us for good. Did he have any idea of the enormous risk I took in trusting him?

He sat back in the chair, his eyes shadowed with tiredness but alert, always alert. “It hasn’t even been a full day. Give us another forty-eight hours, and if we have nothing, we take that photo to the cops.”

What if she didn’t have forty-eight hours?

I would go crazy. I couldn’t imagine how horrible this was for Kenny.

“What the hell am I supposed to do in the meantime? Twiddle my thumbs?” School was out of the question.

No way could I focus on homework. At the rate things were going, I’d be lucky if I graduated this year.

“Go about your day. If they’re watching you, watching us, don’t let them think they’ve rattled you.”

I wasn’t sure I had it in me. I didn’t have the acting and manipulation skills he had.

Climbing out of bed, I crossed the room, arms wrapped around my chest. I didn’t want him to see me fall apart.

Not again. He’d seen enough cracks already, and if I broke now, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to gather the pieces back together.

It created a vulnerability I didn’t want to display. “I need to shower.”

“Leave the door open, and I don’t mean that in a creepy way. I just want to be able to hear you if something happens.”

My brow lifted. “What exactly do you think will happen in the shower?”

“I don’t discount anything, little raven. Even something as trivial as a shower.”

“I’ll be like twenty steps away. I think I’ll be fine,” I said, moving to the dresser and opening a drawer to look for clean clothes. “We’re essentially in the same room. You don’t need to hover.”

His voice came from closer than I expected. I hadn’t heard him cross the room, but I couldn’t fault my distractedness. “And you’re not going to do anything reckless?” He didn’t want to leave me alone, but I needed the space. The tears I held back wouldn’t be suppressed for much longer.

“When have I ever?” I forced a small smile over my shoulder, trying to prove I was good.

He gave me that dry look, the one that said he saw right through my bullshit. “Every single day since I’ve met you.”

“Kreed, please. Fifteen minutes.”

His eyes searched mine as if he were trying to see if I was lying. Maybe I was. Just a little. I wasn’t planning to sneak out or do anything stupid… Not yet, but I did plan to fall apart. I did plan to let the scalding water drown out my sobs.

He sighed. “I’ll give you ten.”

I rolled my eyes even as I fought the tightness in my throat. “You’re such a tyrant.”

“And yet, I’m still here.”

I didn’t answer. Just turned and slipped into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. Screw keeping it open. I didn’t honestly believe a lock would keep him out anyway. If I were in trouble, he’d find a way inside.

Only when I twisted the shower knob and the water roared to life did I let myself slide down to the tile floor, my knees drawn to my chest. My breath hitched, and then it was all crashing down—my guilt, my fear, and my rage at the world and myself.

I buried my face in my arms and let the sobs come, silent and shaking, as steam filled the room, and the sound of the running water drowned out the truth: This was my fault.

With puffy, red eyes I couldn’t hide, I shuffled downstairs, my wet hair dampening the back of Kreed’s hoodie.

He left it on the bed for me when I got out of the shower, and I couldn’t resist slipping it on.

His woodsy sage and sea salt scent adhered to the soft material, enveloping me in a way that made it feel like his arms were around me.

Kreed wanted me to go on with my day as if my best friend wasn’t fighting for her life. I wasn’t sure I could. Doing so would require me to shut off my brain to keep from thinking about her, not a simple request for something that felt like it had its own will.

Somehow, by the light of day, everything seemed different.

Definitely not clearer because I was just as uncertain last night as I was this morning about my decision.

Maybe I should have gone to the police as Carson wanted.

What was I doing thinking we could handle this alone? We were in fucking high school.

Not that I didn’t believe my cousin and the Elite were capable because I’d seen the aftermath from people who’d crossed them. And Kreed…

He had an inside to a part of Elmwood I wasn’t sure I wanted to be associated with, let alone know about. It might have been better if I’d been oblivious to the nefarious activity happening right under my nose, which my father had a hand in.

It wasn’t too late. I could still go to the police. Or I could keep going down this path, trusting Kreed. Or …I could give myself up, trade my life for Kenny’s.

Kreed and Brock would be beyond pissed. I didn’t want to imagine what that would do to them, the rage it would set off, but if it was me being held, being threatened, they had a higher stake. They would have more determination to find me.

It wasn’t that I didn’t believe they would do their damnedest to rescue Kenny. They would for me, but if it were me instead… There was nothing they wouldn’t do. Nothing. Frightening but also in a fucked-up way, comforting.

Of course, there was no way any of them would agree to such a stunt. They made their position in the matter very clear last night, but today was a new day. Perhaps we were all thinking clearer this morning. It was difficult to distinguish whether my emotions were making decisions or my head.

Whispers laced with sarcasm and muffled laughter floated down the hallway, their casual rhythm breaking the tense silence of the house.

My socked feet padded against the hardwood, heart already prickling with suspicion.

As I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I half expected to find my cousin and the Elite in a hushed strategy session with Kreed.

But instead, it was a memory I didn’t expect to see again, one that belonged to another life entirely.

Raine was perched on the kitchen counter, casually spooning peanut butter straight from the jar.

Maddox leaned against the fridge, pouring what suspiciously looked like rum into a coffee cup.

Mason sat at the table, flipping a card between his fingers, the joker, if I had to guess, with a carefully stacked deck in front of him.

They were all here, sitting comfortably in my cousin’s kitchen, Brock and the Elite nowhere to be seen.

I froze in the doorway. “What the hell are you guys doing here?”

Mason smirked, flinging the card in my direction so it sailed perfectly through the air, only for Kreed to catch it before it could smack me on the forehead. “Heard you missed us. Couldn’t let that go unaddressed. Not in your time of need,” the younger twin said.

I choked on nothing. “Your delusions are getting scarier.”

Raine grinned as he pointed his peanut butter–covered spoon in Kreed’s direction.

A glob of the sticky spread clung to the metal, threatening to drop onto the pristine countertop.

“If you can forgive this asshole,” he said, nodding toward Kreed with theatrical emphasis, “surely you can find it in your heart to forgive us poor, misunderstood souls.”

“I haven’t forgiven anyone,” I muttered.

Maddox tilted his head. “So you’re not sleeping with Kreed?”

“Because I swear he was in your room last night,” Raine added innocently, licking peanut butter off the spoon.

Hovering in the doorway, I glared at the four Corvos who were the bane of my existence. “You guys show up just to annoy me into a mental breakdown?”

“Pretty much,” they chimed in unison, unbothered.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. “Where’s my cousin?”