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“Cooper knew who Salem was all along. Yeah, we figured that out before Avery came back.” Oz nods.
“But… I thought he betrayed you because his wife was dying, and I was the only shot she had. This would mean that…” Salem swallows and looks around.
“That he fucked us over long before Kay got sick,” Greg says softly.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Salem whispers.
“Don’t apologize for him. He doesn’t deserve it. We made excuses for him because of Kay, but there is no excuse for what he did to Avery. She told him what she could do because she trusted him, and his first instinct was to turn her over. Fuck that and fuck him,” Slade snaps.
I frown, thinking over his words, before something dawns on me rather belatedly. “He knew.”
“Who knew what?” Hawk asks as I feel my face pale. Ev reaches for me.
“What’s wrong, Avery?”
“He told them I was gifted, but how did he know who they were? How did he know who to report to?”
Zig looks at me and curses up a blue streak. “He didn’t find out about it by accident. Motherfucker was part of it. Fuck. Ev, I need you to do some digging. Dig as deep as you can go without getting caught. Find out everything you can about Cooper since the moment he took his first breath. I know you looked before, but I want you to specifically look for ties he had before Avery entered our lives.”
Hawk jumps up and starts pacing. I can see everyone getting even more pissed as they think things through. “Jesus fuck, this is on me and Creed. If we’d never brought you here, you would’ve been safe.” Hawk looks ravaged.
“Don’t. I might have been living a lie, but your lies were my truth. Every kiss, every I love you, I meant from the bottom of my soul. Your mistake was my reason for getting up in the morning. And even though it didn’t last, I wouldn’t change it for all the safety in the world.”
“You mean that?”
My head whips around at the sound of Creed’s voice. I find him standing in the doorway, eyes blazing, his focus completely on me.
I nod, not trusting myself to speak.
“Can we talk?” he asks softly, the room as quiet now as it was loud only a moment ago.
“Not to sound like a dick, Creed, and I get this is important, but you missed a bunch of shit that you should probably know about first,” Zig jumps in.
“It can wait. This is more important.”
Zig opens his mouth, about to argue, but Creed shakes his head at him. “Avery can fill me in on anything pressing. Avery?” Creed holds his hand out to me.
After glancing around the table, I stand up and bite my lip. I look down at E, who gives me a sad smile that I don’t have time to analyze before I make my way over to Creed and slip my hand into his. I let him lead me outside, neither of us talking as he takes me to what I’m guessing is his place.
He opens the door and lets me inside. I take a quick look around and see it’s the same layout as E’s place, but where his is all whites and creams, this place is more muted with grays and blues. He has a large sectional that’s navy blue and a large television opposite that E doesn’t. I frown, thinking about that. You’d think, as techy as E is, he’d have a TV that would rival anyone else’s.
“You’re frowning.”
“I’m wondering why Ev doesn’t have a television.”
Creed chuckles. “I’m guessing you haven’t seen his den?”
“Huh?”
“Ev doesn’t have a roommate like the rest of us, so his spare room has been converted into a gamer’s paradise.”
“Oh.” I need to snoop around when I get back.
I look over at Creed, who is now the one frowning. “What?”
“I just realized that you’re not sleeping in Ev’s spare room.”
My mouth shuts at that. This already tense situation just became a whole lot more tense.
