“Um,” I begin in a watery voice as I lift my gaze back to Rainey and Myles, but it’s Rainey I focus on. “I really don’t know how to say this, but Adira died tonight.”
“What?” Myles shouts, his butt coming off the couch.
At the same time, Rainey cries out, “No.”
“I’m sorry.” Myles sits back down, his arm going around Rainey. He pulls her into his chest, where she starts quietly crying. I slip a glance at Carrick, who watches intently.
“What happened?” Myles rasps, his voice on the verge of cracking.
“Well,” I say hesitantly, my gaze darting to Carrick once more. It’s almost imperceptible, but he gives me the barest of nods that I need to press forward. “It’s actually a pretty involved story. It’s going to take a while to explain everything, but I want you both to get dressed and come with me to Carrick’s condo.”
I’m not ready for the explosion from my sweet, cute, and geeky friend as he explodes in rage, lifting off the couch and displacing Rainey from his embrace. “Bullshit. You just come here, wake us up in the dead of night, with a man you’ve previously inferred is dangerous, who you were hiding from not all that long ago, and tell us Adira is dead, but it’s a complicated story, and we’re supposed to come with you and him? Yeah, fuck that, Finley. You tell us what’s going on right now.”
I can’t help but visibly shrink back from his fury. Rainey is stunned as her chin jerks inward. She chastises, “Myles.”
“No,” he growls, looking to Rainey and then back to me. “We deserve more than that right now.”
“Adira was murdered,” Carrick says, and I cringe over his matter-of-fact tone. Rainey pales, and Myles’ head whips Carrick’s way, his eyes narrowed. “She was murdered by someone who tried to do the same to Finley tonight. She is in danger even as we sit here. You two could be in danger this very moment. My place is safe, and I suggest you do as your friend has asked and quickly get dressed so we can go.”
“Who in the hell—” Myles begins to say, but Rainey cuts him off.
She lays a hand on his arm, then quietly says, “Don’t. Just please don’t.”
Myles pivots her way, and he looks like he wants to argue, but when he takes in the pain and fear on her face, he melts. He sits down again, arms going around her, and he pulls her in close. “Okay. I’m sorry. What do you want to do?”
When her head lifts, tears are streaming down her face. “I want to go with them.”
“Okay,” he says again, softly reassuring. “We’ll go with them. Let’s go get dressed.”
And just like that, Rainey has tamed her beast of a man. If I weren’t so overwhelmed with grief and fear, I’d respect Myles’ protectiveness of her, but we don’t have time for any of it, because Carrick is right. We could have someone coming after me now. We don’t know if crossing the incubus’ path was a horrible piece of bad luck, or if we were targeted. Until we know more, we have to assume the worst.
Or at least that’s what Carrick told me on the way over here, suggesting we collect Rainey and Myles for safety reasons and bring them to his condo. I had hoped to break it more gently, perhaps ease them into coming with me, but, admittedly, Carrick’s way proved more effective.
It takes no more than two minutes for them to get dressed and come back downstairs. The entire time I just sat slumped in the chair, staring out the windows at the dock, while Carrick held his position at the counter. We all quietly move to the door and leave the Fantasia.
The ride to the condo is tense. Carrick sits in front with Zaid. I sit behind Zaid with Rainey in the middle and Myles on the other side, who stares suspiciously at Zaid the entire time.
Rainey links our arms at the elbow, leans into me, and whispers, “Are you okay?”
“No,” I reply without hesitancy, my resolve to remain stoic crumbling. Tears fill my eyes, and I lean back against her. Then I feel Myles’ arms come around both of us, and we stay that way until we pull into The Prestige.
If Myles and Rainey are impressed by the lobby’s opulence or the fact Carrick has his own elevator, they hold it to themselves. They barely even flinch when the elevator doors open to reveal Titus.
Big as a mountain, dark as night, he looks utterly imposing with his long dreadlocks and light hazel eyes. His ominous bearing is immediately dispelled when he pulls me into a quick hug the minute I follow Carrick and Zaid into the condo.
“You okay, kiddo?” he asks in that baritone voice that emanates from deep in his chest.