Page 37 of Unmask (Crew of Elmwood Public #2)

“What, we’re not enough?” Maddox asked, taking another sip of his drink. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and when he lowered the mug, there was genuine hurt in his expression that I almost believed. “I thought we really bonded when you lived with us, shared trauma and all.”

“If Kreed can’t be reasonable,” I snapped, “maybe you three can. You want to help? Then tell him”—My eyes locked on Kreed’s—“that I should do the trade.” The words left my mouth before I’d fully decided to say them, but I didn’t take them back.

The air died.

Kreed turned so fast his spine should have cracked under the violent motion. “Do what?” he growled, absolutely furious.

I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry as desert sand, but I didn’t back down. Not when Kenny’s life hung in the balance. “They want me. That much is clear. We could use that. Set a trap. Trade me for Kenny?—”

“No.” The word exploded from his lips like a bullet, hitting me with the same devastating force. It ricocheted off the kitchen walls.

“Kreed—”

“Absolutely not,” he snapped. “Don’t even think about finishing that sentence. We talked about this.”

I met his glare head-on, fire meeting fire. “They have her. What if it were me? What if I were the one missing?”

“I think you know what I would do. Besides, we have no guarantee they will keep their word. We could agree to the trade, and then what? They take you both and disappear before we even blink?”

“You won’t let that happen.” The certainty in my voice surprised even me.

“Now you suddenly have unwavering faith in me,” he snorted, crossing the kitchen to Maddox and taking the bottle of rum, tipping it back.

Rum for breakfast. I couldn’t fault him because I was contemplating having some myself.

Frustrated, I blinked back the tears stinging my eyes. To think I thought I’d purged myself in the shower.

“The cold truth is,” Kreed continued, lowering the bottle and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, “unlike Kenny, they won’t keep you around to dangle as bait.

You’ll be sold immediately—probably within hours, and then my chances of finding you drop to practically zero.

” His silver eyes burned with a fury that made the air shimmer.

“Assuming they bother putting you up for auction instead of just disposing of you outright. Is that what you want? To be sold to some sick freak for his personal entertainment?”

My stomach churned at the images his brutal honesty conjured. “You don’t know what will happen. You can’t be sure they won’t let her go.”

“I do. Because I know how people like this operate. You think they want you so they can hand over Kenny with a thank-you note? You’d be walking into a life you don’t come back from.”

Tears stung my eyes, hot and unwelcome. “She’s my best friend.”

Kreed’s expression shifted in the hard mask.

“I know what she is to you,” he bit out.

Then he was moving, crossing the space between us in two quick strides, his calloused hands coming up to cup my face with devastating gentleness.

“But you—” His thumb brushed away a tear, the touch so tender it made my chest ache. “You’re mine, little raven.”

The breath left my lungs.

He wasn’t asking. He was claiming.

“I already lost you once,” he whispered. “I’m not doing it again. You don’t get to offer yourself up like some kind of fucking sacrifice. I won’t survive that.”

Mason’s chair scraped against the floor as he shifted, breaking the charged silence. “Okay, that was intense,” he said, his usual smirk replaced by something more serious. The playing cards lay forgotten on the table. “Anyone else feel like they just witnessed a cosmic shift in the universe?”

“Shut up, Mason,” Kreed growled.

“I’m not trying to be a martyr,” I choked out, my words muffled against the small space between us. “I’m trying to do something.”

“We are doing something,” Maddox cut in, offering the bottle of rum to me as if booze would solve all my problems. “But using you as bait isn’t part of the plan.”

I nodded at Maddox, letting him know I definitely wanted a drink. “I’m not saying we go in blind,” I said, turning toward all of them now, pleading. “But I’m what they want. That gives us leverage.”

“Which is exactly why they don’t get their hands on you,” Mason said, less playful now. “They’re not playing fair. We don’t either.”

“We’ll find her,” Raine promised. “But we all agree with Kreed. You’re not the price.”

I hated how much I wanted to believe him, but the truth was, part of me did feel like the price. Like I was a key someone else had decided to steal and use. I couldn’t sit still while Kenny slipped further into hell.

I took the drink Maddox handed me and tossed it back, the rum warm as it coated my throat.

