Page 24 of Roaring Flames

“—I’ll cut your bodies into tiny pieces and toss them into the ocean. You hear me?”

“That’s disturbingly graphic,” Dec drawls lazily.

“I think it’s the perfect level of graphic,” Kain muses, grinning from ear to ear.

He looks particularly pleased by this turn of events, and I have to wonder if he knows more about our situation than what he’s letting on.

If he knows the truth of who Izzy is to us.

Jake focuses back on his lunch, effectively dismissing us, but I can see the rigid tension that lines his shoulders. He’s pissed, and I have to wonder what Izzy told him to elicit such a reaction.

Honestly, I’m flabbergasted. I have no fucking idea what could’ve happened to make her mad at us. Is it because I didn’t wish her a happy birthday first thing in the morning?

You know why she’s mad, dumbass,a snarky voice retorts in my head.You had her friend arrested last night.

Fuck.

A cyclone of emotions—all of them bitter and toxic—unleashes inside of me. The most prevalent of them all is self-loathing.

I hate the fact that I hurt her, but if I had to go back in time, I would do it all over again. Doesn’t she understand that Grayson’s dangerous? That he hurt people? She may not know about the supernatural world, but she would have to be deaf not to hear about the string of murders in town.

And if Grayson’s behind them…

But what if he’s not?the same voice asks.What if he’s innocent? You have no idea why he had those pictures on his phone. For all you know, he was investigating the deaths.

I ignore the voice and focus, with great reluctance, on my brother. He looks just as lost as I feel and has yet to put his glasses back on. They dangle from his fingertips by his side.

“This is about Grayson, isn’t it?” he asks, his voice too low for anyone but me to hear.

At least, I think that until Kain perks up like a dog scenting a bone. His dark eyes slide in our direction.

“Not here,” I hiss, gripping my brother’s sleeve and dragging him towards our usual table.

I half expect to see Izzy already there, waiting for us, her pink lips curved into a beatific smile.

But she isn’t.

Desiree, however, stands directly beside our usual table, a fierce scowl on her face and her arms crossed over her chest, crinkling her blouse. She stares at me like I’m a piece of shit she had the displeasure of pushing out of her asshole.

Graphic description, I know, but fitting.

“How’d you sneak out from under the house that fell on you?” I ask caustically as I move to stand in front of her. “I don’t hear any munchkins screaming in terror yet. Do they know you’re still alive?”

Desiree doesn’t rise to the bait—which pisses me off, because I could definitely go for a few rounds in the verbal sparring ring.

“We need to talk.” Her scowl deepens, a feat I didn’t think was possible.

“About?” Ethan asks cautiously.

“Izzy.” Desiree aims her glare at him, but it lacks its usual heat. She just seems…tired. “And your fucking idiot of a friend who may have ruined everything for all of us.”

“Ashton?” Something cold spirals through me. It feels as if the Grim Reaper himself is breathing down my neck. “What did he do?”

“Let’s take this conversation elsewhere, shall we? I don’t want the two of you wolfing out and eating the poor humans when you hear what I have to say.”

Nine

ETHAN

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