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Charon and Kyrous shared a look, then both stared at her.
“No fuckin way,” Maverick started to laugh.
“You’re the one who assaulted Kennedy,” Ciaran said. Not a question, a statement.
Selena rolled her eyes and sighed. “I threw a pool towel at her, that’s hardly assault.”
“You all know each other then?” Grace interjected, looking between them.
“We would’ve met Pebbles two days ago if she hadn’t attacked our sister.”
“You may have known about me, but I didn’t know anything about either of you until this very moment. All the more reason I don’t trust whatever the hell is going on with my ma and your dad,” she affirmed, eyeing Charon warily. “And I didn’t attack anyone. I threw a towel at her. She deserved more than that.”
“Ken is a bitch,” Kyrous agreed in his typical detached tone.
“What a charming family reunion,” Mel stated sarcastically.
“Whatever you want to call it, there’s a link now,” Grace said.
“For them, yes. Not for the rest of us,” Leonard replied.
Which was true.
“How did you end up on the same shuttle as one another?” I asked.
“We were going to the airport to catch our flight home,” Maverick answered.
“The better question is why a group of young men were at a bachelorette party… unless they’d been hired as entertainment,” Margo said.
“Our father had his bachelor party at the same resort. He’s flying elsewhere,” Kyrous explained.
They had a few coincidences between their scenarios, but not wholly abnormal or anything to freak out over, and whatever family stuff they had going on didn’t have any relevance to the rest of us.
“What about you three? Why were you at the resort?” Ciaran asked, resting his elbows on the table.
“A girls’ trip,” Mel answered dismissively.
I recapped my water and sighed. “Okay, so you three are semi-related, but—”
“I’m not related to them,” Selena interrupted. “When this is over, I never want to see any of ya’ll again.”
She looked at the three of us and offered an apologetic smile. “No offense.”
“None to be taken, I feel the same way,” Gracelyn replied.
“Aw, don’t be that way, sis,” Charon goaded.
She smartly ignored him. This was some family drama they’d have to iron out at a more apt time. We needed to focus on getting out of here.
“What do we do now? Any ideas?”
“We have a little over five hours before we have to go back out there and deal with whatever is coming next. I suggest you claim a room and try to get some sleep. We can take turns on watch duty,” Ciaran said.
That wasn’t a bad idea.
No one spoke up and disagreed. With nothing else needing urgent attention, I recapped my water and slid back from the table, excusing myself to use the bathroom.
It had undeniably been the longest twenty-four hours of my life.
If it had even been that long. There weren’t any clocks here. Time had dissolved into nothing.
The countdown was just that—a timer. It didn’t tell us the minute or hour, whether it was AM or PM.
That would be something I never took for granted again. But neither lack of time nor the comfort of the cloudlike mattress beneath me could help me sleep.
I must have woken at least six times by now. With every interruption, thoughts assaulted my mind before I opened my eyes. They churned, none lingering for very long at the forefront.
I had no idea what was going to happen when we stepped outside of the Sanctuary. I wondered how our families were handling our disappearance. Would they know something was wrong? Or would they automatically assume we’d finally gone nomad? Foolishly, at that. Either way, they’d raise a cavalry to find us if need be. There was no real escape for us.
Just because they tried, though, didn’t mean they’d be successful. How did you locate somewhere this clandestine? Who knew if I’d still be alive when they did?
There didn’t seem to be a specific sequence of the deaths that had occurred around us. Those men in masks… they reminded me of an old wives’ tale my abuela used to tell.
I wouldn’t make it easy for them to hurt me or the girls.
Screw that.
The average human being could do terrible things to another. I wasn’t an exception. I was raised to always go for the throat. I’d never lie down like a dog in the street and die. I’d let my beloved demons out of the cage I had them locked away in before that happened.
I didn’t want it to get that far, though. It’d destroy years of pacing and calculated self-control.
I wasn’t sure what it would do to my mental state either. Once, these demons had been my closest friends. Ever since I’d tried to expel them, they’d become my biggest tormentors.
Releasing a quiet breath, I brushed my hair away from my face and slowly sat up. Sleep was futile at this point. I wasn’t going to bother trying to force it.
