Page 105 of Temptation
Sebastian came to me and pressed the cold bottle of water to my hand. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. “Your eyes are kinda glassy. Should I call Ash?”
“Nah.” I waved him off. “I’m fine. Just went down memory lane.”
I sat back down and answered Rowan.
Me: I’ll be there at eight.
I just hoped Ophelia and I would be able to get out of here without being noticed. Ash and Dylan would probably strangle me, but I had to see Rowan without the two of them.
* * *
I’d beena jittery mess the rest of the day, and after I came back inside, Dylan was already waiting for me, with Ash next to him. Their faces were pulled, anger simmering from both of them.
It turned out that we were all going to stay in Emercroft Lake until further notice. Dylan argued we were too close to Winworth, while Ash countered we were well-protected with Sons of Hades. Truth to be told, I didn’t want to argue with either one of them, and I left as soon as another guy from Storm’s group, gang, whatever you wanted to call it, came up to us with keys in his hand.
He handed over four sets of keys, one for each of us, explaining that we had rooms on the first floor for us to stay in.
Sebastian was the first one to leave, and I ended up hiding in mine for the rest of the day until they called me down for dinner. Neither Dylan nor Ash came to me, but I knew they watched my every move. If I managed to pull this off tonight, I was going to award myself with an Oscar.
The dinner was a quiet affair, with most of the men sitting around one long table they’d made in the middle of the club, with Ophelia on the other side next to Atlas, and Storm at the head of the table on the other side. We were in the middle, with me sandwiched between Dylan and Ash and Sebastian on Ash’s right.
My stomach churned, and I mainly moved around the items on my plate. I could feel their eyes on me during the dinner, but I didn’t dare look at them.
If I did, I knew I would tell them about Rowan’s messages, and now wasn’t the time to add that on their list of things they needed to worry about.
Ophelia ignored Storm even after he called her name, and it was interesting watching him blistering from anger. Indigo sat on the left side from Storm, and even though I didn’t get the names of the rest of the guys, I had a feeling that we were as safe as we could get.
“I think I’m going to go for a cigarette,” I announced as I sat up, taking my beer bottle with me.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Ash asked.
“No.” I placed my hand on his shoulder. “I just want to breathe in some fresh air. I’ll go straight to bed.”
“It’s not even eight yet,” Dylan murmured, looking at me.
“I’m tired, Dy. I just want to sleep and forget that all these things are happening. At least for one night.”
The two of them exchanged a look, and I would’ve loved to be able to read their minds. But even without any special powers, I understood they worked better when they were together. Sebastian glanced at them, then at me, frowning as I stepped back.
Maybe I was paranoid, maybe I was just reading too much into things, but I tried forgetting about all three of them as I walked toward the back exit.
Fresh air slammed into me as soon as I stepped out. My phone was in my back pocket, and I kept my hand on it, hoping to hear from Rowan again. But after that message I sent, he never replied even though he read it.
I just hoped that they hadn’t gotten to him. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if he ended up in trouble because of me. Right now, Judah didn’t suspect him, regardless of his association with me.
He had no reason to suspect him, and if everything he said about Danny was true, then he was the one with fewest possibilities of getting caught. Hopefully it would stay that way.
I pulled out a packet of cigarettes I finally took from Ash’s car during the day, and took one out, placing it between my lips. The familiar burn spread through my lungs as I lit it up and inhaled the first puff of smoke, reveling in the feeling just for one moment.
Smoke billowed around me, disappearing into the cold night. I wrapped one of my arms around my middle, holding the cigarette in my other hand. I could hear the voices from the inside—the laughter, the clinking of glasses, and I wished I could enjoy this evening.
But it was like the calm before the storm, and no matter how many times I told myself that everything was going to be okay, a heavy feeling settled on top of my heart like a heavy blanket, and I couldn’t seem to shake it off.
I knew Ash was going to do everything in his power to end this, but what if he couldn’t? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to live a life spent running away from those people. I didn’t want to live without Ash and Dylan either, and what if something happened to them?
I had to go and meet Rowan even if the two of them ended up hating me later. What I had told Ophelia was the truth—I didn’t want to sit idly by while somebody else fought my battles. If Ash didn’t want to tell me what was going on, then I was going to find other ways to participate.
The door behind me banged against the wall as it opened, and I turned around expecting to see Ophelia, only it wasn’t her.
