Page 174 of Blue Moon

“Sorry I took so long.”

I sniffed back the tears that threatened to escape. Ryder’s here. He’s here, and I’m safe.

“I’ll forgive you as long as I never have to drive myself anywhere ever again.”

“Deal.”

Someone spoke from behind, his voice gruff. “Where’s the other one?”

The next voice was British, and I realised that not all of the people who’d shown up out of nowhere were men. “Tulsa’s chasing her down. She’s actually pretty fast.”

“Emmy?”

Ryder’s boss materialised in front of me. “Is there any kind of trouble you don’t get into?”

“It’s not my fault I got kidnapped.”

“Honey, you drove fifteen miles into a dead end and parked your car in a hole.” Emmy broke into a smile. “But aside from that, you handled the situation pretty well. A goat-milk bath? Good job.”

How did she know about the goat milk? “You went to the house?”

Emmy nodded. “Michelle’s a sweetheart, isn’t she?”

My turn to roll my eyes. “Is Mark Antony…is he…?”

“He’s in the hospital,” Ryder said, brushing hair out of my eyes. “We thought that was what you wanted.”

I was shaking. Actually shaking, but this time it was with relief. “Michelle said we should just let him die, but I…I don’t think he’s horrible. I think he’s sick. Yes, okay, he kidnapped three people, but he looked after us in a weird way. And it’s not as if he killed anyone.”

Emmy and Ryder looked at each other.

“What? He didn’t kill anyone, did he? Tell me.”

“He might have had a hand in Julius’s death,” Ryder said softly.

“No, he told me that was karma.”

“Karma is the name of his pet cobra,” Emmy told me. “The cops found her in Julius’s movie theatre.”

I should have been upset about that, I knew I should, but I just…couldn’t…find it in me. Julius had ruined a big part of my life. He was the man who’d given me nightmares for the past decade. He was the reason I had a collection of silicone dilators and a therapist instead of a healthy sex life.

“Karma for the win. I guess I should send him a thank-you card.”

Emmy just laughed. “That’s my girl. Are you ready to get out of here?”

“What about Kacie and— Ohmigosh! Where’s Rocky?”

“You didn’t leave him in the car?”

“He ran off into the forest with part of a rotting deer carcass right before you got here.”

Now it was the gruff guy’s turn to laugh. “Hey, girls. Who wants to chase down the dog?”

50

EMMY

“If anyone finds out we’re using a billion-dollar stealth prototype to look for a missing dog, they’re gonna lose their shit,” Storm said, dropping us closer to the trees.

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