“I need to call Anna. What did you guys tell her to explain why I was gone?” I ask as we gather around the kitchen table for dinner.
As promised, Nic’s parents helped Jay’s get some food to us, including some prepared meals. We just pulled the lasagna out of the oven after heating it up.
Jay dishes it out, serving us until we all have over flowing plates. I dig in immediately, without realizing no one answered my question.
I look up at all of them, and they’re avoiding eye contact with me.
“Guys? Is something wrong with Anna? Is she okay?” My voice is shrill until it breaks at the end.
If something happened to Anna while I was gone, I may never forgive myself.
“Anna is okay,” Jax reassures me with his hand on top of mine.
“So what’s wrong?” I ask. I know something happened.
“Anna, actually… knows about supernaturals now. About what we all are,” Nic explains.
“What?!” I shout. They told her? I was always planning on filling my best friend in once I had a lay of the land myself but I never expected the guys to be okay with it.
“She overheard us when she came demanding to know where you were,” Jay explains.
“So we filled her in, and she helped us find you,” Kiran adds.
“She helped?” I ask.
“Of course. She wanted to come on the actual rescue, but we wouldn’t let her. That part was too dangerous. She’s how we found your location at all,” Jax says. He goes on to explain about Anna’s idea and tracing my mom’s call to find her.
My bestie is an absolute genius.
“But yes, you should call her. She’s been extremely worried and deserves to know you’re okay.” Nic stands up and heads over to the duffel bags sitting in the living room.
He riffles through his, which is still perfectly neat and orderly compared to Jay’s which is the exact opposite. He pulled almost everything out of it the first time he needed something.
Nic comes back with a small flip phone in his hand. He holds down the power button until the phone chimes, indicating it’s on. He passes it to me and I stare down at it, confused.
“It’s a burner phone. I have quite a few, so we will destroy that one after using it. I have a phone number you can give Anna but warn her the phone will be off and only checked occasionally. We will call her back when we can,” he explains.
Wow, prepared Boy Scout/ sexy criminal Nic is incredibly hot. Maybe it’s time for another round.
I push my hormones aside and dial Anna’s number. It rings, almost to the end before she answers.
“Hello?”
“Anna, it’s Aly.”
She shrieks down the phone. “Aly! Are you okay? Where are you?!”
“It’s okay Anna, I’m with the guys. Thanks to your genius plan, I’m safe.”
I can hear her sniffle through some tears but I don’t comment.
“Thank god! I’ve missed you. When can I see you? Can I come over now?”
Now I’m fighting back tears. “Actually Anna, I’m not home. It wasn’t safe to stay but once we figure out what to do, I’ll be back,” I promise.
There is silence on the other end before she sighs down the line. “That makes sense. But know I miss you more than anything and as soon as it’s safe, you’re spending a full week with me and away from your guys. Who by the way I now know are your mates! Which is crazy!”
I don’t protest even though my stomach sinks at the idea of a week away from them. Hopefully once we recover from everything, that won’t seem so scary. But she deserves what ever she wants after everything I’ve put her through.
