Chapter 46
Footsteps sounded in the hall, cutting off the conversation.
I used them as an excuse to make a show of waking, but a million questions were running through my head.
I shifted and stretched, my eyes blinking against the dim light in the room.
The sun hung low in the sky outside the window. How long had I been asleep?
Dash helped me sit up. “How are you feeling?”
I didn’t have a chance to answer before the rest of the guys were charging into the room.
“She’s awake?” Declan asked.
“Clearly,” Ronan grumbled.
“How do you feel?” Colt pressed.
But I couldn’t help staring straight at Darius. The man who didn’t think I should be here. But what gift was he talking about?
“I feel okay. Still a little sleepy but better.”
“You need food,” Dash said.
The only one of the guys who was silent was Trace, but he watched. So intently his gaze felt like a physical caress. It should’ve unsettled me, but instead, it made me feel nothing but safe.
“I’m not really hungry,” I confessed.
Colt frowned. “You haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.”
“I’ll eat later if I get hungry. Did you find out who left the rat in my locker?”
The room went charged at that, and I wanted to curse.
A muscle along Ronan’s jaw ticked. “Not yet. We’ve got people on it.”
Darius hadn’t said a word, but his eyes hadn’t left me once. His stare gave me the urge to go scrub my skin under the shower.
I gripped the edge of the blanket. “I think I’m going to go get changed. Maybe lie down a little longer.”
Dash stared down at me. “Do you want me to come with you?”
I shook my head. “I’ll be okay. Thank you, though.” I just wanted out from under Darius’s focus. Something about him set me on edge. And I needed time to puzzle through what I’d just heard. Time without six sets of eyes tracking my every move.
Colt helped me up, pressing a kiss to my temple. “I’ll come check on you later.”
“Okay.”
I hurried out of the room, giving Darius a wide berth. It wasn’t until I was on the stairs that I realized I’d left my shoes behind. Oh well.
When I opened the door to my room, Briar let out a loud meow and jumped off her cat tower. She’d always had a sixth sense when it came to knowing I needed a little extra TLC. I scooped her up and cuddled her to my chest.
“I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m freaked out.”
She meowed as if to answer.
I moved into the closet, perching her on the dresser in the middle.
Something was going on. It sounded like the mob or some weird secret society.
Who called themselves The Assembly, anyway?
Darius’s words played over and over in my mind as I changed out of my uniform and into sweats. “Her gift never manifested.”
What the hell did that mean? What gift? He’d mentioned not being able to protect myself… Dash had said he practiced martial arts. Maybe they were all into that and Darius knew I wasn’t? That didn’t seem reason enough to boot me out.
I scooped up Briar and made my way to my desk and the brand-new laptop perched on it. Sitting Briar on the desk next to me, I opened the computer. The first step to finding answers was research.
Guilt swirled in my belly, but I shoved it down. I needed to know what was going on.
I started with a simple search of the guys’ names.
But there was nothing. No news articles, not even for a sports achievement.
No social media profiles anywhere. Not even a class picture.
It was as if they’d been erased from the internet altogether.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. Neither Colt’s name nor his father’s had ever come up in my searches over the years.
Worrying the corner of my lip, I stared at the screen. My fingers typed The Assembly. Only weird things came up that weren’t local to Emerald Bay.
Maybe I needed to start with the town. I lost myself in sifting through article after article about the history of Emerald Bay. It was fascinating by itself, but then something caught my eye. The Founding Families.
I clicked on the link, and an old black-and-white photograph filled the screen. Six men stood gazing at the camera, unsmiling. Underneath the photo was a list of last names. Carrington, O’Connor, Solace, Dumont, Laurent. It was all the guys’ last names and Damien’s.
I’d known the guys were tied to the town, but this was another level.
I moved back to the search menu, and another article stopped me cold. Colt’s father’s name screamed at me from the list of articles. Why had this never shown up when I’d searched? Could someone block themselves from Google results? My hand trembled as I clicked the link.
Andrew Carrington Murdered, Drained of Blood, Police Have No Suspects.
Everything in me went ice cold as my heart picked up speed.
The memories of my attack played in my mind.
The feel of Damien’s teeth sinking into my flesh.
I’d so readily believed the guys when they’d told me I’d been drugged. But what if they were lying?
My breaths came faster. I needed air.
Shoving back from my desk, I hurried out of my room and down the back staircase. It only took seconds for me to get outside. Darkness had descended, and the cool sea air was a welcome balm.
I pulled it into my lungs, trying to slow my brain as I walked toward the rocky cliffs. Drained of Blood. Nausea swept through me. Why hadn’t Colt told me his father had been murdered? I’d been imagining him dying of a heart attack or cancer. Murder was a whole different ball game.
I stilled at the rocks. What about Dash’s parents? Had they been murdered, too? Ronan and Declan’s mom? I didn’t know where Trace’s parents were. Was there some crazy serial killer after them?
But far crazier thoughts filled my mind. Ones of fanged beasts that wanted to drain me.
The wind picked up, and I wrapped my arms around myself. The waves battered against the rocky shore in an angry rhythm.
Movement caught my attention just over the water. Some swirl of darkness. Gathering. Moving.
My chest constricted as the darkness took shape. It wasn’t entirely human, but it wasn’t a beast either. It was made entirely of shadow. The darkness formed legs and arms and a torso. The head had no face but even darker eyes. It moved with a speed that had me stumbling back.
It inhaled deeply, and a smile broke through that head of darkness, exposing jagged teeth. “Anchor…”