Page 113 of The Masks She Wore

?I turned back to Malachi dryly, finding my father gazing at Azrael with concern before he finally found my eyes again. “Nora received a letter telling her to wear a white mask, to avoid Rae, signed ‘Gage’ she claimed.”

?“Claimed,” Poppy said, standing behind Azrael as if she worried he would disappear again. “You don’t believe her.”

?“There is always something more. She named two others. Carrie James and Benji Kerse. They were the only other two wearing a white mask, unfortunately for me, there were no cameras pointed at the bar, just the entrance.”

?“Benji Kerse was my mom’s best friend,” I heard a hoarse voice say.

?We all turned save for Azrael, whose smile only grew as if he had been waiting his entire life for this moment.

?Rae was standing in the doorway, her hair brushed and braided into two French braids, wearing leggings and an oversized blue sweater that had a wide, dip neck, revealing her collar and her scar. I had told her over and over again how good she looked in dark blue, and she was proving over and over again how much she wanted to make sure she had heard that. I appreciated that about her.

?Her eyes remained locked on mine as she walked out, her steps unsteady, her body clearly sore. “Carrie James worked at the storage unit where my mom put all of my gifts. They talked often.”

?She walked up to me, behind me, slid her hands over my shoulders, pressing into the back of the chair as if I brought her a bit of comfort in this place filled with strangers.

?“Hello, daffodil,” Azrael greeted.

?I gave him a warning look. If he even leaned towards her, I’d rip his arm off and shove it up his fucking ass.

?“How are you feeling, Charlotte?” Malachi asked.

?“Rae,” she corrected, her voice holding a bit of edge. “My name is Rae. As for your question? It’s a little complicated to answer, but I mean no disrespect. I haven’t slept in a very long time, so I truly don’t have the strength to pretend like any of this is normal.”

?“Jack,” Azrael pouted. “You haven’t let the poor girl rest? That’s a bit cruel, don’t you think?”

?Coming from the man who loved to steal sleep from the women he fucked.

?“He’s the only reason I’ve gotten the rest that I have,” Rae put in, her voice hard.

?Azrael’s smile widened, his mask shifting under the strain. “My, my, you’ve got yourself one with teeth. How…tempting.”

?The warning bells rang in my head, forcing me to slide my hand over hers. “She starts training this evening, so I’d watch my step if I were you.”

?Azrael chuckled. “No amount of training can prepare her for me, dear brother.”

?He was right, but I’d do my very best.

?“Training?” Beckett asked, stepping up to the table. “You want her to go through the Program? That’s a year of dedication, Jack—”

?“No,” I interjected. “My training. I will be training her. She won’t be allowed out of mine or Zo’s sight, not until we figure this out.”

?Malachi nodded, his eyes shifting to Rae’s. “We’ll get to the bottomof this, Rae, as for now, stay by his side, do as he says.” Malachi still wasn’t sure which side she was on, but I appreciated his candor.

?“Why are you here?” she asked instead, causing Malachi’s eyes to harden. “Any of you,” she went on, uncaring for her safety, apparently. “They haven’t told me much, but from what I’ve deduced, you don’t do ‘family assignments’. What’s so important about this?”

?She was only half wrong.Wedidn’t do family assignments, but sometimes Everett, Evelyn, Malachi, and some woman he got to play his wife did. The rest of us, not so much. My good little observer.

?“She was my friend—”

?“She was a lot of people’s friends,” Rae countered. “She wasn’t your friend enough to know what happened to her. Scotland Yard had to call you eight months after her…” she struggled for the word. “Disappearance.”

?Malachi lifted a brow, his eyes no less hard. “You’ve shifted perspectives.”

?“I’ve been forced to do a lot of things since meeting Jack Ashrin.” She stepped around me, pulling her phone out of her pocket, and placed it on the table in front of me. “I’ve deleted everything. No social media, no posting, no geo-tagging. There are no pictures on that phone before my mom disappeared.” She leaned over until her head was beside mine. “Something you and Zo both missed.”

?The angerboiled under my skin, and I snatched her neck before she could move away. “I cloned your phone, Rae, I always knew.”

?Her hard eyes met mine. “You never mentioned it.”

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