I was up before dawn.I snuck out of bed—Violet had frowned but didn’t stir farther. I wasn’t sure what I was planning to do. I didn’t have my computer, or access to my usual contacts who would normally track down the sender. I was pretty sure if I reached out to Weave he would find the sender in no time. But it was too risky. For now.
Instead, I looked over the messages again. All of them.
There were nearly thirty different conversations with unknown numbers. It looked like she blocked the number every time they texted but they were persistent.
Why? Why did they want her? Why did they want her home forthe incident?Was it The Culling? Or someone else?
I was pretty confident it was someone else. Someone that knew the plan and piggybacked off of it. Because The Culling had no idea how all these people got superpowers, but this group knew. Theyplannedfor superpowers. They planned forVioletto have superpowers.
Why?
It was driving me mad. I had to force myself to pay attention to the movie. V was glued to the screen, shovelling popcorn intoher mouth. She was totally immersed in the story—even though I knew for a fact that she’d seen this movie at least three times. It was her heist comfort movie.
Eva called half way through. They chatted for a bit. She asked Violet to come by the bar when she got home on Christmas Eve. V said maybe, depending on what time she left, but they could hang out after work on Christmas. Eva tried to get her to commit to going out on New Year’s Eve, but she avoided that. After they hung up, Violet turned to me with a small smile.
“I think I’m going to be sick New Year’s Eve. What do you think about that?”
I’d grinned back. “I think I would love to take care of you all night. If you wish.”
We never ended up finishing the movie.
It was a nice distraction. But now my mind wouldn’t stop spinning, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Not unless I was willing to let the world know I wasn’t dead.
The only consolation was that she was safe out here. I had my shadows scanning the area for anyone coming in this direction. They came back hourly with a report. Always the same; nothing was out there. It wasn’t helping my stress level. Why would they send her that message if they were just going to leave her alone? What plans did they have for her?
I called all my shadows back.
“Go back to Rivermount. Keep eyes on Eva, and anyone she comes into contact with. Scour the city for anyone who even mentions Violet’s name. I want at least one of you on Eva at all times. And from now on, if you catch anyone following me or her, you report it. Please.”
You got it, boss,they hissed before vanishing.
“They can talk?”
I turned to find Violet wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
“What are you doing up?”
“You left the door open. I was cold and reached for you, but you’re out here, ordering your shadows around.” She yawned, wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Come back to bed.”
“Shit, sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just needed some air.”
She smiled, eyes half closed and waved me inside. As soon as the door was closed she wrapped her arms around my torso and took a deep breath.
“There. Much better.”
“And you call me needy.” I chuckled, resting my chin on the top of her head.
She hummed. I could feel her smiling.
“Yeah, well, I’m not the big, bad, supervillain killer. I’m just a girl who likes being wrapped in her boyfriend’s arms. Keelhaul me.”
I pulled back laughing. “Keelhaul?”
“Hem said it one time. Some friend of his from university was always saying it. I think it sounds better than sue me. More violent, too.”
I grinned. I didn’t love that it came from the poison weasel but she was too fucking adorable.
“I love you.”
