I wanted to tell you myself, but I ran out of time.
Find the truth.
Find her.
She’ll help end this all.
-Bernice
I read it twice.
Three times.
Every word crawled under my skin.
Pearl covered her mouth.“Oh my god.”
Shay’s eyes were glossy, wide.“Who… who is ‘her’?”
Vin moved closer.“I thought you were?”
“Is it your mom?”Pull asked.
“No,” Shay whispered.“It can’t be.She died ten years ago.”
Skull grunted.“Someone connected to your mom, then?”
Push crossed his arms tighter.“Someone Bernice couldn’t get to before she died, obviously.”
Anchor rubbed his temples.“Jesus Christ.This keeps getting deeper.”
Shay’s voice broke.“How can there be more to this?Who else can there be?”
I wrapped my arms fully around her from behind and pulled her against my chest.She leaned back into me and sighed.“This is never-ending,” she whispered.
“We’ll figure it out,” I murmured into her hair.
“I know,” she sighed, “I just wish it was sooner rather than later.”
Twenty-Six
Shay
Prime pressed a kiss to my lips, slid out of the bed with a low groan, and walked toward the bathroom.The door clicked shut behind him, and I tried to catch my breath.
I was still on my back, heart not totally recovered, when Prime’s phone lit up on the nightstand and started vibrating.
At first, I ignored it.
Then it started ringing again.
“Shay!”Prime called from the bathroom.“Grab that!Who is it?”
I leaned over and looked at the screen.“Anchor!”I called back.
“Answer it!”
I guess it was a little odd to have Anchor calling after midnight.My stomach flipped.I fumbled the phone into my hand and pressed it to my ear.“Uh, hello?”
