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Whatever ridiculous claim he was about to make was interrupted by the front door of the house opening. Tanner jumped to his feet, his eyes wild, while Beau all but raced up the front steps, his eyes devouring Bianaca as he checked her over for injuries. I remained where I was, my jaw locked tight and my hands curled into fists.
Why the fuck did I want to be the one taking her into my arms? I hated her…didn’t I?
Fuck, it was getting harder and harder each day to pick apart my own feelings.
“Where the fuck were you?” I bit out, even as my eyes took her in from head to toe. Heath stood at her shoulder, that cocky grin plastered on his face, though I barely gave him a second’s notice. Was that…was that a tear in her sleeve? What the fuck had happened? Had Heath done something to her?
“I’m fine.” Bianaca waved a hand in the air dismissively, almost as if she could wipe away our concerns. “I got…lost in the darkness. But Heath found me.” She shot him a look I couldn’t quite understand, one that made my hackles raise in defense.
The two of them were keeping something from me. Fromus.
I didn’t fucking like that one bit. We were supposed to be a motherfucking team, goddammit.
“You’re okay?” Kelly whispered from the opposite side of the driveway, where she stood surrounded by her…harem. Or whatever the fuck they were.
I’d completely forgotten they were with us.
Fuck, did that make me an asshole?
I’d told myself that when I traveled through the tunnels, I would only protect Kace and Tanner, my two best friends. The rest of these fuckers could fend for themselves.
Somehow, someway, that protection extended to Bianaca and Beau, though I didn’t want to look too closely as to why that was. But Kelly and her merry gang of broody assholes? I’d watch out for them, the way I’d hope they’d do for me, but they weren’t my priority. If that made me a sack of shit, then so be it.
“I promise you. I’m fine.” Bianaca’s eyes glimmered with sincerity—the first honest statement she’d said since she stepped out of the house—and tension leaked from me like water out of a wrung out sponge.
“Are you sure?” Kace barreled his way up the stairs, shouldering past Beau to stand directly in front of her. His eyes snagged on the same tear I’d noted earlier, his brows drawing together in concern. “What happened there?”
“That’s just from the amusement park.” She once again waved her hand in the air. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Why the fuck did you do that?” Tanner snapped, jerking forward as well. He hovered over her, though she didn’t appear cowed by his intimidating height and bulk. His large frame cast her in shadows, though she simply lifted her chin imperiously and met his gaze with a defiant one of her own.
That’s my girl.
“Do what?” I interrupted. I felt as if I was missing something crucial, as if I wasn’t given all of the words needed to complete this story. They were on the final chapter, while I was still on chapter three.
Tanner gritted his teeth together and balled his hands into fists. “She sacrificed herself for me,” he bit out, sounding as if he wanted to both kiss and strangle her in equal measure. “At the amusement park. She tried to play the fucking hero.”
A strange myriad of emotions flickered through me at his words. First, I felt anger that she would try to risk her life, though that anger quickly transformed into relief. Tanner was my best friend, and I would be devastated if anything happened to him. But Bianaca was…
What was she to me?
Everything,a tinny, almost mechanical voice whispered in my head. I shushed it.
We were strangers, in a sense. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you her favorite color, but I knew exactly what that sick fuck Dylan had done to her. Did that type of shared trauma bring people even closer together or rip them apart? What would happen when we returned home? Even if we did remember everything that had occurred inside of this place, would we have anything in common? Would we even want to be together—
I shoved that thought down so fast, it made me lightheaded.
There was no “we.” There was her and me. The Four Horsemen and the girl we would destroy the world for.
But that didn’t mean we were anywhere near relationship level.
Though try telling that to the others, who all stared at her with lovestruck, dewy eyes. It was sickening, maddening, and I couldn’t help but feel an irrational pang of jealousy that she returned their affection with gusto while completely ignoring me.
What the fuck was she doing to me? To my men?
“You did what now?” Kace sounded terrified, and when he gripped her arm, she actually winced in pain.
“Kace,” I barked, knowing that he’d never intentionally hurt her but fearing what he’d do in his panicked state. His eyes flashed to my face in surprise before they lowered to where his hand curled around her frail arm. Horror splayed itself across his face as he released her immediately, stumbling backwards a few steps.
