Page 110

Everyone is silent as we reach the front of the house. Brawley moves ahead and opens the door, then Clay walks through with me and takes me straight to the couch.

“Stay here,” he says.

“Where else would I go?”

“Knowing you, anywhere but here. Brawley, get her some water and call Banks.”

“Why the fuck would I call Banks?” Brawley asks.

“Banks is a doctor?” I question.

Brawley laughs. “Banks is a man who makes weird shit in the lab. That is not the same as a doctor.”

“He has medical training,” Ares says.

“He’s what we’ve got right now,” Clay adds. “It’s that or the hospital.”

“Banks it is,” I tell them. I’m not going to the hospital.

Brawley walks off in a huff, and when he comes back, he hands me a glass of water. It’s cold going down and hurts a little, but feels amazing at the same time.

Ares sits in the chair across from me, his elbows on his knees as he glares at the floor. I know he must be thinking about all the interactions he had with Luca—well, Aaron—and is trying to make sense of it all.

“Ares,” I say, and he looks up at me. “Stop it.”

He holds my gaze for a moment, then nods once, and he’s back to his stoic self. Clay is on the phone again, pacing toward the kitchen as Brawley sits next to me and puts his hands over mine.

“Are you okay?” he asks me.

“Check with me again tomorrow.”

“I will,” he says, squeezing my hands. “Banks will be here soon.”

“I need a shower.” I look down at my ruined clothes.

“After Banks gets here.”

I open my mouth and he gives me his signature scowl, so I close it again. Back-and-forth banter doesn’t work with Brawley, and I’m too tired to win a fight right now.

“Can someone please check on Vero?” I ask them.

“I will after Banks checks you over. He would hate me if I left you right now,” Brawley tells me.

“Clay and Ares are here. I will be fine. Just please find him and bring him back to me.”

“He will come back when he’s ready,” Brawley reassures me with a pat on my hand.

Now he is pissing me off. Why won’t he just go find him? Panic builds. What if something happened to him and they aren’t telling me? “If something happens to him, I won’t forgive you. I need to know he is okay.”

Brawley stands and looks at Ares, who gives a small nod, then pulls out his phone and looks at me. “I will check the app.” He unlocks his phone and stares down at it, but after a second, he frowns. “Brawley . . .” He looks up and gazes over at Clay, who is standing at the side of the room, and then back at me. “He’s in the cornfield.”

“Fuck,” Clay bites out. “He thinks Cave did this.”

“Just bring him back,” I snap before anyone moves. I don’t even argue that I should go because I know none of them will let me.

They stare at me in disbelief.

“Clay and I will go. Ares will stay with you. It’s probably best anyway while Banks checks you over,” Brawley concedes.