Page 51 of Ramshackle
“In his office, probably,” he answers, scratching at his beard. “But they can wait. You need to eat.”
Tossing the duffle bag on the bed, I start toward the door. “I need to talk to everyone first. I’ll eat after.” I open the door and stare out into the unfamiliar hallway. “Um…”
Kellan chuckles and wraps his arm around my shoulders. “I’ve got you, beautiful. It’s this way.” We turn right, passing otherrooms identical to this one, so now I know I’ll need help on my way back, too. Jackson smiles at me again when I peek over my shoulder to make sure he’s coming along as well.
This catch-up is for everyone. No more secret missions. No more hiding.
The guys came for me. They had my back.
It changes everything.
The least I can do is try to work with them now and see where it gets us.
My knee begins to ache before long, but I grit my teeth and push through it. I don’t want Aiden, or any of them, to see this weakness and think that I’m not up for the fight anymore.
But the pain brings back the memory of how I got it, of Gordon and Mallory, and I bite the inside of my cheek.No. Don’t think about it.
I still haven’t fully processed everything that happened, but I don’t want to. I shove those thoughts and feelings away into a black box in the corner of my mind and force my thoughts on the future.
We stop, and I realize I missed the entire walk here while lost in my head.
“Ah, there she is. Raegan, it’s so nice to see you again! We’re all relieved that you’re back. How do you feel?” The tall, dark woman standing in front of us smiles warmly. I met her when Aiden brought me around the Guild for some meeting of his. What was her name? Sarah? Serena? Also, we? All? Who is she talking about?
“Oh, uh, thank you. I’m all right.”
She nods and focuses back on Aiden, who’s sitting behind a simple wooden desk. “I’ll come back another time to finish our conversation. I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on.”
“Thank you, Cibrina.” Aiden nods in return, though his eyes are locked on mine.
The door closes, and it’s like all the oxygen has been sucked from the room. There’s so much to say. So many things that have happened. I could start with anything, really, but I’m suddenly at a loss for words now that I’m in a room with all of them again.
“Have you eaten?” Aiden prompts, already lifting the phone on his desk and pressing a key. He looks me up and down as if my appearance will somehow answer that question for him, his brow pinched.
“No, but we need to talk—”
“Yes, she’s awake,” he cuts me off when someone answers the call. “Is the rush there, or is someone able to bring it to my office? Yes. Okay, I appreciate it. Thanks.”
He hangs up, and Kellan snorts on my left. “No food for the little people, huh?”
Dane scoffs from his desk in the corner of the small room. “Who the hell has ever called you little?”
“It’s an expression, Rapunzel. I’m just saying—”
Aiden and I continue to stare at one another in silence through their bickering. As much as I want to be annoyed with him for ordering me food anyway and not even asking what I want, I can’t deny that I’m already beginning to feel a little dizzy. My body might annoyingly need more rest, or maybe I am hungrier than I realize. Either way, I don’t immediately chew him out for it.
“I need a map,” I blurt out. I have so many things to catch them up on, and it all wants to come out in a rush. Anything to keep the attention on our next steps and not on me.
My knee begins to quiver, and Aiden stands just as Jackson wordlessly takes my hand and nudges me to sit in one of the chairs at the mini round table. I drop into it and expel a breath of relief when I’m no longer standing. Aiden pulls out the seat across from me, and Dane joins us to my right.
Kellan falls unceremoniously into the loveseat sofa, spreading his legs out and leaning over them, while Jack stands behind my chair, hands buried in his hoodie pocket.
“A map of what?” Aiden asks smoothly, his voice strangely void of his usual cynicism.
“The Caribbean and the Gulf. One that shows the islands on it.”
Dane leans toward me over the table. “Wait, you want to jump into that? Areyouokay? Do you need to talk about—”
“No, I don’t.” That’s the last thing I want: to share my trauma with them. There’s nothing that happened to me that’s going to help us get rid of GE. I gave myself up, thinking I could hold out long enough to take them down from the inside on my own.
