The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

We left Jace behind and I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. The right or wrong thing.

Gray. Everything was just gray. There was no longer black or white.

I was vaguely aware of Tray’s hands at my elbows, but I was lifted onto a boat and deposited on a back seat.

Tray was speaking to someone, his brother. They looked so much alike.

Once upon a time, I knew another pair of brothers.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Grayley would be fine. He was dehydrated and a little malnourished, but he’d be just fine after some much needed rest and lots of fluids. He already looked better, hooked up to an IV drip and whatever else the nurse gave him. She named some kind of medication, but I was clueless. I didn’t care what they gave him, as long as Grayley would be fine.

Tray’s brother had his two co-workers bring us to the hospital. Tray and Chance had reconvened at Tray’s home. I figured they had plenty to talk about. Later, one of Chance’s co-workers mentioned that Lily—Galverson’s daughter—was waiting for Chance at their hotel. I’m sure that was going to be an awkward conversation. I couldn’t muster up much sympathy for the girl, but I guess I should’ve. She just lost her father, right? I should care.

Hell, I didn’t know what it was like to have a father anyway.

I sighed as the car was pulled over just outside my home.

One of the agents stayed behind with Grayley. The other picked the short straw and got to chauffeur me around.

Dumb luck for her. Because she was about to see some major fireworks.

Both of Shelley and Kevin’s cars were in the driveway.

“You alright?” Her name was Karen, the agent that worked on Chance’s team. Or at least that’s what Tray had explained to me. I met her eyes in the rear-view mirror. She looked nice, a bit concerned, but mostly just curious.

“I’ve been through the wringer and don’t really have the energy to walk into a second one right now,” I replied dully.

“Folks going to be pissed, huh?” Like I said, she was nice. Just nice.

“Karen,” I murmured, “you don’t know the half of it.”

“I can come in with you, if you’d like. Chance told me to make sure you’re alright and bring you back to the house. You’re my job right now, Miss Matthews.”

“It’s Taryn.”

“Taryn, it is.” Karen beamed.

Karen was a bit too peppy for my usual mood, much less what I was in now.

“I’ll just go in and pack my bags,” I murmured, already out the door and heading up the sidewalk. I could hear yelling even before I opened the door, but the sound was even more abrasive, lambasting me once I actually opened it.

“You will listen to me, young lady!” Kevin shouted, finger pointed in the air. “You will change your attitude or you’ll be going right back to that rehab.”

“Dad!” Mandy gasped.

Mandy was home. And why didn’t that surprise me?

I blinked in as I took in the sight. It was so much of a family meeting that I almost felt left out. Austin sat on the stairs, cradling his head. Shelley sat against the wall, arms folded across her chest. Devon was at the kitchen table, looking a little nervous. And Mandy and Kevin were toe to toe in the kitchen.

“You have brought so much shame on this family and I will not stand for your disrespect, young lady.”

“So you’re going to ship me off again? Oh wait! You weren’t even the one to do it in the first place!”

“No, but I would’ve. And I won’t hesitate to do it this time.”

“Kevin,” Shelley moaned, “stop, please. I can’t handle anymore.”