Page 55 of Unspoken Lies

“No, we got that out of our systems for now,” I joke with a smirk. “Now, I want to know how she’s alive.”

“I want her to continue to work at the store,” Elijah adds.

“I do too,” Theo says. “If she’s working with a therapist, he’s shit at his job because she’s a fucking mess. She was talking herself into jumping from her window to the thin siding on the building.”

“Then she fucking jumped as if she had wings,” Elijah grouses.

“It was fucking insane,” I agree.

“No, it was desperate,” Liliana says. “I don’t know her mind, but she was probably worried you’d finish the job.”

“Is that what was happening here?” Nacio asks, turning to continue to walk up the next street. I’m not above jumping into the trunk of Lili’s SUV. They’re not leaving us behind, though.

“No,” I deny. “We were finding answers and having ourselves a little hunt.”

“No one fucking normal does this,” Lili groans.

“Normal is boring as fuck,” Theo reminds her. “How dare you suggest we’d ever lower ourselves to that stature.”

This isn’t going to go well. Fuck my life.

LILIANA

The entire walk to the car, my hand was wrapped around Rachelle’s ankle. Despite seeing, touching, and chasing after her, I’m still stunned that she’s alive.

If Mr. Emil has been hiding her, then it’s for a damn good reason. The logical part of my brain understands this, even while kernels of anger begin to fester. My emotions are complex and volatile, brought on by the shit show of my life.

“I’ll hold her in the back seat,” Ignacio rasps, glancing at me as I unlock the doors.

“Yes,” I agree with a jerky nod. Remembering that we have trailing canines, I turn to face the Kings. “If you come with us, there will be rules.”

Jared’s eyes shoot over to Ignacio as I open the trunk of the SUV. If they’re going to act like dogs, they can ride like them.

“What are they?” he asks.

“You give her space,” I say.

“She’s had over two years of space,” Theo growls.

“She’s terrified,” Elijah says, shocking me. “It’s like the whole world scares her. We did that.”

“Yeah, you did,” Ignacio says, getting into the back seat with her.

“I’m going to refrain from throwing blame,” Theo says cooly. “We’ll give her space, but it doesn’t change the fact that she called out of work and didn’t come in. As her employers we demand reparations."

“Boy, I will drop your body in bleach and nail the barrel shut if you don’t get into the fucking trunk,” I grumble. “Now.”

“You’re scary, Lili,” Elijah compliments as he gets in. I think to him at least, that’s a compliment. “Um, and really pretty.”

“Suck up,” Theo says, getting in as well.

As big as they are, this SUV is a damn monster. My father decided I needed to be ready for bears, dead bodies, and the end of the world when he bought this thing.

Jared doesn’t seem fazed as he fits his body into the trunk as well and I close the back door. Blowing out a breath, I narrow my eyes at my cell phone.

Me:

Old man, I’m sure you have a lot of reasons for why you did this, but Rachelle is a mess.