Kieran
Callie doesn’t sneak up on us.
She never has.
She lurks out of sight until the garage door is almost done rising, like it’s the curtain for her stage. Or until we’re parked and trying to climb out of a vehicle to go inside…
But today, she appears while we’re in the middle of unloading groceries, stepping into view like she planned the natural lighting herself.
She is a walking billboard, showcasing her parents’ money in a town she really shouldn’t flaunt wealth in so casually. That prep school confidence is honed into a blade that she wields like an actual weapon, even though everyone in the Bay is made out of kevlar.
Her timing is too precise. Suspiciously so.
Which tells me everything I need to know.
Jace stiffens beside me. Silas keeps moving, lifting thirty-four bags at once like nothing is wrong, but the muscle under his eye twitches as he takes stock of everything around us, the way he does when he’s already mapping exits and contingency plans.
I set the carton of eggs down carefully in the back of the SUV with the rest of the groceries we haven’t unloaded.
Callie is the same kind of ambush predator as Daniel, always popping out from behind something, using scare tactics or bullshit to push you into fight or flight. They’re hoping for a mistake that will allow them to sink their claws into us. Then they’re mad when they miss.
“Interesting timing,” I say. “Daniel at the market this morning. You here now… Guess you’re not trying to hide the acquaintanceship any longer?”
Her smile doesn’t falter. “You boys are predictable. Don’t you know routine is a weakness.”
“So is coordination,” I reply. “And you’re bad at concealing it.”
She laughs, but her eyes flick to the loft entrance. To the bags just inside the open door. To the fact that Eris isn’t standing with us.
Callie already knows where she is.
Silas finally turns. “Say what you came to say. You’ve got twenty seconds.”
Her gaze slides straight past him to Jace. Always Jace. She likes his reactions too much to ignore him.
“Do you know about Daniel?” Callie twirls her sunglasses in one hand, and I imagine it winding up her brain so she can think like a functioning adult. “Eris isn’t as clean as she’s led you to believe. They lived together for years. She so enjoyed that obsessive streak of his.”
Jace scoffs at her but says nothing.
“Did she leave him?” Callie asks, raising a brow. “Or did she find better entertainment?” Her grin widens as she watches us. “Don’t act like she doesn’t have a type. Obviously, she’s got a thing for my seconds, sloppy or not.”
“What did you just say?” I ask, taking a step forward.
She turns her full attention to me. “Daniel and I. We go all the way back to boarding school and shared family secrets. He’s got a way of digging his fingers into people, doesn’t he? Makes for good business, but I’m sure it would be more helpful to you if you have someone who can call him off.”
I can’t decide if I want to throw her off a building myself or thank her for finally making it easily acceptable to want her dead.
“I’m only going to warn you once.” Jace’s voice is flat. “Watch your mouth in our house.”
“Oh, relax,” she says, flicking her hand dismissively. “I’m just doing you a favor, lover. You don’t really think he followed her all on his own, do you?”
I step forward before Silas can. His raging energy fills the garage with a thrumming violence that makes it hard to breathe.
“You showed up today because he did,” I point out, nodding as I speak. “You told him where we live. And I’m betting you put all these pieces together because you saw him following Eris around like a kicked puppy.”
Her lips press together. That’s all I need for confirmation.
“They talk,” she spits, truly believing she’s going to get what she wants out of this interaction, even if it takes more time. She’s trying to plant a seed of doubt without realizing how much we know about the situation. “He gets obsessive. I got curious. It’s been efficient for both of us.”
“Efficient,” Silas repeats. “How so?”
Callie shrugs. “You build software. You should appreciate collaboration when it amplifies performance.”
Jace takes a step toward her, but I block him without looking over my shoulder. He puts his hand between my shoulder blades, a fine tremble rattling through him.
“You’re not here to warn us,” I remark, my anger finally matching Jace and Silas. “And you’re not here for closure.”
“No,” she agrees. “I’m here to remind you that she didn’t fall into your lives by accident.”
The door behind us opens, and Eris emerges from the kitchen into the garage oozing confidence. She’s heard everything through the security panel on the wall.
And I have a moment of wondering if I’m wrong about Callie and Daniel being the predators in this situation. When you’re being pursued, chased, you don’t suck the oxygen from a room with your presence alone.
But that’s what Eris does.
Callie’s smile sharpens into a forced expression. “There she is.”
Our goddess of discord doesn’t slow. She just gives a lazy grin. “Here I am.”
“You’re going to act shocked now?”
“No,” Eris sings, a hint of laughter in her voice. “I’m going to say thank you.
The she-devil frowns. “Why?”
“Daniel following me. You waiting here so patiently for us to get home from the grocery store,” she says mildly. “That’s not a coincidence. That’s strategy. And I can respect strategy.”
Callie tilts her head. “Took you long enough.”
“Sorry.” Eris smiles, thin and precise, as she gets so close to Callie they’re nearly toe-to-toe. This is the second time Eris has been within arm’s reach, and it’s the second time I’ve wondered if I should step in or let nature take its course.
What’s the right answer here?
Eris clicks her tongue in a way that makes me feel like I’m being admonished for bad behavior, though she doesn’t address anyone except Callie.
“I was giving you time to hang yourself, but you’ve been so delightfully sloppy, it didn’t take as long I thought. I may have given us both too much credit. I assumed my promise was enough of a warning, though I didn’t take into account that you’re not from Crimson Bay.”
Silas sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. I take my glasses off and tuck them into my pocket in case we need to intervene. Jace grabs the back of my shirt to stop me from moving toward them.
I glance between the two women and feel everything lock into place.
This isn’t about Callie’s jealousy.
This isn’t even some sort of female rivalry, cat fight type of bullshit.
It’s a mutual obsession, split between two different pseudo-predators circling the same target.
And there is no man at the center.
It’s just Eris.
Keeping everyone in her sights until she decides who gets their throat ripped out first.
“Don’t get smug,” Callie warns as she steps back, adjusting her sunglasses in her hair. “Enjoy their protection detail. It won’t last forever.”
Eris gives no reaction. “Neither will you.”
“Sure.” Callie laughs once, bright and full of shit as she looks dead at Silas. “I’ve got your crypto key.”
He goes so rigid I swear he’s turned to marble. I run through the cold storages we have and where all the hardware is, but I can’t recall anything being missing.
Callie lifts her chin, like his reaction was all the reward she craves. “If you want it back, you’ll meet me tonight.”
She takes a piece of paper out of her pocket and flicks it at us. A business card floats to the ground, landing face down.
I watch her leave, shaking my head to clear the fog I’m feeling.
“You were right,” I tell Eris quietly. “They’re not separate problems.”
She nods her agreement. “No, and she just became priority number one.”
Jace huffs as if he can’t believe the turn of events this day has already had. He takes the last of the groceries, leaving the eggs and the SUV’s hatch for me to grab and close.
Silas doesn’t move for a full sixty seconds as his brain reboots. He’s mentally tracking hardware too, and I bet he’s come to the same conclusion as me.
Nothing is missing… Physically or digitally.
But is Callie smart enough to have replaced something without us noticing?
Before today, I would have said no.
Now? I’m second-guessing myself.
Maybe the next move won’t be random. It will be a decision made with logical steps… And enough money to cover up the body of an heiress playing dangerous games in the wrong town.
It’s going to be a war fought against people who think they’re smarter than the monster they woke up.
Who is the monster, though?
As I look between Silas and Eris… I genuinely can’t tell.