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There are clearly words still unsaid between Archer and Rhys. Their spat is obvious from the distance between them and the dirty looks they keep throwing each other. I guess there’s still some hard feelings after yesterday’s blow-up at my house. Archer and Ezra are sitting at one of the high-top tables, Lena and Ruby are perched on stools at the bar while Rhys is positioned behind the bar, pouring a beer. Miri lifts her hand in greeting, giving everyone a small wave as she beelines towards the bar, wrapping Lena in a hug.
“I heard what you did to help me. Thank you,” Miri murmurs to Lena quietly. I doubt anyone else can hear, but I’m so close to Miri I catch the whispered words.
“It’s nothing.”
“Not nothing. Are you okay?”
Lena squeezes Miri back tightly before she lets her go, pushing her glasses up and looking sheepish, but pleased.
“Just a little tired.” Her gaze darts to her brother and then Archer. “And irritated.”
Miri scrunches her face in a wince and pats Lena on the shoulder.
“Rhys, I’m really sorry about your booth yesterday.” Miri turns to Rhys next. If she hugs that fucker I might have to rip his arms off.
“Naw, no worries. One of my bartenders was down there for the plunge and she recruited a few friends to help.”
“That’s good.”
“How are you feeling?” Ruby has a cup of coffee in front of her, looking a little worse for the wear. Considering I holed up with Miri all night, I’m not sure what the rest of them did after they left my house. Now that I’m looking, Lena looks like shit, too.
“Actually, I feel great. Davis made me some soup and honestly it made everything feel better.” Five sets of eyes slant in my direction, and I scowl at them all in turn.
“I can cook, assholes.” No one says anything, but I can see their gazes drifting between me and Miri. “Listen, we need to talk about what happened yesterday and figure out what the hell we’re going to do.”
“Let’s all sit down.” Ezra moves from the high-top table to a long table with benches on either side. Even though there’s enough room for all of us to fit, there’s still some jockeying for places. Lena ends up looking uncomfortably squished between Archer and Rhys.
“Miri can’t be alone.” I start things off with a bang, and Miri turns to me with a frown. I meet her gaze. “Anthony’s targeting you. He has been since the day you first stepped foot on this island. He dropped this bomb about being your dad, but if he’s trying to connect with you, he’s going about it the wrong fucking way. And it doesn’t explain why the hell he would curse you.”
“Anthony was the one who cursed you?—”
“That psycho piece of shit—”
“Why the hell? What’s the point?—”
Everyone starts talking at once, anger thick in the air.
“He wants something. We just don’t know what,” I say once the voices lower enough for everyone to hear me.
“I have an idea about that,” Lena says. Her eyes twitch back and forth between Archer and Rhys. They’re crushing her between them. There’s a very definite cry for help screaming in her eyes, but I’m not getting in the middle of that. Looks like Archer might finally be ready to let her know that he’s into her.
Rhys will get over it eventually.
Probably. Although he looks really pissed right now.
“What?” I growl, frustrated by all the distractions, and Miri jabs an elbow into my side.
“Take it easy.” Miri murmurs just for me before turning back to Lena. “What are you thinking?”
Miri fidgets next to me, uncomfortable and nervous. I wrap my arm around her back, splaying my palm over her hip and part of her ass because now that I’ve had my hands on her, I can’t keep them away. Her breath hitches and I’m so distracted that I barely catch Ezra leaning back to look at me. His brows raise when he spots my hand and I flip him the bird with the hand still tucked against Miri. He smirks at me and returns upright.
Across the table Lena leans back or tries to but can’t because she’s locked tight between Archer and Rhys. She huffs loudly and shoves her brother’s shoulder. “Move over.”
Rhys frowns but shifts over far enough for Lena to pick up her bag from the floor. She pulls out a book and the journal we found in the tunnels and lays them on the table.
“I was reading about the Axis more last night and I think I’ve figured something out.” Her eyes bounce around the table, landing on each of us, except for Archer. She blinks and blushes as she skips over him.
“I think these events, Miri coming to town, the curse yesterday, it’s nudging us in the direction of forming an Axis.”
