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“Jars, plural?” E.A. asks, sounding shocked.
“We need to get to the agency and see what we have,” I tell them. “You guys can chew me out later, lock me up for the next nine months, or whatever. We need to pull a plan together before Harlan’s lackeys figure out something’s up.”
E.A. nods. “We need to get home and see if there’s any way we can identify his clients.”
“What’s the nearest pizza joint to your place?” Seth asks. “I’ll grab a few pies while you guys start working.”
Spencer blinks. “I guess none of us have eaten. There’s a place around the corner and down the street from the agency. There’s nowhere that we’ll pass on the way back.”
“Right cool. I’ll head there when you guys go inside. You need me to learn a special knock or whatever before I come back?”
“Just call through that it’s you,” Spencer tells him. “We’ll let you in. Let’s get moving.”
Chapter One Hundred Two
Leanne
The office seems a little dark, but maybe that’s because it was bright outside. I step into the entrance hall and the second Spencer closes the door behind us, I realize the lights aren’t on.
The blinds aren’t open, but I don’t think they ever are.
E.A. goes for the switch near the door, and the hall brightens up.
Spencer lets out a long sigh. “You can’t ever sneak out on us like that again, Leanne.”
“I know.” I can see he’s disappointed about that, as well as worried. “I won’t. I can’t explain it. It was just something I knew I had to do. It felt like fate. I couldn’t ignore that.”
He takes in a deep breath and puts his hands on his hips. “Well, the next time something feels like that, you have to tell us. We’ll figure it out together. That’s what packs do. It’s how they work.”
I nod slowly. “I promise I’ll tell you if I feel like that again.”
He looks over at E.A., and back at me. “You’re not sneaking out like that again, either.”
“I won’t. It’s not … You can put a bell over the door or something, and I promise it’ll never wake you up. Hell, I’ll wear one around my neck if you really want.”
He laughs. “No. I know you mean it.”
“It’s not her fault,” E.A. says. “She did this for me. We can’t blame her. I’m the one who came up with that dumb plan. I never should have asked her to do it. She never should have known about it.”
“E.A., you shared something that let me see the real you. I don’t regret that, and I didn’t do it for you.” I’m not sure I mean those words until they’re out of my mouth, then I know. I really didn’t do it for him, at least not only for him. “I did this for all of us. It’s like the sacrifice you made to give the case away. I was fated to do this so we could bury the past and have a real shot at something great. You let this hurt you before, E.A. It was killing you. It was ruining things between you and your pack. You might think that giving it away was the answer, but that’s never the answer. This is your burden, and that makes it our burden. We’re a team, and we can do this together.”
My voice feels strained at the end, and I know it’s because I’m thinking about Secret.
I gave her away when my mom started to take charge, thinking it was right.
Thinking it was what was best for her, for me, for everybody.
It wasn’t. It only drove a wedge between us.
It only hollowed me out inside.
E.A. moves toward me and wraps his arms around me.
“I love you,” he murmurs.
“I love you, too,” I whisper back, not able to fight the tears.
I can’t undo my past, but I made sure E.A. wouldn’t be left with the same problem.
