Page 17 of Consumed

“We know her,” Link began. “She was a party girl that hung around for several months before we ran her off. Her old lady aspiration rubbed the sweet butts the wrong way. We ran her off shortly after you arrived.”

Blue plunged into her memory bank, trying to recall the woman but drawing a blank. Then again, she’d been in a fog when she’d first arrived.

“It’s okay if you do not remember her. What we know is that it is a hell of a coincidence that she is now with the MC that you ran from. If not for her old lady aspirations I would ignore it. But you could be her meal ticket. More importantly, being able to tell the Slayers where you are.” He leaned back in his chair. “I’ve been able to match her arrival at the Slayer with the exact time that Hawk stopped contacting you.”

Blue pushed back from the table. “No,” she whispered as she stood. “Why would she do that? She doesn’t know me. I didn’t do anything to her.”

Rock pushed to his feet, holding his hands out in a non-threatening manner when she flinched. “Greed has no rhyme or reason. But now that we know what we are up against, we can come up with a plan.”

Blue shook her head. “No. I have to leave. I came here because I wanted to avoid a conflict. I never thought Hawk would find me here. This isn’t your fight.”

Before she could draw a good breath, Stone and Rock surrounded her. Yet, instead of feeling suffocated, she felt safe. A sensation she wanted to fight instead of dwelling on.

As if sensing her inner struggle, Stone gripped her chin. “In case we didn’t make it clear, yesterday, last night, or this morning, you are ours. We will not allow any harm to come to you. We gave you our word.”

“I know, but this is different,” she whispered.

“How?” Rock asked.

“I’m not a member,” she replied. “I know the rules.”

“Your choice,” he countered. “If we had our way, you’d be wearing a cut right now telling everyone who you belong to.”

She quivered as that image became visible in her mind. Then she remembered that they weren’t alone. Exhaling heavily, she closed her eyes and tried to collect herself. Once she felt steady enough, she turned to look at the other members in the room.

Link motioned for her to retake her seat. After she had, Stone and Rock retook their seats, moving their chairs closer. Their sandwich method was starting to get on her nerves, even if she did find it slightly comforting. She’d discuss that with them later. Right now they had a freaking disaster to deal with.

If Hawk knew where she was, it was only a matter of time before he showed up. They all knew that.

“Until we can deem Hawk is no longer being a threat, you are not to go anywhere alone,” Link stated.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. Stone and Rock probably hadn’t planned to let that happen anyway. This just gave them a reason to be even more over the top about it.

“Okay,” she mumbled.

“If he messages you, let someone know immediately. If anything happens that makes you feel weird, let someone know.”

She looked pointedly at Rock and then Stone before returning her attention to Link. He chuckled and Stone reached out and gripped her thigh in warning. She squirmed in her seat before settling again.

“Is there anything else I can do?” she inquired.

“Yes. If there is anything you can think of that would give us insight into Hawk or just the Slayers in general, it will help. We have to come up with a solid plan. We need to be ready with an offensive and defensive move. I will handle the rest.”

Blue bit her lip to keep from protesting. At least they weren’t telling her to sit around idly while they did all the heavy lifting. Still, it was a bitter pill to swallow. But she was willing to do whatever it took to be rid of the Slayers once and for all.

“Okay,” she agreed as she nodded. “I will help any way that I can.”

Rock reached over and gathered the information spread out on the table. Her stomach chose that moment to gurgle most embarrassingly. Her cheeks flushed with heat.

“Sorry. I slept in and skipped breakfast.”

Stone pushed back from the table. “We’ll take care of that after we grab your stuff?”

“What stuff?” she asked.

“Anything that you have of value in your room,” he clarified.

When it dawned on her why he’d make that request, she clenched her teeth together to keep the words she knew would get her in trouble from spewing forth.

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