Chapter 37
ASHLEY
Ashley: Holy crap. Dickhead Mike wasn’t lying…I’ve just left Clearview with Nate. She’s actually there. They caught her. Holy. Fuck. Is…is this over?
Carly: I swear I just tripped over my own feet when I read that. Seriously?? Did you speak to her? Did Nate? Fuck, he must be a mess right now. Give the guy some road head to make it better.
Ashley: You’re a fucking pervert, you know that? And no, we didn’t speak with her. We’re both too leery that she might have left some subliminal shit in our heads. Just saw her through the glass to confirm.
Carly: That’s wild. I’m happy for you, though. And me. Because one near-death experience in your vicinity was more than enough.
T he week following Jocelyn’s arrest—and our confirmation that Colonel Mike wasn’t full of shit—flew by in a blur.
Her hearing was scheduled and held, and she was denied bail, much to all of our relief.
Royce’s uncle explained on no less than ten occasions that the process for her trial would be long and drawn out, and not to expect any results quickly.
The bottom line was to go back to our normal lives. Whatever the fuck that looked like.
“How long do you think it will take?” I asked Heath the following weekend as we headed up the front steps of a grand home closer to Lake Prosper than we currently lived.
He glanced over at me in question, tugging the zip of his leather jacket down.
We’d taken his bike for this excursion, since he’d mysteriously had a spare helmet and jacket in my size waiting when we got to the garage.
I was still apprehensive of driving after the ice-race accident, so I put up no complaints about riding on the back of his bike.
“Finding a house?” he asked, pressing the doorbell. He was on the wrong train of thought because the entire first twenty minutes of this conversation had happened entirely inside my head.
“No,” I replied with a small frustrated sigh. “Until we stop jumping at every shadow. Until we stop overthinking every single interaction and seeing possible death in every situation.”
Heath grimaced, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his chest. “I dunno, babe. I really don’t know. It won’t happen overnight, though, so we have to be kind to ourselves and not feel embarrassed when those things do happen.”
He was speaking from experience, and I groaned as he hugged me tight. I needed that.
The door opened, and I reluctantly moved out of his embrace while he greeted the realtor who’d arranged to show us the property. Carter was also supposed to be meeting us, but he was running late apparently.
The house itself was amazing, but I was being carefully quiet as we viewed all the properties the boys had lined up on their shortlist. Because I was still struggling to come to terms with the sheer cost of the options available.
Never in my wildest dreams could I actually afford to purchase a house like we were looking at, so I didn’t want to voice my opinions.
The realtor was polite and informative, spending about an hour showing us around the property before Heath and I headed back to his bike, parked within the gated driveway. One thing I’d noticed in all the properties we’d viewed was that they were heavy on security and privacy.
Surely if Jocelyn was in jail for life, it wouldn’t matter? No one else had any reason to kill us. Right?
When I voiced that thought out loud, Heath gave me a long look and sighed. “I want to agree with you, but even without her, we are still who we are. Nothing can change who our families are, and unfortunately, that comes with some degree of danger.”
“I guess I just…forgot,” I murmured, holding his gaze. “I thought things would be…” I didn’t even know. I really didn’t.
“Normal,” he finished for me, then gave a little shrug. “Nothing has ever been normal for the four of us, Ashes, but we will do everything possible to keep it normal for you. Or as normal as we can ever be.”
Valid. It was hard to play at normal when I was in a relationship with four best friends. On the other hand, I couldn’t even imagine how hard it’d be if they didn’t already love one another.
Carter had sent a message to the group chat, letting us know he’d lost track of time while working on his own overdue assignments, so at least he wasn’t dead in a ditch somewhere. He’d also added that he didn’t need to view the properties because he wanted me to choose. Fucking hell.
Heath and I headed back to the apartment and ran into Royce in the parking garage, returning with a huge stack of pizzas. My stomach rumbled when the smell hit me, and I nearly mauled him to get a slice while we waited for the elevator.
“So I know this is a sensitive subject after everything…” Royce started when my cheeks were full of cheesy, saucy goodness. “But there’s an event next weekend.”
The mouthful I’d just swallowed seemed to lodge in my throat, and I needed to force it down before I choked. “An event?” I repeated, my voice strained. “A DB event, you mean?”
Heath not so subtly elbowed Royce in the ribs, making him grunt. “We agreed to discuss this as a group,” he reminded Royce. “This ain’t it.”
Royce rolled his eyes. “Dramatic. I was just making conversation. Yes, Squirrel, a DB event is taking place next weekend, and it’s one that we actually organized back before…you know. Before.”
That made me double take and swallow more of my mouthful so I could talk. “You want to go?” The boys exchanged a loaded look, and I wrinkled my nose. “Don’t do that. I’m standing right here. Say it out loud.”
They were saved by the elevator doors sliding open, and I grumbled about their psychic powers the whole way inside the apartment, where we found Nate sprawled on the sofa fast asleep, and Carter sitting at the dining table with headphones on and his laptop open in front of him.
He also wore a black-framed pair of glasses, which was new.
“Since when do you need glasses?” I asked, tugging his headphones off and kissing his cheek.
