Page 87 of Off the Rails

Nash snarled. “What should she call you instead? Messiah?”

“No, no,” Rubin laughed nervously. “Messenger will do.”

“Pretentious fuck,” I murmured, earning a panicked glare from Tess.

“Not pretention,” he smiled thinly. “Just a desire to free myself of ego. I am just a tool for His hands. Tools do not need names aside from their Master’s purpose.”

I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or barf. But our derision didn’t seem to bother him. He was too locked in on Tess.

“I’ve been waiting… To find you again.” The words lilted off his tongue like an offering, but Tess’ face was more confused than excited. Did he expect her to reach out to him, to say that she’d felt the same way?

I had no idea what he was getting at. But I’d never been more glad to have Tess under our watch, safe from his influence.

Tess was into the god stuff way back when. But clearly, a lot had changed since we were kids. Now, she seemed just as godless as us.

Cyrus’ lip curled at the simpering sycophant standing in front of us. Whatever else she felt about our little fugitive, it was clear that she hated Rubin even more.

Stepping chest to chest with Rubin, Cyrus glared down into his eyes. “Get lost, Rubin.”

And before he could lob a rebuttal, she turned, ushering Tess out of the crowd. Nash and I flanked either side of her, forming a wall between Rubin’s cronies and Tess.

Over my shoulder, I could see his face crumble — clearly, he wasn’t pleased to be robbed of the cozy little reunion he’d envisioned.

But what worried me more was the look on Tess’ face as we herded her toward the car. Her forehead was scrunched, and her gaze looked far away. My gut wrenched with the knowledge of what she was piecing together.

She knows who we are.

49

TESS

Holy shit. It’s them.

Backing away from Rubin, my arms crossed over my stomach — instinctively protecting my softest spots.

“Until we meet again, Tess!” Rubin called after me.

I ignored him, too wrapped in realizing that the three people following behind me weren’t strangers at all.

Walking back to the coffee shop, I shook my head.

I knew it. They felt too familiar.

And they weren’t pleasant memories.

Heavy footsteps pounding pavement behind me, Cyrus, Nash, and Blade hot on my tail. Even still, The Messenger’s eyes stayed peeled on me, his gaze so intense that I could feel him trying to burrow into my brain.

Steps away from the black Cadillac, Nash grabbed my arm. “Tess, stop. Please.”

Whipping around to meet her gray gaze, I shook my head. “You fucking lied to me. Blue eyes my ass.”

I knew I had recognized those eyes. Unique, I’d never seen a single other human with eyes like hers. And she tried damn hard these past few weeks to stop me from looking closer.

But what were the odds? How could they have possibly ended up haunting an abandoned amusement park.

“I—” Nash tried to find the words.

But my fury found a new target as Blade’s pierced face came into sight. “Why the fuck wouldn’t you tell me?”