Page 21 of Peaceful Chaos

A Spark of Luck

Raven

Sinand I hide out in our room until almost noon. There's nowhere to go anyway. Outside our bedroom window we can hear the guys messing around in the yard. I kiss Sin on the cheek. "Sounds like they're trying to play football. Why don't you go join them. I'll make some sandwiches?"

I can tell he needs to blow off some steam. "Yeah, I need to talk to Luce about the house he found."

We head in separate directions and I find Jen and Amber already putting together lunch in the kitchen. "How much longer do you think we're going to have to be here?" Jen asks. She chews on her bottom lip, and I can tell she's nervous asking me.

"What's wrong?" I ask her.

"I got an email from the nursing department. I've been pushed out of this round because I missed the start of this rotation of clinicals. If I don't start the next round I'm going to be cut from the program."

I put my hands on her shoulders and turn her to face me. "I'm so sorry you've been pulled into this. You know I'd do anything to go back and keep you out of all of it."

She shakes her head. "No, I wouldn't change it. I'm happy to be in your corner. You're a good person, Raven. I don't trust people easily, and when I find people I can, I hold on to them."

"And I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate that. Even so, you've all given up too much by being friends with us." I look around and make sure my uncle is nowhere around. "Sin called his father today. We're getting a legal team because Grant is making noise about the deal he gave us. Our days of sitting on our hands are coming to an end."

"What's coming to an end?" Lucien asks, entering into the room. He grabs Amber and kisses the side of her head.

She swats at him playfully. "Gross, you're all sweaty."

"You like me sweaty," he teases, but he lets her go. "What are we talking about?" he asks the rest of us.

"Jen is going to be kicked out of the nursing program. We can't continue to do nothing."

"Raven," she whisper-shouts.

"No more secrets, Jen. If we're in this together the way you keep insisting, then I get to have your back too. I won't let you give up everything you've worked so hard for," I protest.

"Jen?" Shane asks, and I realize she hasn't told him yet.

Her head droops down, and she mutters, "Yeah. I've been pushed back to the next class." Rolling her shoulders back, she lifts her head and clears her throat. "And I was warned I'll be dropped from the program and have to reapply if I don't return when those clinicals start in a couple weeks."

Shane wraps her in his arms and holds her. "We'll fix this." He looks over her shoulder and locks eyes with Sin. "Right? We can fix this so she doesn't get kicked out of school?"

Sin takes a seat on one of the barstools. I set a plate of food in front of him while we all wait for him to gather his thoughts. He sets his phone down on the counter, more focused on it than his food. "None of you are giving up anything else. We're already living on top of each other in this house. We've had to miss school, but hopefully all of this changes soon. Javier texted me. He wants to meet tonight."

"Here?" Shane asks. He lets go of Jen and paces the room. "There's too many eyes on this place. I don't think there's anything I can do to ensure Damien doesn't get wind of him coming here. I could try and loop the cameras, because I'm sure he's monitoring the feed, but that could actually backfire if he's got people nearby watching us."

The idea of my father having some of his men nearby makes me shiver. I still wrestle with the knowledge that part of him covets me. He's toyed with the idea of selling me to be used by his perverted clients, and I fear he's still drawn to it because it would mean he owns me.

"We need to go to the gym," Ford speaks up for the first time.

"How do we sneak out of here?" Teddy asks. "Because we are all going. Jen is risking school. Ford might lose his spot on the football team. Everyone has skin in the game, so everyone should be involved from here forward."

Sin grabs his phone. "You're right. I'll set it up. We need to figure out how to slip out of here, but first we need to make sure Javier will be waiting for us."

Brett knocks on the wall near the garage door. "I know better than to sneak up on you. Let me handle getting you all out of here. Grant is gone for the day, so we can take you out in our vehicles."

* * *

Brett leavesus with the rest of the agents for a few hours while we wait for the meeting. He comes back around five, not long before we need to leave for the gym. He carries a large paper bag with a hardware store logo printed on one side. He sets it down and starts pulling out packs of smart bulbs.

"What are you doing?" I ask curiously.

He scratches his head and gives each of us a searching glance. "Grant has no idea we're doing this, and we need to keep it that way."

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