Page 21 of Stars and Scars

“But I’d like to.”

I can’t quite meet his gaze, and play with my idle phone in my lap. When it rings, I nearly drop it on the floor.

I sheepishly accept a call from Steven.

“Hey, Stevie, what’s the good word? Have you heard anything from Etsy?”

When I get a moment of silence in response, I know something else has gone wrong.

“Ah, nothing from Etsy yet. And Char-Char? We’ve got a problem. I was monitoring your DMs and something came through that I think you’ll want to see.”

I attempt to swallow the lump in my throat.

“Okay. Can you send a screenshot? I have a lot of DMs on a lot of accounts, you know.”

“Of course.”

A couple of seconds later, my phone pings. I check the image and a scowl deepens on my face.

“What? Now they’re trying to get me to pay them, too?”

Grayson’s gaze darts my way for a moment, puzzlement furrowing his brow.

“What?”

“It’s right here in a direct message. If I don’t wire ten grand into their account, then I’m going to, and I quote, ‘suffer the consequences.’”

“Ostensibly, the Order does not care about money. It seems out of character based on what we know of them. But I wouldn't rule anything out. This cult is obsessed with you for some reason, so we should expect the unexpected.”

I groan and give him a glare. “Expect the unexpected? Got anything less formulaic to say? Or do they not cover that in the CIA?”

Grayson’s frown deepens, but Steve’s voice distracts me.

“Ah, Char-Char, the extortion demand isn’t the only reason I called. There’s a new video on your pages that none of us uploaded, and I’m pretty sure you didn’t, either.”

“Oh no. I’ll check it out. Thanks for the heads up, Steven.”

“Yeah. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, and all of that. Tell your hot new boy toy I said hello.”

I only grunt in response, but my cheeks are burning. My hands shake as I open one of my social media pages. My heart plummets to my feet when I see the Order logo.

6

GRAYSON

Ipeer over at the screen in Charlotte’s hand. My mind still reels from the fact the Order demanded a cash payment. From my admittedly brief research on the group, that seems unusual for them. Not their usual modus operandi.

But before I can digest that, the new video demands my attention. The Order’s logo, a bastardized union of freemason and new age symbolism, appears as a voice over begins.

“We are the Aegis Order. We are the silent majority.”

I crane my head to the side, putting my ear closer to the phone.

“What is it?” Charlotte asks.

“There's something odd about the voice. Like it’s AI generated, maybe. The inflection is mechanical, too precise.”

I stop talking, because the voice over begins anew.

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