25. Caleb
Caleb
Despite my and Cam’s differences, I missed him. I missed the way he would take charge and lead the group and how fiercely protective he was of the people who surrounded him. The group hadn’t been the same since the night of the explosion. The car ride back to Strathmore was long and silent. You could feel the tension and sadness radiating off of everyone as we waited until we returned to the city.
I’d asked if we should let Ivy know before our arrival what was happening and that we would be late. That one of us was never coming home again. Hunter had shook his head at me and given me a sad look. “She’ll find out soon enough. If she’s asleep, she’ll need her rest.”
But things seemed to be slowly going back to normal. Maya, Katya, and Sergei had all started a new private school. The evenings were filled with helping them with homework and cooking dinner as a family. Ivy was getting dressed again. She still wore Cam’s shirts to sleep, but occasionally, she gave a smile that seemed almost genuine. She ate, probably not as much as she needed to. She drank water.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than it had been. That was, until one evening when Ivy’s phone buzzed. She barely raised an eyebrow, assuming it was her brother. Frankie and Ros had both been staying in Strathmore in case they were needed—or in case Ivy fell apart again. Other than us, those were the only people that had her phone number. It was a way to keep her safe and hopefully keep the Order from discovering her location.
As she read the text message on her screen, her face paled. She was silent, but her brows pinched together, and she bit down on her lower lip. Then she dropped the phone on the ground, the screen shattering on the marble tile. “What does it say?” Niko asked as she clumsily knelt, trying to pick it up with shaking hands.
I knelt beside her and scooped it up, hazarding a glance at what it said.
Unknown: The Order is still alive and well, foolish girl. We might have been wounded, but the stunt you pulled didn’t work. We haven’t forgotten about you. Come back to Clearhaven before something happens to another one of your men.
I clenched my jaw before standing and handing it back to her. “Don’t answer them. I don’t know how they got your number, but they are just looking for a reaction from you. Everyone is safe. Right now, we’re untouchable.”
Dominic and Hunter had ensured that between their security and the men who worked for Rayne, someone was always watching our apartment. After the complete fuck up of New Year’s Eve, we were biding our time, trying to figure out the next move, allowing everyone to grieve. We still weren’t sure why the bomb had gone off at the wrong time. Everyone swore they had set the timer correctly. I thought that someone from the Order had found it and attempted to disarm the explosive—unfortunately for everyone incorrectly.
But if Ivy responded to the text from the unknown sender... I was worried that they would find a way to get to her. They would play on her emotions. They would use her guilt to lure her out somehow.
Trey had been cutting vegetables near the stove, and his knife stopped for a moment. “What did it say, new girl?”
I shook my head and sighed. “They’re just trying to intimidate us. The usual crap about coming back to Clearhaven.” I grabbed Ivy’s hand in an attempt to reassure her. “Nothing will happen to us. I promise.”
Her expression told me everything that I needed to know. She didn’t believe me. Ivy couldn’t take the loss of another person, not so soon. She would do whatever she thought was necessary to protect us.
And that alone was terrifying. I needed to get out of my head and out of the apartment, away from everyone else. “I’ll be back,” I said as I grabbed the keys from the cabinet.
That was how I ended up at the tiny tattoo shop across town. The streets had whirred by, and I wasn’t sure what I was looking for until I found it. I strolled in and gave the woman standing at the counter a smile, suddenly awkward and unsure. What was I doing here? My fingers immediately went to my chest, to the ouroboros branded on my flesh.
It was time. It had been for a while. I wanted nothing to do with my legacy or grandfather. All he brought was pain and death.
I wanted it gone and to pretend like that part of my past was nothing more than a bad dream. But what did I want instead?
I skimmed through the art on the walls while I thought, and an idea came to me suddenly. I approached the woman, knowing she could turn me away or tell me they were booked. Even though the space was dead, rock music played from a speaker. Appearances could be deceiving.
“Can I help you?” she told me. I explained what I wanted, and she nodded, gesturing for me to follow her.
Four hours later, I walked out into the night with a mermaid wearing a crown covered by a bandage. Its long red hair and mournful eyes reminded me of the woman I loved. The one that I was certain was planning something none of us knew about. I just didn’t know why, how, or when.