Chapter 31
FUCKIN’ RIGHT I’LL BE THE BEST DAMN HERO TO EVER HERO
Rhys
Between having to get a new goddamn phone and the time it takes Lucky to convince Decker and Jack that they all have to leave their parents right now to fly across the country, then the time with us arguing over the best way to get across the country, it’s Sunday morning before we land at a private airstrip near Albany, New York, in a plane that Theo chartered for us.
I texted Margot last night, a simple I believe in you and I’m not giving up on you, after I got my new phone, but it’s still showing as unread.
And now I’m wondering if I have her real number or her burner number.
Lucky didn’t text her. Element of surprise, my dude, was all he said.
Even Decker smirked at that.
“You’re not still pissed?” I ask him as we load into a private car, also booked courtesy of Theo.
They went to him first once they agreed to ask their friends for help because they knew he’d say yes the fastest.
Laney likes Margot. Laney and Margot have a lot in common. And Theo still wants to punch his father-in-law some days, so he appreciates falling in love with a woman who has shitty parents.
Decker heaves a sigh. “You pulled a fucking technicality on me. I respect that.”
“He was also protecting us,” Jack says.
“He’s seen things,” Lucky agrees. “He knows better than we do how badly this could go.”
“It’s not gonna go badly,” I say with a confidence I don’t feel.
What if—what if the past two weeks really were a dream?
What if she’s not in New York?
What if I never see her again? Never get to talk to her again?
Never get to ask her to love me?
“No hyperventilating in the car,” Lucky says to me.
“Not hyperventilating,” I grit out.
“Do you think Daphne’s our kind of mischief, or is she some kind of mischief that we won’t understand?” Jack says.
Because that’s the best plan I have with Margot not answering her texts and her security guy not replying either.
Track Daphne down.
Ask for her help.
And see where we go from there.
Athena’s Rest isn’t far from Albany, but when no one answers at the apartment that I’ve been told is Daphne’s, and no one answers when we ring the gate at the house where her best friend’s boyfriend lives, we do the only thing we know to do.
And we try to track down the burger bus.
I overheard Daphne telling Margot about it while we were driving home from the cookout at Lucky’s place.
It’s our best lead.
And finally, close to eleven, we spot it in a parking lot near a lake where some kind of carnival seems to be going on.
Takes forever to find parking, and then another forever to walk through the crowds to the food trucks, and then another forever to wait in line.
“Better not run out of burgers,” Decker says. “I’m hungry.”
“Smell amazing,” Lucky agrees.
“Should one of us hop in line for tacos instead, just in case?” Jack says.
“Could you three focus?” I grunt.
“Not when we’re this hungry,” Jack replies.
“We’re unbearable when we’re hungry,” Lucky replies.
“Is that Daphne?” Decker says.
We all look where he’s pointing, then all of us shake our heads at the same time.
“Too old,” Jack says as Lucky replies, “Her latest socials have her with pink-and-white striped hair, not purple, and there aren’t any tattoos.”
“I can’t decide if I want to threaten to punch this Oliver guy or hug him,” Decker says.
“Hug,” Lucky says. “He’s a good dude.”
“We haven’t met him yet,” Jack says. “It might be all an act.”
“You saw the news articles about him and Daphne giving away all of that money on their road trip last month,” Lucky replies. “And the video of him taking down his own father for the good of Miles2Go?”
“Their Landslide Slushy is the best,” Decker says.
We all pause and look at him.
“What?” he says. “A guy can’t like a slushy?”
“You don’t strike me as the slushy type,” I say.
Lucky pokes me. “Dude. Move. It’s our turn.”
Shit.
He’s right.
I step up to the window, where a woman with curly brown hair tied back behind a rainbow bandanna is waiting at the window while a shirtless dude who looks like the videos I’ve seen of Oliver stands next to her and flexes his biceps. “Burger and a show,” he says to me.
I ignore him and focus on the woman. “Are you Bea?”
“Hi, yes. Can I get you a burger?”
“Where’s Daphne?”
Her eyes get round, and she shoots a look at Oliver.
“Déjà vu,” she murmurs.
He growls and leans into the window, glaring at me. “Who the fuck are you, and what do you want with my girlfriend?”
“Oh my god, that will never not be hot,” a voice says inside the bus.
Bea presses her lips together like she’s trying not to smile, but then her eyes go even rounder than they were before.
She’s spotted the triplets behind me.
“Well?” the guy I’m assuming is Oliver says. “What do you—”
Bea grabs his arm, cutting him off.
“Daph? You need to come here,” she says.
Oliver looks past me, and his eyes go round too.
“Keep threatening him,” Decker says. “I might still be a little pissed, and this might be fun.”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Jack mutters.
“We’re actively working against the curse, remember?” Lucky adds.
A woman with flaming pink-and-white striped hair and fairy tattoos on her arms steps into view, a small smirk on her face that fades into yet one more person gaping at the three men behind me.
“Oh my god,” she whispers as she blinks quickly.
It’s crowded as fuck here. “Can we talk somewhere in private?”
She keeps gaping at the triplets.
“Back of the bus,” Bea says. “Go on. That’s where—well, that’s apparently where we do this.”
