Page 27

JARED

R achelle is fast on her feet, despite her short legs, but that just means our hunt won’t be cut short unless she trips.

“If you have nothing to hide, wouldn’t it be easier to talk to us?” I taunt her.

“The last time I had anything to do with you, you tried to kill me!” she yells, turning down a street as she runs without glancing back at us.

“Eh, maybe the second time we’ll succeed,” I say callously. I don’t mean it, as we had a hard enough time going through it the first time. My mouth is running without thinking, and I can hear her gasp in fear.

Rachelle doesn’t say another word, and I glance at Theo who slinks down an alley to attempt to corner her. There is always the chance she’ll run into someone willing to help her.

I have questions I want answered, my mind twisted around as to how she’s alive. For that, she needs to be caught. Despite how hard my cock is as I chase her, or how loudly the blood is pumping in my ears.

“I fucking knew I wasn’t crazy,” Elijah snarls. “All the fucked up sleep I’ve been having, the so called hallucinations. She’s going to fucking pay for all of it.”

I don’t think any of us mean what we say, but we have a pack mentality when we hunt. We are united, feral, and laser focused on our task to bring Rachelle to heel. Someone saved her from the Kings Society, and no one needs to tell them.

Fuck only knows what they’ll do with that information. We just need some time to tie her up and explain things to her. Make her understand the stakes.

There was potential between us, despite how much we pushed her away. Liliana and Ignacio hoarded her time, forcing her to fall in love with them. I know that sounds insane when there was a death bet over her head, but I’m fucking jealous.

I don’t like to be left out, and Ignacio iced us out.

“Help!” Rachelle screams as she runs.

Something hard hits the back of my head before dark hair passes by me, her legs moving faster than mine.

“Ow, fuck,” I gasp, almost losing my balance and falling.

“Liliana, this is none of your business,” Elijah calls out as he pulls out in front of me.

“The fuck it isn’t,” she growls. Not once does Lili get Rachelle’s attention though, knowing that will cause her to get caught. Instead, she trails behind her, trying to figure out the best course of action.

Meanwhile, Rachelle keeps running, refusing to acknowledge us or turn around.

Theo jumps out, and she screams as his arms attempt to go around her. Despite not wearing shoes, she kicks and claws at him. It’s like reliving the last time we came for her, the blood running down his neck as he drops her in shock.

Rachelle pivots and races across the street, narrowly avoiding being hit by a car.

“Fuck,” Lili curses, chasing her.

“She’s still just as feral as she used to be,” Theo grunts, but not in complaint. We’ve all fallen for Rachelle for different reasons, despite our refusal to save her from the bet.

We chose ourselves over her. Elijah especially, even though he was the last to begin to dig her out. Too many conflicting emotions gave him paralysis.

“Where’s the fire?” a deep voice asks, catching Rachelle in his arms as she crashes into him. Her head jerks up as she drinks in Nacio’s face.

“Please tell me you’re real,” she whispers as his jaw drops. Rachelle sags in his arms as she passes out, and Ignacio hoists her into a bridal carry.

“Only if someone tells me you are,” he mutters. Glancing up, his eyes harden into a glower. “What the fuck is going on? She’s…terrified. And alive.”

Ignacio swallows hard as his gaze finds Liliana.

“Did you know?” he whispers, his voice hoarse.

“No. I saw her running from these assholes, and was just as shocked,” she explains. Her hands are shaking as she crosses her arms. “I don’t know anything else. Guys, take those ridiculous masks off before someone calls the cops.”

Pulling off our masks, our hair is all fucked up and wild. The cool air feels good on our skin, and I can’t stop staring at the girl in Ignacio’s arms.

“She works for us,” I grunt. “I don’t think she realized it when she applied and got the job. She works at the mystic shop, and when she was walking home, Elijah saw her.”

“I really thought I was seeing shit,” Elijah sighs. “I stalked toward her and didn’t mean to scare her. I’m so tired of dreaming about her, seeing her everywhere I turn.”

“That’s called guilt,” Nacio says. “You’re going to continue to have nightmares for the rest of your life if you don’t settle this with her.”

“How do you settle a score with a supposed to be dead girl,” he hisses. “She hit me with a stun gun, and I knocked myself out on the damn pavement.”

“Your father texted me to go collect him, which was really fucking weird,” I admit. “We don’t have access to any video cameras on that corner of the street.”

“That’s because none exist,” Theo says, sighing. “I can’t get the city to agree to let me post some on the building. They’re very adamant that I don’t need any.”

“Anyway,” I mutter. “We went out to scrape Elijah off the sidewalk, decided to check some of the new employment paperwork because we knew the new girl started. He could have easily scared the shit out of her.”

“Her name is very close to her real one,” Theo adds. “We decided that if she called out today, we’d hunt her down to ask her questions.”

“Normal people don’t do this,” Liliana says. “Poor girl is shivering. We’re taking her home.”

“No,” Elijah barks out. “We have questions too.”

“Do you think you’re owed anything from Rachelle?” Ignacio asks, his eyes pulled back to her in awe. “She survived you. Not many people can say that.”

“I’m glad she did,” Elijah breathes. “We were so fucking wrong.”

“You can’t possibly believe she’ll give you the time of day,” Lili growls at him.

“No fighting,” Nacio barks out with gritted teeth. “It seems my father has been holding secrets. I want to know why. We’re going to the car, Lili.”

“Please don’t take her away,” Elijah breathes as we move out of the way for Nacio to walk.

“So you can terrorize her?” Nacio scoffs.

Shoving our masks away in our pockets, we follow him. Liliana pushes us away hard to give Nacio some space, scowling at us before following him.

“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.

My phone immediately begins to ring, and I answer to the sound of a wrecked man.

“ You found her?” Mr. Emil rasps. “ She texted me 911 and then didn’t bring her phone with her.”

Sometimes, when I really miss her, I pull up the tracking on the bracelet I gave Rachelle. It lays dormant in Mr. Emil’s home, never moving, and she’s not wearing any jewelry either.

If she disappears, we’re all flying blind in regards to how to find her. I wonder if he'll give it back to me if I ask.

“The Kings found her,” I say in a dead tone. “Did you know that she was fucking working for them?”

“ Don’t take that tone with me,” he growls. “ Her therapist suggested that she get a job to combat… ah, to get her out of the house. I didn’t have a chance to ask her where it was.”