Did that just happen?
TWENTY-FOUR
Alana
It’s after three in the morning, and I sit in my underground safety office, with my friends staring at me, their eyes wide open. I dive back into a gallon of strawberry ice cream. It might be boring but it’s my favorite. I wait until my entire story filters through their brains, my head still spinning and my body sore. The books about crystals are near me in my pack, and I’m halfway through a fascinating one on how emeralds and moonstones can be combined to create a love spell.
It’s probably bunk, but I might return to reading if my friends stay silent forever.
Rosalie, unsurprisingly, is the first to speak.
“Holy fuck,” she says.
“Yep.” I lick off my spoon but am careful not to slurp, since mouth sounds bug Rosalie so much. She’s explained the condition before, but it didn’t make much sense to me. However, I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. It’s a good thing Merlin decided to take the night off, considering we’re discussing wild sex.
Ella shakes her head. “Wait a minute, this is insane. What are we going to do?”
At the moment, I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do. Even now, his flowers are up in my apartment, making the whole place smell like roses.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Rosalie says, frowning.
Wait a second. Is she talking about Thorn declaring I’m the center of his universe? “What do you mean it doesn’t make sense?” I’m not quite sure if I should be insulted or not.
“The logic of it, unless”—she casts a worried look at Ella—“he really is insane. I mean, we know he has issues.”
I pause in the midst of scooping up another bite because she’s absolutely right. If Thorn is so obsessed with me and still wants me in his life, then why did he trade me for a bunch of rocks? I cock my head and look at Ella. “I assume you’ve been doing a deep dive on the guy.”
“Oh yeah.” She pushes her glasses back up her nose. “The second you survived your kidnapping and returned home, I sent every search program I’ve written into every aspect of his life.” She dives into her gallon of cookie dough ice cream. “I’m telling you, he has some amazing programmers.”
“I think it’s him,” I say softly. “The man needs to control his entire environment.”
“Well, he’s beyond good,” she says. “It is incredibly difficult to find anything on him other than what Malice Media wants out there.”
That just figures. “Did you discover that he has a brother?”
She slaps her hand on her jeans-clad thigh, her mouth turning down. “No. That’s not even part of the record.”
I smash the heel of my palm into my left eye to try to ward off the headache I feel barreling my way.
Ella claps both hands against her face. “How did you get out of the bar last night?”
I haven’t reached that part of the story because I figure they need a moment to digest what happened in the bathroom.
“With my head up high,” I say, and then wince. “His jacket covered me, so I walked out, and oh man, I thought Nico was going to lose his mind.” They immediately ordered three teams to go after Thorn, but he was gone. I don’t want to be impressed by that, but I am. “What could be so valuable about a box of garnets that he would trade me for them?” I hold up a hand. “Assuming that he’s telling the truth and he wants some kind of future.”
“Do you want a future?” Rosalie asks, her entire face wrinkling with incredulousness.
“No,” I say, too quickly. “Believe me, we are not on the same page.”
“Yet, you haven’t posted about him again,” Ella points out.
Yeah, his last threat is ringing in my head. “Mainly because I was busy getting out of a bar, partially dressed, reaching home safely, and then hiding out in my room until three o’clock.”
It took every ounce of my considerable charm to talk my cousin into keeping all guards on the exterior of my apartment building. There is no way an ant could get inside this brick structure without being shot, and the last thing I want is a bunch of guards in my hallway, or worse yet, in my home. At least the building is small so our forces can easily cover it.
Ella reaches for her laptop. “I did find a couple of hints that there was a problem with the Beathach family years ago.”
“That could be when Justice’s mother was killed and the boys were kidnapped,” I say. “What did you find?”
She winces. “An obscure reference in a police report. The officer is named Tom Jack, and he’s long dead. There’s nothing else in any database anywhere, trust me.”
“Didn’t police officers used to keep their own handwritten notes?” I ask.
“Yeah.” Ella flicks her finger across the screen. “This officer didn’t have any heirs, but I can keep looking. It’s doubtful I’ll find anything.”
I pause, my spoon in the carton, and wonder if I really want to travel down this path. “Aren’t you supposed to know everything you can about your enemies?” I ask.
Rosalie snorts. “Are you sure he’s your enemy?”
“He’s definitely not my friend.” I absently rub the bite mark on the top of my breast. “I’d like to know more about him and why he traded me for those garnets. You have nothing on the stones?”
Ella partially lifts one shoulder. “There are rumblings, some talk on the internet, about Malice being in some sort of trouble, but I can’t get anything concrete. I’ve even been checking our fake TimeGem Moments account.”
We’ve had some fun with that account, posting kitten and puppy pictures as well as fashion advice by using an AI-created profile and picture, and to date we have 50,000 followers.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything concrete about Malice’s problems, but the rumors start with the Rendale sisters.” Ella keys in commands and the monitor on the far wall springs to life. “I can’t believe these assholes took my last name. Here is Stacia’s latest memory.”
Stacia comes into view. She’s a pretty woman with short black hair, bright blue eyes, and a rather long nose. TimeGem Moments uses advanced temporal technology to record, save and replay recollections. It’s all about time capsules, and so, when they engage, it’s already called a memory. Her newest memory comes up as she looks directly at the camera with some sort of tree in the background.
