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Looking up at me with those crystal-green eyes. Blinking against the rain as Dare stepped into place just behind her, ready to take her from here. The slight dip of his head was at once an order and a promise.
He wanted me to find the threat now that we knew who was behind it. He wanted me to end it.
He would keep Willow safe.
But this was why I’d tried pushing her away. This was why I’d tried making myself believe she meant nothing.
Because there was a fucking symbol on her floor. There was a chair waiting for her. And the paint on my bike was enough to let me know their reason for targeting her was me.
“Which apartment’s hers?” Kieran asked, voice soft as he planted himself directly in front of me. Arms crossed over his chest in a stance that was anything but nonchalant, considering he was holding three knives that I could see.
“I’ll show you.”
“Kieran’s taking it,” Dare cut in and gave me a look that dared me to go against him.
But this was about me. This was about Tree. So, I kinda had an issue with him holding me back on it.
Still, when my lips parted to argue, he added, “Your head won’t be clear because it’s her. Kieran’s taking it.”
“We’ll check your apartment while Kieran checks Willow’s,” Maverick offered.
“I’ll get Willow to Holloway, then I’ll—”
“I have work,” Willow said over Dare, twisting to glance at him before pleadingly looking at me. “I can’t just not show up.”
“We’ll take care of it,” I assured her.
“There are kids who—”
“Tree, you’ve seen what they do,” I ground out, keeping my voice low. “Understand that they will follow you into the school.” I waited until her fear was blatant in every part of her before continuing.
Full lips falling open in horror. Eyes widening. Body trembling slightly. Skin paling.
When I did, my repeated words were soft and gentle. “We’ll take care of it.”
At Willow’s subtle nod, Dare placed a hand on her shoulder, preparing to lead her to his car. “Something doesn’t feel right about this,” he murmured. From the way he directed the hushed words at me, I had a feeling he’d already had this conversation with Maverick and Kieran on the way. “We’re short a letter—maybe two—but we don’t have bodies, and no one’s missing.”
“That we know of,” Maverick added, and Dare’s head listed in agreement just as his phone began ringing.
“If they did this?” Dare went on, gesturing to my motorcycle as he pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen. “They left a trap or a message. Search everything carefully.”
I didn’t bother responding.
I just met Willow’s gaze as Dare once again reached for her while answering the call.
“Lil, give me a—”
Muffled shouting and screams...
That was all the rest of us could hear as Dare went alarmingly still.
But from the way Kieran, Maverick, and I all shifted in unison, we were ready for whatever it could mean. Backs straightened. Heads slanted as if that might help us hear what Lily was yelling. Arms tensed at our sides, ready to grab anything to do what was needed.
And then Dare’s head whipped around, worried stare barely touching on us before he took off for his car, yelling, “Get in,” as he did.
And for a second—a split second—I froze.
Because there, frantically looking between us before settling on me, was Willow. And I knew from the muffled cries and Dare’s panicked look that wherever we were going was somewhere she shouldn’t be.
