I drew in a deep breath, searching for… a window.
“Well, can I at least think about it?”
Celeste paused to chew on her lip. She knew little about my past, but sometimes I caught her trying to connect all the dots with her eyes.
“I’ll need to have your confirmation by two so we can book your flight. But don’t say no.” She grabbed a stack of towels and turned away. “You owe this to yourself, Daphne. You really do.”
I cracked a half-smile, giving Alyssa one last look before sprinting out into the Seattle air.
Holy shit, my stomach hurt, splitting me open in every direction. In my brain, this wasn’t just an excellent opportunity; it was an investment in a future that, if I were being honest, I didn’t allow myself to explore. Tomorrow was pretend, and I knew better than to think long term. If you focused on surviving the day rather than your entire life, you had a higher chance of meeting that goal without being destroyed by it. It was a backward way of thinking, but I hadn’t died so far.
After a minute of just standing there, I meandered down the sidewalk, pulling my phone from my pocket to check the time.
Shit. 4:59 a.m.
I palmed my eyes, searching for a street name. Where was I, and why are babies never born in the middle of the day?
“Bowker St.,” I murmured to myself, catching Thay’s last message at 1:48.
Thay: Just text me when you get home, alright.
Wolfe must have told him where I was, because the thread stopped. Thay was a lot of things, but a man who interfered during childbirth wasn’t one of them. He knew how hard I’d worked to get here and was impeccable at keeping our life in its lane. I mean, he would have to be, given what he does for a living.
I sighed, rummaging around my tired brain for what to do next, but my stomach answered for me. Shit. I was hungry. And not just,oh look, a gluten-free grapesort of starving, but the type that comes from having eaten nothing but a stack of cookies over the last four days.
“Fine, fuck it,” I mumbled under my breath, twisting down a narrow pathway behind the Crocodile Cafe before swinging right to face the abandoned industrial building dying at the end of the street.
It was cracked. Busted. And most certainly belonged to Norman Bates.
I bit my lip, feeling the pull of Blade’s toaster-waffle stash call me from a distance. The clubhouse was only down the hill, and if I took Celeste up on her offer, I was going to need luggage.
I swallowed nervously, picking at my fingers.
What would I even say?
Filling my lungs with air, I pushed forward, scouring the landscape for any hint of danger. Most people knew to keep away from the house, but that did not mean a member of a rival faction wasn’t lying in the shadows, waiting to use me against them.
I smiled, taking the six busted stairs up to the metal door with no handle at the top. Brushing aside the hidden piece of siding, I punched the twenty-one-digit code into the keypad.
Nothing.
“Shit,” I bit my tongue, staring at the numbers before trying again. Maybe I was more tired than I thought. I hit them once more, but still nothing.
“What in the ever-loving…” The words fell away when a pair of rugged hands hauled me through the doorframe and slammed the door shut.
“Twice in twenty-four hours?” Nathem yawned, scratching at his stomach. He was shirtless except for the gray sweatpants slung low on his hips, just enough for the V-cut of his muscles to peek through. “What is it? My birthday?”
I stared at him, half-questioning if it was mine.
“What is with the lock?” I glanced behind him.
“Security measures. Things got a little… complicated. Anyway, Threx isn’t here.” He yawned again, resting his massive body against the wall. I eyed him, wondering where the hell he had slept last night if it wasn’t with me. “He and Jessie had an errand to run.”
A breath of air struck my lungs. It was one thing to get laid, but quite another to sleep next to them afterward.
“Oh, that is okay,” I smiled. “I’m actually here to see Wolfe.”
Nathem smirked.
