Chapter 14 #2
I shake my head, still flushed, and Ash glares him down like he’s going to stab him.
“Seven days until it’s effective to stop babies.”
I wish he would stop saying babies to me, fucking lord.
Ash slips his hand onto my thigh and sneers at Doc. “Are we done?”
Thank god we are. Doc is good about Ash’s behavior and shoos us both out the door without too much fuss. Ash is smiling and teasing me again before we make it back to the car, and I forget for a second that we’re in the Bay.
We stop for waffles on the way back, at Avery’s request because she has a savage hangover and bad temper with it.
Harley texts to say she’s already kicked Blaise out of the room and bitched him out for his antics last night.
All I can think is thank fuck she didn’t know what I’d done with the other two.
Ash orders my coffee without asking what I like and when I raise a brow at him, he smirks. One sip of the sweet nectar of the gods tells me the smug asshole has been watching me closer than I thought.
He holds my hand the whole way back to the hotel, up the elevator, and down the hall to our rooms. I’m so happy I even hum a little under my breath, and he pulls me in closer to his body so he can hear it. I should know better than to let myself be happy.
There’s a box waiting outside the door to our room.
There, in bold black letters, is my full name across the top. Middle name and all. My stomach drops instantly, and Ash’s hand tightens around mine. I wait for a second and then step up to open it.
“Mounty, you can’t just fucking open it!” Ash hisses, and I ignore him.
I use my knife to slice it open. Ash snaps at me again and I cut him off, “Avery, Harley, and Blaise are in that room and there’s no other way out. I have to see what it is.”
I flick the box open and the smell hits me.
Fuck.
Fuuuuuuuuck.
It’s a head.
There’s a head in the box.
I flick it shut again and stand up abruptly.
Ash steps forward, my body shielding the contents so he still has no idea of what’s just been delivered to us.
My face must look all sorts of fucked up as I try to figure out what the fuck is going on because his hand reaches for mine again.
I mean, it’s not the first time I’ve seen a dismembered head, but I’d let my guard down this morning.
I’d let myself slip back into Lips and away from the Wolf.
“Is it dangerous?” Ash mutters. I shake my head, but when he moves to have a look for himself, I tug him back.
“I need your phone. I left mine behind,” I say calmly, and he hands his over without question.
“What’s up, kid?” Illi answers, and I don’t bother asking him how he knew it was me.
“Priority call, Illi. I need you to come to the hotel. We’ve had company this morning and they’ve left us a gift.”
Illi snorts. “How kind. Gimme ten.”
I gesture for Ash to get the door and then, grimacing, I pick up the box and carry it into the room.
The head in the box belongs to Lance, my stalker from last year.
Harley and Ash both refuse to wait for Illi and have a look, jaws clenched.
Blaise gags at the smell but has a look too, and he’s the first to figure out who it is.
Avery doesn’t look up from her phone and she demands that Ash puts her waffles in the fridge for later, when there’s not stray body parts appearing out of nowhere.
Illi arrives and snaps on a pair of latex gloves before lifting it out.
Avery gets one look at it and barely makes it to the bathroom sink before she vomits, then she refuses to leave until the head is back in the box.
I don’t blame her; she’s hungover and it’s not exactly fresh.
She’s going to clean every square inch of our room for hours when we get back to Hannaford.
She’ll probably have the guys’ room gutted before the panic subsides.
Illi moves to empty out the rest of the contents of the box and finds nothing but the head and the plastic sheet lining the cardboard.
Nothing.
Fuck.
Illi stares at the box with a frown over his face. I don’t like the look of that frown one bit because the same one is on my face. Fuck, he sees it too. He meets my eye and nods.
“I’ll ask around a bit more. You might want to call the Crow, or even the Coyote, see if they know what the fuck this means.”
I scowl and nod; we’re going to need the extra help. Ash frowns at me and says, “This isn’t the Jackal? It looks like a sick token of affection to me. Like he’s proving his devotion to you. I’d assume after last night he is making a stand.”
Blaise rolls bloodshot eyes around at us all. “What happened last night? Did Arbour piss him off in the meeting?”
I flush scarlet and desperately wish Illi wasn’t so fucking perceptive as he grins at Blaise. Fuck, does he know what we did? I need some fucking whiskey.
Illi opens his mouth, and I cut him off. “He saw Harley, Ash, and I dancing after the meeting. He was watching the three of us and I have no doubt he was planning out my punishment.”
