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“If you aren’t lying, why are you scared right now?” Eli asks.

“I’m not scared,” I tell him, sitting on the bench.

Eli watches me. Cyrus walks over to me, putting his chin on my shoulder.

“Then what did you hide in the spare bedroom?” he whispers.

“If you think I hid something, why not go get it then?”

“I know you did, but I would rather you own up to it and get it willingly,” Cyrus says, kissing my cheek and walking toward the coffee jug.

“So, what will it be, Addie? Do I have to go find what it is and punish you, or are you going to get it and hand it over?” Eli asks.

I swallow, suddenly feeling ill.

“I promise if you give whatever it is to me, I won’t get mad,” Eli says, and I roll my eyes.

They already know I have hidden something, so there is no point in arguing with them over it.

I hop off the stool and walk upstairs, retrieving it from under the mattress. I look and see a new message from Sam, saying good morning with some kissy emoji.

I relock the screen and walk downstairs. Eli is at the counter and has made coffee and jam toast. He holds his hand out expectantly. I drop the little black phone in it. He looks at it.

“Sam?”

“Yes. Sam gave it to mom to give to me.”

Eli growls, putting it in his pocket. I turn to go to the other side of the counter when he grabs my wrist, tugging me back. My heart skips a beat.

He said he wouldn’t be mad.

I gulp, fear consuming me when he presses me against the counter, his hands slipping in my hair as his thumbs rub the side of my face. He kisses me softly, pressing his body against mine, his tongue slipping into my mouth. He pulls back.

“You don’t need to fear me. I said you wouldn’t be in trouble, and you aren’t. Just don’t hide things from us, Addie. We will find out,” he whispers, kissing my forehead.

He steps back, letting me go, and I grab my coffee off the bench, sipping it, only to look over and find Cyrus smiling at us, amused. I raise an eyebrow at him, and he looks away before biting into his toast.

“Go sit with Cyrus,” Eli says, grabbing the two plates with toast.

I walk over to the table and sit next to Cyrus, who gently grabs my knee.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Eli Colten

I can feel Cyrus’s disapproval as he watches me watching her. The phone in my pocket feels like it is burning holes in it; I am livid that she even tries to keep in contact with him. I know she doesn’t feel the bond as strong as us, but it still feels like a betrayal to me. It’s lucky Cyrus heard her hiding something, or we may never have known. A phone is one of the easiest things to track our whereabouts. Even a burner phone—harder to trace but not impossible. And the hunters’ organization is well-equipped and advanced with technology.

I walk out of the kitchen, leaving her with Cyrus. I can feel his eyes on me as I walk out of the room going to the shed. I grab the hammer, about to smash the phone, when Cyrus walks in.

“You sure that is wise?” he asks.

“You should be with Addie,” I tell him before smashing the phone and grabbing a bucket.

I fill it with water from the sink in the corner of the shed before dropping the phone in it.

“You trying to control her will only push her away. You need to trust her. How do you expect her to trust us when you don’t trust her?”

“Well, if you marked her, it wouldn’t be a problem. And I wasn’t hiding a phone to contact an old lover,” I retort, annoyed.