Wicked Devotions, Part 2

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

DECLAN

T he sound of my phone continuously vibrating on the floor beside Harper’s bed pulls me slowly into consciousness. Blinking against the morning sun, I look at the screen through groggy eyes. It takes a couple tries, but I shoot into a sitting position as soon as the message sinks in.

I look over on the bed and only see Cyrus draped over Emerson. Harper’s nowhere to be found. I toss the covers off and grab my shirt from the floor, pulling it on as I look in the bathroom. There’s no sign of her.

“Wake up,” I say loudly and swat at their entangled feet under the covers. “We have a problem.”

Cyrus mumbles something as Emerson awakens beneath him. He gives Cy a gentle nudge and shoots out of the bed to follow me downstairs.

“Harper?” I call out as we pound down the steps.

“What’s going on?”

“Someone recorded us last night. It’s all over the internet.”

“Fuck. Who told you?”

“Banks. He’s sent a bunch of messages saying that he can’t get ahold of Harper.”

I run into the kitchen and stop dead in my tracks at the sight of Harper’s phone on the floor. All it takes is a quick scan of the kitchen and connected living room to know she’s not in either place. I pick up her phone and unlock it. A Google screen immediately shows up on the screen with dozens of search results with her name. Headline after headline about the four of us fucking last night appear.

“She got sick in the sink.” Emerson turns on the faucet and sprays it out.

“Here’s why.” I hand the phone to him and run to the first-floor bathroom to see if she’s in there.

“What’s happening?” Cyrus asks with a yawn as he walks down the stairs.

“Harper’s missing.” I push the door open to find it empty.

Fuck.

Unease swims in my gut as I look in the library. Empty. Game room, also empty.

“I’ll look outside,” Cyrus throws open the door and runs outside barefoot and shirtless.

“How can we stop this?” Emerson asks as he meets me in the foyer following his own search. “The spread of the video?”

I’m already pulling my phone out and calling my cousin. One of his metamours has connections to the biggest news and broadcasting companies in the country. Hopefully he can get a catch and kill or at least help us spin it.

“Good morning, Declan,” Sawyer greets.

“Hey, sorry for the early call, but we need help.”

“What’s going on?” His voice goes from friendly to serious in seconds.

“Is Grant still good friends with the owner of National News Corp?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Someone took a video of Harper and us having sex last night. They uploaded it to the internet overnight. Harper saw it and now she’s missing.”

“Fuck.” The sound of his fingers flying over a keyboard fill the tense silence. “I’ll get on this right away.”

“Can we get stories planted that the video is AI generated? The last thing Harper needs is a sex tape scandal.”

“Yep, I’m on it. I’ll be in touch.”

“Thank you.”

I slide the phone in my pocket just as Cyrus walks in the room. He looks back and forth between Emerson and I without saying anything. His normal confident body language has changed and fear wraps its death grip around my heart.

“My bike is gone.” He swallows nervously. “So is my helmet.”

“What?” I prowl toward him. “She doesn’t know how to drive your bike.”

He side steps to put the island between us. “Well,” he holds his palms up, “that’s actually not entirely true.”

Rage coats the fear frozen in my veins. “What?”

“She wanted to learn, so I’ve been giving her lessons here and there. She’s honestly a natural.”

I jump across the island and grab him by the hair piled on top of his head, yanking it to the side. “You taught her how to drive your motorcycle knowing how dangerous it is. Also knowing that it’s the only vehicle we have here without a tracker.”

“I didn’t think she'd run off with it.”

Despite the fact that he has twenty pounds of muscle on me, he doesn’t try to fight me off. He just stands there stoic and ready for whatever punishment I want to dole out. Emerson steps between us, his blue eyes boring into mine.

“Back up.” He’s calm as he puts a hand on my chest and gives me the smallest push. “Fighting each other isn’t going to help anyone. Call Banks. He knows her better than any of us.”

Punching my best friend in the face might not do anything to help, but it would feel fucking amazing.

Cyrus curls his lip as if he can read my mind. “I’ll give you two free punches before I hit you back.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Emerson shoves us both away from each other. “Call Banks. Now.” He pushes me further into the kitchen and then drags Cyrus back outside.

Dragging in a deep breath, I hit Bank’s number. He answers on the first ring.

“Did you get to her before she saw everything?”

“No.” I brace my palms on the edge of the counter and hang my head. “We can’t find her.”

“What?” he yells. “What do you mean you can’t find her?”

“I woke up and saw all your messages, and when we came downstairs, we found her phone on the floor and saw that she got sick in the sink.”

“Is she running? Sometimes she does that to clear her head.”

I shake my head even though he can’t see me. “No. At least I doubt it. Cy’s Ducati is missing.”

“She doesn’t know how to drive a motorcycle.”

“I thought that, too, but apparently Cy’s been teaching her.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yep. If it were up to me, she wouldn’t even ride it with him, let alone drive it.”

