Page 1 of Run From Me

ONE

xander

Rylee and Caslooked so sweet my fucking teeth hurt. Winnie dabbed at her eyes as Cas kissed his bride.

Courthouse wedding, check. Low-profile enough not to get any of us shot, check.

The party later? Security would be tight, and for once, I wasn’t the one at the door.

A healthy dose of paranoia had Zeid and me glancing at all doors all the time. If this weren’t Rylee standing up with Cas, I’d probably have talked him out of this shit. I did better with funerals. And thinking of the dead, I checked my watch.

How long had it been since I’d talked to Cali? What a request. Take her to the reception. Sure. Okay. Then nothing, no messages about when to get her for the reception. And nothing about the mayor, either.

I’d have to assume he wasn’t on her agenda for the night. It was fine. I hadn’t exactly expected him to end up on ice today either. Winnie stood on Rylee’s side, looking ever the matriarch of this band of violent fucks. One big happy disaster of a family. I wasn’t going to get all the feels. I refused. I really needed to go beat something.

Rylee and Cas kissed again before sealing the deal with a piece of paper. Back to reality. This mayor shit was really cramping our style. I should force Cali to get him on the table sooner rather than later. We needed answers. Enough of this wild goose chase shit. We lived for the chase, but enough was enough.

I sighed as Cas and Rylee smiled at each other.

Huh. I guess his face didn’t crack. Good to know.

What about my little promise? Was that going to make me crack? I wouldn’t think much about that request of hers. A date to the reception. I asked for a favor, and she asked for one back. Maybe it was the idea of walking into a nest of Spectors? The girl had balls doing what she did all day. All those long-since-dead bodies gave me the creeps. I really preferred them fresh and less bloated.

Thank god this was quick. Too bad I still couldn’t keep my mind on my best friend and his girl. My mind just kept going back to a little spitfire of a thing. Cali could hold her own, that was for sure. I’d never underestimate Cali in a fight.

“Put that away,” Zeid said from behind me.

I’d absentmindedly been flipping my butterfly knife open and closed to deal with the energy I couldn’t blow off at the ring tonight.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

With the knife away, I was still in this holding pattern. I guess I could just swing by the county morgue and check in on her.

Focus. I needed to focus on the wedding.

I scratched at the smooth skin of my chin. I’d even shaved for this shit. Yeah, I was a real best friend.

I smiled at Cas as he looked over his shoulder.

“Ready?”

I nodded toward the doors that were still working their way back to closed.

“Zeid’s got the Escalade waiting for you two lovebirds.”

Rylee giggled as Cas picked her up in his arms, kissing her again.

“Look, I’m glad you two finally got your shit together, but you need to tone down this PDA when she moves in. I’ll meet you two at the reception as soon as I get Cali.”

Rylee shot me a look over Cas’s shoulder.

“Why are you getting her?”

I shrugged as I hooked my thumbs in my pockets.

“She asked, and I accepted.”

I wanted to pretend like I could read her look, but shit.

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