Page 83 of They Break Beauty

She blew out a breath, then slammed the door shut with a brutal thud. “Sons of bitches actually siphoned my gas!”

“Yeah, I’m getting that.”

She shot me a look over the hood. “I don’t need your sarcasm right now.”

“That was my creepy calculative tone, Wildflower.”

Her eyes lit with mirth and a slight smile curved her lips. “Oh, shut up,” she said, but there was definite humor there in it.

I walked around the car to meet her on the driver’s side. “We both know that’s not possible for me.”

“Never have truer words been spoken.”

I chuckled and she actually joined me.

The sound was… incredible.

But it came to an end all too quickly as her focus returned to this bullshit that had happened to her car.

It was Hex.

Hex had happened to her car.

It was Mason through and through.

The motherfucker had targeted her while I’d been gone.

It was one of his go-to tactics.

I pulled out my phone. “I’ll fix this.”

“I’ll handle it. It’s fine. Now I’m past the initial rage, it’s onto the problem-solving part of this shit show.”

“While I don’t doubt your ability to take care of it yourself, I have connections here in Stonewell. I can get you the gas and have your car moved to your apartment complex too.”

She eyed me skeptically. “And what’s the price going to be?”

“Price? Nothing. Like I said, connections.”

“I mean your price, Hell Spawn.”

I smiled to myself. I knew that was what she called me in her phone. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“This is my fault. The least I can do is fix it.”

“Your fault? You weren’t even here.”

“Mason is doing this because I pulled you close to me, because I’m showing a lot of interest in you.”

“Why is that his concern?”

“It’s a long story.”

“One I want to hear. But not right now.” She reached into the backseat of the car, then pulled out her messenger bag. “I need to see if I can still catch Professor Ruiz before she leaves. She’s known for staying late. I need her help fixing the other attack from Hex. As much as it pains me to say it, I wasn’t able to do it myself.”

“Fix what? What other attack?”

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