Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
EVERLY
B raum scrambles to his feet and stumbles backward. “Rowan, wait! I was trying to get The Universe back!”
“So you hurt her?!” Rowan roars, his voice booming as his face turns an alarming shade of red. “You don’t get to touch pieces of The Collection, let alone break them!”
With a furious snarl, Rowan lunges for Braum—his fists raised. Braum doesn’t even try to defend himself. He accepts the right hook with a grimace and goes down hard. Rowan pulls his leg back then kicks Braum in the gut. I yelp in surprise.
“Rowan!” I shriek.
He ignores me.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he roars. “Everly is priceless, and this is how you treat her? Like a piece of shit?”
Priceless? Says the guy who locked me in a stupid cage two days in a row. I roll my eyes and call out to him, “Rowan?—”
Rowan kicks Braum in the stomach again.
“Would you rip apart a Picasso? Throw a match onto a book of ancient texts?” Rowan continues, kicking his friend one more time.
He crouches down and pulls back a fist, but this time Braum sits up and shoves him away.
The movement causes Rowan to fall back on his butt, which gives Braum time to scramble to his feet.
I jump between them, wincing at the twinge of pain between my legs. Turning my back to Braum, I hold up my hands to prevent his friend from charging again.
“Rowan, stop!”
“ Move, Everly!” Rowan barks as he gets to his feet.
I shake my head. “No! Listen to me, Rowan. I told Braum he could touch me.”
His incredulous scoff is loud and full of disbelief. Rowan’s eyes land on my face before dropping to the marks around my neck that undoubtedly look like fingerprints.
“I doubt you agreed to being fucking strangled,” he points out.
It’s hard to argue with that. So I don’t.
“Yeah, Rowan, I fucked up. And yeah, she looks bad, but I was just taking care of Everly when you barged in!” Braum snaps. “We don’t need you butting into our business?—”
He’s cut off by the sound of ringing. We all pause. Our heads turn as one to look at where the sound is coming from. There, by the door, is an old-school corded phone. It rings again.
Rowan growls in annoyance. “ Please tell me you’re waiting for something down at the front desk, Braum.”
“No.”
Rowan strolls over to the old thing and picks it up. “What is it?”
As Rowan listens to whoever’s on the phone, Braum strolls over and grabs his pants off the ground.
I track his tone, naked body absentmindedly—at least that’s what I tell myself.
It’s because I’m watching that I notice a yellow piece of paper falling out of one of his pockets as he drags his pants on.
Braum doesn’t notice, leaving it behind to swipe his shirt off the floor.
“Fuck, and who’s… ‘Kay, thanks for the warning.” Rowan hangs up the phone and swears loudly before announcing, “We’re about to have a room sweep.”
This means nothing to me, but the guys exchange an anxious glance before bursting into action. All animosity is put to the side as they race around the room. Braum hurries over to the couch and begins flipping the cushions.
As they move, I shuffle close, then bend down to sweep the piece of yellow paper off the ground. They’re so busy bustling around, no one notices.
“They’re going to see the blood, asshole,” Rowan growls at Braum before gathering the clothes that had been ripped off me from the floor.
Braum gives me an anxious glance. “Everly?—”
“Don’t fucking talk to her right now!” Rowan snaps as he stomps over to me.
He shoves the clothes into my arms as he gives me a hard look.
“We need to get you hidden ASAP. Braum and I have five minutes to get downstairs with the others before the sweep starts. Put these on while we make sure the suite is clear.”
I pull my clothes on right there in front of the guys as they scurry around the room, rearranging and hiding certain things. Quickly, I pocket the note and pray Braum doesn’t notice it’s missing.
“Everly, come here!”
I jump at the sound of Braum’s voice. Glancing over, I find him waiting in his bedroom’s doorway. I make it halfway across the room when I’m stopped by Rowan, who grabs my arm and yanks me into his side.
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” he hisses to Braum.
I look up at Rowan’s profile, confused by his possessiveness.
It was Rowan that branded the back of my neck—something I never agreed to.
Rowan’s the one that claimed my ass like it already belonged to him.
And it was Rowan who kept me locked up in a cage too small for me to stretch out in for two days.
Yet despite him being a flaming asshole—Rowan’s the one championing me right now. My heart clenches and something in me softens toward him. Rather than fight his hold, I stand there and watch him glare at his best friend.
Braum scowls. “I know a place where Everly can hide.”
“And that’s in your room?” Rowan sneers. His hand drops away only so that his arm snakes around my waist. “Yeah, no, she’s going back into the cage and we’ll cover it.”
“That’ll be one of the first places they’ll look for contraband!” Braum protests, his scowl deepening. “Now let her go. We’re wasting time.”
There’s a brief, heated stare-down before Rowan swears and drags me toward Braum’s room. We stop just inside and watch as Braum goes around the side of his large four-poster bed, bends down and pushes it. The bed moves a few feet then comes to a stop. With a huff, Braum straightens and looks at me.
“Come here, Everly,” he orders.
Rowan’s arm drops away, allowing me to cautiously walk around the bed.
I freeze when I see what Braum’s uncovered.
The blood in my face drains away. I take a step back but end up bumping into Rowan, who grunts as my elbow accidentally makes contact with his gut.
His hands come up to grab my arms to steady me as he peers over my shoulder.
“What the fuck is this?” he demands incredulously. “Since when do we have trap doors in our room?”
The dark square hole is about three feet wide and as inviting as jumping into a pit of knives.
There’s no light, and I can see cobwebs around the edges.
The cage, as much as I hated it, I could do.
There was still fresh air, I could look around at stuff, and I was sure Rowan and Braum weren’t going to leave me there forever.
But this? This is different.
“The orderlies don’t ever notice this space when they look under the bed,” Braum explains. “It’s the perfect hiding spot. Everly, get in. We don’t have a lot of time.”
I open my mouth but only a choked sound slips out. Swallowing, I try again.
“I’m not getting in there,” I manage to get out.
Braum reaches over and grabs my hand. With a gentle tug, he pulls me closer.
“Look, I don’t particularly like this idea either. You don’t belong in the dark,” he says solemnly. “But right now, with the staff on their way, we need to get creative with hiding you.”
Rowan huffs behind me. “Fuck, Braum’s right.”
“No, please…” I whisper, looking between the guys.
Rowan places his hands on my shoulder blades and pushes me toward the hole. “Do you want to stick around Serenity Falls or not?”
I do. I have to for Maverick’s sake. But… Tears well up as I stare at the darkness waiting to swallow me whole. I’ve done a lot for Maverick as it is. What’s one more thing? I can do this.
“But… it’s so dark.” I hate how pathetic I sound.
Braum turns and hurries over to his nightstand. He pulls open the small drawer, rummages through it, and then he’s back.
“Here, this will make it easier.”
With a trembling hand, I reach out and take his offering. It’s a mini flashlight. Instantly, the fear ebbs away.
“Don’t use it when they’re in the room, okay?” he says. “They might see light coming through the cracks of the floorboards. But when the suite is empty, you can keep it on.”
My bottom lip trembles as I nod. “Okay, t-thank you.”
“Hurry up!” Rowan urges.
This time, I force myself to move. I creep closer to the opening and make myself sit on the edge. Rather than consider how tight the crawl space is, I lower myself inside. There’s just enough room for me to lay on my back with my legs stretched out.
Rowan and Braum peer down at me, both wearing grim expressions.
“We’ll be back soon,” Rowan promises.
Braum nods. “Stay quiet.”
“O-kay,” I stammer softly. “Shut it.”