Page 16 of Raze
I reach down and snag the sheet to cover myself with while he’s distracted. “Sure is.” He looks annoyed by that and I pick up a pillow to chuck at him. “Someone didn’t let me go back to my apartment. So, rather than sleep in my dirty, bloody clothes, ornaked, yes, I took your shirt. Next time, I’ll keep them on if you’re so upset about it. And thank fuck I didn’t sleep naked since you have absolutely no regard for personal boundaries.”
His deep chocolate eyes narrow at me. “It’s my room.”
“ThatIwas told to sleep in. But if you’re going to make this a habit, I’ll sleep in Kell’s or Jack’s room instead. Or the armory.” Actually, that last one isn’t a bad idea.
“You’ll do no such thing.” He throws my clothes from last night at me. “Here. It’s called a washing machine. Now get dressed so we can chat about what happened.”
My teeth click together as the rage at this man burns me up inside. I throw the sheet back and stand, angrily pulling on my pants while glaring at him the entire time. He doesn’t break eye contact with me. Maybe he thinks this is some sort of power play, but he holds my glare until I get to my shirt. As soon as I flip it up and over my head, he turns away from me and mutters something. Before hecan continue his tirade about last night, I try to shut it down first. “What happened last night is none of your business. Dane is still here, right? And we’re both in one piece. So, no thank you, I will not take a scolding before breakfast and coffee.” I check the clock on the nightstand and see that it’s just past eleven. So…maybe five hours of sleep? It’s better than nothing, but I’m definitely grumpy.
Coffee then.
I open the door to leave the room and this conversation behind, but Aiden stalks after me. “What if he wasn’t? What if he left while you were sleeping? Just because something didn’t happen, doesn’t mean that it couldn’t have. You can’t go running out in the middle of the night, putting all of us in more danger because you don’t know how to play well with others.”
“Back off.”
I startle and see Dane scrubbing his eyes from the couch. Either he just so happened to wake up, or our fight has done it. I’m going to guess it’s the latter by the annoyed look on his face. What’s the most shocking thing is that he’s aiming that ire at Aiden instead of me.
Aiden is just as surprised when he looks at him.
“Leave her alone. I made her do it. If you’re going to bitch anyone out, it should be me. But save it for after I’ve had at least eight hours of sleep or I might punch you.”
Aiden looks at me, and I shrug. As much as I’d love to believe he’s doing this for me, I know he’s just trying to keep Aiden off our backs so that I’ll keep helping him with Vera. I walk into the kitchen and start preparing the coffee pot.
Someone comes in after me. I’m expecting it to be Aiden, who might try to whisper his threats to me instead, but when I look up, I see him sitting at the dining table on his phone. Dane is rifling through the refrigerator and pulls out eggs, cheese, and bacon. He doesn’t say anything to me, just starts up the stove and makes breakfast.
I think I’d take his jabs right now over the quiet because I don’t know how I should act or feel when he isn’t saying anything to me. He’s harder to be angry with or avoid when he’s not giving me his recent poison.
I chew on my lip and stare at the slow drip of the coffee that now feels like it’ll take forever to brew. I prefer this machine over the individual cup type Elias has in his apartments, but now I can see the benefit of the speed in getting a single cup.
Kellan emerges from his room and spots the empty living room where Dane is expected to be. He sees us in the kitchen and Aiden at the dining table and shrugs without comment. “Morning, team,” he teases with a grin.
He sidles up next to me and peers into the slow but steadily filling coffee pot. “You sleep okay in Aiden’s stuffy room?”
I break out into a smile. “I’d have slept better if he hadn’t come in unannounced to wake me up.”
Kellan clicks his tongue. “Rude,” he says loud enough for Aiden to hear him while smirking at him. “You can stay in my room tonight. I can take the couch, since Dane no longer seems to be occupying it.”
“She’s not staying in any of our rooms tonight,” Aiden says,though his eyes haven’t left the screen of his phone. I have no idea what he’s doing or why he’s on it so much, but I’ve never been attached to a phone before. Maybe you need people on the other end of it to hold your interest. Or maybe he’s a solitaire nerd. No, definitely sudoku.
“Oh?” Kellan’s eyebrows raise, but there’s an undercurrent of something sharp and dangerous there. “And why is that?”
I decide not to get involved because getting kicked out is what I originally wanted, anyway. Being with them in such close quarters is…well, it’s bringing up old memories and feelings I’d rather not have that could distract me from my goals. Getting back to my apartment and having my own space and plans will be a welcome relief from…whatever this is.
Dane doesn’t say a word, but I can tell he’s listening intently to the conversation by the way he’s turned the heat down on the bacon and stopped mixing the eggs while he waits for Aiden’s reply.
Jackson pops out of his room at the end of the hall. His eyes stop on me for a beat and then he takes a seat at the table.
“Well, since you’re all here, we can go over our next steps. Now that we know Vera is working with GE, we’ll have to avoid and take better care of using technology.” That’s easier said than done. Everything runs on technology nowadays. Locks. Starting cars. Security systems. “Which means the Guild members can’t return to the Tower today like I’d hoped. The entire building runs on technology for all its security. Since GE knows about the Guild and the Tower, then Vera does, too. We’ll need to shore up the stores and supplies at the Guild’s current location and make sure any outside access totheir utilities is protected.”
“How will that stop her?” I ask, genuinely curious.
Dane pours the eggs into the pan in a loud sizzle. “She has to either touch something with electricity to control it, or if it’s connected to the internet, she has to know where to look to hack it. As long as she doesn’t know where the Guild is hiding and we don’t go poking at GE from their network, they’re safe from her.”
Now that he’s said it, I remember her always having her hand on something before it’ll do what she wants it to. Good to know we don’t have to dump technology completely.
“Okay. And what about that other guy Jack mentioned last night? Who is he to you guys, and how did you piss him off?”
“Why would you assume we did anything?” Aiden challenges back.