At that, the smirk melts off of Illi’s face, and he snaps his gloves off. “This isn’t retaliation. This was done at least three days ago, and D’Ardo would leave a calling card. This isn’t his style. Fuck knows whose style this is, but it’s not his.”
Harley groans and curses at the ceiling. “Mounty, is there any fucking chance you could stop attracting psychos and serial killers for five fucking minutes while we dig our way out of the mountain of shit we’re already in?”
I shift my scowl over to him, sitting on the couch to rest my leg. “If I knew how I was doing it, clearly I would stop.”
Illi snickers at us both and tucks the box under his arm without a care in the world of its contents. “I’ll deal with this. If the rest of it shows up, we might have more of an idea of who’s behind it. Stay safe, kids!”
He takes two steps toward the door and then swings back to smirk at me, his eyes fucking dancing around like he’s never been happier. Fuck.
“If you decide to indulge in any more public frolicking, please warn me. I’ve had a few threats neutralized already this morning, little Wolf.”
I don’t think it’s possible to blush any freaking harder than I am as he laughs at me and walks out.
As the door clicks shut behind him, Avery comes out of the bathroom, her face still a little green, and slumps down next to me, eyeing the color on my cheeks critically. I tuck my arm into hers to distract her and she croaks out, “Fuck margaritas.”
Blaise is still staring between us all like he’s missing something big. I really hope that when he figures it out, Avery and I aren’t around.
“I don’t like him,” Ash snaps, and I glance up to find him staring at the door Illi just exited.
Harley shrugs nonchalantly. “He grows on you. Give him time to get under your skin.”
Blaise laughs at them both quietly, like his head is still pounding and his usual raucous laughter wouldn’t be worth the pain.
“Well, I don’t have a single fucking issue with the psycho.
He doesn’t look at Star’s ass even in those booty shorts, he stabs people without her even having to ask him, and he gets rid of decomposing body parts with a smile.
Don’t be a jealous dick and just leave him alone. ”
Ash’s eyes flare and he fixes them on me. Fuck, what next? “Oh, Mounty, how could I forget? Your name was on that box.”
I tense up and throw him a stern look. His answering smile is a taunt. Fuck, I should’ve gone with a pleading look, but it’s just not my style.
“Yes, Ash, we’ve just spent the last hour discussing her crazed stalker. Have you suffered some sort of brain damage I’m unaware of?” Avery hisses, and he smirks at her.
“I was referring to Lips’ middle name.”
Fuck. I glare at him and Blaise bursts out laughing. Harley looks between them and then frowns at me like this is my fucking fault. Nope, I will not feel bad that he’s practically pouting at me. No. Stay strong, Lips. Fuck.
“Ash, I would appreciate your discretion,” I grit out, overly polite because I don’t want to rage blackout and stab him for digging this hole for me. For the record, it would be justified.
“How does Blaise know it?” Avery asks sweetly, and it’s a total ruse. She might slit my throat while I’m sleeping for not telling her.
“She loves me the most!” Blaise sings and shakes his ass as he heads toward the balcony for a smoke. I stare at his ass for a second too long but, damn, he can move those hips of his.
When I look back at the others, Harley is staring at Blaise like he’s planning exactly where he’s going to stab the fucker.
I hold out my hands as Avery scowls at me.
“He found out while I was off my head on those pain pills you gave me. I made him swear not to tell anyone because it’s fucking embarrassing, and I’d rather die than ever hear it said out loud. ”
Avery rolls her eyes at my dramatics, but Ash stares at me for a second longer. Something in my eyes makes him shrug. “Fine, I’ll keep it to myself.”
Avery also shrugs and smiles at Harley. “Mounty will tell me when we get home. She loves me the most.”
I squeeze my eyes shut so I don’t have to see his reaction to potentially being the only one not knowing the damn name and snap, “It’s Starbright, okay?
My name is Eclipse Starbright Anderson. My mom was high and thought the moon was fucking cool and just ran with it.
She didn’t give a fuck about how it would affect me for the rest of my life.
Fuck, she couldn’t even stay sober long enough to get through her pregnancy or my birth, for fuck’s sake.
Okay? Cool. Glad everyone is on the same fucking page.
Where’s the fucking whiskey? I’m going to drink myself to death, or until I forget about it. Whichever happens first.”