“Move, Mason,” Rook warned, not moving from his spot with Regan.
“Knock it off, we can sit here if we want,” I said.
An arm wrapped around my waist from the side, lifting me up and turning me until I was off Mason’s lap and standing next to Aiden.
“Or you can knock it the fuck off, Psycho. We have things to deal with and don’t have time for your games.”
I stood up straighter, not hiding my annoyance. “I believe you always have time for my games,Ace. I think you purposely carve out time in your day to play my games.”
He rolled his shoulders, obviously uncomfortable. I didn’t want to deal with this text or this meeting. It was too much to think about. I wanted to poke and prod at Aiden until he admitted it was him in the woods. A chill ran down my spine, thinking about it again. How Aiden took over, how he used all of that protective attitude to bend me to his needs.
I wanted more.
I looked up at him, but his face was stone, not even glancingmy way as Rook and Hero started to talk about the text, but I still moved the slightest bit closer to him.
“Did you find who the number belongs to?” Rook asked me.
“No. It’s a burner phone, I assume. No name connected, and it looks like it’s not even set up to take calls. Pretty simple to do. I would think anyone could.”
“So that leads us nowhere,” Hero huffed.
“At the very least, it leads us to think Evie is a direct target of whatever is happening. The guy we killed here made it obvious they would go after her. Now the text. Someone is after her specifically,” Aiden said.
Hero sat back on the rolling mechanic chair, rolling his eyes. “Someoneisafter all of us, based on the threats, but they know going after any of the girls will rile you all up the most so it doesn’t exactly mean they are the main targets.”
“What do you mean, coming afterus?” Harper asked, a small, worried edge to her tone.
“Oh, you weren’t included in the threat.” Hero’s head cocked in her direction. “And even if they did come take you, they would return you in seconds after they realize you are a curse. A jinx that no one would want.”
“Fuck you, Hero,” she snapped. I turned toward Aiden, hiding behind his arm as I suppressed a smile. In the almost eight years I had known Hero, he had never dated anyone and never wanted to—I was starting to wonder if his not-dating streak was about to be over.
“All right, enough of all that, but you’re probably right,” Rook said, adjusting Regan on his lap. “But we can’t stop anyone until we know who they are. Have you found anything on Anderson yet?”
“I found plenty on forty-five men in the Havenwood and Valeport areas with the first or last name Anderson. Which one do you want me to give you a file on exactly?” I asked, keeping a straight face.
“Smart ass,” Aiden mumbled.
Rook glanced at Aiden, then back at me. “So we have nothing.”
“Not yet,” I said, keeping my voice steady, even as the weight of their eyes settled on me. Digging into people’s lives online was supposed to be what I brought to the group—my one area of use in a world where everyone else seemed sharper, stronger, and more equipped. Most days I already felt like I was slowing them down. Now, with nothing to show, it felt worse than useless. It felt like I was a liability again, not an asset. “But I’ll keep trying to figure out the Anderson part somehow. There’s not much more I can do with the text.”
The room fell into an uneasy silence. It was like a ticking clock, the seconds stretching, every delay feeling like an advantage for whoever was lurking out there. I could see the tension rising in everyone—we weren’t ones to sit around waiting for the threats to come to our doorstep. We liked to face them head-on, surprise them before they surprise us.
“All right. Get what you can, Evie. I’m going to Asher and see if he knows of anyone asking around about us.” Rook pointed to Aiden. “He’s staying with Evie. I will be with Regan. Hero sticks with Harper wherever she needs, and you three will start hunting down the list of Andersons Evie found and see if they lead anywhere.”
Everyone broke apart, heading to leave or back to the bikes. Aiden grabbed my arm, nearly dragging me into my office.
“Wow, Aiden, I love this caveman side of you. Should I trip and fall to my knees?Again.”
He pushed me back until I fell into my chair and glared up at him.
“Enough, Evie,” he said under his breath, pulling me aside, his voice low enough that no one else could hear. “Does this have anything to do with what you’ve been digging around in lately? Do you think this could be connected?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I don’t see how it would have any connection to anyone now. Especially anyone who knew what I was doing. The only people who know are you and Asher. And honestly, he doesn’t know much, so unless you’re out running your mouth, no one else should know what I’m doing.”
His jaw ticked like he wanted to snap back at me, but he didn’t say a word. I grinned, loving that simple things seemed to be getting under his skin more now.
“Is that it?” I asked. “Are you out running your mouth to everyone? If only there was a way to shut you up.” I brought my hand up to my mouth, placing my two middle fingers over my lips. The identical fingers he had put into my mouth that night in the woods, making it impossible to talk back. “If only there was something...” I mumbled, letting my fingers pull at my bottom lip until my mouth fell open as I looked at him.
