Page 44 of Scorned

Winnie

It had only been three days since Sage met with her mom. Every night after that, I’d talked back and forth with Naomi on a burner phone, until we’d hit a dead end. Needing to find the VRC location, I made a possibly deadly decision.

“Are you sure that’s what she said?” Sage asked as she dug in the fridge for a snack.

As I sat at the computer in my living room, I could feel Lyric’s gaze on me, but I kept my eyes fixed on the screen, weaving a web of lies. “Yep.”

“It just doesn’t make sense.” She shut the fridge and came back into the living room. “If she has information, then why didn’t she give it to you?”

Concern for her mother filled me just as much as I assumed it worried her. I hoped we weren’t getting played by Naomi. Even though it was a possibility, I had limited options.

“Like I said before, she wants to meet up with us. And don’t get excited about seeing your mom. Naomi said she’s coming alone.”

“Then I am too.”

Knowing Sage would figure out something was up if I didn’t play along with the lies I fed her, I made sure I seemed irritated. “You’re not going alone, and if I have to bring Marcus in on this conversation, I will.”

“Whatever, snitch.” She sighed before plopping down on the old tan couch and pulling the top off a yogurt container.

“This is serious, Sage. You’re public enemy number one right now. You can’t be doing shit alone when you have a team of people willing to support you. It’s unsafe. Not to mention, stupid as fuck.”

“Winston is right. We should go with you,” Lyric chimed in, and I was grateful—Sage was more likely to listen to her than me.

Thanks to Jimmy telling Nellie that he would be manning the computers while I went on a mission to meet Naomi, Sage hadn’t been the only one I’d lied to. My girlfriend had also found out, and they both had questions.

If I come back from this secret mission, they’re gonna be pissed.

“When do we leave?” Sage asked with a mouthful of yogurt.

“Once I get back from town, we’ll call Naomi and set a time to meet up.”

I stood and slid on my leather jacket, then leaned down and kissed Lyric goodbye. When I pulled away and saw her excited smile, shame burrowed its way into my chest.

“You and Erik have fun.”

Lyric thought I was taking her brother to the store to get some personal items I’d forgotten to pick up on our last trip. She said it would be a great bonding experience.

“You two have fun on your girls’ day.” Worried my dishonesty would show, I headed for the door.

Once outside, I went three cabins down to find Marcus, Jimmy, Erik, and Peach huddling on the side of it, waiting for me.

“Did you get out easily?”

“Yeah, Marcus. They believed everything I said. My girlfriend probably won’t trust me after this.”

Peach squeezed my shoulder. “It’s best neither of them knows about this. Lyric will just worry all night, and you know Sage will insist on going.”

Knowing what we were about to do was incredibly dangerous, I let out a long breath. “Just make sure you keep them out of my cabin for as long as you can, Peach. Lyric is familiar with what I do. If she catches Jimmy hacking, she’ll know something is up.”

Peach nodded.

Marcus gave me a bro shake before pulling me in for a half hug. “You two be careful.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep the blood bag safe.” I gave Erik a fanged smile, and he let out a sigh of annoyance before heading to the driver’s side of one of the Venom vans.

He looked nervous, attempting to buckle his seatbelt as I hopped in the passenger seat.

“If you die, do you want me to turn you?” I asked. His eyes were wide when his head whipped toward me. “Don’t look so shocked, bro. I’m dating your sister, and I actually care about her.”

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