“When we find her, have him ask how many car accidents she’s caused and then see if you want her driving a motorcycle.”

“Speaking of finding her, where would she go?”

“Me. I’d bet money she’s coming here to me.”

I bristle at the thought of her running from us to go find solace in his arms. “Anywhere else?”

“Possibly home to Annabelle. They weren’t what I would call close since they both were trying to survive and protect each other, but she might want that comfort.”

“I have to call my dad anyway, so I’ll ask if she’s reached out to them.”

“Do you have any idea what time she left your house?” he asks.

“No. I didn’t even hear her get up. How did you find out about the video so fast?”

“Morning practice. One of the guys came over to show me and ask if that was my girlfriend banging her brother.”

A growl rumbles in my throat. “I’m not her fucking brother. Who was it?”

“Don’t fucking worry about, I took care of him.” He sighs heavily. “I’m going to stay at my dorm all day and see if she shows up.”

“Text me immediately, and I’ll come get her.”

“Okay.”

I consider apologizing for bringing this mess to his doorstep, but I’m not a liar. I’m not sorry. We just have to find her and then figure out who sent that video out.

Could it have been her stalker? Did he follow us to the field? Or was it someone from the party who just happened to see and decided to make a quick buck off us? Doesn’t really matter at the end of the day, because whoever did this is going to find themselves at the other end of my fist.

Dread fills my chest as I pull up Dad’s contact information. I don’t know what he’s going to think about what we did last night. He might not even mention that aspect of this. The phone rings, and I hear him pick up, but he doesn’t speak.

“Dad?”

“Yes.” I can tell by his tone that he’s seen the news. “I’ve already spoken with Sawyer. NNC is wiping the stories from all their affiliate stations and media sites.”

“Yeah, he was my first call.”

“How’s Harper?”

I drag a breath through my teeth. “She’s missing, and from the vomit in the sink and her phone on the floor, I’d say she’s not doing well.”

“Where did she go?”

“She took Cy’s bike, and Banks is fairly certain she’s probably heading to see him. But in the meantime, Cy and Emerson are running the trail that she usually takes when she goes for a jog.”

“Fuck.” His chair creaks which means he’s at home in his office. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to tell Annabelle that my son and his two best friends fucked her daughter in the middle of the woods and didn’t have enough common sense to make sure no one was around to capture the scene.”

“Can’t you tell her it was AI generated? Just feed her the same lie we’ll push out to the media.”

“No. I’m not going to lie to my wife about her daughter.”

The way he said my wife has my eyebrows climbing up my forehead. “Okay, sorry,” I mumble.

“These two women have lived a literal nightmare. The things that bastard did to Annabelle and Harper—” he stops and drags in a breath. “It’s our job to protect them now. I know you have feelings for Harper, and I’m not going to get involved in your relationship, but if you don’t lock yourselves down and keep her protected, I’ll bring her back under my roof where I know I can. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m going to talk to Annabelle and see if she has any ideas of where Harper could be. Keep me informed if you hear from her.”

“Yeah, I will.”

“Bye, son.”

“Later.”

It takes everything inside me not to throw my phone against the wall. I’m so mad at myself. I’m so worried for Harper. And when I find out who fucking took that video, they’ll be unrecognizable when I’m done with them.

Emerson turns the television onto the morning news show on NNC. The ticker across the bottom reads DEEP FAKE VIDEO OF DISGRACED REV SCOTT FLYNN’S DAUGHTER CIRCULATES INTERNET OVERNIGHT. Emerson looks over at me, surprise written on his features.

“That was fast.”

“Thank god. Hopefully this minimizes any damage done.”

“Who do you think did this? Could it have been her stalker?”

“No. I don’t think so. Whoever leaves those notes is possessive, I doubt they’d want her put on display for the world to see.” My mind won’t stop spinning.

He runs his fingers through his hair as he watches the anchors lead into the story. Cyrus comes in, dripping sweat from running. He meets my gaze with caution as I walk over toward him with my hand extended.

“I’m sorry for getting in your face.”

He knocks my hand away and pulls me for a quick hug. “I get why you were pissed. I should have told you what I was doing with her.”

“I would have said no.”

“And I would have said fuck off and done it anyway.” He shrugs. “Did you call Banks?”

“Yeah.” I relay what he said and what my dad said. None of us really know what to do at this point. If she saw Bank’s message and immediately took off, it would have been about three hours ago which means she’d have another hour until she gets to him.

We are going to have to figure out a way to track her consistently, so we always know where she is. Because her stalker could have been watching the house, waiting for an opportunity to snatch her. I’m sure there’s a way to inject a small chip into a person the same way people do for pets. Highly unethical, but if it keeps her safe, I’ll do it. I don’t give a fuck what I have to do to make sure she’s never hurt again.