“You’re unnegotiable.” Kreed’s refusal to even consider compromise, to bend even slightly, only made my secret decision crystallize into something harder than diamond.

I stilled… But not the way Kreed hoped. I’d give him two days. Forty-eight hours. And if by then Kenny wasn’t home, safe in my arms, I would go to them. Even if it meant losing Kreed in the process, because if I didn’t try… If I let her down…

I’d never be able to look at myself again.

They flanked me like shadows.

Kreed on my right. Mason on my left. Maddox trailing a few paces behind. I didn’t need to look to know they were there, hovering, protective, but present in a way that was both comforting and suffocating.

Corvo security detail, version overkill.

I hadn’t wanted to leave the house, let alone show up to school.

I didn’t know how they convinced me otherwise, but here I was, pretending to give a shit about my education.

Raine went to the club to check in, see if anyone had heard anything.

I wanted to go with him. That was immediately vetoed, but the first chance I got, I was out of here.

I’d find my own way to the club. Raine would be so pleased to see me, and I gave little fucks.

If someone had the tiniest crumb of information, I wanted to know. I would leave no stone unturned.

Carson’s one-word responses to my texts on the way to school nearly had me jumping out of the car.

I got that he was upset and going out of his mind, but so was I.

She was my friend too, despite my lack of presence lately, but he had to cut me some slack considering everything I’d been through.

I was doing my best. I didn’t want to lose them both in a span of twenty-four hours, but I couldn’t help but feel as if Carson was pulling further away from me when we should be leaning on each other. He hated Kreed. I got it.

Hell, most days I loathed the man, but on the days I didn’t, I somehow found my lips attached to his. As much as I wanted to hold on to my hate for Kreed and his brothers, I had to, at some point, accept that I didn’t hate them.

Another problem for another day.

We stepped through the school doors, and the second I crossed the threshold, every pair of eyes swung in my direction.

I hadn’t even made it to first period, and I already felt like a freak show on display.

Girl with the missing friend. Girl with the secrets.

Girl with the Raven Crew. If only they knew the truth.

I couldn’t even imagine the rumors swirling around me and the crew.

It wasn’t enough that they’d singled me out, that I’d slept with Kreed, that I’d been living in their house.

Now they were surrounding me like guard dogs with bared teeth, ready to attack.

There were parts of high school I despised, and the speed at which news traveled was high on that list.

I didn’t care. At least, I told myself I didn’t care. I tried to look on the bright side, which was very hard to do considering how gloomy shit was, but the upside of being at school was that I didn’t have time to fall apart.

At lunch, I found Poppy at a table near the middle of the cafeteria.

She perked up when she saw me and immediately slid her tray to the side, clearing space like I might bolt if she didn’t.

I was under strict orders by my Raven guards not to leave the school grounds.

The fact that they were everywhere I turned hadn’t given me the opportunity to skip out like I wanted.

I plopped onto the chair with a scowl, glancing over my shoulder to see which Raven would be joining me for lunch.

“Hey,” Poppy said, drawing my gaze away from the crowded lunchroom. “I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Wasn’t really given a choice,” I muttered, picking at my nails. I hadn’t grabbed any food. Nothing sounded good. “Kreed basically threw me in the car.”

Her golden eyes flicked behind me where, no doubt, at least one of the guys was lurking. “They’re starting to scare me,” she said carefully. “They’ve never acted like this before. Not with anyone and certainly not a girl. What kind of magical pussy do you have?”

If my lips had the ability to smile, I would have, but I couldn’t muster the energy it took. It felt wrong to find humor or joy in anything. “You know I’m not sleeping with all of them.” I toyed with a napkin left on the table from the previous period, twisting it into a spiral.

She plucked half of her sandwich off her tray, put it on a napkin, and slid it to me. “Just the one who commands the school.”

I stared at the bread, knowing I should eat it, and how very Poppy-like to make sure I ate. She was a good friend. She and Kenny would love each other if they ever got the chance to meet. “I’m not sleeping with him either, actually.”

She picked up her half of turkey and cheese between two slices of wheat bread. “But you’re thawing. I can see it. Your will is wavering. He’s working his way back into your heart.”

Maybe he was, but my heart was awfully fragile currently, and he was making it difficult for me to hate him. “I don’t have it in me right now to figure him out.”