Page 8 of Unmask (Crew of Elmwood Public #2)

Cold sank into my bones, heavier than the snow still clinging to my boots. My father’s sins were chained to me, inked into my skin like some invisible mark I couldn’t scrub away.

Brock sighed, rubbing a hand down the stubble peeking from his chin. “It’s a fight you never should have been brought into. I’m telling you what your father would want me to say. You don’t want to get mixed up in that world. He didn’t want that for you.”

A shiver crawled down my spine, but I refused to look away. “So what the hell am I supposed to do?”

He braced a hand on the counter, casual in a way that felt anything but, a glint gleaming behind his eyes. “I should tell you to leave, to get the hell out of Elmwood.”

“Is that what you would do?”

“I think you know the answer to that. If it were me, I’d go back to school.”

I blinked. “What? Isn’t that the opposite of what I should do?”

“Probably,” he agreed, but the calculation in his expression didn’t change.

“Lying low is an option. Or…you walk into Public with your head high, and you show them that they didn’t break you.

That you’re stronger than their lies. That you won’t fucking run and hide.

That they don’t own you. You take your life back. ”

The words hit deep inside me. “Rusty won’t like that. He thinks I should stay hidden, tucked away somewhere in the middle of nowhere.”

“And then what?” The question dangled for a moment between us. “The decision is yours, but it’s going to take more than a house in the woods to stop the Ravens from finding you. Take my word for it. If it were me, I wouldn’t stop.”

He was right. If I disappeared, if I let them win, then I was exactly what they wanted me to be, weak and afraid.

“I’m not saying be reckless,” Brock added. “You’re not alone. You have us now. And you know the truth; that’s power right there.”

Before I responded, the doorbell rang.

Grayson pushed out of his chair and made his way to the door, grabbing the takeout bag from the delivery guy without a word.

My cousin sat back down, his expression turning serious. “Take a few days. Think about it,” he said, sliding a container toward me. “But the Corvos only win if you let them. You have more fire in your veins. The Kaylor I know wouldn’t hide. She’d fight back.”

I swallowed hard. He was right. Life had beaten me down lately, but I was still the girl who didn’t take shit from anyone. Certainly not some moody bad boy from the other side of town.

“The cycle of retaliation ends with you, Kaylor,” Brock continued.

“Or we hit back. Revenge is my specialty. Either way, I’ll back you.

And I’ll do whatever it takes, starting with seeing if I can get our lawyers to discredit your father’s altered will.

There might be an original copy out there. And if there is, Fynn can find it.”

I should be a little afraid of what means of revenge he was willing to take, but I wasn’t. Brock and the Elite were damn good at what they did.

Brock and Grayson left hours ago, giving me space, but now that I had it, I didn’t know what to do with myself. They couldn’t stay but would have if I had asked. And he asked. Repeatedly, but the truth was, I needed a moment to myself; although at the same time, I feared being alone.

Being in Brock’s house was so different than being in an isolated cabin in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. There was a strange comfort here, a pulse of normalcy the cabin had lacked. Out there, it had felt like the world had ended. Here, it just kept spinning.

Before leaving, Brock had ordered groceries, fully stocking the kitchen and leaving me with one of his credit cards.

He assured me that Fynn would monitor the house and grounds through the security system and gave me a quick rundown of how it worked.

If I were ever in trouble, a button was all it took to alert the police.

Now I had to deal with Rusty. That was a call I wasn’t looking forward to.

Hopefully, he was still at the shop and hadn’t returned to the cabin and found me missing.

He would assume the worst, that the Ravens were involved.

I should have left a note. The last thing I wanted was to add to the strife between the crews.

Unlocking my phone, I wavered between my phone app and the text app, my finger hovering midair.

Fuck it. I sent Rusty a quick text, letting him know I appreciated everything he’d done, but I needed a few days to myself.

I told him not to worry, I was safe, and I’d be in touch soon, leaving it at that.

I had a feeling he wouldn’t be happy about my choice, which made a text easier.

I could only handle so much shit in a day, and my brain was currently clogged with all things Corvo. What I needed was a shower to clear my mind. I did my best decision-making in the shower, scrubbing all the gunk off me physically and metaphorically.

I took one of the guest rooms upstairs but stopped at Brock’s bedroom to grab some sweats.

I didn’t think he would mind if I borrowed some.

Eventually, I would have to figure out what to do about clothes…

and my life. Thanks to Donovan and his illegal alteration of my parents’ will, I didn’t have access to a single penny.

Even if I managed to prove his fraud, by then, he could have taken or spent every cent my parents worked for.

Nothing seemed clear to me. It was all still so confusing and impossible to believe. This couldn’t be real. It was easier to believe I’d wake up from this nightmare than it was to accept how messed up my life was.

I was so fucking mad at myself for being so trusting, for letting Kreed in, for thinking for a second that Donovan might have had my best interest in mind. I’d wanted so bad to be out of that house, but now that I was on the other side, it wasn’t better. I wasn’t happier.

Just the opposite.

I never felt more alone or lost.

Dragging myself toward the attached bathroom, I turned the water on as hot as I could stand it and stripped off my clothes.

Steam filled the room, thick and suffocating, but I welcomed it.

Stepping under the spray, I let the scalding water pound against my back, tilting my head down as droplets streamed over my face.

I scrubbed my skin harder than necessary as if I could erase the last few days, the confusion, the betrayal, and the way my body still reacted when I thought about him.

Kreed.

Fuck him.

He made his choice. He played with my life, helped manipulate me, and let me believe I could trust him. That I could want him.

And yet…

I slammed my palm against the tile, letting out a breath.

I didn’t want to miss him. Didn’t want my heart to squeeze every time I thought about the way he looked at me, touched me, and made me feel like I was his.

I should hate him. I did hate him. “I hate him,” I murmured, thinking saying it out loud would make it true, but at the same time, I hated myself more for still caring. For still feeling anything at all.

As I braced my hands against the shower wall, drops of water rolled down my skin as I squeezed my eyes shut.

Screw them.

Screw Kreed. Screw Donovan. Screw the Corvos.

Brock was right. I couldn’t hide. Or more like I didn’t want to. They had fucked with the wrong girl. I would finish my senior year at Public, graduate, and make the Raven Crew wish they had never set eyes on me.

I wasn’t normally a vindictive person, but circumstances had changed me, and the fire kindling in my blood crackled for revenge.

Even if it killed me to see him …to see them .