“Can I get a hamburger?” Jack says to her. “I can’t remember the last time I ate.”
“We’re starving,” Lucky agrees. “And we’ll pay.”
“I got theirs,” Oliver says to Bea. He, too, gestures to the back of the bus.
I grab two of the triplets by their collars and drag them around to the back, and the third follows.
Daphne meets us at the back, still gaping.
“Your sister’s not answering my texts,” I say as I climb inside. “We’re here to do whatever she needs us to.”
“Not coerced at all,” Jack says.
“No emotional manipulation,” Lucky adds.
“I’m trying to be pissed, but you really do look like the kind of fun we could spring on the Tooth,” Decker says.
I twist my neck to look at him as he’s the final one of our bunch to climb into the little seating area at the back of the bus. “Are you for fucking real right now?”
“And I thought my vibe sparkled,” Lucky says, squinting at Daphne like he’s getting a better look now.
“You have my brother’s eyes,” Jack says.
“Can we do this family reunion in the car on the way to wherever it is that Margot’s hiding?” I ask. “Whatever she’s planning, she’s not doing it alone. We want to help.”
“The city again?” Oliver says dramatically from just beside the window, where he’s not trying to sell burgers anymore.
Bea’s brows go up. She’s also abandoned her customers.
We get a look from a grumpy guy who’s manning the kitchen setup, but he just rolls his eyes and goes back to his work.
“Two days in a row?” Bea says. “When we barely got out yesterday without an international incident? This doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
“Are you Rhys?” Daphne says to me.
I nod, glancing past her at the kitchen guy again.
“He’s family,” she says, clearly understanding my hesitation to speak in front of strangers. “Steel vault with secrets, mostly because he doesn’t want to know them in the first place. Show me your hair.”
I pull the cap off and dip my head so she can see the purple at the top.
She squeals and claps her hands. “It is you! And you’re here to help Margot?”
“Yes.”
Her smile is the first thing that’s reassured me since Mrs. Sullivan pulled Margot into that office Friday night.
The first thing that’s given me the ability to draw a full breath.
“She’s been tied up with admin work all weekend, but I think you can probably get to the city in time to catch her having dinner with our parents tonight,” Daphne says.
“Oh, shit,” Lucky mutters.
“Dinner with your parents?” Jack says.
“Is it gonna be as ugly as I hope it is?” Decker asks.
Daphne grins even bigger. “I have a feeling it might be.” She waves her hands at her face like she’s trying to cool it down as she looks at me. “I can’t believe you’re real. And them too.”
“Them too?” Jack echoes. “We’re just them too?”
“My dudes,” Daphne says, “if you had any idea how much Margot has needed someone who would turn her insides to jelly and then come storming in here like an avenging angel ready to stand by her side while she does the scariest thing she’s ever—yeah, sorry, right now, you’re them too.
Tomorrow and probably the next year or two, you take top billing.
I mean, after this guy.” She hooks a thumb toward Oliver.
“But today, I’m gonna do a little swooning for my sister, okay? ”
I swallow. “You think—you think she’ll be happy to see me?”
Daphne and Bea share a look, then they both look at Oliver.
He holds both hands up. “Don’t look at me. I’m boring. I don’t turn anyone’s insides to jelly.”
“Not according to what I accidentally walked in on a few days ago,” Bea murmurs.
He grins at her.
“Shit, are we supposed to threaten to beat this guy or be happy for them?” Jack says behind me. “What did we decide?”
“Bea, can we use Simon’s car again?” Daphne says.
“Again? You’ve seen her?” I ask.
She grins at me. “Have we ever. Ryker. The burgers. These guys are hungry.”
“Sorry, Bea,” Oliver says. “I’m going with them.”
“As you should,” Bea says. “Go on. Remember everything. I want the full story. All of the details.”
“Wait.” Daphne looks at me. “You have video of Margot cleaning a room full of bubbles?”
“I’ll show you in the car.”
“Good enough. I probably have to make some phone calls and pretend I’m smart enough to talk about lawyers and shit like that while we’re in the car too.” She looks past me at the triplets again, squeals, then throws herself at Lucky. “Oh my god, I have brothers.”
“We’re the best brothers,” Jack tells her.
“Lifetime of experience,” Lucky agrees.
“Hope the curse didn’t bounce on to you too,” Decker mutters.
“Hug in the car,” I order.
Oliver grins at me while he pulls his shirt on. “Are you always bossy?”
“Yes.”
His grin grows. “This is gonna be fun to watch.”
“Make her uncomfortable and die.”
“Margot or Daphne?”
“Yes.”
Bastard grins even bigger. “I like you. Looking forward to being brothers.”
Fucking twatwaffle’s making my eyes burn now.
Brothers.
I’ve never had brothers.
Not real brothers.
But in five minutes—in five minutes, I think I could be brothers with Margot’s ex-fiancé. The guy who’s now dating her sister.
How the fuck could she possibly think she’s not good enough to be loved?
“Let’s go,” I grump.
“Daph?” Oliver says. “You sure about this?”
She pulls back from hugging Decker—she’s been making her way down the line—and gives him a feral grin that’s also in Margot’s arsenal. “For any other reason? No. For this one? Oh, fuck yes.”
Same, Daphne.
Same.