Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High 2)

I wondered if they even realized that Ace had been in this house before they’d left, and we hadn’t known it. It made me wonder where the other three were because I had a feeling they were a lot closer than was comfortable.

****

River

“I’m fine. Really,” Emily said.

“Don’t care.” I had a pillow. Gael, Caleb, and Vadik are already camped out in Emily’s bedroom, and I joined them. Her bed was big enough to take us all, but some mattresses had been pulled into the room around her bed.

Caleb sat on the bed, as did Vadik. Gael sat on one of the mattresses, cleaning one of his guns. I’d never been a fan of guns. I much preferred the clean cut of a blade.

“You want us to go?” I asked.

“No, of course not, but I don’t want you to stick around if you don’t want to.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. She didn’t want us to leave, but she was also nervous about asking us to stay. She was so cute.

Climbing onto the bed, I touched her ankle. Bruises had already started to appear on her flesh.

I glanced up her body. Marks were on her legs, and I’d already caught sight of the ones across her stomach and chest.

Finger marks dotted her neck, and she had a cut across her eyebrow, as well as a swollen cheek. My dad should have suffered.

When we’d arrived at the empty apartment building, we discovered subsidence had taken effect and part of the structure had already crumbled down. When we’d gone there years ago, there had been a large split within the walls. We’d decided, as an investment, it had been useless and we’d wait to see where the natural fall of the land happened. There was no reason to pull down the building. It was tightly restricted and guarded. The men we paid had been there waiting. There had been no signs of movement. I’d known we wouldn’t catch our dads.

They were clearly much better at the game of hide-and-seek than we were.

After running a hand down my face, I crawled across the bed and wrapped my arms around her waist as I put my face onto her lap.

“I’m fine, River. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I’m never going to stop worrying about you.” I rubbed my face against her. Letting her go had been the hardest thing I’d ever done, but living with her dead, I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t strong enough to do that.

She ran her fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes, basking in her touch.

“I’m here, River. I’m alive.”

Her voice was croaky from being strangled. “We shouldn’t have left you.”

“Now you know where they’re not.”

“You don’t understand, Emily,” Caleb said. “If they’re not in any of their usual places, or even in old buildings they owned, where are they?”

Silence met Caleb’s question.

“Have you ever thought that maybe they’re here?” Emily asked.

I lifted my head. Gael had finished cleaning his gun and joined us.

“What?”

“Well, Ace was here. No one detected him and Drake went and did a sweep when you guys arrived. No soldiers were killed. He got inside this house undetected.”

“Because he knows this house,” Caleb said.

“Do you guys know this house?”

I looked toward Caleb, who stared at each of us.

“I’m starting to think we don’t know it as well as we could.”

“We could get the blueprints,” Vadik said. “It would give us a clear picture of every single part of the house.”

“I’ll call up the architect,” Caleb said.

Emily reached out, putting a hand over his. “Not tonight,” she said.

“Em, baby, every second I waste puts you in danger.”

“Drake killed one of their own tonight. I imagine if they are close, they know what happened. They’re brothers, like you, right? They will want to mourn the death of their friend. At least for tonight.” She breathed out a sigh. “Besides, there is something I want to talk to you guys about, and I think it’s important.”

“Is this about Ashley?” Vadik asked.

“No. I’m looking forward to seeing her.”

I sat up and she smiled at all of us. “I should probably just get this over with and you know, just deal.” She breathed out a sigh. “Okay, so, we all have a history together. We’ve been through a lot.”

“Em, where are you going with this?” Caleb asked.

“Seriously, let her fucking speak,” Gael shot back.

I chuckled at the sudden death glare Caleb sent Gael. If we all shut up, Emily could get to whatever was on her mind.

“You all speak about me being your woman. I don’t know how this is going to work. If this even can work. There are four of you, and I’ve told you all that I love you.”

We all spoke at the same time, telling her how we felt that we loved her as well. I did, more than anything in the world. I loved her so damn much it scared me.