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My heart stopped. How did she find out? How did she know I was here? My hand fluttered to the base of my throat and I leapt up. I didn’t want her coming in. It would be bad enough she knew I was at Kota’s. It would be worse if she knew there were seven guys here.
Silas caught my other hand, looking up at me from the floor. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.
I shrugged my shoulders and tried to keep my expression calm. I squeezed his hand back. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.” After the last time when my mother had reacted badly when Silas called, I didn’t want to scare him with what was going through my mind then as to what she would do to me. I was too terrified now to be nervous that he was holding my hand.
“Would your sister say you were here?” Kota asked, pushing his glasses up on his face again even after they were already adjusted. I had the feeling it was what he did when he was thinking.
“Maybe,” I said. “It might require negotiations.” They all looked confused and I waved my hand to them, taking the paper that had my schedule and putting it in my pocket. “I have to go calm the waters. I might not be back today.”
“Be careful,” Silas said. He squeezed my hand again before letting go. The others looked like they wanted to say something but no one did. North was sitting up on the couch, his hands clenched. Nathan stared at the floor. Gabriel, Luke and Victor between Kota and I, as if waiting for either of us to tell them what to do.
Kota walked with me to the door and the others stayed behind. I wanted to say something more to them but there wasn’t much else to say. This was far beyond what I was prepared to handle at the moment.
Outside, Marie was waiting on the steps. Her hands were in her jean pockets and she was looking impatient and sweating. I stepped out onto the porch. Kota had his hand gently rubbing at my back on the way out and pulled it away before Marie could catch it. The instant his hand moved, I felt at a loss. His touch was helping me to feel brave.
I stepped away from the door and gave Kota a small wave. He waved back, looking sympathetic. He said nothing but gave me a look that for once I understood. He wanted word from me the moment I could find a way.
“Mom wants you to go home,” Marie said after Kota closed the front door. “She’s been asking for you for a couple of hours now.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“I took a guess,” she said.
I was fuming inside, angry at myself for being so reckless. She must have seen me from the house. “Does mom know I was here?”
Marie shrugged. That didn’t mean she didn’t know. It was her way of saying she wasn’t going to tell me. This was bad. If Marie had gotten into trouble with something, she could have used her knowledge of where I was to try to get herself out of a punishment. It often worked.
We got back to the house and entered through the side garage door. As soon as we were standing in the living room, I heard my mom’s voice ringing through
the house.
“Sang! Come here now!” The anger and power radiated through her tone and it felt like the house was shaking around me. It was all I needed to hear. She knew everything.
Marie filed off past me and headed toward the stairs. She was getting out of the way. I was going to face this part alone.
