AllFreeNovel
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“I didn’t.” I can’t be bothered with an argument, so I start scrolling through my phone with my thumb. “She wasn’t right in the head last night. Thinks she saw some blood on her hands or something. I fucked her back to sleep but I don’t know. Haven’t seen her do something weird like that since she was young.”
“Wait—what?” Stella leans forward and places her bowl on the table in front of her. I have her attention. Good. I think.
Priest watches me carefully from the other side of the room. The fact that he’s silent only means he’s processing everything.
“I don’t know!” I grind my teeth to stop myself from snapping at her. “There was this one time years ago where I once found her asleep in the middle of the field behind the church. She seemed fine but I still watched her for a little while after since this asshole didn’t.” I jerk my thumb at Priest.
“Careful…” Priest warns.
Stella’s shoulders fall as she releases a breath. “Okay. We need to go.”
“Hold up!” Priest lifts his hand. “What the fuck are both of you talking about? And where the fuck is my sister?” I take it the processing is done.
Stella tucks her long hair behind her ear. She’s nervous, which in turn doesn’t help my unease. Stella is hardly ever anything but confident.
She picks up her bowl and stands. “Call Vaden and River. We need to leave. Now.” Her shoulders brush mine in passing, but my hand flies out to stop her. “Stells.” I search the different colors of her eyes. The weakness of her smile tightens. “We don’t ask for much within our family. We trust each other enough to respect when the other is ready to talk, but you need to tell me this right now. Is she in danger? Because if she is, they can fucking wait.”
“I don’t know where she is. I believe it’s happened enough times for her to not be in any real danger, but—"
My grip releases from around her arm before I swing my eyes to Priest. “We’re leaving, now.”
Priest blinks back at me, the shadows around him darkening.
“If—” I step closer so no one else can hear but him and I. “—you can reach inside that dead little soul for your sister andhelp me figure out what the fuck is going on, you need to do so right now, before I shove my hand into that cold heart of yours and tear it out. The EKC is priority, I know, but Priest,she isthe EKC.”
His shoulders straighten. It’s pointless. He’s the product of every Hayes ancestor that ever walked the earth. Humphrey included.
Disappointment has my head shaking from side to side.
His words stop me from leaving. “If you’re implying that I don’t care about my sister, War, you’re wrong. I shared a whole womb with the brat, you don’t think that means anything to me?”
I want to say no. He continues. “If there’s one person walking this earth that can force me to bend, it’s her. Don’t get it twisted. Put your fucking dick away. You have my support.”
“Good.”
I climb the steps that lead up to the main foyer, stopping when I’m at the base of the split staircase.
Bishop stares down at me from above. “Find her. Now.”
The front door opens onto Vaden and River. I ignore them both, moving out to the patio. Anxiousness gnaws at my chest. Everything with Halen has always been too much. It’s why I ignored it for so long, why I need to continue to ignore whatever it is that we’ve started.
I carry on through the garden that leads to the Lighthouse. It’s not until the elevator closes behind me when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and answer without looking. “What?”
“War…”
The world around me stops and my phone almost slips from my grip. “Where are you?”
I could kill the little shit for removing that damn GPS.
“I—” Her breath catches. I try to pay attention to the outside noises. Wind. So much wind. Water? Waves against sand? “I shouldn’t have stopped. They’re back.”
“What?!” I’m already shoving my feet into a pair of socks and grabbing at the stray pair of Jordans near the kitchen.
“They won’t go away.” The choke of her words has my brain short-circuiting as the elevator opens behind me.
“Listen to my words, baby. Are you listening?” Rage burns through my veins. I need to calm the fuck down if I’m going to have any chance of finding her. I can fucking kill whoevertheyare later. All of them. “What do you see in front of you?”
Priest moves to the other side of the room, opening the floor-to-ceiling cupboard that’s behind the conference table. Weapon after weapon lines every inch of space as Vaden and the girls follow closely behind him.