His smile was tired, but full of warmth. “Technically, I don’t. But when I stare at my screen for this long, I get eye-strain headaches. This seems to help.”
I nodded my understanding, because we had all been pulling long hours to catch up on our workload. It’d been particularly bad for Nate, since he was working on his PhD dissertation and also fielding calls from lawyers about his mom, which explained his current position.
Leaving the boys laying out pizzas on the table, I crossed over to where Nate slept soundly.
One arm dangled over the edge, his fingers on the floor, while the other was draped over his eyes like he’d been trying to block out the light when he fell asleep.
It was tempting to leave him, but it was barely five in the afternoon and he needed to eat.
“Hey,” I said softly, placing my hand on his chest to give him a gentle pat. “Wake up, Essex. We’ve got pizza.”
He stirred at the mention of pizza, lifting the arm off his eyes just to grab my hand and pull me closer. “Shh, sleeping. Join me. Sleep is good.”
“Tempting. Very tempting. But I’d put money on it that you’ve been surviving on coffee alone today, so get up and eat.
Also, we need to talk about this DB event that Royce wants to attend.
” I tugged my hand free, and he cracked his lids just enough to pout at me sleepily.
It made me smile, and then I got all squirrelly and shy because I wasn’t used to this vibe between me and Nate.
He made me nervous in the best sort of way.
He huffed a sigh, then groaned and sat up. “Laser tag? I thought we canceled that.”
“Well, we didn’t,” Royce replied. “Come eat. You’re wasting away.”
“Laser tag?” I asked as I headed back over to the dining table and let Heath pull me into his lap.
Carter handed me a slice of my favorite pizza—Hawaiian with cranberries and cashews—and I hummed happily as I took a bite.
None of the boys would touch it, so the whole thing was mine all mine. “Laser tag seems very…low-key?”
Royce grinned and shook his head. “Laser tag in the forest behind my family estate while everyone is in masks and robes, where the winner gets a five-bedroom house in the south of France, and the loser has to find a way to streak in front of national television within seven days of the event.”
I nodded slowly as I swallowed my mouthful. “Okay, that sounds more like it. You guys planned this one?”
Nate yawned dramatically as he dropped into a vacant seat and reached for the spicy pepperoni.
“Ages ago,” he muttered, still half-asleep.
“As the senior members at Nevaeh, a lot of the games are our responsibility, to at least come up with a concept, even if the execution is handled by the elders council. A certain quota have to be run independently, though.”
“Independently, like without the elders council helping?” I asked, mulling it over. “That almost feels safer at this stage.”
“Definitely safer,” Heath agreed, snagging a slice for himself. “But given everything that’s happened at DB events lately, I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” Carter countered. “Jocelyn is behind bars; Nate and Spark verified this with their own eyes. Her funding was cut, all her ties to the military were cut, and her entire team dismantled. Her experiment is over. So what are we scared of?”
“I’m not scared ,” Heath growled, indignant.
“I am,” I muttered, shrugging. “But I’m also scared of shadows right now.” That comment earned me four concerned looks, and I forced out a laugh to try and lighten the mood. “That said, I do like laser tag.”
“Seriously?” Royce tilted his head at me in surprise.
Nate just flashed me a lopsided grin. “Not shocked. Remember paintball?”
“I remember winning paintball,” I replied with a smile of my own.
Royce quirked a brow, glancing between the two of us a couple of times. “So…you’re wanting to go?”
“No,” Heath said before Nate or I could say yes.
Carter scowled, shaking his head. “I’m with Heath on this one, but not because I think there’s any danger. Only because I’m fucking tired and have no desire to put on the mask and robe anytime soon.”
“You don’t think it’s too risky?” Heath asked, putting his slice down in frustration. “After everything that’s happened?—”
“Are we letting Jocelyn ruin the Society for you all?” I blurted out, interrupting his point.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you off, but it just occurred to me—you’re letting her win.
Aren’t you? This Society means a lot to you all, and it means a lot for your futures…
but you could lose all of that if Jocelyn continues to control us through fear. ”
The four of them remained silent for a moment, genuinely seeming to consider my point with varying facial expressions that left me more confused than ever.
But at the end of the day, I didn’t give a fuck about being in the DBS myself.
They did, though. I didn’t want to be the one who ruined that for them all.
“My suggestion would be to make some very last-minute changes,” I said when no one spoke. “Change your location and the equipment, maybe if you have workers helping out, find new ones. That way if Jocelyn had already planted any subliminal messages of sabotage, it’ll all be mixed up.”
Nate was the first to nod his agreement. “I like it. Let’s do that, then.” He pushed up out of his seat and headed for the kitchen. “Anyone want a beer?”
“Wait, that’s that, then?” Heath called after him. “We’re going?”
“Yep,” Nate replied. “Beer, yes or no?”
I didn’t miss the worried looks Carter and Heath exchanged or the excitement in Royce’s eyes, but it was Nate I tracked.
He shot me a glance over his shoulder. In his eyes, the same determination to live our damn lives reflected back at me.
Yeah, Nate got it. The guys would get there, and while I’d be worried just like them, I refused to cower anymore.
We had something now we’d lacked before: we were all in and we had each other’s backs.
Nate shot me a sleepy wink. Yeah, we had this.