Page 29 of Emerge

Chapter Nine

Riley

Ipacked my bag with all the items Blake printed out on a piece of farm animal stationary. I was slightly on edge about the secret location he planned on taking us for the three-day weekend. Teachers had an in-service day, which meant we got the day off while they had to go to school still. Can't say I felt bad about that at all.

"Two pairs of jeans, yoga pants, tops, bikini, sexy dress, pajamas optional." I ran down the list of required clothing and wondered how it related to the stationary it was printed on.

I didn't think it was a great idea to be taking a vacation when a psychotic demigod siren was after me. We were still no closer to figuring out where he was, and he tended to just pop up unannounced and demand I join him while destroying everything around him.

First, he destroyed Ivy's confidence, and then the facility. What would be next?

Joining him would be the last thing I'd do, which meant it was only a matter of time before he took me.

I zipped up my overnight bag and headed downstairs, where my guys were waiting for me. My guys. Just a few short months ago I wasn't even on their radar, and now I was smack dab in the middle of it.

"I told Finn where we were going, and he made sure to tell your mom." Blake grinned as I scrunched my face at the mention of Finn and my mom together.

It's not that I didn't want my mom to find love, but did it have to be with Finn West? I'd never get over him tying me to a chair and attempting to waterboard me. Who does that?

"If they get married, you two will be brother and sister." Morgan cackled as Jax lunged for him. Morgan wasn't fast enough and got smacked in the back of the head. They fought like siblings.

"Who cares about what our parents do." Jax took my bag from me. "It's been a long time since I've seen my dad smile."

"I saw him smile right before he put a cloth over my face like a lunatic." Everyone stopped in their tracks, causing me to bump into Morgan, who sucked in a sharp breath. "But I guess my mom did cut off my dad's dick, so there's that."

A sudden fit of giggles overtook me, and I leaned back against the wall as laughter shook my body. I felt like I was in a paranormal romance thriller and the author wanted to see how far she could push me until I lost it. I was on the edge of that cliff.

"This is exactly why we need to get away." Blake wrapped his arm around my waist and guided me toward the garage as my giggles slowly faded into a deep frown.

I had considered myself a mentally stable person up until this point, but I was different now. I felt calmer with Blake's arm around me and slid into the middle seat in the back, right next to him.

"Where am I going?" Jax asked as we pulled out of the garage. He handed Blake his phone so he could type in the address.

"I promise you guys are going to love it. I booked the whole place so we could have privacy." Blake bounced like a little kid on his way to Disneyland for the first time as he handed the phone back to Jax. "We need this."

"What was with the farm animal stationary?" Morgan turned from the front passenger seat to look back at us. "We aren't going to a farm, are we?"

Blake didn't respond, and I eyed him suspiciously. We were definitely going to a farm, and I snorted, thinking about a fieldtrip from third grade to a pumpkin patch.

"The last time I was on a farm, the sheep nearly stampeded my class trying to get away from us." I put my head on Blake's shoulder. "Ivy still, to this day, blames herself."

Jax snorted from the front seat and Morgan turned. "What happened?"

"We were watching them get shaved and Ivy had just come back from the bathroom. She walked into the pen and it was like all hell broke loose. They rushed around, knocked down a few kids. It was crazy."

Blake was tracing a finger on my arm and it made me want to fall asleep. "I don't know much about farm animal behavior. We've never been to a farm or near farm animals."

"Really?" I sat up. "You are in for quite the smelly surprise, although it depends on what kinds of animals they have."

I forgot that they had only been on land less than four years. All things considered, they learned rather quickly. I would have never known if they hadn't told me.

We traveled down the coast about forty minutes, with a view of the Pacific Ocean. The water was so blue along the stretch of coastline that I wanted to jump out of the car and go for a swim.

Blake and I talked about upcoming college applications and how many schools would be a good number to apply to. Jax and Morgan had both stayed quiet, but they occasionally looked back at us.

I was feeling more and more hopeful that my college aspirations had not gone up in smoke because of the rocky start to the school year. My grades weren't perfect by any means, but they were sitting in solid B range with the potential for As in a few classes if I busted my ass for the rest of the semester.

The biggest thing I'd realized was that I wanted to stay close to the coast, especially now that my fear of water had evaporated and there were reasons to be near the water. Before the drowning incident, I had been in love with the water and now that love was returning.

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