Page 99 of Ramshackle
“What the hell did you say?” Kellan growls, yanking Dane back and looking like he’s ready to swing at him.
“Kell, it’s fine. He wasn’t wrong.” Portia was taken because of me. The guys are being hunted down because of me.
“Of course I was,” Dane snaps. “If you’re guilty of that, then so are we. So am I. They’ve been looking for me, too.”
“And you were staying hidden until I came along.”
“Will someone tell me what the fuck you’re talking about?” Kellan snarls.
“I made a stupid comment about people getting hurt around her,” Dane grumbles at him before turning back to me. “Everyone associated with GE has that risk, Rae. Especially the members who are starting to help us when we go to the islands. That’s why Kellan’s been training them and why you should get to know them. So, we can reduce that risk by being better prepared and working as a team.”
Kellan smacks the back of Dane’s head.
“Gah! What the fuck, man?” he shouts, grabbing and then rubbing that spot.
“Dane’s an idiot. But also, yes to what he just said. I’m not letting you hide in the shadows anymore, beautiful. So, get that fine ass in the shower and meet me here, or I’ll drag you, sweaty and sexy as you are, to meet them right now.”
“You wouldn’t…” I start, but the words barely leave my lips before I know he fucking would.
He bends, a wolfish grin on his face as he fingers a strand of hair hanging free from my tie. “I’ll even throw you over my shoulder and make you greet them like that if you test me.”
Prick.
After a shower and picking out our lunches in the mess hall, Kellan leads us to one of the many tables in this two-story space. I still can’t get over how large of a room this is and the fact that it’s underground. The greenery in this area makes it feel like the room was built into a forest rather than the other way around.
Kellan sets our tray down in an open spot with room for three. I recognize the small group around us as the ones who joined us on the last island, and wonder if he picked this table because of them.
“Kellan! Hey, is that her?” someone further down the table asks excitedly.
“Welcome.” Evie smiles across from me.
There’s more hushed whispering at the other end of the table, but thankfully, the ones we’re closest to are content to let me settle in and eat. “It’s…Evie, right?” I ask, giving her a return smile.
She nods, her brown hair falling over her shoulder in the movement. “I’m glad you’ve joined us for lunch. I’ve been told by new members that things can be overwhelming, so feel free to ask any of us if you have questions or need something.” The voices at the other end continue to heighten, eclipsing her last words.
Evie slams her fist down on the table, and everything on it rattles. “Quiet down there!”
“Aw, come on, Eves. Either ask the good questions or trade places with me!” one of them calls back.
Someone else leans to the middle of the table, craning around the line of others on this side until they can see me. “Is it true you’ve escaped GE twice?”
“Are you Aiden’s girl?” another jumps in.
“Of course, she is!” a third person answers. “He had a whole manhunt for her. The entire Guild was out looking. He’s never asked us to do anything for him before.”
“I’ll bet you five hundred, she’s not!” Silas, the one who’d tried setting up a wager before the rescue mission, stomps his feet down and leans forward. He grins wildly down the table at the others, waiting to see who’ll take his bet this time.
Evie’s hand pushes the side of Silas’s face, forcing his head to the side. “Stop trying to take everyone’s money. No one’s going to bet against you anymore.”
“Leggo my face,” he mumbles, his cheek smushed behind her hand. A vine wraps around her wrist, and her hand gets pulled back.
Dane leans to whisper in my ear, “Eat, Rae. They’ll keep going like this until someone stops them.”
Right. Eating. I take another bite of my meal, but it’s hard to focus on it when the two across from me are going at it.
Evie yanks against the vine, then grabs the knife by her plate and cuts herself free.
Kellan chuckles on my other side as he eats and watches the show.
